63 Bird Scene - Summer 2024

Parrot Society UK in 2026

Would you like to join The Parrot Society UK and Steve Brookes (Wild Parrots Up Close) on a very special trip to Brazil with a chance to see up to 18 species of parrots? These include six Macaws including the Hyacinth Macaw along with many other Brazilian Birds and wildlife as we travel through the Southern Pantanal in this stunning South American country.

Throughout this trip, we are likely to see in excess of 150 bird species with many opportunities to photo, video or just observe them in their Natural Habitats.

We also have chances of some rare mammals such as the Giant Anteater and Giant River Otter with a very outside chance of Jaguar as we travel on the river in the Pantanal plus snorkelling in the Rio Prata likened to swimming in an aquarium.

If you have any questions about any aspects of this trip please email Steve Brookes steve@wildparrotsupclose.com

If you would like to see more information about the trip and the full itinerary check out the webpage.

Green-winged Macaw landing

Hyacinth Nest Checking

Hyacinth Macaws on feeder

Toco Toucan

Blazewinged Conures

Yellow-faced Parrot

INTRODUCTION

At this time of the year when the breeding season is experiencing its maximum excitement for parakeet breeders I am always thrilled. It is actually not easy to put your feelings into words so to sum up this year’s results so far ‘it is a bit patchy’ seems to give a good overall snap shot of what has been happening with my collection. I am convinced that the cold weather in the evenings in early spring caused problems for my usually steady breeding adult pairs of Ring-necks, two pairs of which only had one baby each and one pair only had infertile eggs,

BY THE EDITOR

LES RANCE

although the hen is looking like she maybe going down for a second round as I pen this report.

One pair of Port Lincolns have had four good healthy babies and the hen is seriously interested in a second round. The other pair fostered four baby Barnard’s and had three of their own babies, so they stayed nice and warm in the box. They are all out in the aviary now. Four days ago, I wormed them all and the parents and that went very well. Sometimes it can be a little difficult to do this with flighty babies, but I took a carrying box into the flight and as soon as I had caught and wormed each baby, I popped it into the box. This way it reduces the birds in the aviary and I know which birds I have wormed, and the ones that are next for the treatment! Besides worming all seven babies, I also treated the adults. When I leave the flight, I open the door of the box and the five birds inside quickly returned to their nest mates and parents. A job well done.

My Budgerigars, which are all blue series, that I did not place in their outside aviary until the 13th April,

because of the cold late spring, are starting to lay eggs and I love to stand and watch their antics as they go about the breeding process, especially as they select the nest box of their choice. Sometimes hen Budgerigars can be quite spiteful and will fight for a particular box, over the years I have learnt that the easiest way to reduce this aggression is to use boxes that are all the same size and all placed at the same height. I always try to close ring my baby Budgerigars so that I know which year they were bred, it makes it so much easier when pairing up for the coming year. I find that I am always looking forward to the next breeding season and doing everything, I can to ensure that it runs smoothly.

My two pairs of Turquoisine grass parakeets, that bred so well in 2023 have also been disappointing, with only one pair going to nest and it will be interesting to see how many babies are reared from this pair.

I continue to germinate my soaked seed mixture, black sunflower seed, mung beans and wheat, so I will have a ready supply for the whole collection. As the wheat takes longer to germinate, I start that two days before I soak the other two seeds. It will obviously be very welcomed by the birds with young and I hope it will

stimulate the pairs that have, yet to commence the breeding cycle. Egg food is also being supplied liberally to all my birds, especially those with youngsters. This time of year is always so very exciting, but no doubt, there will be set backs along the line, that is what happens with livestock. I do hope that your own breeding season is progressing, as you would hope.

In this issue, we have an article about a Wire Breeding Cage Trial skilfully written by David Allen. Also a quality article by Chris Smith on Fiorino Frills. These two articles are supported by Cobalt-winged Parakeets and other Brotogeris by Mike Roxx, and finally Conquering Egg Infertility from Greg Shaw. Together with a very good selection of images taken by our Designer Neil Randle at the 2023 National Exhibition. So really quite a lot for you to read and hopefully pick up some pointers that may well assist you

CONTINUED

We are always happy to receive articles about the species that are being exhibited at The National and are very pleased to give publicity to the club supplying the information.

with whatever species of birds you currently maintain. We are always happy to receive articles about the species that are being exhibited at The

National and are very pleased to give publicity to the club supplying the information. Regular readers will know that Bird Scene has been produced to publicise The National Exhibition held each year at our October Sale Day/ Show at Stafford County Showground. This publication is also used to promote our Conservation efforts for threatened parrots in the wild. An archive of earlier editions of Bird Scene can be found on the Home Page of our website www.theparrotsocietyuk.org so if you would like to see earlier versions please do look at the Bird Scene archive.

BOOKS FOR SALE

Jean Birdsall still has some of her husband’s books for sale, the proceeds of which will go to Motor Neurone Disease funds.

The following books are £7.00 each. There is no Postage to pay

1 Cockatoos in Aviculture –Rosemary Low

2 Guide to Australian White Cockatoos – C. Hunt

3 Proper Care of Cockatiels –Karl Herbert Delpy

4 Step by Step Book of Cockatiels –Annmarie Barrie

5 Gouldian Finches, Pet Owners’ Manual – Barrons

6 Guide to Gouldian Finches –ABK Publications

7 Proper Care of Finches –St. Blazey

8 Proper Care of Parrots –Skinner

9 Breaking Bad Habits in Parrots –Greg Glendell

10 Guide to owning an Amazon Parrot – John Bales

11 Guide to owning a Parrot –Dennis Kelsey-Wood

12 Complete Encyclopaedia of Cage & Aviary Birds –Esther Verhoef

13 You & Your Pet Bird –David Alderton

14 Psitticulture – Tony Silva

The following books are £11.00 each. There is no Postage to pay.

1 The Ultimate Parrot –B. Wilson & M. Hurley

2 Parrots – David Alderton for Salamander Books

3 Professional’ Book of Lovebirds –Coborn

4 Encyclopaedia of Macaws –Herner Lautermann

ALLEN

LIZARD CANARY BREEDER AND PANEL JUDGE

WIRE BREEDING CAGE TRIAL

Trial - Part 1

In the very first issue of Bird Scene (still available in the archive) David Allen gave us an excellent history and introduction into this beautiful canary. The Lizard is the oldest canary and by 1742 it was well documented as a spangled canary with dark wing markings and tail and “a spot on the head called a cap”. By the 19th century the

Lizard Canary had been perfected. A bird depicted in a copy of The London Illustrated News on 12 December 1846 is as the Lizard Canary is today.

There are a number of key points that differentiate the Lizard Canary from other varieties of canary, they are fairly easy to breed but there are a few rules that must be applied. A pair must be Gold or Silver it doesn’t matter which one is which. The cap type must also be considered when pairing two Lizards. Broken cap to Clear cap or Broken to Broken. But never pair two Clear caps together as this would probably give over Capped

birds. The use of a non Cap to any of the types of Cap is also satisfactory. Why not check out the archive file and see David’s full article? He has now written about his ‘Wire Breeding Cage Trial’.

I have been toying with the idea of wire breeding cages for a few years now. I can see the plus for them and I could also see some disadvantages as well. I have seen a number of different types of wire breeding cages when visited world shows. But Brian Keenan’s recent article about what type of breeding cages got me rethinking about this again.

A number of British breeders are now using wire cages including my good friends and fellow Lizard breeders Rob & Tina Bunting. There are a number of companies now selling them in the UK so there must be demand for this type of cage. So I decided to try a few out for my breeding season. I bought two blocks of fours single cages which have doors at either end and one in the front. They have plastic trays but with no wire floor as many of these types of cages do. They are in white and look very nice and clean.

There are a number of companies now selling them in the UK so there must be demand for this type of cage. So I decided to try a few out for my breeding season.

These cages come complete with feeders and plastic perches, the feeders are similar to the type I currently use on my wooden breeding cages. I will use one for the canary seed and the other for conditioning

Birds I’ve bred in wire cages: Blue Lizard that won the 2014 National

seed. My intention is to use all eight cages for breeding in 2013 my plan is to have 4 pairs of Blue lizard’s 2 pairs of normal lizards and 2 pairs of my Florinos. I feel I need to give these cages a good trial and by using all of them with a variety of the birds I breed it will give me a fair test.

I have put some hens in two of the cages so far and am trailing which type of floor covering is best. I have a number of options for floor coverings. The two I am currently trying is sawdust and white paper. I have decided to use tubular drinkers in all the cages. Also in my trial I will use a variety of types of nest pans. Nest compartments on the outside of the cage are one option, the other is nest pans on stands in the cage and the other is to hang the pan in the cage.

I intend to make detailed notes of how my breeding season goes with these new cages and how the different types of nest pans perform. The outcome of this experiment will then be looked at and compared with my other breeding results in my old wooden breeding cages. This comparison will decide if I invest further in more all wire breeding cages or not. So watch this space for more updates on my experiment.

The other beauty of these cages is they can easily be cleaned using a pressure washer at the end of the breeding season and they will not need repainting each year or so. Many have told me that they have taken to using them as there is nowhere for mite to get into like wooden breeding cages.

Trial - Part 2

This is my second season using wire breeding cages. I have 8 single wire breeding cages which I purchased at the start of last years breeding season as a trial. But I felt the birds were not settled into the cages to give a true result.

This season I used all 8 single cages for breeding with a selection of the types of birds I keep, which are Lizards and Fiorino’s.

So what were the results? Well they were very mixed as was my season breeding as a whole a very trying one. But I must say I bred as many birds in these cages as I did in my normal wooden cages. However, this was mainly down to the performance of the Fiorino’s as I had three pairs in the wire cages and they bred very well raising a total of 14 chicks from 3 pairs which is more than I had from all my other pairs of Lizards!

I like the cages and think they have a lot of advantages over the wooden cages, but there is a few things I would like to change with them. The positive for the wire cages for me are: the plastic tray on the bottom of the cages which can easily be cleaned and washed out. The seed hoppers

I also like as they are held in place by a wire door and they have a small perch on the front which means the birds are not standing on the floor while feeding so their feet keep cleaner. The cages I have are coated in plastic so they can be wiped down and they do not rust.

There are a number of companies now selling them in the UK so there must be demand for this type of cage. So I decided to try a few out for my breeding season.

The negatives, are the doors are small, well for my hands they are small anyway. This also meant that the nest pans I had originally wanted to use would not fit through the door. Although the pans I did get for these cages I did like. My birds seem to be very flighty in these cages which I found strange as I would have thought they would have been steadier. The

Birds I’ve bred in wire cages: Non capped Gold Lizard

cages also were singles so you could not separate the hen and cock if I need to, you had to remove the cock totally.

I had two blocks of 4 cages which I put together and due to this I placed a sheet of board in between the two blocks so the pairs in each cage could not see each other which would probably cause the pairs not to bond properly and would probably disturb each other. I have been looking for wire cages that meet all the factors I would like and as of yet I have not

found any. And I don’t want to buy cages that are not what I really want. But I am still looking!!

I will carry on using these cages next season as I think the experiment is still not fully completed. So watch out for part three in 2015.

I had two blocks of 4 cages which I put together and due to this I placed a sheet of board in between the two blocks so the pairs in each cage could not see each other which would probably cause the pairs not to bond properly and would probably disturb each other.

Trial - Part 3

This is the final part of my trial of wire breeding cages.

I have made the choice not to go for any more, but what else then?

And why you ask?

I will try and explain my reasons, I knew what I wanted from a wire breeding cage but I was unable to find one the fulfilled all my wishes.

Also I found the birds were more flighty in the wire cages than in wooden cages which seemed strange to me, as I would have though it would have been the other way. But it was not.

So at the end of last breeding season I decided I was going to revamp my bird room, and in this I would replace my wooden cages. The question was with what?

I looked at plastic breeding Cages, but a friend had some and was not happy with them pointing out the problem he saw with them, so I had to look at some thing else. It looked like I would be going back to wooden cages, but which ones?

Then I came across some cages made of UPVC, these would be washable and would not require painting, and they had removable trays which my current wooden cages didn’t have. But they were only available in doubles. I took the plunge and brought 8 double breeders which would go along the back of my revamped bird room.

The bird room revamp involved lining the whole bird room out with insulation board, then papering it with lining paper which was then painted in a light colour. Carmel Cream which was left over from decorating my house.

This was all done in less than a week, and I am happy with the result.

Birds bred in wire cages: Crested Fiorino owned by Mrs Bolton

My new cages arrived on the Friday and were in place a day later,now we just need to have a good breeding season.

So to sum-up wire cages, I am pleased I tried them out but they just didn’t seem to suit my Lizards. I know many use them with great success on the continent, maybe the weather has a effect on this I am not sure.

I have still retained the cages I

Also I found the birds were more flighty in the wire cages than in wooden cages which seemed strange to me, as I would have though it would have been the other way.

So this concludes my wire cage trial, I would not say it was a complete failure, but I think I am more comfortable with the box type breeding cages. But I am glad I tried them because if I hadn’t I would always wondered about them. I must say though because they didn’t suit me it doesn’t mean they will not suit you and your birds. I think it always worth trying different ideas, and thinking out side of the box.

http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/donations.php

birds. I find it quite amusing looking at all the 1980s pictures; all the birds then were wild caught. A little tip: you can pick this book up dirt cheap online. I only wish there were more books on these little beauties….

My first sightings of Brotogeris parakeets, affectionately also known as Brotos by keepers, were in the mid 80s in our local dealer’s aviaries in Barnham, Sussex. I remember seeing

these green parakeets flying from one end of a long flight to the other; often there were a few flights full of them with their yellow wing flashes catching the eye. I wasn’t into parrots at all then; my eyes were firmly fixed on the canaries and finches especially the British finches. I am still into the other birds; however, Parrots and Parakeets have become my focus since 2010 when I visited the Peruvian Amazon and saw Brotogeris in the wild.

Amazon encounter

It was amazing – I would see them and many other parrots every day just like seeing sparrows and starlings here. I was on a tropical fish collecting trip as was heavily into my Amazon fish as well and I wanted to catch them in their native habitat, plus I have always wanted to cruise on the mighty Amazon River and its tributaries so it was a dream trip. As luck would have it the tour guide was a big bird

watcher so once he learned I was into my birds he would always be pointing out the different species. We saw many every day from just cruising the river, hearing them in the jungle at the side of the boat and hearing them come over our heads in fighter plane style formations. This is second time I saw Brotogeris and from where my real love of them came. As they flew overhead they were really quite noisy but maybe not as noisy as the

Ringnecks in London! The guide would crane his head skywards as you heard them in the distance and scan with his binoculars and shout “Canary Wings”, “White Wings” or whatever they were. Often you wouldn’t need the binoculars as they would come so close overhead you could see with the naked eye the wing flash.

On this trip I also saw Brotos in the markets for sale in tiny cages for next to nothing. It made me sad and I really wanted to take them with me. I know it’s not possible and you shouldn’t encourage the locals but if I could have brought them home I think my heart would have ruled my head. I wondered what life they were headed for.

I also had one very lovely positive experience with a local person and her pet Canary Wing. We were wandering another local market and I spotted it sitting on the vendor so I made a beeline for them. I asked about the bird and seeing my interest she invited me around to her side of the stall She lowered her arm onto my arm and this amazing little bird just ran down her arm and onto me, then it climbed onto my shoulder and sat there happy as a happy Canary Wing can be!

…seeing my interest she invited me around to her side of the stall She lowered her arm onto my arm and this amazing little bird just ran down her arm and onto me, then it climbed onto my shoulder and sat there happy as a happy Canary Wing can be!

That was it, I was hooked. After lots of cool playing time with this little guy and questions about this bird and others in broken Spanish and English, I knew in my head I would find out more about Brotos when I got back home.

Breeders in Europe

Unfortunately the situation with Brotogeris in the UK is they are virtually non-existent. The same is

true in Europe and the US. Apparently before the import ban some Brotos were quite common which must be why they were always in my local dealer’s flights. It’s strange that in the US Plain Parakeets are virtually non-existent and Cobalts are rare; it’s a complete reversal on these two species’ availability in Europe. I was gutted I could not locate any here in the UK so I turned my attentions towards Pionus and from there a big

love and respect has grown towards these awesome parrots which I now breed as well.

But back to the Brotos… I was living in Germany for a while and, when looking through a popular bird selling site from the Netherlands, I saw an advert for Brotogeris cyanoptera or Cobalt Winged Parakeets. I messaged the seller immediately and found out these were four siblings, all male and hand reared. I knew that Brotos make amazing pets from US articles online and my own little ‘live’ experience. I consider myself half pet owner and half breeder so this was perfect; I always like to have hand reared birds as I like the interaction with the birds. I have heard some breeders don’t like HR birds for breeding but my experiences have been nothing but positive.

I quickly found out from breeders that Cobalt and Plain Parakeets are the only Brotogeris available freely. Four other species are available but very rarely and also for much higher prices. I don’t know of any breeders in the UK but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

My PR pair laid their first egg in early February 2016 and three more followed, each a couple of days apart. I had got them in October so was quite happy they were feeling comfortable enough to settle and breed.

I arranged with the Belgian breeder to save one for me while I planned a trip, and as luck had it a few days later another advert appeared again from Belgium with many young for sale. I found out this breeder was breeding

with five pairs of Cobalts so there were plenty on offer from him as he has much success in breeding them every year. I asked for three birds, one male and two females to make myself two pairs with my HR male.

When the trip came around it was fascinating to see how the Belgians were keeping their birds. I picked up the three first; they were the parent reared so were a little nervous. This breeder could not speak any English and was not internet savvy so his friend who had lived and worked in England when he was younger

translated all. Then I set off to collect my HR male. This breeder had only one pair of Cobalts but many other parrots of different species. I’m not sure why he chose to HR these birds as it didn’t seem his normal practice but it could be that the parents stopped feeding the babies or some other parent issue as this happened to me on my first brood I bred.

Personal experience breeding

So I had my two pairs. At first they were absolutely fine together in one cage. I had only open fronted cages at first but I now prefer all wire cages as I prefer to clean them and you get nicer views of the birds all the time. After a few weeks it was obvious a pair had formed between a pair of the PR birds; my HR male was a year younger so he was lower down the pecking order. They didn’t really fight being all together but they did get boisterous when piling into the box that I had provided at night time. I did want to breed them so I decided to split them in the hope that the pair bonds would form better.

My PR pair laid their first egg in early February 2016 and three more followed, each a couple of days apart. I had got them in October so was quite happy they were feeling comfortable enough to settle and

breed. The HR male who I named ‘Charlie’ would regularly spend a bit of time out of his cage playing and exploring, and he very quickly got used to me after being a little nippy at first. Apparently Brotos don’t generally breed in their first year so I was not expecting Charlie and his girl to breed. I was hopeful as the female was a year older than him, but it wasn’t to be their year.

It was obvious about half way through incubation that one of the eggs was infertile and I proved it by candling them. Three eggs hatched in the order that they had been laid, a couple of days after each other. It was a proud and pleasurable moment for me hatching my own baby Brotos. The young grew at a rapid rate and the parents fed them well. I wanted them to carry on with their parents

as I hadn’t been planning on hand rearing these. However, maybe a week or so before fledging, I started to notice that the babies’ heads were being plucked and their crops were no longer full. I quickly topped them up with some hand rearing formula which was easy as I had not long reared a nest of Bronze Winged Pionus so everything was ready. I fed them for a couple of days before deciding enough was enough; their heads were getting very patchy and no parent food was arriving at all, plus I was worried the parents might turn on them completely. So the hand

rearing began proper. They were fully feathered at this point and were jumping around everywhere so I put them in a cardboard box like their own nest box into a makeshift Brooder with no heat as they clearly weren’t in need of extra heat, but at night I did put them in a warm room just for comfort.

These were great little parrots to HR and in a few days they were flying around the room. I put them in a metre long wire cage a week or so after removing them and they seemed happy as can be exploring everything I put in that cage for them. They also learnt to feed themselves within a couple of weeks and were soon enjoying the fruit/veg/pulses I feed to the adults the pulses I only feed during the breeding season. I also introduced them to P15 tropical pellets by Versele Laga, which again all my adults get, and they had great fun with these as toys and food. I do sometimes feed a parakeet mix but not as a main food.

This year I added some extras to the birds’ feeding regime. I know the Birdcare Company’s reputation is second to none and wanted to try their ‘Potent brew’ as another breeder highly recommended it for top breeding results. I phoned the company and they suggested something different: ‘Super Max Breeder’ which is a powder supplement given 6 weeks before the breeding season and ‘Super Feast’ which is an egg food with prebiotic herbs and mixed with honey – it’s lovely and moist, and also smells great. I started feeding these during the breeding season so a bit late but so far it seems good. I don’t know if

the supplements really make a great difference but I am happy to add them knowing they are a nice additive to their diet. The Super Feast has replaced my old ‘not so interesting’ egg food mixture and there is no need for extra calcium as it is also included. It’s all a little bit more expensive from the Birdcare Company but I believe I am giving my birds the best I can get and I will continue using these products. A tip for buying from the Birdcare Company is to buy from them at the shows as their goods are always discounted there!

I thought the parents may want to nest again which would explain the pulling of feathers from the babies’ heads but once the babies were

removed they didn’t show much interest in breeding. The babies were a noisy little rough and tumble crew between the three of them and when let out to fly always followed each other around the room calling to each other.

In late 2016 I moved back to the UK. It was while moving an accident happened and the parents and two babies escaped from their travelling cage. Something had moved in the back of the van and dislodged a door slightly even though I had taped all the catches shut. It was just enough for them to squeeze out and escape while the van was being unloaded without me seeing. The first baby was still sitting in the cage looking confused.

They stuck around the trees in the area for a day and the mother actually returned to her cage which I left outside on top of the other pair’s cage so the sounds would draw them in. Unfortunately after that day I never saw the father or two babies again but was thankful that the mother came back.

I hope they survived at least a while, enjoying flying free; we have feral Ringneck parakeets so who knows. I did put them on the lost register but no luck.

The mother and son lived quite happily together for about six months until I arranged another trip back to Belgium to get another unrelated male bird from the breeder with five pairs. He also had a young female of 2016 to go with my young 2016 male as it turned out. So now I could make up three pairs of Cobalts. I had also managed to source a pair of Brotogeris tirica or Plain parakeet (badly named I feel); this was a 2016 male bred by the breeder I was visiting. He had also swapped a bird for me from a fellow breeder so made up the pair with a 2014 female. As I write this pair are going through the motions of breeding; they are in the box lots during the day and chewing

the box itself, other pieces of natural bark and offcuts of soft wood pit inside for them. But with the male being a 2016 bird I am unsure if he is still too young to successfully breed… we shall see.

Back to 2017 and so far my HR male ‘Charlie’ and his partner have had a successful clutch of four babies which are just about to fledge. The original mother and her partner might have been paired too late to breed this year but are making some interesting moves; again, we shall see.

My HR young male is a great little character and often comes out of his cage to play; I like to keep him tame

and Charlie when not breeding. I feed them little sunflower heart treats on top of the Tiricas’ cage as is a handy perching area. The Tiricas have taken much interest in this little Cobalt on their cage and keep a close eye on all he does, so much so that when feeding him I tried feeding them from my hand. It worked and after only a few attempts I can feed them from my hand through the bars of their cage or put my hand inside and feed them. I can’t do this with any of the other PR Cobalts so have to assume that they have made a direct link to watching me feed my little male.

I am planning to add more Brotos to my collection later this year if I can get in a trip to Europe.

The great thing about my second trip to collect birds is I met the Tirica breeder Jaak.

I have kept in touch with Jaak regularly due to us sharing a deep passion for Brotos. He has all the species apart from the two very rarest: the Golden winged and Tui. However, he has had Tuis in his collection twice. He keeps the Cobalt, Tirica, Canary winged, White winged,

I often wonder why Brotogeris aren’t kept more everywhere but especially in this country. I wonder is it because they are a base colour of green with next to no mutations?

I have kept in touch with Jaak regularly due to us sharing a deep passion for Brotos. He has all the species apart from the two very rarest: the Golden winged and Tui.

Orange chinned and Grey cheeked. He has had articles published in Belgian magazines on his birds and he has translated them into English for me, and now I have asked him for permission for them to be printed here in the PS magazine.

He also briefly told me his story of why he keeps and specializes in Brotos. It was a great little story so I asked him to write that for the PS magazine to follow my story with these fascinating parakeets.

I often wonder why Brotogeris aren’t kept more everywhere but especially in this country. I wonder is it because they are a base colour of green with next to no mutations? The only couple of pictures I have seen of mutations were on Facebook and I don’t know where they originate from but they are certainly not established. For me if it was a choice of being more

popular with mutations or as they are now I would keep them as they are. I don’t want to see mutations spoiling this great genus of birds like they have spoilt many others. Wild natural colours always please!

I would like to find out if there are any UK based breeders as so far I have only found two pairs of Grey cheeks that were imported from Loro Parque, kept for a few years by two keepers for four or so years then moved on out of the country. If anyone does keep any or is seriously interested in keeping these great little characters do get in touch - you can contact me via the PS where Les will pass on your details or I have a bird page on www. facebook.com/newworldbirds1

BY LES RANCE

THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION 2024

We are making steady progress with the run up to the 2024 National Exhibition to be held on Sunday 6th October at Stafford County Showground. Long-term bird enthusiasts will remember The National Exhibitions held at The Birmingham NEC and run by Cage & Aviary Birds prior to 2003, yes twenty-one years ago! The Parrot Society decided in 2007 that we would try to rebuild the event at Stafford where we hold our successful hobbyist breeder Bird Sale event in October.

It was an excellent decision and the event has gone from strength to strength. Please remember that The National Exhibition for the Exhibition of Show birds is held in the Sandylands Centre and the Argyle Centre. We use these same Centres for our Help Bird Keepers Shows.

A large number of hobbyist-bred stock always finds new homes from the buyers who come in large numbers to our events. The National Exhibition is the leading and most popular bird show held in this country for hobbyist bird breeders, not just because of the sales tables but

also the Exhibition that is held in the Argyle and Sandylands Centres. There is something for everyone available from the 60+ traders who so generously support this event, especially from our sponsor Johnston & Jeff Ltd the leading UK seed supplier.

This year Chris Smith our National Exhibition Co-ordinator has written the following to Show Secretaries.

‘Dear all

Hope you are enjoying a good breeding season with many potential winners coming through.

I have received a number of requests to bring forward lifting time at the National Exhibition to 3pm rather than 3.30pm and I would be grateful if you could discuss this request with your club show committee and let me know your club’s view by the 16th June.

I will report the agreed time back to you so that you can include it in your show schedules.

Les Rance at the Parrot Society has agreed to allow club officials and stewards (with wristbands and badges) into the hall on Sunday morning at 6.45 am and to allow exhibitors (with wristbands) into the hall at 7am. Exhibits will also be accepted on Saturday evening between 5pm and 7pm as usual.

Adam Raine (Fife Fancy) will be in charge of the best canary and best exhibit judging from now on, best canary judging on the Old Varieties judging stand at 1pm, and best

exhibit judging at 2pm same stand. Security of the birds whilst judging was discussed at the recent Canary Council AGM with many participating canary clubs present. It was agreed that each canary section would nominate a steward from their section to be responsible for their section exhibits to and from the best judging stand. Names of the nominated steward should be forwarded to me with your entry numbers prior to the show , I will compile a list to give to Adam at the show .

The NCA has agreed to fund £600 prize money again this year which will be distributed across the five exhibition sections as last year. Please let me know your preferred lifting time.....3pm or 3.30pm???? Should wish to discuss this further with me or raise any other points then please do not hesitate to email or call me on 07851 528752

Regards Chris Smith National Exhibition Co-ordinator’

This last year the exhibition in the Argyle and Sandylands Centres was again organised with the assistance of the 18 clubs that support this event and it continues to receive plenty of entries, may this be the case for many years to come. These enthusiasts work so hard to construct the staging from mid-day on the Saturday and take in many entries in the late afternoon and Saturday

evening. This judged event will be as popular as ever in the future, with many high-class birds on view. At this year’s event a crystal glass, rose bowl has been donated by Johnston & Jeff for best bird in Show and by The Parrot Society for the best junior exhibit, their generous donations for these valuable awards is always very much appreciated. Cage and Aviary Birds give the Exhibition a special

supplement in their publication so that all their readers are aware of which clubs to contact to enter their exhibition stock into the Show. Again, Neil Randle our magazine designer took over a 1,000 images on the day so that we have plenty of images for the next twelve months. Please do enjoy the pictures on the following pages. In 2024, the Show will be held on Sunday 6th October and will follow similar lines to the

2023 event but more use will be made of the Prestwood Centre to house the stands of such supporters as The Australian Finch Society, The Bengalese Fanciers Association, and The Waxbill Finch Society. Within the two exhibition halls, there is always a great buzz of chatter and excitement, it is a pleasure just to stand there and absorb the environment and listen to people enjoying themselves and promoting their hobby.

Sick and unhealthy birds usually don’t breed and if they do the chances of infertility are usually high.

SHAW

CONQUERING EGG INFERTILITY GREG

Infertility in parrots and cockatoos is something we all have experienced at one time or another in our aviaries. It always seems to happen with that special pair of very expensive birds that we have so wished would breed for the last couple of years. The eggs are laid we wait with anticipation and excitement then we candle them to check that they are fertile and then realize the bad news, that they are not. Disappointment is something none of us enjoy dealing with infertile eggs are just par for the course people say. But surely we should be questioning why we have a clutch of infertile eggs?

PART ONE

Every pair of birds of a particular species is unique to some extent. Just because several pairs find a particular situation acceptable does not mean that every new pair will also react in the same way. We all need to take the trouble and know our birds, watch, try and understand what makes them happy and what upsets them. Nine times out of ten, unhappy birds don’t lay fertile eggs.

In the wild most birds are opportunistic omnivores they eat almost anything available. This type of natural diet is impossible to replicate in captivity although many aviculturalists try their best to achieve something similar. One of the most common problems with an inadequate diet is reproductive failure and infertility. But in order for us to overcome this, we need to know more about the foods we feed to our birds. Some foods promote fertility while others inhibit it. It is up to all of us to know which foods are good promoters of fertility and which are bad.

A common problem when breeding birds, especially Psittacidae (true parrots) and the Cacatuidae (cockatoos), is infertile or unhatched eggs. There can be several different reasons for this to happen, incompatible unbonded pairs, immature birds, disease, illness, bacterial infection and even something as simple as loose wobbly perches, preventing successful copulation. If the perch is loose and wonky the male can not make good contact with the female during mating resulting in infertile eggs.

My PR pair laid their first egg in

early

February 2016

and

three more

followed, each

a couple of days

apart.

I had got them in October so was quite happy they were feeling comfortable enough to settle and breed.

Strangely enough, the causes can be very simple to remedy. Birds copulate between the laying of every egg, and therefore a mistake can be the cause of one or two infertile eggs in each clutch. An interesting

solution, designed by Mr Perry Webb, an aviculturist in South Africa is to provide the birds with a solidly fixed mesh mating platform that is positioned in front of the nest box and over the closest perch. This platform provides a stable gripping substrate for both the hen and cock to achieve balance during copulation. A worthwhile, inexpensive fixture to any breeding aviary. Long, sharp toenails can also cause infertility. If the cock has a habit of placing his foot on the side or back of the hen before copulation, he may irritate her with his pointed, pin

sharp nails and she may not accept copulation at that time. A simple cut and file is all that it takes to prevent this problem.

An infertility problem may also just be that the birds don’t get it right on the first attempt this is usually the case with a young maturing pair that is attempting to breed for the first or second time. Birds do not always reach sexual maturity at the same

time. Some are very late developers, with either the males or females maturing faster. The hen may begin to lay eggs before the cock has come into breeding condition — both birds need to be sexually mature for fertile eggs to be laid. Delaying egg laying by late installation of the nest box or boarding up the nest entrance temporarily until fertility is accomplished may be the best way to deal with this timing issue.

Younger pairs may also need more stimuli to breed. Older experienced birds will start breeding much more readily and usually go to nest at a similar date as they did the year before. The inexperience and ignorance of a young pair of birds often contributes to infertility resulting in a clutch of clear wasted eggs. Mistakes are made in courtship, mating and nesting. Style and successful copulation improves with age, eventually they will get it right. In this case removing the nest box for a couple of weeks and letting the pair rest then placing the nest box back in the aviary and letting them try again is all that it takes.

Sick and unhealthy birds usually don’t breed and if they do the chances of infertility are usually high. Internal Papilloma Disease causes wart-like protrusions from the vent area of both male and female birds, often resulting in infertility. In severe cases, an avian veterinarian can burn off and remove these warts, allowing the eggs to be fertilized. This disease may still be carried by the parent birds and the pair should not be allowed to hatch and feed their young. Instead eggs removed from these pairs can be given to foster parents or incubated. Alternatively the female may have blocked tubes, ovulation problems, or

Sick and unhealthy birds usually don’t breed and if they do the chances of infertility are usually high.

a hormonal imbalance. The male can have a low sperm count or immature sperm incapable of fertilization. Marginal illness in either the male or the female can be responsible for infertility. If the female has laid several clutches of infertile eggs in succession, she is probably well. The male should therefore be examined by an avian veterinarian to eliminate illness as the cause of the problem.

Some mature breeding pairs fail to produce fertile eggs, clutch after clutch, year after year. Often when this happens we start playing musical parrots and start swapping the cock birds around and around. This seems to be a trend in South African aviculture but it can also be a quick-fix made out of desperation which does not always bear fruit. It may result in some success but it is not the best way of solving the problem. Are we

doing a clever thing by splitting up well bonded pairs particularly if the split up pair can still see and hear one another from another aviary? Often the birds sit and scream across to their mate showing no interest in the replacement partner. Although there are a few exceptions, parrots and cockatoos are monogamous, taking a long time to get a cock and a hen to truly bond — why undo all this hard work by playing the musical parrot swapping game.

Birds are what they eat. Food choices and diets matter when it comes to a mature breeding pair producing a fertile clutch of healthy eggs what we put in is what we get out. Could the solution for clear infertile wasted eggs, lie in the food dish? Nutrition — feeding the best balanced diet to your birds, is fundamental for good health and efficient aviary management, especially if fertile, healthy, breeding birds are your goal. In the past there has been very little scientific, dietary research done on nutrition for birds. There is now far more information on nutritional diets available that promotes longevity and sustained reproductive success in aviary birds.

Infertility is caused by relating to the physical, nutritional, environmental or social aspects of the bird’s life. If all the criteria in each of these areas are met, success is assured.

Parrots and cockatoos vary from one species to another as to how well they deal with their diet and excess fat. They also differ and vary as to which part of their body will accumulate their excess fatty deposits. Fat birds are not healthy birds and unhealthy birds usually are not productive fertile birds. The two areas where fat deposits are most likely to cause

Infertility is caused by relating to the physical, nutritional, environmental or social aspects of the bird’s life. If all the criteria in each of these areas are met, success is assured.

reproductive problems are the hips and lower abdomen. This problem is usually much more common in mature adult males than in mature adult females. Male birds that have fat deposits in this area will have trouble copulating and fertilizing a female successfully. Fat deposits can severely limit agility and movement. The birds need to be kept athletic and healthy. Fat birds become handicapped and lose interest in sex because they are either too physically disabled to do the deed or because they are too lazy to bother trying. The only remedy is a good healthy diet change. It can be as simple as cutting down on cheap fattening sunflower seed and replacing it with less fattening safflower seed, or a high carbohydrate, low fat slimming diet, necessary to shed those unwanted fatty deposits. Continued in the next issue…

Ifirst saw Fiorino canaries whilst judging Fife Fancy in Italy in 2005 and 2006 in Bologna and Rome. I became really taken with them at the 2009 World Show in Piacenza, Italy, where nearly 27,000 exhibits were on show with large classes of Fiorinos.

The Fiorino is about the same size as the Fife Fancy, very active and as jaunty as the Fife but with voluminous, silky frills. The added benefit is that you can show these birds in the standard Dewar show cage, so no added expense in purchasing new show cages. Though I think when shown in the frill cage they tend to exhibit more boldly on the top perch.

Being a relatively new breed I decided to do a little research on them and frill canaries in general. For whatever reason frill canaries have never become popular in Britain and did not merit a mention by eminent Victorian writers on the canary fancy, many

FIORINO FRILLS CHRIS SMITH

FIORINO FRILLS

of whom composed quite comprehensive works on the subject. It is believed that the frill mutation, which affects the formation and the unusual disposition of the feather, is said to have occurred in Holland in the early 1800s. They were then known as “Dutch canaries” until such time as local varieties were developed around Europe and given separate names, e.g. South Dutch or Parisian Frill.

The Fiorino is the youngest member of the frill family of canaries. It was created in Italy in the 1970s around the city of Firenze (Florence) from which it takes its name.

Champion breeders began by breeding a small North Dutch frill to a Gloster corona.

From these crosses and by the use of inbreeding the new Fiorino frill variety was created. The breed was distributed further to interested breeders and with more inbreeding the curling of the feather and size was improved.

The Fiorino is the youngest member of the frill family of canaries. It was created in Italy in the 1970s around the city of Firenze (Florence) from which it takes its name.

In the beginning the Fiorino was a fairly large bird and controversy developed between breeders over the pattern of frill, type and size of the bird. By 1982 meetings between the various groups had established a temporary standard and this was

accepted by the Confederation Ornithologique Mondiale (COM).

Today’s Fiorino is a 5” small frill family bird with specific type and curling of feather. It comes in a crested and plainhead form and has all the usual

There are three areas of the body where specific forms of feathering are given a distinctive name. The feathers on the back are divided by a central parting running downward from between the lower shoulders to the lower back.

variety of colours for type canaries. It is a small bird of somewhat North Dutch appearance, although it has a smaller body and the crest on the crown of the head distinguishes it from the North Dutch.

There are three areas of the body where specific forms of feathering are given a distinctive name. The feathers on the back are divided by a central parting running downward from between the lower shoulders to the lower back. The frilled nature of the plumage results in the feathers curling forward over the shoulders and wings, symmetrically on each side, rather like a cape. This feature is called the “Mantle”.

The breast feathers, instead of running smoothly down the length of the body in the normal way, curl forwards and upwards over the breast bone and towards the throat like a ring (collar) around the neck. The curly feathers on the breast form a kind of frilly shirt –front with a collar, which all together is known as the “Jabot” or “Craw”. A bunch of feathers just above each thigh, curls outwards and upwards in a sweeping fashion around the wings. These frills are called the “Fins” or “Flanks”.

The Kernow Old Canary Breeds Enthusiasts Club has given permission to reproduce the standard (see page 50) and a scale of points is shown.

Like the Fife Fancy size is important and birds exceeding 130mm should be penalised on the show bench.

Importance is given to the head and the neck, the crest should radiate from the centre forming a tight circle with the eye still visible. The plainhead should have a clear head free from any signs of a crest. The fins, mantle and jabot have equal points but the emphasis is on symmetry, and frills should be voluminous, full and curling. Non frill areas should be smooth and clean. Points should be deducted for missing fins, skewed mantles and unsymmetrical frilling on the jabot.

I acquired my original stock from two English breeders and my good Fife friend Werner Van Dessel from Belgium and in 2010 bred 39 chicks from eight pairs. I was fortunate to acquire a self fawn plainhead cock

The breast feathers, instead of running smoothly down the length of the body in the normal way, curl forwards and upwards over the breast bone and towards the throat like a ring (collar) around the neck.

and a clear white cock along with the normal green variegated birds, and so was able to breed a number of good white ground youngsters.

During the show season I took a team of up to ten each time to four major shows Winning Best Fiorino on each occasion and best rare canary twice, at South Bucks All Canary Show and the All Variety Canary Show at Peterborough with a variegated white crest and a variegated green plainhead as pictured.

In 2011 I raised 29 chicks and have had a superb start to the season winning Best Fiorino and Best Champion Rare Canary at the National Exhibition at Stafford with a green variegated crest, pictured. I have high hopes for a little buff lightly variegated hen and a self fawn hen which are just finishing the moult. I have sold all my surplus birds to a number of local breeders so we can build up a gene pool and exchange stock in the future.

Recent breeding seasons have not been as good with only one clear Plainhead cock produced in 2014. But this year has got off to a great start with ten Fiorinos weaned on the first round and hens sitting on more eggs for the second round. Cannot wait for the National Exhibition in October.

MANAGING SUNFLOWER FOR A HAPPY AND HEALTHY PARROT

We all know parrots love sunflower seeds. They’re high in energy, fats and carbohydrates which are essential nutrients for parrots. However, some birds can become addicted to sunflower, too much of which can cause problems such as, a vitamin A deficiency or lymphomas. At Johnston & Jeff, we first developed two specialist blends that are rich and nutritious, right for the particular species but low in sunflower.

We then devised our Parrot Lean & Fit blend, which contains no sunflower seeds and no nuts and is perfect for parrots that require a lower energy or maintenance diet. It also allows you to feed nuts and sunflower seeds separately as a treat or even a training aid, without adversely affecting the diet.

Please note, Johnston & Jeff’s foods are only available through retailers or online. Please contact us to find your nearest stockists or for more information.

Johnston & Jeff Ltd.

Baltic Buildings, Gateway Business Park, Gilberdyke, East Riding of Yorkshire, HU15 2TD T: 01430 449444 • E: mail@johnstonandjeff.co.uk • www.johnstonandjeff.co.uk

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