November 2015
9
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Glossies exported to Europe Breeders provide best pets Checking budgie nests Scientist Canaries solitary kills rare kingfisher in wild PROUDLY PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA
All you need to know to assist you to fully understand parrots The definitive work on relating the way parrots act in the wild and what keepers of captive birds should do SOFT C OV for the welfare of their birds. 186 PAGEESR,
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THIS MONTH IN YOUR MAGAZINE
Australian birds teach us plenty 14 Australasian news in brief 3 Aviary Marketplace 18 Avian vet directory 15 Budgies: Nest checking critical 7 Canaries: Solitary lives in wild 6 Club & avian vet listings 19 Club news 20 Fancy poultry: Ectoparasites 12 Finches: Yellow-rump hard to sex 5
Forthcoming events 20 Health: Endoscopy really useful 14 Maleo s weird nesting method 13 Parrots: African greys arrest 11 Parrots: Glossies go to Europe 5 Parrots: Princess best 10-11 Parrots: Venezuela threats 8-9 Pet birds: Breeder best source 16 Rare bird photographed, killed 12 Woodpeckers have strong heads 7
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ET another breeding season is underway and if results so far at this southern location are any indication it should be a ripper. Plumed whistling ducks have paired up and disappeared into the scrub to lay, young galahs are in nests, sulphur-crested cockatoos are doing all the right things, black swans have produced cygnets and mute swans are building nests. If breeding results are good in Victoria, NSW and SA bird sales should do well next year due to the ban on selling exotics at Victorian sales and there is a very real possibility that natives won’t be allowed to be sold there as well. ■ CHECK BOXES: Some birds, particularly some finches and softbills, will not tolerate having their nests inspected but budgies are a different matter. This month Fred Wright explains the benefits of knowing what is happening in nest boxes and things that can be done to enhance chances of obtaining more chicks. ■ SOLITARY BIRDS: Serious canary breeders separate genders at the end of the breeding season, which mirrors the way those birds act in the wild, where they only come together to reproduce. Jeff Leaney explains why canaries should be separated and explains the benefits of doing things that way. ■ PRETTY PRINCESS: There is no doubt that Australia’s princess parrot has a combination of colours
Australia’s avian newsmagazine
EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING Lloyd Marshall Telephone.............................03 5983 2566 Email.................lloyd@talkingbirds.com.au Website .............www.talkingbirds.com.au PO Box 216 Balnarring Victoria 3926 DEADLINES FOR ADVERTISING BOOKINGS AND COPY December 2015 edition Display advertisements ......November 16 Aviary marketplace .............November 23 SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions to Talking Birds, which cost $8 a month in Australia, can be arranged by filling out the subscription form on page 20 of this edition and mailing it together with the appropriate payment. The form is also at www.talking birds.com.au DISTRIBUTION Talking Birds is distributed to newsagents throughout Australia. If your local newsagent does not stock the magazine please ask him/her to contact Wrapaway Transport on 02 9550 1622 or via email at wrap away@aol.com
COMMENT which put it up there among the world’s most beautiful psittacines. Bob Philpot evaluates many Australian parrots,with the princess taking pride of place as his favourite Australian hookbill species. ■ BEST OPTION : There are many places to obtain young parrots destined to be pet birds — some good, some average and some really awful. Gary Colvin addresses the various options and decides that buying from the person who bred the bird is by far the best way to go. ■ REVIVAL: For many years the yellow-rumped finch was hard to find in Australian aviculture. It’s not the most colourful Australian finch, which may have contributed to its disappearance but it is now back in good numbers. This month finch writer John Buchan provides a profile of that little, hard-to-sex bird. ■ LOOKING INSIDE: Technology is amazing and nowhere moreso than in the veterinary area, where there have been huge advances in recent years. This month avian vet Matthew Gosbell takes a look at endoscopy, which allows vets to look inside birds without surgery and in some cases to remove items which cause problems. Another edition full of interesting material. I hope you enjoy it. Maybe you’ll learn something of use to you in your avicultural efforts. I hope so.
— Lloyd Marshall
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2 Talking Birds, November 2015
Pink budgie bred here AN almost-pink budgie, called the amethyst, has been bred in Australia by a member of the Australian Heritage Budgerigar Club, whose members have also come up with birds called collared pieds. A club spokesman said that between 1930 and 1970 Australia produced the most spectacularly-coloured and beautiful exhibition budgies the world has seen and those birds still exist, barely. The AHBA was formed to rescue and redevelop these stunning Aussie budgies, focussing on legendary varieties like the original Australian clearwings with their dark body colour and purest white or yellow wings, Australian goldenfaces and the ruler-straight Australian banded pieds. The group will also focus on blackeyed whites, black-eyed yellows, the original reddish violets, greywings, clear-mantled opalines, fallows and cinnamonwings with genuine brown-coloured wings. The AHBA wants to locate and preserve brownwings, slates and all other rare varieties. To preserve the exquisite colours of those varieties the club has adopted the Budgerigar Society of Australasia’s 1962 National Standard of Perfection as its permanent standard, with the emphasis on colour. “The aim is to service the many dedicated breeders of these beautiful and threatened budgerigars,” the spokesman said. “Hopefully we can provide a service for breeders of these rare varieties to exchange birds to avoid excessive inbreeding. “To that end we are appointing variety co-ordinators — for instance heritage clearwing co-ordinator — whose job is to simply put breeders in touch with one another and we are totally happy to extend that service to non-members as well as members of the AHBA.” He said in line with the pioneering spirit of earlier budgerigar breeders the group aims to continue their work in producing more new varieties, which is the logical extension of their creative work with colours in budgerigars. “To this end we have developed amethyst budgies and collared pieds as well,” he said. He said amethyst birds are diluted versions of the reddish violets of the 1960s. “They have a very pinkish-violet body colour. Classes for amethysts will award first place for the pinkest bird, with no other aspect given points except for
Emus can be a pain
FARMING emus can be a little weird because every now and then a bird falls in love with a human. Marburg, Queensland, emu farmer Stephen Schmidt said he’s been the object of affection in several emu romances. “They drive you crazy when it happens,” Mr Schmidt said. “They are a pain in the neck. They follow you around the paddock and upset everything. You get one in 200 that wants to mate with you and one in 200 that wants to kill you.” Mr Schmidt expects about 700 chicks to hatch this season from 250 adult birds. He said demand was so strong for emu
general health and condition,” he said. Collared pieds have a white or yellow collar around the back of the head. “The pied area goes around the back of the head from cheek patch to cheek patch,” he said. “That was not thought to be hereditary but new discoveries have shown that it is quite easy to breed collared birds.” The spokesman said the AHBA is a new club where fun, co-operation and friendliness are the bedrock, so much so that all those aspects are enshrined in the club constitution. “There will be few traditional meetings, the AHBA will mostly be a club that exists on its website, on its facebook page and by visits to members’ aviaries. All members (wherever they
Collared pied and amethyst budgerigars. live in Australia) will be able to vote by mail, email or in person. “The AHBA is hoping to exhibit birds at existing shows run by established budgerigar clubs,” he said. “We see our club as perfectly complementary to the modern budgie clubs and to that end we are having our first tryout exhibition at the annual show of the Central Coast Branch of the Budgerigar Society of NSW on November 19.” He said there will be a display of stunning old-fashioned clearwings through to new collared pieds and amethysts. “Please also bring any of your own heritage type budgies along on the day and we will make exhibition classes for them so that people can see your rare treasures. There are also class awards and a best heritage budgerigar award and prize,” the spokesman said. Inquiries about the AHBA should be directed to its president Bob Pitt on 02 9150 5875 or via email to robertpitt47@ icloud.com
ODD SPOT oil capsules sold as an anti-inflammatory that he was expanding. “Even the worst emu oil is better than fish oil,” he said. Mr Schmidt said he gets 15kg-18kg of oil, 15kg of meat, plus hides and feathers from each bird. He farms free range, because that is how female emus like it. “You can put a female with a male and she will not mate with him if she doesn’t like him. Instead she will knock a fence down to get to a male she likes better,” he said. He said emus had one other peculiar trait — they eat their own manure.
PHOTO: BOB PHILPOT. COVER: MALE GOLDEN-SHOULDERED PARROT. SEE: PEACEFUL PRINCESS BEST PAGES 10-11.