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T H E P R E M I E R P E T & AV I A RY B I R D M AG A Z I N E VO L 3 1 I S S U E 2 • A P R - M AY 2018
FINCHES WHITETAILED BLACK COCKATOOS
Softbills
Caiques TURQUOISE PARROTS
PET BIRDS HEALTH ISSUES
B PEARCE
CO N TEN T S april–may 2018 VOLUME 31 ISSUE 2
T H E P R E M I E R P E T & AV I A RY B I R D M AG A Z I N E VO L 3 1 I S S U E 2 • A P R - M AY 2018
FINCHES WHITETAILED BLACK COCKATOOS
Softbills
Caiques TURQUOISE PARROTS
PET BIRDS HEALTH ISSUES
COVER IMAGE BLACK-HEADED CAIQUE PETER ODEKERKEN
FE ATU RES 68
WHAT’S IN A NAME? SONGBIRDS By Clancy Hall In this edition, Clancy is on the historic trail of our songbirds, tracking down where their names came from and just how accurate they are … or aren’t.
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THE SUBTLE ART OF INTIMIDATION IN SILVEREYES AND WHITE-EYES By Dr Christopher Barry Schell Zosterops have a long relationship with humans as songbirds but they have very complex social behaviours which can easily be misinterpreted, and have wrongly given them a reputation for aggression.
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SOUTH AMERICAN CAIQUES By Peter Odekerken Peter shares his love of these intelligent birds which, he says, have as much character as lories and lorikeets. WHAT’S THE ANSWER TO PESTICIDES AND FRUIT? By Rosemary Low It is recommended that fruit and vegetables be washed before being offered to birds, but new research suggests this might not be enough to rid apples of pesticide.
REGULARS
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BREEDER PERSPECTIVE: WHITE-TAILED BLACK COCKATOOS By Andrew Rankmore
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BREEDING AUSTRALIAN PARROTS: TURQUOISE PARROTS By Barry Blanch
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FINCH FUNDAMENTALS: GRASSES—PART II (ORNAMENTALS) By Marcus Pollard
CLASSIFIEDS
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HOOKBILL HOBBYIST: TO SHOULDER OR NOT TO SHOULDER? By EB Cravens
FREE FLIGHT AND PET OWNERS By Dorothy Schwarz Dorothy tackles the question of whether hobby owners can or should free-fly their parrots, including her personal highs and lows in doing so.
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PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR: LIVE A BITE-FREE LIFE—PART II By Hillary Hankey
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THE WISE OWL: HIDDEN TRUTHS ABOUT INBREEDING By Dr Milton Lewis
IUCN REVISES STATUS OF 11 PARROT SPECIES By Rosemary Low Eleven parrot species have been affected by revisions to the IUCN Red List, but it’s not all bad news.
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ABOUT BIRDS: NESTING AND BREEDING HABITS OF AGAPORNIS LOVEBIRDS By Kit Prendergast
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FINCH CHARM: CELEBRATING AND REFLECTING: BIRD CLUBS IN FOCUS By David Pace
VALE Dr Chris Kingsley By Peter Odekerken
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AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB: DOES YOUR BIRD HAVE A LIVER PROBLEM? By Dr Bob Doneley
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WILD CORNER: A SPOONBILL IN THONGS By Dr Claude Lacasse
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CONSERVATION: • WPT: What Does WPT Achieve? By Carolyn Pradun • LPF: Novel Genetic Tagging for Large Macaws By Dr David Waugh
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YOUNG BIRD KEEPER COMPETITION WINNER: FINCHES, A FAMILY TRADITION FOR FISHES By Maddy Fish Maddy is the third generation of finch-keepers in her family, sharing her passion with her father and grandfather. She shares some of her headaches and triumphs.
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LAST CHIRP: Top Turnout for Orange Bird Sale
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The Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
The Subtle Art of Intimidation in Silvereyes and White-eyes AUTHOR DR CHRISTOPHER BARRY SCHELL BA App Sc (Hons) & Doctorate of Philosophy (Zoology) THE BIRDS CONTAINED WITHIN THE GENUS Zosterops (commonly referred to as White-eyes and Silvereyes, or Wax-eyes), are typically uniform in size and readily identified by a prominent ring of white feathers that almost completely encircles their eyes. Slight variations in size, colouration and the width of the eye ring generally distinguish the different species, as does their global distribution. However, regardless of type, typical body colouration consists of greens, yellows and greys, which allow Zosterops to evade detection as they forage through the dense tree and shrub canopies which characterise their preferred habitat. Three species of Zosterops are considered resident within Australia—the Pale White-eye Zosterops citrinellus, the Yellow White-eye Zosterops luteus and the Silvereye Zosterops lateralis. Silvereyes have the greatest distribution—occurring in all Australian states, with the exception of the Northern Territory. They also have the greatest morphological variability. KEEPING ZOSTEROPS Zosterops have a long history of being kept as song birds within Asia (eg Z. japonicas) and are featured prominently in historic
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artworks of the region. Although Asian Zosterops are not represented within Australian aviculture, the Silvereye Z. lateralis is often kept and, like its Asian cousins, has a rich and diverse warbling song. This ability to sing has added to the Silvereye’s appeal as an addition to aviaries of softbills or finches. There are many references to keeping Zosterops in aviculture. These typically indicate that they are peaceful and social birds, suited to those first starting out with softbills. However, it is also stated that Zosterops are difficult to breed under captive conditions, with reproductive success typically arising from birds kept in large, planted outdoor aviaries. This article seeks to find an explanation as to why Zosterops are often difficult to breed, by exploring their highly complex and stereotyped behaviours. While it is specifically aimed at those keeping Silvereyes, it is also applicable to other species within the genus. It is based on my observations of the Silvereyes in my collection (primarily during the splitting of male birds with allopreening alliances, the introduction of females, and the formation of pair bonds). It should be noted that Zosterops (regardless of gender) form alliances in which allopreening is sought
BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU | VOL 31 ISSUE 2 | APR-MAY 2018
from birds within a flock, following the establishment of social hierarchies. Birds within an allopreening alliance will often be observed in close physical contact and behave in a similar fashion to birds in a mated pair. In addition to my own observations, I use published literature related to behavioural observations of the Japanese White-eye Z. japonica, the Yellow White-eye Z. senegalensis and the Silvereye Z. lateralis, documenting birds in both a natural setting and in the aviary environment. As aviculturists, we have a tendency to anthropomorphise our birds, which has the potential to be detrimental to the captive management of our avian charges. This article intends to provoke the aviculturist to look beyond what they currently know about keeping Zosterops and open their minds to observe behaviour by which these birds clearly tell their caretaker what they are feeling. SOCIAL BEHAVIOURS Zosterops are characterised by highly social behaviours and, in the wild state, are typically (with the exception of the breeding season), observed in flocks ranging from several birds to over 100
FI NC H F U N DAM EN TALS AUTHOR AND IMAGES MARCUS POLLARD BSc (Hons)
EDIBLE Grasses
PART II
Following on from the more edible grasses discussed in my last column, are a host of ornamental grasses that finches can have a field day flitting amongst or, more likely, ripping to bits!
(Ornamentals)
NOTHING LOOKS BETTER THAN A NICE, PLANTED AVIARY, and some of the species we are about to visit are magnificent when flowering and provide a viewing delight. However, managing this viewing feast and following Russell Kingston’s catch cry of ‘dry, dry, dry’ for anything finch-related can be like walking a knife-edge at times. HITTING THE FLOOR Before I wax lyrical about the various species available to the average finch keeper, indulge me as I visit the floor area that said grasses are going to grace! As many of these grasses require a fair bit of watering, the easiest way to plant them out is to map out your aviary floor, carefully factoring in the likely spread of the grasses. Then, simply dig a hole for them to go in! Into that hole, place a liberal amount of fortified loam mix and sand to give the grass the best chance of surviving. Backfill the hole and level it off with the rest of the aviary floor. I like to leave the grass a little below the normal ground level in order to pack a little more aviary substrate around the base. Once you have all your grasses planted, it is a simple matter to cover the floor with a suitable substrate. Why not simply leave it like that? Well, we need to be able to water with the knowledge that no matter how much water we put on our grasses, our ground will remain dry and free of areas that may give rise to fungal, parasitic worm and Coccidia problems—of paramount importance to finches. Roof or no roof, this covering of substrate should be effective enough to allow any water to leave as little trace as possible on the aviary floor. I recently discovered a medium-sized quartz mix, eloquently titled Rosy Quartz, that was terrific for ensuring maximum absorption of any amount of water. This mix would, I imagine, be perfect for any aviary floor, including open aviaries, and ensure most of the run-off would not pool. Your climate largely determines the depth to which your gravel/coarse sand needs to be added. I go for approximately 7.5–15cm (3–6 inches), depending on the composition of the aviary. Of course, if you don’t wish to have the entire floor covered in grasses, you can always opt for any number of metal-type garden beds that are cheaply available through a decent hardware store. These also allow you better control over the majority of your grasses and let you create different effect zones, if you like, by growing different grasses in various spots within the aviary. These beds can be filled with the necessary loam mixes and your plants placed directly into them. Top off with the ubiquitous thick layer of gravel and they are ready to go. They break up your aviary nicely too, if a little artistic thought goes into it. (Sadly I did not inherit any of those genes.) These store-type planters are great for most grass except the majority of bamboo species, which just laugh at them and grow wherever they want to throughout your aviaries! So, with the plans mapped out, we are ready to start digging holes to place our plants.
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The author’s well planted aviary—a wonderful environment for finches
PLANT CHOICE Palm Grass Let’s start with an old favourite of mine, and possibly one that everyone will be aware of, but which looks great and also provides a really great food source for aviary inhabitants. Palm Grass Setaria palmifolia is a large plant with a broad, ribbed leaf. I gather that wherever it hails from in Asia has high rainfall and these creases/ribs allow the water to run off and not saturate and squish the leaf itself. The downside is that it does have a tendency to spread over your entire aviary floor and will need to be pruned vigorously the closer you are to the tropics. Down here in Tassie we know from bitter experience that it is very frost-intolerant, especially when young. Now, I’ll go out on a limb here and state that there are at least two varieties of Palm Grass here in Australia. There is the one that I have just mentioned and another that I call Pit-pit Grass or Setaria sp. This looks very similar to Palm Grass but has much narrower leaves. It grows more as a tall clump rather than spreading all over the aviary floor. Both put up tall erect seed ‘sticks’. Palm Grass is a more compact bunch of seeds whereas the Pit-pit variant has a more open seed head, like little fingers. They remind me of the differences between Japanese millet, with its tight-clumped seed head, and Siberian millet, with its open finger-like seed head.
Palm Grass
PET PAR R OT BEHAVI OUR AUTHOR AND IMAGES HILLARY HANKEY
Live a
In the preceding article on ho w to
live a bite-free life with your companion pa rrot, we explor ed taking preven tative measu res to stop the beha viour before it has a chance to take hold. This mea ns having a good understandin g of positive rein forcement, learning theo ry and ethology.
BITE-FREE LIFE PART II OWNING A PARROT THAT BITES is arguably one of the topthree most common issues of parrot keeping, next to noise issues and feather-destructive behaviour. As mentioned in Part I, we want to establish the mindset that biting is an extreme form of communication, akin to yelling. We don’t want our birds to feel the need to yell their needs and desires to us—it is much less stressful, and thus healthier, to communicate in calm voices. In other words, they can get their message across in less extreme forms of body language. In this issue, we will look at strategies to use when your parrot already bites.
IGNORE AT YOUR PERIL What does a less extreme version of a bite look like? Perhaps a lowered head, an opened beak, a flare of the head, nape, or tail feathers, or even a subtle leaning away of the body posture is all that we need to let us know that we should stop doing what we are doing—whatever it is. If we ignore the body language, the message will just get louder. Ignoring these signals or even ignoring the bite and ‘taking it’, in order to show the bird who is boss or that biting doesn’t hurt, simply leads to harder biting. The bites will come faster and get more intense, and come without the early warning signs. The beak will learn to grind, to hit just the right bone angle to get the offending body part to move away faster. Traditionally, and even in some cases today, I have seen advice regarding using gloves or a long sleeve to help protect our skin when we have a biting issue with our birds. Using the information above, however, one can easily see how using a glove or protective sleeve might actually make the problem worse, as the bird will only try to intensify its form of communication in order to get the desired reaction. The glove does not bring the animal and human closer—it only creates frustration and blocks effective relationship-building. THE EMOTIONAL BITE For many companion parrot owners, it is difficult not to take these bites personally. As providers for our birds and desirous of a lasting friendship, bites are painful not just physiologically but emotionally. In my practice as a consultant, I have found that we often create narratives to help derive explanations as to why these bites occur. Many of these narratives come from human emotions of jealousy, dominance, or punishment for being left alone. What these narratives do not do, in addition to not providing factual, substantive information about avian psychology, is lead us to a solution. QUESTIONING AND OBSERVATION We can provide a useful antidote to these potentially false narratives by using observation. Take a close look at the specific circumstances under which the bird bites, and ask questions. Our questions start with a narrow focus and, if we still do not have the answers we need, we can broaden the questions to more distant antecedents. What happens just before the bird bites? Where is it? What are the humans doing in the environment? What else might be going on around the bird? What happens after the bite occurs? What does the bird achieve? What time of day is it? What changed? Is there anything new in the environment? Does this
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only happen during a certain season? Assess this critical question: Is the bird biting to get something it does want or something it does not want? Not all biting is the same. Birds bite for different reasons, yet still to communicate. A bird that nips fingers at a computer keyboard while sitting next to its person’s workstation is different to the bird that bites when it is perched on the hand and asked to step down onto the cage. If we analyse the consequence of the first scenario, the human might pick the nipping bird up and take it back to its perch. The bird learns that nipping at computer fingers has earned it some one-on-one human time and it will learn to repeat the behaviour. In the second scenario, the bird has learned through experience that approaching the perch means the human will set it down and leave it alone. Biting the hand it stands on is communicating that this consequence is not one that it values. Once we have some of the answers to our questions, where do we go from there? How do we get to a place where we can use the most positive, sustainable ways of behaviour change to create lasting solutions? CHANGING THE ENVIRONMENT What a Bird Wants The key concept to keep in mind is that we aren’t trying to change the bird, we are trying to change the environment. This, in turn, creates a medium supportive of different behaviour. For instance, what do we do in the situation of the bird that nips at fingers at the keyboard or learns to nip at its human’s ear or neck while sitting on the shoulder to achieve a reaction from that human such as stepping the bird up and setting it somewhere else, or perhaps giving it a little beak wrestle to keep that beak occupied. We have a pretty good idea now that if we do not react at all, the behaviour will most likely intensify. Instead, we want to focus on replacing the inappropriate behaviour with one that is of equal or greater value to the bird, and giving the bird a way of getting the same response from us with a more desirable cue from it. For instance, when we are sitting at our workstation and the bird is at its play area nearby, we can make sure to load it up with fun play items that we know will keep it busy. Every once in a while, we can walk over and say ‘hello’, step it up for a quick scratch or a minute of one-on-one time, and set it back down to keep playing. At first, our intervals might be short, to ensure success, particularly if the bird has a well-rehearsed habit of hopping off its play area. But once it begins to understand and expect us to come to it, we can vary the intervals and reinforcers it receives in its space until we start building longer and longer durations. This same concept can be applied to just about anywhere, from shoulders to cages, where parrots often develop a routine of climbing down onto the floor and biting unsuspecting toes. Developing a supportive environment for desirable behaviour takes a bit of extra effort at first, as we reset the tracks of our own thinking and create a new paradigm through which the parrot will navigate. However, consistency and patience will pay off and ensure that the transition time is as economical and efficient as possible to help the parrot learn these new skills and minimise its stress and frustration.
The Black-headed Caique, race pallidus, is rare and seldom found in captivity
A White-bellied Caique, likely to be race xanthurus, lacking the green thighs of the nominate
The nominate race of the White-bellied Caique—note the green thighs—a rare bird in captivity
South American
CAIQUES
MANY YEARS AGO, I was captivated by a pair of White-bellied Caiques. I was living overseas at the time and was allowed into their aviary to get some photographs without wire interfering within the frame. The birds, which had obviously been handreared, promptly decided I was interesting. They kept moving closer to me along their perches and, ultimately, I had to give up because I couldn’t focus fast enough to keep them in sharp focus. Those were the days of manual focus, gone now, with auto focus these days being almost instantaneous. However, I came away from the experience thinking that one day I would own a pair of these intelligent birds with as much character as lories and lorikeets. PIONITES GENUS There are essentially two species of the Caique genus Pionites. The first is the Black-headed Caique Pionites melanocephala, with a subspecies P. m. pallidus, with flanks, thighs, vent and under-tail coverts light yellow rather than orange as seen on the nominate. The second species is the White-bellied Caique Pionites l. leucogaster, with two subspecies, namely P. l. xanthurus, with yellow thighs, flanks and tail, and green upper-tail coverts, and P. l. xanthomeria, with bright lemon-yellow thighs, flanks and green tail. WILD HABITAT Both species have a preference for rainforest edges in clearings along watercourses, or open country known
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AUTHOR AND IMAGES PETER ODEKERKEN
as várzea, which is often seasonally inundated with flood waters after heavy rainfall periods. This is grassland, with many palm trees as well as open forest, but still close to rainforest habitat. On a recent trip to Brazil, I found Whitebellied Caiques in exactly this terrain, perched high along a watercourse near Alto Floresta, Mato Grosso. Generally the Blackheaded form is found north of the Amazon, while the White-headed is found south of the Amazon. These are lowland species but have been found higher, to 1100m on a Tepui (isolated table top mountains rising from the surrounding lowlands) in Venezuela, and up to 500m in Colombia. They are generally found in small flocks and often roost communally. They utilise tree cavities even out of breeding season to roost. They are very agile birds and move with the same ability as lories and lorikeets, climbing among branches to feed on fruits, seeds, young leaves and stems, flowers, nectar and, no doubt, the occasional insect or larvae thereof. It seems a common habit for a flock to have a sentinel keeping watch for predators while the rest of the flock forages. WILD BREEDING These birds tend to nest high in tree hollows, laying 2–3 white eggs. Incubation is 25–28 days, depending on ambient conditions. Since Caiques are found over a large portion of the Amazon region, the actual months of breeding vary subject to the region. In Surinam, they have been recorded breeding in October and November, while birds have been found in breeding condition from December to May in other parts of their range.
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IN CAPTIVITY Caiques are definitely a wonderful species to enjoy in captivity. They are lively and always have something to say to their keeper. If handreared, they will fly to the feeding door to see what is on offer, calling to let you know their approval—and disapproval. Be aware that handreared Caiques, however, cannot be trusted, as they will give a sharp nip to hurry you on. I find that my pair is easy to cater for with a basic mix of sunflower, together with plenty of various fruit and nuts. Most enjoy sweetcorn but seem not to be keen on many of the vegetables offered. They get sponge cake moistened with apple and mango, without artificial sweeteners. They also love Arrowroot™ biscuits but, like all parrots, dunk it into their water bowl to soften the biscuit and thereby foul the water and lose much of the biscuit. To avoid this, I place a biscuit in a D-cup and add a small amount of warm water to soften the biscuit without creating a slurry. My pair loves raw cashew nuts and both break open the hard casing to get to almonds. They are also offered hardboiled egg mixed with Passwell’s Parrot Softfood™, which is provided to all my parrots on a regular basis—more frequently when young are in the nest. In recent times, I have provided breeding pairs of parrots with my handrearing mix, which I use for any species of parrot. This is basically my recipe formulated for daily feeding of lories and lorikeets, which can be obtained from previous articles in Australian Birdkeeper. (Check out their back issues.) To this I add one of the commercially available quality handrearing mixes in a ratio of two of my
AVI A N H EALT H W I TH DR B OB AUTHOR AND IMAGES DR BOB DONELEY BVSc FANZCVS (Avian Health)
Does Your Bird Have a Liver Problem? THE LIVER IS ONE OF THE LARGEST internal organs in the body. Without it, animals would sicken and die within hours or days, but the liver has a surprisingly simple structure. It is a robust organ, capable of withstanding many insults but, if damaged severely enough, it can cease to function as well as it is meant to, leading to sickness. Despite our best efforts to keep our birds healthy, liver disease is commonly diagnosed. ‘Liver disease’ or ‘hepatitis’ is not a diagnosis in its own right—it just means the liver is not happy. There are a large number of causes of liver disease. In this article, I want to describe some of these, how we diagnose liver disease, and how we treat it.
up of hepatocytes, blood vessels and bile ducts (and not much else), the liver has an incredibly complex role in the body and is a major defence for the maintenance of good health. So, what can go wrong?
WHERE IS THE LIVER AND WHAT DOES IT DO? The liver can be found between the gut and the heart, underneath the keel bone. This is convenient as it receives blood from the gut (full of nutrients, chemicals and sometimes bacteria) and effectively filters it before it reaches the heart and is pumped around the rest of the body. Understanding the role of the liver helps us to understand how it becomes diseased, how this disease affects the body, and how we need to treat it. For a single organ made up nearly completely of hepatocytes (liver cells), the liver has many complex roles.
Infectious Causes • Bacterial infections: Because the liver is filtering blood from the gut (and the rest of the body), it is obviously at risk of contracting an infection. This may be from bacteria entering the bloodstream or from toxins arising from an infection in the gut. Although the liver’s job is to clear these infections, if it is not functioning properly or if the infection is overwhelming, it can break down the body’s natural defences and cause a bacterial hepatitis. • Chlamydial infections: Psittacosis, the disease caused by Chlamydia psittaci, frequently targets the liver, causing severe hepatitis (inflammation of the liver). • Viral infections: Viruses such as adenovirus, polyomavirus and PBFD can target the liver. They often destroy liver cells rapidly, resulting in acute liver failure and sudden death. • Parasites such as Histomonas can cause multiple abscesses in the liver of peacocks (‘Black Head’) and chickens. • Mycobacterial infections (tuberculosis): This is usually a gastrointestinal disease in birds, and causes abscesses in the liver.
Digestion The liver produces bile from the cholesterol it manufactures and then passes it down the bile duct to the intestine, where it helps to digest fats, carbohydrates and protein. The primary bile pigment is biliverdin, giving avian bile its characteristic green colouration. Carbohydrate, Fat and Protein Metabolism Nutrients absorbed from the intestines are filtered through the liver before going anywhere else in the body. Liver enzymes convert these nutrients to glycogen, protein and triglycerides which are then circulated around the body for the many processes needed to maintain a healthy life. If a bird is fasted (for any reason), the resultant low blood sugar stimulates the liver to produce glucose by metabolising carbohydrates, proteins and fats to ensure the bird does not become energy-depleted. Metabolism of Metabolites, Drugs and Chemicals The liver detoxifies both metabolites (waste products in the blood) and chemicals absorbed from the gut. It then excretes them through the bile or passes them, through the blood, to the kidneys for excretion in the urine. The best example of this is the production of uric acid from protein that has been metabolised in the liver. This is excreted in a non-toxic form as the urates—the white part of the bird’s droppings. Protein Synthesis The liver is the primary site of manufacture of a range of essential proteins: • Albumin—the main protein found in blood, • Clotting factors that allow the blood to clot when blood vessels are damaged, and • Molecules involved in the transportation of metals, hormones and lipids around the body. Antimicrobial Effect Special cells in the liver blood vessel walls are important in the clearance of micro-organisms entering the circulation from the gut or elsewhere in the body. You can see from all of the above that, even though it is made
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CAUSES OF LIVER DISEASE It is always easier to think of disease as being caused by either infectious organisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc.) or noninfectious problems (such as cancer, toxins, metabolic diseases). Breaking it down into these categories, helps us to understand how complex the phrase ‘liver disease’ really is.
Non-infectious Causes • Fatty liver disease is probably the most common liver disease seen by vets. It results from the deposition of fat into the liver until there is little or no normal liver tissue left. • Toxins such as mycotoxins (toxins arising from fungus in food) and certain drugs (including some hormonal drugs). • Liver cancer is rare but can occur. • Iron storage disease is seen in lorikeets, mynahs and toucans fed diets high in iron. The body has no way of getting rid of it, so it is stored in the liver where it causes damage. • Trauma is seen occasionally in birds that have flown into walls and windows, bruising or tearing the liver. THE SIGNS Because birds mask the signs of illness (an instinctive behaviour to avoid predation), liver disease is often well advanced before a bird even starts to look sick. On top of that, birds have only a limited array of responses when they are unwell. They become quiet (to conserve energy), they fluff their feathers (to conserve their body temperature), and their appetite often decreases. There are a few things that an avian vet looks for when examining a bird with possible liver disease: a. The bird has often lost weight or, in the case of fatty liver disease, it might be obese, b. The bird is often drinking a lot of water (but that could also be due to kidney disease), c. The bird is also urinating a lot, and often becomes dehydrated (sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, thick saliva in the mouth), d. The urates in the droppings (normally white) and the urine may become green. This must be assessed in a fresh dropping,
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Phone Raelene
0409 438 620
Freight Australia Wide Phone Kim 0414 342 087 Pet City, Mt Gravatt