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Plum-headed Finches adore soaked seeds

I have noticed on a few occasions now that single Plum-headed cocks will help in the feeding of another pair’s young. I also witnessed a Plum-headed cock feeding young Pictorellas, as well as young Masked Finches. My latest clutch of young—bred in a large mixed collection aviary—were being fed by two different cock birds as well as the hen!

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Conclusion The Plum-headed Finch is an affordable finch, and a great species for either the beginner or experienced aviculturist. I hope these finches remain reasonably popular as they can at times slip under the ‘colour guard’ which is such a shame. These birds deserve a chance to be popular so why not give them a go? I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Recommended reading A Guide to Australian Grassfinches—Their Management, Care and Breeding, The Hancock House Encyclopedia of Estrildid Finches and the DVDs from the Birdkeeping the South African Way series, Part One—Birdkeeping the South African Way, Part Two—The Finches of Africa and Part Three—Keeping Finches and A Selection of Finches by Peter Odekerken. (See Free Mail Order Card.)

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WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY EB CRAVENS

Lessons Learned from Raising Baby Eclectus Parrots—Part One

~•~

Some months ago I received a question from an ABK subscriber asking about the finer points of raising Eclectus Parrots for placement in pet homes. Over the next two issues I will share the lessons I have gained from rearing many Eclectus pet birds.

F

~•~

or nearly a decade I was involved with breeding and handfeeding several varieties of Eclectus both at Feathered Friends of Santa Fe—in partnership with Dale R Thompson—and on Hawaii Big Island with my own pairs and adopted rehab birds.

These colourful psittacines are to me one of the real joys of captive bird keeping—they can also be an exasperating group which is often misunderstood and bred using avicultural methods far removed from their behaviours in the wild.

First, let’s take a look at the many lessons I learned with literally dozens of Eclectus of all ilk, age, and health.

The following may be of some assistance to those hobbyists who are either raising or handfeeding members of this delightful parrot genus: • Ignore all the precon­ceived notions and rumours you have heard about the difficulty of raising Eclectus Parrots. Though members of this genus are different as a whole, each bird and species must be judged individually. Some are cooperative, some are stub­born, some are insecure, and all are intelli­gent if not necessarily ‘worldly’.

With a few simple techniques, success can be assured. All it really takes is determination to work with them, patience, and a certain amount of extra time. You can never be in a hurry with Eclectus.

• If you own a reliable breeding pair it is advisable to leave the babies with their parents to be fed, at least up until day 30. We have produced dozens of Eclectus pets and find no disadvantage to leaving the chicks in the nest until this time. It gives the young chicks a huge head start physi­cally and almost assures you of avoid­ing any nutritional problems, illnesses or stunting caused by inadequate handfeed­ing in chicks taken prior to 21 days. It also produces a more emotionally stable parrot. Gently lift the chick from the box at least twice and talk or murmur to it after its eyes have opened so that the pulling trauma will be softened. It is also important to never startle the hen out of the box to prevent the chick from learning a fear response when the keeper looks inside.

• Though Eclectus are known for having weak feeding responses, the bobbing that they do can be encouraged. Contrary to many psittacines whose sensitive spots are in the crevasse near the

A Grand Eclectus juvenile first visits her new owner’s home perched on her ‘raising basket’

hinge on either side of the beak, Eclectus are prompted to respond by pressure at the tip of the upper mandible. A gentle squeez­ing or holding of this tip with your fin­gers, especially the nails, will encour­age bobbing for formula. With practice this can be done with the left hand while offering baby food with the right.

• The dangers of aspirating formula into the windpipe are less­ened with Eclectus by using a smaller syringe (15 cc) with a shortclipped nozzle and by feeding formula slightly more runny than that used for other ‘strong-bobbing’ psittacine babies. The smaller syringe allows food to be deposited at the front of the mouth for the parrot to swallow more naturally, while the gruel flows quickly down the oesophagus. This means that we have to feed a bit slower, and we have to feed more often since liquid food passes more quickly. It has the advantages of avoiding bird dehydration and any crop stasis. Mashed fresh fruit should always be included in any commercial formulas.

• Eclectus babies are extremely sight oriented. I am not sure that they see objects clearly until well past their sixth week. Their young eyes are very sensitive to light. They should be introduced to brightness, bustling activity and quick moving objects very, very slowly. A majority of the obstinate chicks we have encountered at feeding time are reacting to visual stimuli. Often feeding in a dim light or with the baby under a towel with only his beak exposed are valuable aids. Don’t startle chicks. Establish a vocal contact call and use it when approaching a baby’s darkened enclosure.

• On the other hand, Eclec­tus babies respond exceedingly well to touch. Gentle, still holding and beak and head fondling do wonders

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with these psittacines. We always make hand con­tact with babies down near the rump before attempting to put food implements in their line of sight and will even leave one hand on the bird while we draw food into the syringe or plastic cup. This counters the young chick’s tendency to lunge or snap at movement. If you have a chick that lunges, consider yourself a predator when approaching from the front and start with tail touch and quiet contact talk. All our pets are raised with other babies or have stuffed animals to snuggle against in the tub.

• Eclectus youngsters may prove to be quite picky about the tem­ perature of the formula fed to them. If it is too hot, 41°C (105°F) or above, they may shake their heads and refuse it. If it is cooled down because the feeding takes too long, they will fight to avoid accepting it. Do not force feed an Eclectus! I have settled on a formula temperature of between 39−40°C for best acceptance. As the birds get older, they may be a little more flexible with this. With young, we keep the cup of baby food in a pan of hot water to avoid it cool­ing down.

• Besides our small syringe method we also have had good results in spoon or cup feeding Eclectus babies. Their positive sensitivity to hard plastic or aluminum spoons with edges cupped to fit their beak size makes this the most natural method, closely approximating the mother’s beak. It has the disadvantage of being messier until one becomes proficient. For cleanup we use warm, wet washcloths and the babies respond so happily to the face wiping that we have begun offering a warm cloth even to syringe-fed chicks. It is our belief that when someone invents a plunger-type syringe with a beak shaped tip, they will have done avicul­ture a tremendous service!

• Consistency is the key word when handfeeding Eclectus. Even the certain ring of our spoon stirring the formula becomes familiar to a bird after a week or so. Birds should always be raised in a stable situation with a set feeding routine. It helps to have a CD of calm music playing every time feeding begins! Changes necessary for the growth and socialisation of the babies should be made on a planned basis with as much care as possible.

• There is a delicate balance in the feeding schedule of Eclectus chicks. If left to become too hungry or if a meal is inadvertently late, some babies will become irascible and grouchy, making them diffi­cult to feed. On the other hand, waiting just 30 minutes longer before feeding, for example, can make the chick extra hungry, thus increasing the bobbing and the ease of filling his crop. At any rate, the first gulp of food by our babies is by far the most responsive and successful, so it is necessary to be prepared with a full syringe or cup and get a good load into the baby when it is most willing.

This is especially true as weaning approaches.

• With Eclectus chicks, a tendency to fight the syringe and to shy away from food may appear at an early age (about six weeks).

There are sev­eral possible moves that can be made to surmount such difficulties. We change the formula and thicken it with chunks by adding blender-ground hulled sunflower seeds, almonds or raw peanuts. Chunks of ripe fruit are also added. The taste may be more to the parrot’s interest. One may begin giving soaked warm bread, extruded weaning pellets or mon­key chow from a saucer with the thumb and finger. Most of our babies feed readily this way. Basically, the bird is becoming ‘tired’ of the way you are feeding it and needs to move on to a more advanced soft, warm mush diet. Or the keeper may choose to substitute a cup for feeding since the syringe is being rejected. All such changes should be viewed as preliminary to forthcoming weaning.

• If an Eclectus baby throws up a small amount of formula after feeding, it may be that the bird is being filled too full. Eclectus have slightly more elongated crops than some other parrots and do not have the same bulbous-crop look when full. Another problem with store-bought processed formula is that it may be rejected by the chick at a certain stage. We have stopped this by adding up to 50% ground sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, millet, and a teaspoon of mushed papaya, mango or other yellow fruit to the food. Of course, if the problem persists, if throwing up occurs several hours after the feeding, or if there is any rank smell to the vomit, take the bird to a veterinarian immediately.

• Weaning handfed Eclectus normally begins when they are about eight or nine weeks old. At this time a low dish of foods, plus some green leaves, buds and such should be placed into the basket with the baby. Our favourites are shelled walnuts, papaya, elm sprigs and millet spray. At this time we also offer warm weaning pellets, soaked mushy biscuit or health store grain bread to the birds by hand, one or two times a day, and use a cup or syringe for the other feedings. To maintain nutrition we sprinkle baby formula powder on the soaking mate­rial and feed it after it is all warm and mushy. Remember that food crumbled by the chicks in the dish is not food ingested. Feel the crop! Weaning babies need more feedings per day and lesser amounts, not fewer feedings.

• Some Eclectus chicks seem to gravitate naturally towards warm wet softfoods and ‘soak and cook’ grains, corn on-the-cob etc.

Others love the crunch and texture of shelled walnuts, millet, crackers, dry diets and the like. It is easiest to channel a bird’s weaning impulses towards the foods it most prefers. We have had Eclectus babies that weaned nearly entirely on apple and corn.

Since mature birds are usually exceptional eaters of all foods there is no need to worry about variety eating habits at this critical weaning period. Just keep the bird from becoming too hungry by continued baby food offerings.

• One of my favorite wean­ing time games with Eclectus chicks is ‘beak scratch’. It is a sort of fingernail scraping and pinching that makes the young birds very aware of textures and of the strength latent in their own beaks. An ice cream stick, toothbrush or birdie >

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T O’BRIEN

Eclectus need a set daily feeding routine to feel safe and be happy

chew toy comes in handy to channel any pinching tendencies away from fingers. It does wonders for weaning to scratch and click the tip of a baby’s beak with one’s fingernail, then quickly pop a tiny piece of shelled walnut into its lower mandible. Crunching soon begins. • At the time of wean­ing, baby Eclectus Parrots begin flapp­ing their wings in earnest preparation for fledging. Our experience is that a more well-rounded, active psittacine is produced if we leave all wing feathers intact and encourage take-offs and landings until the parrot has learned to hop, flap, semi-hover and land. It may be oppor­tune to initially fledge Eclectus in small 2.5 metre spaces so that they do not build up great speed in their flights. If there are windows in the fledging space, cover them with lace or put perching baskets and logs in front to avoid impacts. These are bulky fliers and they need serious fledgling training to become complete, confident pets! Remember, acrobatic skill and maneu­ verability are the main goals in pet parrot fledging techniques, not strength, dis­tance and speed. We have had marvelous­ly active Eclectus pets who, even with partially trimmed wings, will hang upside down, drop and land on the floor, and hop onto one’s shoulder from a cage or perch. This should put to rest the notion that these birds are sedentary and boring in captivity.

• The weaning phase is the time to begin training pet birds to lie on their backs and to be touched under the wings or on the back, etc. Eclectus like nothing bet­ter than an hour’s session with you in front of the TV or with a good book when they will sit in your lap and can be stroked a bit. Quiet time is important for the secure feelings of these birds and since, as adults, they may be hesitant to allow heavy petting, it is important to begin such training early.

Just remember that too much activity like this can lead to the birds expecting it. • Vocalisation comes natu­rally to Eclectus. As fledglings wake up to the world around them they are drawn to mimic the sounds they hear. If soft music is playing they will warble and twitter the sweetest sounds even at the age of four or five weeks. Human voices will seem more natural to them if they are kept away from other loud­ly screaming parrots. Eclectus raised near their parent’s habitat where they can hear the squawks of mum and dad may quite early begin to make the same alarm calls. From a conservation stand point, we applaud those breeders who strive to teach fledglings their ‘native tongue’, but loud squawks are not quite as desirable for pet homes! Most of our trained babies learn to recognise their names long before they can repeat them. Cock birds are the most consistent talkers. • And finally, enjoy! May all of us who have the pleasure of working with this phenomenal psittacine genus never forget how for­tunate we are. This may indeed be one of the finest pet parrots avail­ able in the marketplace today—but it is still an instinctively wild creature with one wing still in the woodlands of Australasia.

Next issue I will discuss the pet qualities of the Eclectus Parrot, their feeding habits, housing and love of water misting.

Recommended reading A Guide to Eclectus Parrots as Pet and Aviary Birds, A Guide to Pet and Companion Birds, Good Bird—A Guide to Solving Behavioural Problems in Companion Parrots and Parrot Problem Solver— Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behaviour, and the DVDs Parrot Behaviour and Training Part 1—An Introduction to Training and Part 2—Training Your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam and Captive Foraging: The Next Best Thing to Being Free. (See Birds Free Mail Order Card.)

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The White-browed Woodswallow An Avicultural Experience

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM FITZGERALD

White-browed Woodswallow cock

White-browed Woodswallow hen (left), fledgling begging to be fed and cock

A

cross the Australian continent, woodswallows are a unique and wonderful group comprising six different species of which one—the White-browed Woodswallow Artamus superciliosis— is most commonly kept in aviculture.

Description All woodswallows possess powder-down feathers which give them their unique, sleek look of perfection, however the White-browed Woodswallow is, in my opinion, one of the most stunning of the group.

Cock

White-browed Woodswallow fledgling

The upperparts, head and tail of the adult cock are blue-grey. Their underparts are a rich chestnut colour. The beak is pale grey with a black tip and a distinct snow-white stripe runs across the brow above the eye—hence the name.

Hen The adult hen is of similar colouration to the cock, although much paler and more subdued in her own colouration. Adult birds are easily sexed with these differences in plumage.

Juveniles Juveniles are a mixture of light and dark greys covered with a series of white flecks and spots. This colouration is retained for a number of weeks after fledging, until they start moulting into their adult colouration.

Distribution and Habitat in the Wild In the wild, the White-browed Woodswallow typically inhabits open woodlands with low disturbance and little grazing, mostly of eucalypt, sheoak and Acacia, including mallee, and adjacent open areas including grassland with scattered trees or shrubs (Higgins et al. 2006).

Their range, however, covers most of the eastern half of Australia—including the coastline—and they can be found in all states and territories, particularly those covering eastern, northern and central Australia (Higgins et al. 2006).

These birds can be seen in flocks ranging from a dozen or so birds to flocks several hundred strong. They are often found

associating with other woodswallows—in Canberra, where I reside, a larger number of Dusky Woodswallows Artamus cynopterus are often observed with a handful of Masked Woodswallows Artamus personatus in their company.

Habits Woodswallows are aerial specialists, spending much time on the wing where they catch a great proportion of their daily diet—insects.

If not on the wing they can be seen sitting as a group atop the exposed branches of tall trees or on powerlines, with individuals randomly flying out to ‘hawk’ an unsuspecting insect.

Tail flicking is another trait I have observed—only in captive birds.

When captive birds are agitated or excited, they tend to sit on a perch and flick their tails from side to side and even rotate them around in a large circle.

This tail flicking is often even more obvious and exaggerated when the birds are breeding. >

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Typical nesting sites

Captive Housing The ideal aviary for a pair of woodswallows would measure at least 4.0 metres long x 1.2 metres wide x 2.4 metres tall however anything wider and longer is preferable.

Unfortunately when I had my birds I was not able to house them in the most desirable aviary—measuring only 2.0 metres long x 1.2 metres wide x 1.8 metres tall. Bunches of tea-tree were placed in metal brackets attached to the side walls of this aviary providing the birds some cover and privacy.

In theory they were only meant to be housed in this smaller aviary for a short term while I waited for my new aviaries to arrive.

Unfortunately, due to ongoing aviary builder problems I decided to sell the birds rather than continue to house them indefinitely in what I considered to be an inadequate manner.

Although the birds had plenty of room to fly about and get adequate exercise in the smaller aviary, when one has seen woodswallows in the wild and considers their flying skills, I believe that in the long term this housing would have been detrimental to the birds.

Compatibility Woodswallows generally mix well with other non-aggressive species, depending on the size of their aviary. For a short time I housed a pair of Turquoisine Parrots Neophema pulchella with the woodswallows.

At no time did I see any aggression towards them until several months later when the woodswallows began to show an interest in breeding—at which time they began to chase the Turquoisines off the perch they were standing on. The Turquoisines were soon removed.

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At the end of the season I moved the woodswallows to a larger holding aviary measuring 3.0 metres x 2.0 metres x 1.8 metres which they shared with a pair of Bourke’s Parrots Neopsephotus bourkii, Scarlet-chested Parrots Neophema splendida and several finch species, without incident.

I have also seen them housed in large mixed aviaries with other softbills, small to large parrots, pigeons, doves and quail, again without incident.

Ideally, woodswallows should be housed in lightly planted aviaries, or aviaries which have plenty of flight paths. If housed in open parrotstyle aviaries, at least provide them with several clumps of brush on the walls to provide cover and privacy.

A Suitable Menu Unfortunately most if not all softbills have a reputation for being difficult to feed and maintain in captivity. In recent years, however, with the development of and advances in modern diets, nothing could be further from the truth! Many birds still require livefood, however a large proportion are now being successfully raised on commercial foods alone.

My woodswallows were kept on a basic softfood mix consisting of 150 grams of lean mince, 100 grams of grated cheese, one hardboiled egg (including shell) and 150 grams of Wombaroo Insectivore Mix™. All ingredients are mixed in a food processor, divided into smaller containers and frozen. A container of mix sufficient to feed for 2–3 days is kept in the fridge.

The other main part of the birds’ diet is livefood—mealworms and occasionally crickets. When feeding on mealworms the birds would turn them in their beaks, crushing their heads to swallow them whole. Occasionally larger mealworms would be held by the head and beaten against a perch several times before being Wholesale enquiries from pet swallowed. shops, breeders, animal carers, I also provided insectivore vets and zoos welcome. cake—a mixture of Madeira cake and Wombaroo Insectivore Open your account online at www.piscesenterprises.com Mix™. A colleague also supplies or phone 1800 351 839 lorikeet dry and wet food which for an application form the birds eagerly eat.

Located at the back of the

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aviary I have installed a blue light inside a PVC pipe with several holes drilled in it. Set on a timer to come on during the hours of darkness, this blue light shines through the holes and attracts moths and other flying insects into the aviary for the birds to gather up and feed on during the morning.

My woodswallows were certainly not shy in tackling larger prey items at times too. Occasionally if I located a larger cricket or cicada while in the garden I would catch it and place it inside the aviary to watch what happened. The woodswallows were always immediately interested, however it was only the cock that had the courage to actually ‘have a crack’!

He would swoop down and collect the insect in his beak before returning to a perch. As the insect was too large to beat against a perch, he would hold it against the perch with one foot instead, then stretch up and arch his neck backwards before driving his beak into the insect twisting it from side-to-side. This was repeated until pieces came off that were more manageable for him to eat. He would continue to break up the insect in this way until it was all eaten.

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Raising a Family In my experience, White-browed Woodswallows are fairly easy to breed, provided they are supplied with adequate housing and diet.

The following information is derived from my notes of the 2008 breeding season:

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11 September

First noticed the pair had started to pile small sticks and twigs into a coop-cup which I supplied their mealworms in. This was noticed each afternoon for a period of about a week. At this stage, no sticks or nesting material had been provided to the birds—the material used was only what the birds could glean from the aviary.

About a week later I had to remove the pair of Turquoisine Parrots from the aviary as I noticed that both the woodswallows had started chasing them off the perch.

At the same time I also noticed that the woodswallows’ calls had changed. Very seldom did they make their regular high ‘chirrup’ contact call, but the cock bird (I believe it was him) would regularly utter a series of different ‘twittering squeaks’.

29 September

When in the aviary feeding the birds, I noticed that they seemed particularly upset and agitated. As I was changing their water I noticed a small pile of sticks in the base of a clump of brush against the wall.

Nestled inside this clump was a single egg measuring approximately 20mm long x 15mm wide. It was cream/white in colour and displayed varied rusty-brown blotches and spotting, more concentrated at the thicker end.

2 October

When I entered the aviary for the birds’ morning feeding, I noticed that the egg had fallen out of the nest and was cracked on the floor. >

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from a Casuarina species inside the aviary. Within a day or two a small cup-shaped nest had been woven in the top of the hollow, on top of all the other sticks.

15 October

The first thing I heard in the morning was the cock singing his head off.

When I went down into the aviary for the birds’ morning feed I found another egg. Two days later a second egg appeared. Once incubation commenced the behaviour of both birds seemed to change. When I approached their aviary, the hen would come off the nest and both birds would fly about the aviary, calling rapidly and swirling their tails in a circular motion when perched. Both sexes shared incubation, with the hen taking on most of the early morning and late afternoon shifts, as well as the nightshift.

Egg laid in the first nest

28 October

Both birds seemed particularly excited and more noisy than usual when I approached their aviary. I checked the nest but still found only two eggs.

29 October

Again, both adults seemed even more worked up. I checked the nest again and found that one of the eggs had hatched, 14 days after being laid.

Both parents were extremely attentive to their young. Each time I left the aviary, the cock would always fly straight to the nest to check on his chick.

3 November

Woodswallow chick – 4 days old

Woodswallow chick – 9 days old

7 October

Newly fledged young.

The birds had started showing a serious interest in breeding and since I had no idea when my new aviaries were going to arrive I decided to provide them with a more suitable nesting site. I supplied the pair with a small hollow log, hung vertically on the side wall.

Over the next week or so a nest was gradually built inside the hollow using small sticks and twigs. Progress was fairly slow and I wondered if it was because they weren’t entirely happy with the nesting material they had access to.

I decided to try something different and placed a branch

The chick had grown considerably, its eyes were still shut but pin feather development could be seen on the chick’s wings and back.

By this stage I was beginning to get a little concerned as I had run out of small mealworms and a turn in the weather meant that mothtrap catches were amounting to nothing. Aside from softfood, the only mealworms I had available were very large at 3−4cm long and 4−5mm in diameter. I was worried that these larger mealworms would be too great for the small chick to handle.

I watched intently as the hen collected one of these mealworms from the feed station and returned to a perch. Holding it by the head she battered it against the perch a few times before manoeuvring it around in her beak to hold it by the tail and repeat the beating. In between beatings she would rub the mealworm against the perch, alternating between rubbing and beating. She continued to assault the mealworm for about three minutes, after which time she decided that it was suitably tenderised. She then flew to the nest with the mealworm and fed it to the chick—it just seemed to bend in half and was swallowed in an instant.

After every single feeding, the parent who had brought the food would remain perched on the side of the nest and wait for the chick to produce a faecal sac. This would be collected by the parent and be eaten by them. I have seen birds collect these sacs and drop them away from the nest (as the Red-capped Robin Petroica goodenovii will do) however I was quite surprised to see the adults actually swallow them!

13 November

At 15 days after hatching the chick fledged. It was much smaller than its parents, with a shorter tail and its plumage was very different also—generally grey in colouration and covered with white spots. The fledgling spent its first day hopping around the floor of the aviary and when I approached there was even more calling and flying back and forth from the parents than ever before.

When I actually entered the aviary the parents were most upset. At one point I must have been a little too close and the fledgling let out a small chirp which prompted both parents to start swooping my head,

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actually striking me with their beaks!

After the first couple of days the fledgling was not showing much improvement in flight—perhaps being in a relatively small aviary it was unable to generate enough wing flaps before colliding with the wall at the end of the aviary.

15 November

During the later afternoon the fledgling managed to get up onto a lower perch within the aviary. I’m not sure whether it actually meant to land on the perch or just ended up there by chance!

One thing I did notice was that whenever the fledgling was sitting— on the perch in particular—his head would be facing upwards and his beak pointing towards the sky.

30 November

At 32 days after fledging I noticed that the chick had started to lose some of its patterning and spots, particularly on the neck and flight feathers.

2 December

The cock was heard singing and chortling relentlessly. I believed that the birds were thinking about nesting again.

3 December

Same as the previous day so, when in the aviary, I looked in the nest to find two new eggs.

13 December

The fledgling from the first nest—still housed with its parents—was now looking much more like a mature woodswallow. Its adult plumage displayed a deep chestnut on its underparts—which showed it to be a young cock. The chick would still often beg to be fed by either of its parents—squatting down on the perch almost horizontally, holding his wings off his body and slightly extended, and flicking them whilst squeaking with his beak open. Several times throughout the day I saw the fledgling being chased off the perch by the adult cock.

15 December

A nest inspection during the morning revealed that both eggs had hatched and two healthy chicks were evident, although one did appear considerably smaller than the other.

19 December

During the morning I found the smaller of the two chicks dead on the floor of the aviary, just below the nest. I am unsure whether the chick died during the night and one of the parents removed it, or perhaps it got caught up on one of its parent’s feet or legs when they left the nest?

3 January

Having been successfully raised, the remaining chick fledged. This chick appeared much stronger than the chick from the first nest and was able to get up onto a perch within a few hours of leaving the nest.

Both chicks exhibited an unusual behaviour after they had fledged— they would sit motionless and, with their head tilted back, point their beak towards the sky in much the same way as a Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides roosts during the day when they are attempting to camouflage themselves. Of course, in an aviary on a perch, these birds are quite obvious however I would imagine that in the wild they would just blend into their surroundings extremely easily!

In Summary The White-browed Woodswallow has always been one of my favourite passerines, ever since my first meeting with a handraised bird at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo over 10 years ago. Since that fateful day I knew I would keep these wonderful birds at some stage—with their interesting behaviour, a variety of calls and willingness to breed—I have to admit that I wasn’t disappointed. White-browed Woodswallows truly are an avicultural experience!

References Higgins, P et al 2006, Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds, Volume 7, OUP, Melbourne.

14 December

Recommended reading Pekin Robins and Softbills and Australian Softbill Management and the DVD Keeping and Breeding Softbills. (See Free Mail Order Card.)

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Lessons Learned With Lola

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY Jim McKendry BAppSc BTeach

Pet Parrot Pointers

Lola Arrives I arrived at the Australian Air Express collection terminal excited to meet Lola for the first time, keen to get her home and acclimatised for a few days before getting started on some basic training with her for an upcoming public workshop event that I was involved in.

The first face-to-face meeting revealed a clear set of big, expressive eyes staring back at me with that classic ‘perpetual smile’ that you seem to get with baby Amazons. I was hooked. What happened next though brought me back to reality. Instead of an endearing Amazon vocalisation for our first verbal greeting, Lola crouched back, opened her mouth—and begged. Oh dear, not what I had expected!

The journey home in the car was filled with a mix of quizzical looks at each other interspersed with begging calls whenever I made eye contact. Despite being adamant about ensuring that the bird I received from the breeder was well and truly independent, what I was looking at seemed far from that stage of development. The breeder and I had established a good relationship and level of communication over the months prior to us receiving Lola. I was confident that they were certain that Lola had been feeding fine on her own for a significant number of weeks and that she had shown no signs of regression in the post-weaning juvenile socialisation flights at their complex. So what could have gone wrong?

A Backwards Step The next 48-hours confirmed my suspicion that Lola had most likely regressed to exaggerated begging displays due to the stress of the sudden removal from her rearing environment. I need to clarify here that a true case of a young parrot regressing isn’t just incidental begging or soliciting when it feels a little hungry. These birds will beg at the sight of a human at any time, and maintain that behaviour regardless of their state of nutritional health and level of food intake.

A normally developed post-weaned juvenile might beg a little prior to the presentation of food now and then but cease soliciting as soon as it is satiated. Not in cases of true regression where the frequency, intensity and duration of the begging behaviour is considered abnormal and way outside the parameters of where the bird has been

in its prior development.

At her age this can, and does, occasionally happen. It’s not a fault on the breeder or buyer’s part but something that, for a variety of possible reasons, will be seen in some individuals. It’s also not something that you can easily put a clearly defined window of opportunity on in terms of the likely stage of development that this will occur. I’ve seen birds that have been weaned, flighted in an outdoor aviary and feeding on their own for as long as three months, regress due to the stress of a sudden change of environment.

Sometimes this lasts for only a few days but, in After her first surgical procedure cases like that of Lola, it Lola’s leg was placed in a full cast may persist for weeks and and the recovery challenges began months. In circumstances where I might live near the breeder, I would just return the bird to its rearing environment and give it a few more months to develop in more familiar surrounds. In our situation, however, the breeder and I were about 1500km apart and the option of putting her back on a plane didn’t appeal to me. We had the resources and plenty of first hand experience in managing this issue so the decision was made to work through it.

My plans for Lola to be integrated into my workshops and consultations had to go on hold. It’s potentially hazardous trying to train a parrot that presents no other behaviour other than rocking back and begging at you, as you’re more than likely to start inadvertently reinforcing a lot of unwanted behaviour that can be challenging to correct later. So it was now time for Lola to be allowed to develop more confidence and to just ‘be a bird’ again for a little while longer.

After a further five weeks of acclimatisation in a spacious outdoor flight and in the company of other parrots, we had started to observe BRISBANE BIRD AND EXOTICS VETERINARY SERVICE

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ack in the February/March issue of Australian BirdKeeper Magazine I wrote in Pet Parrot Pointers about the process we went through in selecting a new ‘recruit’ for my clinic and workshop training team. We are currently establishing a small group of parrots that can be integrated into my consultation work. Our species selection criteria and the decision-making process behind our ultimate choice of birds for this purpose will hopefully set them up to succeed in their respective roles. After plenty of deliberation, and a little procrastination, we eventually decided on a Yellow-crowned Amazon as our first ‘trainer’ bird and we then waited the prerequisite period until our new flock buddy was ready to arrive. The outdoor enrichment aviary was ready to go, an indoor cage already set up for added human interaction time, and all bases covered in terms of diet, enrichment, socialisation opportunities and a training plan. What could possibly go wrong?

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BRISBANE BIRD AND EXOTICS VETERINARY SERVICE

D Y y h

The wonders of modern avian medicine! When your Amazon Parrot breaks its leg, it gets a neat looking pin and cast and you get to take home the x-ray images

a slight reduction in regressive behaviour and indications that we might be offered some independent behaviour to start reinforcing.

Her weight for this whole time had been maintained within a healthy and expected range, her food intake was excellent from day one and, in the absence of humans, she could be seen fully engaged in enrichment, expressing normal vocalisations with our other birds, partaking in play and generally showing every sign of being a welladjusted and confident young bird. Unless of course I was in the picture! It became obvious that my presence in particular provided the stimulus for an almost Pavlovian response in her behaviour— instant begging. I had a weeklong window of opportunity to do some focused work with Lola prior to a workshop I was to deliver at Taronga Zoo. I decided to bring her inside and set up a schedule that would offer longer durations of time around me. I hoped that this would provide better conditions which would allow me to put in place an extinction schedule on the begging behaviour, whilst differentially reinforcing non-begging behaviours. That’s when Lola threw yet another challenge our way!

Lola’s Unlucky Break Lola was brought inside on the Sunday afternoon and on Monday morning I was woken early by a phone call, oddly enough about a Blue and Gold Macaw that had fallen from a tree and was, from the report, on death’s door and in need of emergency medical assistance.

As I was on the phone I could see Lola climbing down to the bottom of the cage. She took a few steps on the cage floor grate, flapped oddly, twisted and looked stunned. She left one of her wings open and didn’t move. I knew this wasn’t going to be good.

I put the phone down and went over to her. She flapped helplessly a few more times and then I could see it. Her right leg was dangling and her toes were motionless. I picked her up, examined the leg and knew straight away that she had broken it, badly. I called my local avian veterinarian but he was unavailable that week. My next call was to Dr Deborah Monks at Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service

(BBEVS)—the same clinic that I provide behaviour consultations with and a not so short two-hour drive from where I live. It could have been five hours away and it wouldn’t have mattered. Within minutes I was in the car and on the road, very concerned about whether I was going to have a bird with two functional legs in the future or not.

I arrived at the surgery to find that the same Blue and Gold Macaw that had been the subject of my earlier phone conversation when Lola had her accident had beaten us there! It looked like one gravely ill bird indeed so the team at BBEVS had their hands full that morning. By lunchtime Lola was under anaesthesia for x-rays and the diagnosis was confirmed—a spiral fracture of the tarsus. Both Dr Monks and Dr Melinda Cowan treated Lola and she remained at the surgery for the next few days while she underwent an operation to have a pin inserted in her leg, and for post-operative monitoring.

When I drove back down to pick her up I collected one sorry looking Amazon sporting a ridiculous looking cast on her leg, but thankfully with a pretty good prognosis for a full recovery.

Trying to Maintain the ‘Trust Account’ The next few weeks presented yet more challenges. As Lola was essentially an untrained bird and not used to being handled, administering the necessary twice daily antibiotic and pain relief medication was really going to test whatever small ‘trust account’ she had left in humans after her surgery experience. Usually, administering antibiotic medication in these situations with birds requires towelling restraint and a syringe feed. Lola was completely averse to the presence of the towel and syringe, and I had zero time to train her to take medication willingly in that fashion. She had to be medicated, twice daily, now.

This sets up a real dilemma for pet parrot owners whose birds are not amenable to this level of invasive handling. Every time that you need to restrain an unwilling parrot for such a procedure you risk making massive withdrawals from your trust account with that bird.

With that in mind, the towelling and syringing task initially fell to my wife Kelly. Better that Lola couldn’t stand her than me I thought!

After three days I decided that we needed to try some alternatives to towelling restraint. It was starting to have a very deleterious effect on Lola’s behaviour and this was a bird I desperately needed to be very trusting of human hands in the future. The antibiotic medication we were prescribed was in a paste form and was ‘fruit flavoured’ to improve acceptance. We decided to try delivering her daily dose on small pieces of cashew nut, a treat that she still, thankfully, accepted by hand. It worked. From that point on we were able to dispense with the towel and began the process of rebuilding her trust.

When Lola returned to the surgery after three weeks to have her cast removed I was able to instruct the staff on maintaining this method of delivering her antibiotics and we minimised the necessity for towelling to the times when she needed to be anaesthetised for >

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RIGHT: Fully recovered from her leg break and surgery, Lola has retained full use of her right leg with no loss of coordination and support for normal feeding behaviours FAR RIGHT: Lola is steadily developing and starting to improve her independence and level of interactivity. Time will tell if she will be fully integrated into Jim’s training and consultation team

x-rays and surgery for her cast and pin removal. The BBEVS team were super professional and considerate in their care of Lola and we finally brought her back home for the last time with a complete sense of admiration for the resilience of this little Amazon. Oh, and that Blue and Gold Macaw? It survived thanks again to the care of the BBEVS staff and was discharged after just a few days. Two happy endings!

Conclusion As I write this it has now been nearly two months since Lola’s last vet check-up. Her leg is fully healed, she is flying beautifully, has no loss of coordination or function, and has a wonderful flight recall for cashew treats! The regressive begging behaviour however has persisted and she has not removed this from her repertoire in my presence. We know that this will diminish in time but it is still a daily frustration in working with her. Only time will tell whether or not Lola will become the most suitable candidate for the goals I originally set for her but her progress in that direction is something that I will look forward to sharing with PPP readers over the next few years. In the meantime, here are a few lessons that everyone can take away with

them from our experiences so far with Lola.

If you would like to learn more about parrot behaviour, training and enrichment don’t miss out on engaging in one of Jim’s workshop experiences scheduled for 2010. Check his web site at www.pbec. com.au for event dates.

Recommended reading A Guide to Pet and Companion Birds, Good Bird—A Guide to Solving Behavioural Problems in Companion Parrots and Parrot Problem Solver—Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behaviour, and the DVDs Parrot Behaviour and Training Part 1—An Introduction to Training, Part 2—Training Your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam, Part 3— Understanding Parrot Body Language and Captive Foraging: The Next Best Thing to Being Free. (See Free Mail Order Card.)

Five Tips for Managing Newly Weaned Parrots 1.

When acquiring a recently weaned parrot, ask the breeder to first relocate the bird within the rearing environment for two to three days to assess for signs of stress and regression. If there is a concerning behavioural change, don’t proceed with shifting this bird to a new pet home. Allow it more time to develop its confidence and capacity to cope with change.

2.

Be extremely cautious with the housing of heavy-bodied parrot species such as Amazon and Eclectus Parrots while they are still young. Remove floor grates from indoor cages and carefully assess the suitability of cage bar spacing and perching diameter.

3.

Preparation for medical emergencies is an important part of parrot ownership. Ensure that you have a relationship with an avian veterinarian, a well considered action plan for when things go wrong, an adequate transportation cage and a suitable recovery enclosure.

4.

If you don’t already have a copy of Barbara Heidenreich’s fantastic DVD Training Your Bird for the

Veterinary Examination, then purchase this and start integrating towel and syringe training, pet pack training and practical behaviours with your parrot. This will prove to be a huge support during times of injury or illness.

5.

If your parrot requires post-veterinary examination care, ensure that you are clear in determining the most effective and least intrusive method of administering medication and support. Develop a teamwork approach and, as much as possible, avoid trying to medicate a parrot if you lack confidence and experience resulting in a concerning loss of trust towards you. If possible, have another household member who does not need to maintain a close affiliation with the bird do the medicating instead. If the medication is a short-course that requires only a few days administration then discuss the possibility of leaving your parrot in the care of the vet surgery staff for those few days. Yes, it will cost more, but that will be insignificant compared to dealing with a parrot that retains a fearful aversion towards you after you have treated it yourself.

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The Big Move WORDS BY IDA VAN DER TOGT PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEORGE VAN DER TOGT

W

hen the weather changes some birds migrate. Birds such as the swallow must fly for up to 50 hours without resting to cover the distance between Europe and Africa.

When moving recently from tropical Queensland to a more central location on the New South Wales north coast I felt like a migrating bird myself—even in spite of all our planning and preparing.

From experience I can now say that moving house is hard work.

The packing up of household goods is easy—it gives you a good opportunity to go through all your possessions and discard lots of items you haven’t used for years. When you have a hobby such as parrot breeding, however, you need to be much more judicious about what you throw away—some valuable tools are used in this business!

Lots of people have asked me ‘Why did you move? You had a beautiful spot in North Queensland. Why move south?’ It is true that tropical Queensland is beautiful for a holiday but it has some definite disadvantages when breeding parrots. The humid climate certainly makes it harder to live in and our steep hill just seemed to get steeper and more slippery in the tropical wet conditions. Green algae and mould creeps into water dishes, seed, fresh fruit and concrete paths and the fear that a cyclone might blow away your precious birds is a continued threat. The recent cyclone ‘Hamish’ was directed straight at the Whitsunday region and only serves as a reminder that with all the weather patterns changing, it is not a matter of if but only when!

So this was our plan: • Find a nice spot on flat land with lots of privacy but not completely isolated.

• Construct a large holding cage to accommodate the birds while the breeding complexes were being built.

• Build a bank of transportable cages to move our collection of more than 200 parrots.

• Break down our old aviary complexes.

• Purchase a shipping container for all the birds’ accessories and tools for aviary making.

We found Grafton in New South Wales to be an appealing location and settled on a beautiful 10 hectare property on the outskirts of town. We met long time Grafton-based parrot breeders Neville and ‘Noddy’ Connors who helped us and gave us heaps of local advice. Our new local steel supplier placed a big order for Australian Waratah® Weldmesh and lengths of steel. George Van der Togt was now ready to build his first big cage!

While George was south at our new location trying as quickly as possible to put something together for our Alexandrine, Eclectus and other parrots to live in, I was in the Whitsundays trying to break down our existing aviaries and pack the contents of our lives up at the same time. The weather was not kind to us—rainy, hot and humid— but what else do you expect in tropical Queensland?

Within two weeks George had managed to build his first big holding cage and I had most of our belongings packed up and sold. With the help of some workers I broke down and shifted the aviaries.

Our yard certainly looked different when all the aviaries were gone.

In the meantime, all of the birds were housed together in one of our original holding cages waiting for the big move.

Our birds received special medication to prepare them for the

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journey—I must say that we were very lucky not to lose a single bird because of ill health. Only in Grafton did one bird escape while we were feeding it in a small travel cage.

The parrots were housed in transport cages on a trailer for the journey

Mass production of the welded steel wall frames in progress

An interior view of the walkway access to the bank of suspended aviaries

24/9/09 3:21:11 PM

Neville Connors helps George put the finishing touches to the new aviary

Branches, food and water dishes in place ready for the new inhabitants

The transport cages that were especially built consisted of four rows of aviaries—arranged three high and four wide. That gave us 48 cages which fitted perfectly in our trailer. The trailer was completely insulated and also contained a light and air vents in it to make it more comfortable. The trip from Queensland to New South Wales was done in two days—most of the travelling was done in the early hours of the morning up until midday. The trailer was then parked and the side of the trailer opened up, enabling us to slide the rows of transport cages out. This gave the parrots an opportunity to enjoy daylight and fresh air. All birds were given fresh water, fruit and seeds, enjoying this feast as the sun went down before they were shifted and closed up again in the trailer for the night.

Although the birds were transported in crowded conditions, they seemed to travel reasonably well and, when we finally arrived at our new home, they certainly enjoyed the new big cage measuring 16 metres long x 3.6 metres wide x 2.4 metres. When the next half of the cage was completed, the total length provided the birds an overall flight of 33 metres—this longer-sized aviary is justified given the Alexandrines Parrots’ great capacity for flight.

Now that we are settled in Grafton we have continued to build more breeding aviaries. Our Eclectus Parrot pair were the bosses

of our holding complex. As handreared birds, they are normally very tame. I didn’t expect them to act so aggressively towards the Alexandrine Parrots—any bird that came too close to them was warned to keep their distance.

We have now moved the Eclectus Parrot pair out of the holding cage and into their own aviary. Recently I heard a funny noise and, upon inspection, I noticed that the Eclectus were mating. No wonder they were so aggressive—with their raging hormones they needed a bit of extra privacy! It is good to see the Eclectus settling into their new place and preparing to breed again. We are also looking forward to breeding many exciting colour mutations in the Alexandrine Parrots.

As for moving again, that is off the cards—George jokes that his next shift will be ‘in a wooden box’! ‘Let the wild birds migrate and work in with nature,’ he says. Shifting a hobby like this is hard work!

Recommended reading A Guide to Eclectus Parrots as Pet and Aviary Birds, A Guide to Asiatic Parrots, their Management, Care and Breeding and Asiatic Parrots and their Mutations. (See Free Mail Order Card.)

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The Ornate Lorikeet

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY PETER ODEKERKEN

t

he Ornate Lorikeet Trichoglossus ornatus is an extremely attractive bird and not dissimilar to fellow member of the genus, the Rainbow Lorikeet of Eastern Australia. Endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, the Ornate Lorikeet is frequently and incorrectly depicted as having a long tapering tail similar to the Rainbow Lorikeet group when it is actually much shorter.

dark green as is the back and the underside is a yellowish tone with salmon colouring at the base. The bill is orange, the iris orange-red and feet grey. Juveniles are similar in colouration to the adult but with black beaks and black eyes.

Description

Distribution and Status

The cock and hen are alike but subtle differences can be observed when comparing a known pair. These birds have royal blue caps and ear coverts and the breast is red heavily barred with blue. The cheeks are red to orange-red, as well as an area protruding under the blue cap towards the eye. A partial collar of yellow is found on both sides of the head near the nape which separates the bright green upper body from the head colours. The green mantle can be variably marked with yellow flecks. The abdomen is darkish green with yellow flecks on the sides, the lower abdomen and vent are a light green with occasional dark green flecks. The underwing is black with yellow and green coverts and yellow axillaries. The uppertail is

IN THE WILD This species is considered to be a common bird on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and its adjacent offshore islands.

Habitat The Ornate Lorikeet is found to frequent secondary forest and more open ground interspersed with trees, scrubs and adjoining denser forest. It is a lowland species seldom found above 1000 metres in elevation. Not found in dense rainforest, these birds can be seen along rivers and are found mainly in pairs or family parties, sometimes gathering in small flocks at flowering trees, often found in association with Yellow and Green Lorikeets. A variety of trees

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