Talking Birds February 2016 Preview

sive Comprehen t and relevan information ple for bird peo

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$4 parrots, budgies, canaries, finches, pets, fancy poultry, fancy pigeons, veterinary advice, world news, conservation

BIRD WORDS EVERY MONTH February 2016

Regent has really special appeal

Peachface comes in many hues Arthritis problems examined Or-cheek finches not easy Canaries Budgies do well with require good water one parent Tumbling pigeons canÂ’t fly

Saudi rich killing rare birds

Pets need care when itÂ’s hot

THIS MONTH IN YOUR MAGAZINE

Australasian feathered news in brief 3 Avian vet directory 17 Aviary Marketplace 20-21 Budgies: One bird can raise chicks 11 Canaries: Fresh water essential 14 Conservation round-up 17 Fancy pigeons: Tumblers can t roll 15 Finches: Orange-cheeks not easy 12 Finches: Saffrons traded illegally 13 Finches: Zebras bonding 13

T

HE It’s Time! slogan was made famous by Gough Whitlam’s Labor Party leading up to the 1972 Australian federal election and it’s an ideal slogan for the orange-bellied parrot today.

Twenty-plus years of effort have failed to establish viable numbers of the bird in the wild and I believe it’s time to call an end to that exercise.

It would be far better to have the bird in aviculture than to see it gone completely.

Some birds, which apparently are not needed for official breeding programs, have been parcelled out to a second-tier zoo, to a wildlife park and to a commercial operation which is an associate member of the Zoos Australia group.

It is my understanding that those birds were moved out because their genes were well represented in the captive-breeding program and because official sites lacked space for them.

Two of the recipients have bred the birds and the third recently provided nest boxes after not bothering until now.

He didn’t bother because he and the other recipients can’t move on any OBPs they breed.

It’s a warehousing stragegy on the part of officials who did not sive Comprehen and relevant information le for bird peop

Forthcoming events 23 Health: Arthritis has many causes 16 International feathered news in brief 4 Parrots: Cockatoo with crow flock 20 Parrots: Peachfaced lovebirds 7-8 Parrots: Problems in Bolivia 9-10 Parrots: Smoker s special appeal 5-6 Pet birds: Care needed with heat 19 Saudi Arabian rich killing rare birds 15 Subscription form 24

COMMENT know what to do with the birds, officials who must keep breeding them to be part of the captivebred release program but were fast running out of space.

In the adjacent story a Tasmanian official said biosecurity concerns prevent any OBPs getting into aviculture any time soon.

Now is the time to let bird keepers have OBPs, not in four years’ time.

There is no reason to wait when there are myriad bird keepers who are capable of breeding large numbers of orange-bellies.

The species is a neophema and aviculture’s history with other neophemas leaves nothing to be desired.

If officials want to continue to try to re-establish birds in the wild, no problem, but why not start working now towards ensuring that the birds are not lost to us forever?

I’d much prefer to be able to take my grandchildren to see OBPs in an aviary rather than having to tell them that the bird once existed but died out because aviculturists weren’t allowed to breed them.

— Lloyd Marshall

Talking

Birds

EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING Lloyd Marshall Telephone.............................03 5983 2566 Email................. lloyd@talkingbirds.com.au Website .............www.talkingbirds.com.au PO Box 216 Balnarring VIC 3926 Australia DEADLINES FOR ADVERTISING BOOKINGS AND COPY March 2016 edition Display advertisements.........February 21 Aviary marketplace................February 28 SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions to Talking Birds, which cost $4 a month anywhere in the world, can be arranged by filling out the subscription form on the final page of this edition and sending it together with the appropriate payment or credit card details. The form can also be found at www.talking birds.com.au COPYRIGHT Copyright for all editorial copy and photographs published in Talking Birds remains with the author or photographer and cannot be reproduced in any media without the author s/photographer s permission.

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BIRD WORDS EVERY MONTH

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New plan for orange-belly

By LLOYD MARSHALL THE year 2020 will be a major milestone for the orange-bellied parrot according to the Tasmanian Government official in charge of its future.

Dr Howel Williams, director with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, said in the face of continued decline in the wild population a change in strategy had been adopted in the past year and the effort was now aimed at reinforcing wild numbers with birds captive population birds.

The Tasmanian and Australian governments have invested in a program aimed at turning the status of the orange-bellied parrot around.

The Australian Government recently announced its threatened species strategy and identified the species as one of 20 it is committed to seeing improved by 2020.

“It is really important to maintain the species in the wild as it is likely that if it became extinct in the wild it may be impossible to re-establish given that it is a migratory species,” Dr Williams he said.

Asked if there were any plans to put the birds into aviculture in the near future he said the national co-ordinating body was looking into that.

“At present biosecurity concerns and breeding requirements prevent that because suitable aviaries where one pair could be housed per enclosure would be needed, those enclosures would have to be checked and there is no protocol set up to enable that to happen,” Dr Williams said.

He said not all birds recently killed by rats at the Tasmanian breeding facility had beak-and-feather disease.

“Three had the disease, four were potential breeders and seven were old birds or non-breeders,” he said.

Mr Williams said the birds with the disease were being kept so they could possibly be used in research into the disease which would focus specifically on orange-bellies.

He said in the past there was a high degree of caution placed on dealing with beak-and-feather disease and

Chook pecks buyer

A DRAMA recently played out at Delta State in Nigeria after a chicken allegedly pecked buyer Sunday Ibie in the eye.

The unusual incident caused a crowd at the scene to run for safety.

It was learnt that the assaultprone chicken, which was put on sale with others at a local plaza, allegedly pecked Mr Ibie in his eye, leaving him unconscious before he was rushed to hospital for medical attention.

Reacting to the incident, the seller, Mama Ekene, said the bird

that had a direct impact on the ability to reinforce the wild population from the captive population.

“The disease occurs in the wild population and is transferred between a number of species. The national coordinating body for the recovery of orange-bellied parrots has recently convened a group of expert avian vets to look into that and other issues.

That has already resulted in changes to our biosecurity protocols,” he said.

Four new enclosures are being built to replace the aviaries where rats killed the birds by getting under the bottom of wire mesh walls.

“The old aviaries have been decommissioned, funding is available for new housing and a pest exterminator is working there,” Dr Williams said.

He said staff engaged on the orange-belly project — four-and-ahalf full-time on captive birds, two on wild birds and two volunteers — put a lot of work into the parrots.

“Because of the small number of birds, any losses have a huge impact on staff members,” he said.

The number of captive birds able to be housed is at its maximum level because there are no more spaces available at facilities holding the birds.

Last month’s report on birds arriving at the Melaleuca breeding area in Tasmania indicated that 23 parrots had so far arrived.

The last bird to be sighted was a male bred there last year by two captive-bred birds from Taroona in South Australia which were released last year and used an artificial nest.

It was not known whether that bird had just arrived or had been around for a while without being seen.

Wildlife biologists and veterinary staff last month visited the breeding site to check on 83 nest boxes in trees and 10 on poles.

A spokesman said the three breeding attempts in 10 nest boxes on poles within a few months of their installation was a promising result for the pole nest trial. More information on the OBPs can be found at: http://dpip we.tas.gov.au/obp

ODD SPOT suddenly attacked Mr Ibie after they had settled on a price of 3000 naira for the bird.

She said: “I am shocked too because when I brought out the boiler I did not know it was aggressive, only to strike the man right inside his eye, he fell down and I raised the alarm for help.”

Police spokesperson Celestina Kalu said: “What baffled everybody was the way and the manner the broiler attacked the victim right inside his eye.”

PHOTO: BOB PHILPOT. COVER: MALE REGENT PARROT (SMOKER).

SEE: SMOKERS HAVE APPEAL THAT S REALLY SPECIAL PAGES 5-6.

Talking Birds, February 2016 2