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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 2 I S S U E 9 • J U N -J U L 2019
Aviary HINTS
Blue Kakariki
Jardine’s PARROTS White-bellied Caique
HORMONAL PET PARROTS
Genetics
Medicating Birds
CONTENTS june–july 2019 VOLUME 32 ISSUE 9
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 2 I S S U E 9 • J U N -J U L 2019
Aviary HINTS
Blue Kakariki
Jardine’s PARROTS White-bellied Caique
Genetics
Medicating Birds
COVER IMAGE JARDINE’S PARROT DENNIS AVON (ARDEA)
FE ATU RES
P ODEKERKEN
HORMONAL PET PARROTS
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KEEP SUBSPECIES PURE By Dr Gary Fitt The National Finch and Softbill Association urges breeders to keep subspecies separate to ensure purity for the long-term future of aviary stocks and their potential conservation and research value.
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THE WHITE-BELLIED CAIQUE By Jason Wright This breeder finds White-bellied Caiques are an absolute joy—truly full of beans, fun and adventure.
REGU L A RS
PRESERVING RARE SPECIES IN AVICULTURE By John Hopgood A look at scientific conservation methods and how these can be utilised in aviculture to help preserve species under threat.
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MUTATION MUTTERINGS: THE BLUE KAKARIKI By Paul Court & Ray Chapman
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BREEDER PERSPECTIVE: THE JARDINE’S PARROT By Andrew Rankmore
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A PARROT’S LIFE: MANAGING YOUR HORMONAL PARROT By Georgia Kerr
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FINCH CHARM: THE BENEFITS OF FEEDING SEED SEPARATELY By David Pace
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PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR: WHAT DOES ‘NO’ MEAN TO MY PARROT? By Hillary Hankey
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HOOKBILL HOBBYIST: CONSIDERATIONS WHEN PULLING CHICKS By EB Cravens
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THE WISE OWL: EVOLUTION—IT’S FASTER THAN WE THINK By Dr Milton Lewis
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ABOUT BIRDS: THE REGENT HONEYEATER By Kit Prendergast
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HALFSIDERS, GYNANDROMORPHISM AND MOSAICS By Dirk Van den Abeele What causes the left and right sides of some birds’ bodies to be different colours? Dirk examines the genetics and the theories behind this phenomenon. AVIARY HACKS: MAKING AVICULTURE EASIER By Jade Welch & Mark Mills The authors provide ideas to help reduce the waste involved in building aviaries, as well as giving tips to make your avicultural journey easier. BRAZIL—MY SEARCH FOR THE BALD PARROT By Peter Odekerken Only a few parrots in the world have the adaptation of a bald head, and Peter is keen to meet one of them in Brazil.
535 CLASSIFIEDS
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AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB: MEDICATING BIRDS By Dr Bob Doneley
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CONSERVATION: • WPT: Protecting Parrots in the Caribbean and Venezuela By Carolyn Pradun • Illegal Wild Parrot Trade in Peru By Carolyn Pradun • LPF: Lear’s Macaws from Tenerife Fly Free in Brazil By Rafael Zamora Padrón • Orange-bellied Baby Boom at Moonlit Sanctuary Press Release
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WILD CORNER: PIGLET, THE CRESTED PIGEON By Dr Claude Lacasse
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HOBBY HINTS: SAVING THROUGH SEED RECYCLING By Paul & Michelle Court
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YOUNG BIRDKEEPER: TAKING FLIGHT By Leah Whitbourn
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LAST CHIRP: • Seminar Marks 40 Years of UBSSA By Kevin Goulter • Promoting Aviculture to the Young By David Pace • ASA Convention 2019— Excellence in Education By Sheryll Steele-Boyce
BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU | VOL 32 ISSUE 9 | JUN-JUL 2019
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J WELCH
B R EEDER P E R SPECTI VE AUTHOR ANDREW RANKMORE
Jardine’s Parrot Poicephalus gulielmi gulielmi
THE
THE JARDINE’S PARROT has been one of the rarer exotic parrot species in Australia for some time. In the past it commanded a very high price and then stabilised around $20 000 for a time, before sliding to today’s price of about $10 000 a pair. The reasons appear to be more influenced by demand than supply, as Jardine’s Parrots remain in small numbers. The latest trends and the wide range of alternative parrot species now ‘obtainable’ seem to have negatively influenced demand. On this note, the effect of fashions within the industry can be no more clearly demonstrated than the revival of black cockatoos. You could not even give away a black cockatoo 9–10 years ago, and now they are in very strong demand, commanding very high prices not seen since the early 2000s. Such is the roundabout of fancy, supply and demand! DESCRIPTION The Jardine’s Parrot, the largest and stockiest of the subspecies, is of medium size and shape similar to the African Grey. The Jardine’s is beautifully coloured as an adult, with a green lower body, black scalloping on the back, and fantastic bright red wing coverts and cere/forehead that really stand out. In my view, the Jardine’s is similar to the Red-fronted Macaw, in a form comparable to an Amazon or African Grey. The adult Jardine’s measures approximately 28cm and weighs 260–300g. Overseas, three subspecies are recognised, with the nominate Poicephalus gulielmi gulielmi, endemic to the Congo River
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P ODEKERKEN
JARDINE’S PARROT
The Jardine’s Parrot is similar in size to the African Grey Parrot
basin, held in Australia. The Lesser Jardine’s P. g. fantiensis, reported to be in unknown numbers in Australia, is smaller and features a larger extent of red-orange on the forehead, crown, thighs and fore edges of the wings. In drawing further husbandry links to the African Grey (Congo), Jardine’s Parrots are reported to be equally suitable as a companion bird, boasting the same mimicking potential and attributes, minus the plucking susceptibility of the former. Individual offspring numbers are comparable to the African Grey.
BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU | VOL 32 ISSUE 9 | JUN-JUL 2019
IN CAPTIVITY It appears Jardine’s pairs often suddenly stop breeding for one reason or another, causing the keeper to lose interest and offload the birds. Both overseas and Australian breeding results see similar ‘surges’ or off-spring reports, before going quiet, and news on the keepers and the species disappears. That said, I am aware of two facilities in Australia that have produced these birds in small but consistent numbers for several years, bucking the observation stated above, and I can only hope this continues.
The
WHITEBELLIED
CAIQUE AUTHOR AND IMAGES JASON WRIGHT
Whit b lli d C White-bellied Caique i jjuveniles—note il t th the yellow ll on th the underparts d t that distinguish them as young
IF YOU WERE TO GOOGLE THE PHRASE ‘clowns of the bird world’, you would be inundated with videos and commentary on caiques. I’ve had an interest in the White-bellied Caique since well before I acquired my two pair in 2010/11. I felt their appearance was much softer and more endearing than the more readily available Black-headed Caique, with the stunning combination of pastel and vibrant colours. One only needs to see them to understand their beauty. I do, however, warn you that once you get to meet them in the flesh, and spend 10 minutes watching them clamber over every square centimetre of their aviary, exploring rope, branches, chain, etcetera, and testing its suitability for acrobatic tricks, you’ll no doubt become quite entranced by the White-bellied Caique. They are truly entertaining—I know because I’ve wasted many an hour watching their comical performances. HOUSING We house our White-bellied Caiques in suspended aviaries, measuring 3m long x 90cm wide x 120cm high. They use every centimetre of it, climbing and exploring. We often provide them with new items—be it fresh branches to chew or cuttlefish to destroy. We have also found they love swinging, so we have installed a length of chain, which they enthusiastically swing, climb and shower from—oh, do White-bellied Caiques love a shower! Our perches are located in the traditional front and back of the aviary, at slightly different heights. (The back one is higher. Our theory is the birds then have to fly up to a perch, thus exercising their muscles more.) We also have a low perch situated in the
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middle of the aviary, which allows the birds to perch low on hot days, but also allows us to rest browse and fresh bamboo poles on it so they do not just rest on the floor of the suspended aviary. The swivel feeders and nest box are located at the rear of the aviary, as they are accessed via the enclosed walkway. The roof of the aviary is two-thirds sheet metal, and one-third wire, to allow rain and sunshine in. The sides are one-third sheet metal at the rear, for nest box privacy, and two-thirds wire. If we had our time again, we’d probably reverse this allocation, as White-bellied Caiques can get quite protective of their territory during breeding season, and we’ve found this can intimidate their neighbours. We kept the caiques in smaller 2.4m-long suspended aviaries initially, and they were more than happy. However, we feel affording them the extra space enriches their lives and they have certainly continued to breed well in the larger suspended aviaries. DIET Caiques love food—especially pieces of corn, orange or anything they can share sitting up on a perch, enjoying the world pass them by. We feed our birds a variety of foods. Each morning pairs receive a quarter of a cup (I use a measure) of our mix, which consists of half sprouted/soaked seed with added thawed diced vegetable mix (readily available from the supermarket), and seasonally available vegetables and a small amount of apple—all diced. We work on the premise that giving birds excessive amounts of fruit provides them far too many sugars, whereas in the wild they would eat green fruits. As such, vegetables like zucchini, softened sweet potato, kale and silver beet stalks, more accurately reflect the sugar content of food they would normally consume. Pellets are also available at all times. We have found the Vetafarm™ Nutria blend of small pellets best suits our needs. Funnily, some birds will eat the yellow ones while others will leave the red ones. We also feed a small amount of dry seed small parrot mix. On occasions they will get a small portion of walnuts/ almonds, loosely chopped to minimise wastage, which they gleefully eat first. Our theory is that variety is the key to keeping and breeding these gregarious birds.
A PA R R OT’ S LI FE AUTHOR AND IMAGES GEORGIA KERR
Managing
YOUR HORMONAL PARROT
A male l E Eclectus l t which hi h h has pulled lll d ffeathers th largely due to sexual frustration
Part of the courtship display in Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos
THERE ARE MANY WAYS to keep your parrots, and everywhere you look you will find contradictory information as to whether you need to purchase a particular cage or aviary, and what diet to feed your new best mate. One thing we do know for certain though, is that new owners need to think long-term to set the new family member up for a successful and happy captive life. This is vitally important for maintaining a functioning household for not only our bird, but you and your family as new parrot slaves! There are things we simply cannot stop a bird from doing. These behaviours are innate; they are naturally occurring and come ‘hard-wired’ in your bird. For example, these include the need to chew, forage and communicate socially with other ‘flock members’. Without these behaviours a bird in the wild would not survive.
THE NEED TO BREED Another innate drive of every living being is the need to create offspring to carry on their genes into the next generation. Anyone who has kept a mature parrot in their home will be able to recognise at least some behaviours that are driven by breeding hormones. These can include nest-seeking behaviour, protection of territories and mates, irritability and less tolerance of normal routines, increased frustration and/or aggression, and even feather-destructive behaviours in some cases. In the wild, parrot breeding seasons are malleable—naturally triggered by variation in environmental factors. These changes act as a cue to begin the breeding season, and with it a whole host of nesting and ‘hormonal’ behaviours. Environmental changes can bring on early, extended, late or even missed breeding seasons quite naturally. Environmental triggers differ between species but can include the extended photoperiod of spring or post-wet season,
Double T Bird Harnesses
Ph Pam or Margaret Ph/Fax: (02) 4758 6564 pammarg@bigpond.com m www.birdharnesses.com m
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‘SWITCHING OFF’ HORMONES Now that we know some of the common triggers, we can in most cases ‘switch’ our parrots back into off-season by manipulating their environment. Sounds simple right? Here are four steps as a baseline to get you started with managing your hormonal parrot but be aware this is just the tip of the iceberg!
Contact ABK for a list of our excellent parrot behaviour books and DVDs
SIZES TO FIT COCKATIELS TO MACAWS
BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU | VOL 32 ISSUE 9 | JUN-JUL 2019
the subsequent increased food supply as foods grow and ripen, increased courting activity from conspecifics, and availability of suitable nesting hollows. In captivity, however, these breeding and nest-seeking behaviours practised in the home tend not to mesh well with the ‘human flock’. Nest-seeking can destroy furniture; protection of territories and mates can lead to bites and unusual aggressive behaviour. You may even get regurgitated on as a sign of affection!
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Take your tame companion bird outside safely. ly. Proudly Australian Made
A Budgie trying to ‘flirt’ with his favourite toy/perceived mate
E: birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au ABK©
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AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB AUTHOR AND IMAGES DR BOB DONELEY BVSc FANZCVS (Avian Medicine) CMAVA
Medicating Birds: the Calm, Quick, Gentle Approach VETERINARIANS frequently dispense medication for bird owners to administer to their birds. But how many bird owners know how to do this safely and correctly? There are three primary methods of administration: • Through the bird’s drinking water • Directly dosing by mouth or crop needle • By intramuscular injection Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The decision needs to be made by the vet and owner, based on the bird and the medication required. For example, some medications have to be given by injection. It may not be feasible to medicate a flock of finches by direct oral dosing but, on the other hand, some medications are too painful to give by repeated injections. You and your vet need to have a frank discussion on how feasible it is for you to administer the medication needed for your bird, and agree on a plan as to how to do it effectively (so the bird gets the right dose) and safely (for you and the bird). MEDICATING DRINKING WATER As tempting as it is, administering medication through the water is often not very effective for one or more of the following reasons: • While some medications are water-soluble, many are either not soluble or degrade within hours when mixed with water. These medications should not be used in water. • Some medications are so unpalatable that the birds will not drink the medicated water. • Some water dishes (terracotta and galvanised metal) are porous or bind to the medication—either way, the medication is not available to the bird. • Sometimes the bird is so sick it will not even drink, so putting medication in the water does not mean the bird is necessarily getting any treatment. There are times when in-water medication is necessary, for example in an aviary of finches or Budgerigars where it is impossible to catch each one and medicate. However, you need to be aware that it may not be working. If the bird(s) is/are unwell, in-water medication is often unsuitable. If you have to use medicated water, your water dishes should be stainless steel, glass, glazed ceramics, or plastic (although the latter is a poor choice as well). DIRECT DOSING If in-water medication is unsuitable, you are left with little choice but to dose directly (by mouth, crop needle, or injection). The first thing is to get yourself prepared. You want to have everything ready to go before you touch the bird, ensuring all the supplies and equipment are at hand, the dose of medication is prepared and drawn up, and syringes, crop needles and needles are ready to go. You then need to catch and restrain the bird. If you are righthanded, you should catch and hold the bird in your left hand, and vice-versa. If you are not used to catching and holding birds, the use of a small towel is advisable. If it is a large bird, you may need to use two people—one to hold the bird, the other to administer the medication. Once the bird is out of the cage and wrapped in a towel, the head may need to be gently restrained. Excessive force should be avoided, and no pressure should be placed on the bird’s keel (sternum) as this will restrict its breathing.
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Each short line equals 0.01mL Each medium line equals 0.05mL Each long line equals 0.1mL Example: this line equals 0.75mL
How to Measure a Dose Line the top rim of the plunger with the line for the prescribed dose Example: If the dose 0.5 is 0.5mL, the plunger mL will be here
Top Rim
Instructions on how to fill a syringe with the dosage
By Mouth Carefully open the mouth with the tip of the syringe on the side of the beak. Once the mouth is open, roll the syringe gently so that it passes over the top of the tongue. Slowly and gently squeeze the medication into the beak, delivering it slowly to avoid forcing it into the lungs or allowing it to run out of the bird’s mouth. To keep your bird calm, talk gently and continue to praise it throughout the procedure. Watch as your bird swallows the medication and do not give more than your bird can swallow at one time. It may help to offer your bird a treat post-administration, so that that you don’t leave on a bad note. Always remember to return any medications to the fridge, should they require it. Ensure the entire course of treatment is completed—failure to do this can result in the recurrence of the original condition. By Crop Needle A crop needle is a long stainless steel tube with a ball of steel at the end. It can be short or long, curved or straight, and thick or thin. It allows the accurate dosing of larger quantities of medication (or handrearing formula), or medication that is so unpalatable you don’t want the bird to taste it. The crop needle is attached firmly to the syringe. (It is possible to ‘blow’ the crop needle off the syringe into the bird’s crop, necessitating veterinary intervention to retrieve it.) Hold the bird facing you, and restrain the head firmly but gently. Hold the crop needle and syringe in your right hand as if you are holding a pen. Gently open the bird’s mouth with the tip of the crop needle and ‘roll it over’ the top of the tongue. Pass it from the bird’s left to right, while gently extending the neck. You should feel the crop needle slide under your left thumb as it holds the bird’s head. The crop needle should slide into the crop with minimal force and can be felt in the bird’s crop. Once you are confident it is in the crop, the medication can be delivered.
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