PUBLISHED FOR BIRD LOVERS BY BIRD LOVERS
Aviarylife www.aviarylife.com.au
Issue 01/2017 $12.45 Incl. GST Australia
Nesting Boxes - Thinking Outside the Box Pytilias in Australia Lutino King Parrot
ISSN 1832-3405
Pacific Parrotlet
Breeding the Birds of Paradise
Glenn McCarthy
Lilac Breasted Roller (throated) Camp Kuzuma Botswana
Regulars 04
Editors Column
06
On The Wing
30
Centrefold
53
Classifieds
10
Features 10
The Lutino King Parrot – A Brief History
12
Our Lutino Kings – The Journey so Far
16
Pytilias in Australia
18
Red Siskin Conservation Breeding and Education Center Concept Plans
16
Graham Banks
Malcolm and Lyn Glenn Johnson
20
Red Siskin Initiative
20
The Pacific Parrotlet – Forpus coelestis
26
Quaker Mutations - A Colour for all Tastes!
33
Breeding the Birds of Paradise – The Parent Reared Way, Progress Through Natural Breeding
David White
David Monroger, David White and Simon Degenhard
33
Tiago Nabico
38
Amazing Africa
46
Nesting Boxes – Thinking Outside the Box
50
The Journey so Far – An interview with Dr. Rina Dev
Glenn McCarthy
38
Tony Silva
Simon Degenhard
Cover Image - Pacific Parrotlet Forpus coelestis Photographer Ashley Herrod
No. 1 2017
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’day friends and fellow birdos, and welcome to another full to the brim issue of your favourite Aussie bird mag! I trust that you have all had an enjoyable start to the new year and have recorded some notable successes for the breeding season. First things first, Aviarylife has now moved to a permanent quarterly publication schedule. Subscription price and duration has now been adjusted to reflect the move to a four issues per year schedule. We look forward to continuing to deliver a first-class publication throughout the next 12 months and thank you all for your continued support, without which we could not survive! To celebrate the new year, all classified ads for this issue are 50% off the standard price. A permanent move to cheaper classified advertising rates is now being devised in an effort to further support aviculture in Australia during the current tough times, by making magazine advertising affordable to everyone. So what are you waiting for, get your ad in the next issue of Aviarylife, Australia’s best value avian classifieds! I recently saw a Facebook post by a good friend of mine, Russell McAllister that really struck a cord with me. To quote Russell “I’d like to see people focus on the good things in bird keeping rather than what went wrong”, now this is only one line from the post, but it sums up Russell’s and my sentiments perfectly. Far too often I hear aviculturists focusing on the negatives of the previous breeding season, the current breeding season or the year in general, instead of looking at the positives. Perhaps you acquired some new birds, bred a species for the first time, built some you beaut new aviaries, made some new friends, travelled to visit other breeders or a convention, and the list goes on! The point being that we can always find negatives and positives no matter what the subject matter, this is out of our control, but what we can control is which side of the equation we focus on. I fully share Russell’s sentiments; I would love to witness more aviculturists sharing the positives they have experienced, no matter how big or small they may feel they are; I am a great believer of always looking on the bright side of life! Unfortunately we now move onto negative ground, the plight of our
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No. 1 2017
Aviarylife Editor Simon Degenhard Ph. 0429 008 850 Email: simon@aviarylife.com.au Assistant Editor Graham Banks
beautiful little Orange-bellied Parrot. Sadly, the reports I have heard from Tasmania in terms of the number of birds that made it back for the 2016 breeding season were very bleak indeed. And whilst it has been reported that the captive population has bred well this past season, I fear we are nearing, if it is not already upon us, the point of no return. If the reports are accurate, the wild population is now so small that it could very easily be wiped out in just one Tasmania to Mainland or Mainland to Tasmania crossing and once this happens it is my belief and that of many others, that it will be all but impossible to reintroduce this delightful species back into the wild, as without wild birds to show the captive bred individuals when and where to make the crossing, what chance have they really got? This is an extremely disappointing position to be in with the OBP, a species that isn’t difficult to breed and one that would’ve thrived in the hands of numerous experienced private aviculturists, who would’ve jumped at the chance to help save them, yet were never given a look in by the stubborn bureaucrats who have ran the show from their cosy offices for the past 30+ years! If these little Aussie beauties do end up on the extinction list, their blood lies solely and squarely on the hands of these bureaucrats, there’s no two ways about that and we, as dedicated aviculturists and bird lovers in general should make it widely known that this just is not acceptable! Anyway, that’s enough from me, without further ado, please go ahead and enjoy everything that this jam-packed issue of Aviarylife has to offer. Until next time, take care, stay happy and keep spreading the bird word! Cheers,
Simon
Subscriptions Simon Degenhard Ph. 0429 008 850 Email: simon@aviarylife.com.au Display Advertising & Classified Advertising Simon Degenhard Ph. 0429 008 850 Email: simon@aviarylife.com.au Design, Layout & Artwork Graham Banks ICT Support Officer Graham Banks Contributors If you wish to submit an article or if you have an idea, please contact our office on 0429 008 850 for details Printing Pegasus Print Group Distributor Gordon and Gotch Contact Details Australian Aviary Life Ph: 0429 008 850 PO Box 39, Bellingen, NSW, 2454, Australia Email: simon@aviarylife.com.au Website: www.aviarylife.com.au ISSN 1832-3405 Disclaimer While every care is taken the publisher accepts no responsibility for the content of advertising or editorial material submitted and published. It is the responsibility of advertisers to ensure that their advertisement is truthful, law abiding and meets all statutory government requirements. Articles represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the publisher. Australian Aviarylife also reserves the right to refuse any advertising that it considers to be detrimental or conflicting with the integrity of this publication. Australian Aviary Life. Copyright It is an offence under the commonwealth copyright act 1968 to reproduce any part of this publication, including Advertising, artwork and photography without prior written consent of publisher. ©2017 Australian Aviary Life. All rights reserved
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