33 Bird Scene - January & February 2017 by Theparrotsociety

BIRD ISSUE THIRTY THREE: JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017

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THE MAGAZINE FOR HOBBYIST BREEDERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS

CAUGHT BY THE LINEOLATED PARAKEET BUG

IS S 6 UE M 3 20 AR 4 O 17 CH UT

UK UNDER THREAT AGAIN FROM AVIAN ‘FLU

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BUDGERIGARS FOR BEGINNERS

BRAZIL 2016 Released to celebrate The Parrot Society’s 50th Anniversary, Brazil 2016 is a companion publication to Brazil 2011 and is again lavishly illustrated. Books Available From The Parrot Society Office 92A High St, Berkhamsted Hp4 2Bl. Telephone: 01442 872245, les.rance@theparrotsocietyuk.org

CONTENTS BIRD SCENE: JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017

CONTENTS DONATE TO OUR CONSERVATION FUND… CLICK THE LINK BELOW: www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/donations.php

BUDGERIGARS FOR BEGINNERS Les Rance

UK UNDER THREAT AGAIN FROM AVIAN ‘FLU DECEMBER 2016 Alan Jones

THE WORLD’S LARGEST FREE FLIGHT AVIARY - BIRDS OF EDEN By Dave Dickason

ON THE COVER

BIRD ISSUE THIRTY THREE: JANUARY / DECEMBER 2017

CAUGHT BY THE LINEOLATED PARAKEET BUG By Sigrid Marz

BUDGERIGARS FOR BEGINNERS

UK UNDER THREAT AGAIN FROM AVIAN ‘FLU

CAUGHT BY THE LINEOLATED PARAKEET BUG

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THE MAGAZINE FOR HOBBYIST BREEDERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS

IS SU 6 E M 34 20 AR O 17 CH UT

SPONSORS LETTER 2016 Richard Johnston

BIRD SCENE: Issue Thirty Three: January / February 2017 BIRD SCENE is run by The Parrot Society UK, 92A High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2BL, England. FOR SALES AND EDITORIAL ENQUIRES Telephone or Fax: 01442 872245 Website: www.theparrotsocietyuk.org / E-Mail: les.rance@theparrotsocietyuk.org The views expressed by contributors to this magazine are not those of The Parrot Society UK unless otherwise explicitly stated

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INTRODUCT

Les Rance, Editor, The Parrot Society UK | www.theparrotsocietyuk.org | les.rance@

his is the thirty-third edition of Bird Scene our e-magazine which is proving very successful. For those who know its format I apologise but for new readers this publication is produced to allow us to promote both our Conservation projects that have interest around the world and give publicity to The National Exhibition that is so strongly supported by the 18 exhibiting clubs who support the event and work so hard on the Saturday to set the show up and then accepting all the birds that are entered and caring for them whilst they are at the event. I am certain that this edition of Bird Scene will give readers the same level of quality and interest as the first which went ‘live’ on Monday 22nd August 2010. Over these sixty six months we have now produced 33 issues of Bird Scene. This edition will confirm the areas that we will continue to cover in future publications. Our intention right from the start was to publish this e-magazine every other month and we have fairly easily achieved this goal. By fixing the date of Issue 34 now you will know when to 04

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access our website for the latest edition. At this point it is appropriate to thank our Trade advertisers who so generously support us, you will see their advertisements in this e-magazine and without their assistance it is unlikely that Bird Scene would have been produced. Our intention is to use Bird Scene to promote and raise donations for our Conservation activities around the world there are donation points on pages 23, 29 & 47 where you can pledge money to a particular project. Additionally Bird Scene raises awareness of The National Exhibition which was held at Stafford County Showground on Sunday 9th of October. To run the National Exhibition we have built strong links with the 18 clubs who support the event and organise the entries and judges for the Show. These clubs are specialist societies run by bird enthusiasts, the vast majority of whom are actively associated with local cage bird societies. These local clubs make a valuable contribution to the UK bird scene and allow new comers to this fascinating hobby a place local to

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BY THE EDITOR

LES RANCE

@theparrotsocietyuk.org themselves to meet other enthusiasts. In this edition we are featuring The National Exhibition with a pictorial display of the birds and people who attend. The National Exhibition is kindly sponsored by Johnston & Jeff Ltd please see page xxxx where Richard Johnston their managing director gives his views on The National Exhibition In this issue we also have more images from the 2016 National Exhibition an interesting article

from Les Rance about Budgerigars. An item by Dave Dickason – The World’s Largest Free Flight Aviary at Birds of Eden and an article from Sigrid Marz – Caught by the Lineolated Bug. I do hope you enjoy this e-magazine please tell your friends where to find it!!

BY LES RANCE

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BUDGERIGARS FOR BEGINNERS

hese enchanting little Australian parakeets have been enjoyed by tens of thousands of bird enthusiasts for 175 years as they came into Europe in the 1840’s and proved a prolific breeder. At their most popular there was an estimated million being kept as pets and breeding birds in the UK. The colour of the wild Budgerigar in Australia is light green they are 18 cm long and weigh 26 to 29 grams. As an inhabitant of the arid central belt of Australia their main diet is dried seeds which they find from searching the ground and dried up tussocks of grasses. Flocks of Budgerigars are always on the move in the wild as food is often scarce, as is water. To be able to breed in the wild they need to find a locality where it has recently rained for a few days which will allow the grasses to grow quickly and produce the much needed green soft seeds to feed to their babies as soon as they are hatched. Like the majority of psittacines they nest in cavities in trees laying white shelled eggs so that they can be seen in the dark

of the hole. Four or five eggs are a normal sized clutch and laying occurs every other day so it takes ten days to lay a clutch of five eggs. The incubation period is normally twenty-one days. Only the hen incubates which usually commences after the third egg appears and therefore the chicks hatch on different days and quite a size range of babies are found in the nest; Budgerigars are good parents even the last hatched survives possibly because this has a higher pitched call which the hen hunts out and feeds she also protects the smallest from being crushed or suffocated by its larger siblings. The young Budgerigars grow quickly in the wild and leave the nest site, normally a cavity in a tree, within six weeks fully able to join the flock and move on to a new locality when the food source diminishes. In captivity these timings are replicated but obviously they do not need to ‘move on’. The colour of the wild Budgerigar in Australia is light green, however with so many being bred each year it was not

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surprising that colour mutations developed and through controlled breeding in cages these new colours were rapidly produced. The picture below shows the sizes of the five young baby Budgerigars from the third round. At this time the youngest was only 1/10th the size of the largest baby. They were all raised to maturity.

Two weeks on and the baby has grown tremendously, now being 1/3rd of the size of the largest baby in the clutch.

To the right are three pictures of the four young that were bred in the first round. I was really proud of these birds and took far too many pictures of them!

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Budgerigars are so popular in captivity because they have a number of attributes which appeal to bird lovers. They are active, clean feathered, inquisitive and extremely friendly birds which make ideal pets. If purchased at eight weeks of age they quickly bond with their new owner because they love being part of a group, in their native Australia they are a flock bird and

FEATURE therefore are keen to be a member of a ‘flock’ even if it is only their owner and themselves. After a few days in the new cage they will quickly settle down and then you can open the door and gently rub their lower breast just above their legs with a straight finger imitating a perch, they just cannot resist stepping up on to it and from this point on training can begin.

There are basically two ways to breed Budgerigars in the UK, either in breeding cages where the owner places two birds that they wish to breed from in a controlled environment. The second method is in an aviary with a number of Budgerigars which allows the birds to select their own partners. Generally Budgerigars are quite easy to sex as adult

They are active, clean feathered, inquisitive and extremely friendly birds which make ideal pets. If purchased at eight weeks of age they quickly bond with their new owner because they love being part of a group, in their native Australia they are a flock bird and therefore are keen to be a member of a ‘flock’ even if it is only their owner and themselves.

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birds in good condition will have a blue cere (the nostril area above the beak) if they are a cock or brown if they are a hen, no need for DNA sexing in Budgerigars! I have kept Budgerigars for many years, never exhibiting them just for sheer pleasure, mine are exhibition type but not to the size and standard of the top UK breeders but they are very attractive fit birds and can fly well. As mentioned

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earlier there are basically two ways to breed Budgerigars, either in breeding cages with one pair in each cage or in aviaries. At the end of the 2013 breeding season I selected four pairs of cobalt’s that were bred in that year. I kept them in a 10’ long aviary within my bird room through the winter with no supplementary heating, feeding was only millet both red and white as I was trying to keep the

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birds as slim as possible, fat budgerigars do not produce such good breeding results and they are prone to an early death. I placed different coloured plastic split rings on their legs in March and for a day I kept them in a Sonia cage so that I could study who had paired up to whom. This worked well and I wrote down the newly forming pairs, at this stage I had not decided whether to cage

breed them or place them in an aviary. It took me some time before I decided on the way I would breed with them; it was in a large aviary measuring 9’ x 18’ ample room for four pairs. It was not until May, yes I know that is a little late in the year but as their breeding aviary had access to natural daylight (not light through glass) I wanted to wait until the outside temperature warmed up. To be honest when I caught them up to transfer them to the breeding aviary they were very much on the heavy side especially the hens which was a bit of a disappointment as I was hoping that the winter feeding regime had kept them fairly lean. As I am always willing, in fact quite enthusiastic, to try slightly different approaches to breeding I decided to offer both typical Budgerigar nest boxes with a wooden concave and upright parakeet nest boxes with a wire ladder down to the base which was covered with wood chippings. It was quite interesting because three of the pairs selected the parakeet option and only one hen went for the typical Budgerigar nest box. With a relatively large aviary there was plenty of wall space to hang the nest boxes on the wire, what is important is to ensure that the tops of the boxes are at the same height, the higher the box the more popular it will be and fighting can occur to secure the highest. Picture (above left) of breeding stock in their aviary.

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The white nest box is typically used for Budgerigars the brown box to the left is normally used for parakeets this particular style has a square hole much larger than the typical box. The hen that used the white box struggled to get out of it at times as the hole was only just large enough for her. Fortunately there were no problems with fighting which can become quite bad certainly between hens with blood often seen and some quite severe damage to both participants. It might have been that because the birds were young, had been together over the winter and had formed their pairs that this helped to stop the curse of fighting but that is a bit of a guess, perhaps I was just lucky! Fighting and even killing other babies is possibly the greatest drawback to breeding in an aviary but it does allow the birds to keep relatively fit. As with all livestock feeding is an important aspect of their long term care and wellbeing as described earlier Budgerigars are primarily seed eaters with plain canary seed Phalaris canariensis and a variety of millets as their primary food source, spray millet seems a favourite. However they should be offered seasonal green foods such as chickweed which grows in a unique, intertwined manner and it has small white star-shaped flowers hence its Latin name, Stellaria media. Stems have a thin line of white hair that grows in a weave-like pattern.

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Chickweed Stellaria media. Also dandelion Taraxacum officinala broccoli, carrot, sweet apple, germinated seeds and grit. Fresh water each day is essential.

FEATURE These birds breed well and are the best type for new enthusiasts to obtain because they are the lowest priced and their young can be sold to new owners requiring a pet. The second type is the ‘exhibition type’ birds that have been selectively bred over many years to increase their size considerably over the ‘pet type’. These present more of a challenge to breed as they do not have quite the vitality of the smaller ‘pet type’ due to their increased size but they are not as difficult to breed as the ‘Champion exhibition’ stock owned by the experienced UK fanciers that spend many hours tending to their valuable birds and win the major prizes at Budgerigar shows. These birds are the largest and are the third type available but often at a high price. In reality there is no exact dividing line between the three types and a group of breeders would fail to agree in which of the three categories some birds should be placed but that does not matter, what is without doubt is that there is a very wide band of sizes represented within Budgerigars.

There are basically three types (or sizes) of Budgerigars available in the UK. The smallest are commonly known as ‘pet type’ these birds are the closest to wild Budgerigars in size and vitality but now available in virtually all the colours.

Budgerigars are primarily seed eaters with plain canary seed Phalaris canariensis and a variety of millets as their primary food source, spray millet seems a favourite. However they should be offered seasonal green foods such as chickweed

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the three weights were 41, 50 and 60 grams which rather surprised me as I thought that there would be a greater weight differential. No doubt the expert Champion breeders know why there is not that great a difference and maybe one of them could use these columns to shed some light on this part of this article?

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Picture of the three types of Budgerigar available in the UK. The Cobalt cock on the left is mine the large excellent Yellow Spangle Cock is owned by Champion Budgerigar breeder Roger Carr from Buckinghamshire and the Golden-faced Blue pet type Budgerigar on the right was bred by Hein van Grouw who is Curator of the bird skins collection at The Natural History Museum at Tring Hertfordshire. Very many thanks to these two gentlemen who allowed me to put this interesting picture together. Once these birds had been photographed they were weighed. The results were quite interesting, as I said in the third sentence of this article wild Budgerigars weigh between 26 and 29 grams (average 27.5 grams) so although the Golden-faced Blue is the smallest bird here at 41 grams it is 13.5 grams or a huge 50% larger than the wild type. My Cobalt came in at 50 grams and Roger’s Spangle weighed 60 grams. So the three weights were 41, 50 and 60 grams which rather surprised me as I thought that there would be a greater weight differential. No doubt the expert Champion breeders know why there is not that great a difference and maybe one of them could use these columns to shed some light on this part of this article?

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The picture on the right shows the Salter scales which weigh to 1 gram that was used to assess the weight of the Budgerigars, this model number is 1066 BKDR08 and was obtained from Tescos for a reasonable £9.00. I had a bit of a hunt around in my bird room and found a 2 litre ice cream tub that fitted nicely on the scales. There is a zeroing facility so once the tub is weighed you can zero the readout, place the Budgerigar inside and obtain an accurate reading, I think they are really designed for cooking but as that is not one of my skills (other than home made egg food) I think we will quickly move on! When buying Budgerigars always purchase young current year bred closed rung Budgerigars, you then know that no one has tried to breed from these birds and discovered that they have a breeding fault and they are passing them off on to you. In addition if they prove good breeders they will give you a number of years of successful and pleasurable breeding results. The ‘pet type’ Budgerigars breed for more years than the large Champion exhibition stock. Until you learn about colour genetics keep either green or blue normal coloured birds. If you obtain sex-linked mutations (Cinnamon or Opaline) it can be difficult to eradicate these mutations. Even when you purchase normal coloured birds there is a possibility that some of the cocks will be split for a sex linked mutation and

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will produce young hens showing the mutation. Normal hens are never split for a sex-linked mutation. The colour expectations of my pairs of Cobalt x Cobalt are 25% Sky Blue, 50% Cobalt and 25% Mauve. With such a wide range of Budgerigars on offer there are birds for all pockets. Budgerigars are one of the easiest birds to maintain and this factor alone is a great reason to keep them as they provide hours of interest as they fly around their aviary. It is really absorbing to watch the young birds developing their flying skills after leaving the nest box and very quickly they are playing their version of ‘tag’ with the adult cocks, going up to them tapping their beak and flying off before the adult bird knows what has happened! As Budgerigars are generally very social birds this bonding into the flock is well tolerated by the adults and is obviously

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The ‘pet type’ Budgerigars breed for more years than the large Champion exhibition stock. Until you learn about colour genetics keep either green or blue normal coloured birds. If you obtain sex-linked mutations (Cinnamon or Opaline) it can be difficult to eradicate these mutations.

part of the growing up process for the youngsters. There is no doubt that they learn a great deal by watching how the adults interact with the other mature birds in the flight, so much can be learnt just by watching others. Budgerigars bred in one year are ready to breed in the next season. As the spring and early summer are the best months to hatch and rear them this is when I like to breed my collection, especially if breeding in outside aviaries. All birds greatly benefit from ultra violet rays of natural daylight as it assists with calcium production and the building of strong bone structures, this is particularly important for breeding hens who need higher levels of calcium due to their egg production. If kept in outside aviaries with damp floors there is a strong possibility that intestinal worms will infect your stock because the soft shells of worm eggs will stay viable in these conditions much longer than they would in a dry bird room. An adult worm living in the intestine of your Budgerigar has the potential to lay 2,000 eggs a year these eggs pass out of the bird in its droppings and can quickly cover the floor of your flight. The worms live on the nutrients passing through the intestines and a large infestation of worms will basically starve the bird even though it is eating plenty of food. Each time your bird goes onto the floor to seek food it can easily

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ingest a worm egg. I once lost a light green hen which appeared to be in good condition possessing a rich brown cere and rearing five young in the nest box. Initially it was a bit of a puzzle as to why she had suddenly died but when I postmortemed her I found the breast to be very thin and the intestines full of adult worms, some thirty four in number, each worm being ¾” long, they were clearly visible. Fortunately the cock was an experienced father and he reared the babies himself. Liquid Panacur (it looks like milk) has proved to be a reliable wormer. I use the 2.5% solution and cut it 5 parts water to one part Panacur, a Budgerigar should be given ½ cc of this mixture. Panacur is well tolerated by birds and doses in excess of this are not fatal. In the past wormers were very bitter and even if you had used a worming needle with a specially adapted end to place the dose into the crop via the beak the birds would frequently sick the liquid up and your efforts were worthless. As Panacur is not bitter this is less likely to happen. Hospital cages are a valuable addition to the equipment that is needed to keep our birds in good condition. They have a heating element built into the wall or the floor of the hospital cage and are thermostatically controlled. They are capable of heating the bird to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and are very useful for hens that are egg bound or for birds that

FEATURE have a chill. They are also very good if a hen leaves her babies, it is surprising how quickly chilled young birds become active again when they receive additional heat, this then gives you the opportunity to locate another breeding hen to foster the young under or allows you to hand feed them. As they are normally built of white plastic they are easy to wipe clean and disinfect when they are not in use. The clear plastic front which slides up to act as a door allows you to view the condition of the bird without disturbing it further. Always place food and water on the floor of the hospital cage and when the bird starts to look better reduce the temperature by 2 degrees each day to slowly acclimatise the bird to a lower temperature. This is a typical Hospital cage, which for the purposes of this article also doubled up as the photographic cage as I do not like pictures distorted by punch bars.

Always place food and water on the floor of the hospital cage and when the bird starts to look better reduce the temperature by 2 degrees each day … One important area that beginners need to pay careful attention to is mice. These rodents are almost impossible to keep out of aviaries and bird rooms because when they are young they are small and can squeeze through the smallest of gaps either at ground level or in through the roof. Traps must be set and regularly checked also remember to renew the bait at least once a week. Do not use any cladding or have cavities in your construction because this is just where these little rodents love to set up home, behind boards that give them warmth and a feeling of great safety because they know you cannot see them! Mice have a distinct odour and their urine carries salmonella which they pass on to the seed you are feeding to your precious stock when they feed from the seed dishes. These are not nice rodents and need to be kept at very low levels both in your aviary and bird room. I am certain that many enthusiastic hobbyist bird keepers have been forced out of the hobby by a failure to confront these vermin at an early stage and then been completely overwhelmed when their numbers rocket to plague proportions, you have been warned!

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Returning to my Budgerigars, all four pairs went to nest fairly soon and the one pair that selected the typical Budgerigar nest box laid five eggs four of which were fertile and produced three cobalt cocks and a mauve hen before laying seven eggs in their second round but unfortunately only one egg was fertile, when this hatched it was well looked after by its parents. As the second round was fairly easy for the parents and they were looking very fit I decided to let them have a third round. Again the hen laid seven eggs and this time five of them were fertile but there was quite a size range amongst the babies, however, the mother was now quite experienced and managed to raise all five babies. 20

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Budgerigars feed their babies by regurgitation and it is not uncommon to have babies with a build up of dried regurgitated seed around their beaks, face and upper mandible, the food that builds up in this latter area does give me concern as it can stop the lower mandible growing below the upper mandible causing a condition known as ‘undershot beak’. I use a sharpened match stick to clean out the underside of the upper mandible and solve this potential problem. As Budgerigars are very tolerant to nest box inspection I look at my youngsters at least every other day to ensure that the young are developing correctly, that the nest box is not becoming too fouled with droppings and

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that rings have stayed on the babies little legs. To enable good record keeping it is important to ring your young birds with current year rings obtainable from all ring suppliers, I use Avian ID in Truro, Cornwall email info@avianid.co.uk Tele 01872 262777. If you ring your young Budgerigars you can exhibit them in the current year bred classes at exhibitions just to see how closely your birds match the show standards for this species. With regards to the results from the other three pairs I am afraid that these were not good. One hen died from egg binding when she tried to pass an overlarge egg. The other two pairs laid but none of their eggs were fertile which was rather unfortunate. All the pairs fortunately seem interested in eating my home made egg food so during the winter of 2014/15 and the 2015 spring I intend to add vitamin E to the diet through the egg food as it is claimed that the addition of this vitamin to the diet has a beneficial effect on fertility, I will see!

bread in a course powder) sold as a horse conditioner. However, this is no longer available and as I had found this to be a very useful ‘vehicle’ to cut the eggs and the ferret food I was rather disappointed at its removal from the market. I then went into ‘detective’ mode and tried to find out why it was no longer available, to cut a fairly long story short it appears that Aldersons were supplying their product to Badminton and it is the same product. Success, I had my cooked cereal back! On the bag is the following analysis:Per 100 grams Starch 56.7g Sugar 3.7g ProteinNx 6.3g Crude fibre 0.9g Ash 7.0g

Homemade Egg Food Ingredients • Aldersons Horse and Pony Feed made from bakery and pasta by-products (wheat). • Ferret food produced by Chudleys • 2 Standard sized eggs. • Water I had previously been using Badminton Cooked Cereal Conditioning Meal (dried BIRD SCENE

Method. Place into a bowl 300 grams of Aldersons meal which has been mixed with 100 grams of powdered ferret food. The ferret food is in a large pelleted form when purchased so it needs to be ground down to a powder before use in egg food I use my Kenwood Classic liquidiser for this. The two eggs are boiled for 11 minutes to ensure that any salmonella bacteria are killed. They are then placed in my Kenwood Classic liquidiser with 175 mls of the water they were boiled in and turned into an eggy liquid and poured onto the Aldersons meal and ferret food. A further 175 mls of water is poured into the food processor which is then activated to gather up any of the remaining egg and this watery mixture is also poured onto the Aldersons meal and ferret food. All the ingredients are mixed with a desert spoon until it turns into a crumbly moist mixture. Just a few words of caution if you use too much water you obtain a mushy mess that your birds will not eat. Just experiment with the amount of water used until you are happy with the mixture you produce. The above quantities produce a large amount of egg food so it may be preferable to halve all the ingredients when you first try this method. Budgerigars are normally fed on a mixture of canary seed and mixed millets, there is quite a large range of mixtures and the leading suppliers will have at least 8 varieties, generally the mixtures

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with the highest percentage of canary seed will be the most expensive. With regard to the experiment of providing ordinary Budgerigar nest boxes and parakeet style boxes the pair that successfully bred used the ordinary box and the other three hens selected the parakeet boxes so at present it seems that the ordinary box has produced the best results even though only one of the four pairs selected this style. The results from very small scale ‘experiments’ are always difficult to interpret but as I will do the same next year and add the results to those achieved so far I should have a larger set of statistics to work with at the end of the 2015 season. This series has given me great pleasure to write and I do hope that you have enjoyed this article. I am far from an experienced Budgerigar breeder but perhaps that is why I have found it relatively easy to write ‘Budgerigars for Beginners’ as I have no strong allegiance to any of the three types. Please do consider either starting to keep these highly entertaining and exceedingly friendly birds. They are a good species to start with or a great addition to an existing collection especially if kept in an outside aviary. Do ensure that they have access to the inside if the weather turns cold and wet. Remember to place a bench close to the flight so that you can enjoy their antics as you spend an hour or so watching the Budgerigars.

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vian Influenza (“Bird Flu”) viruses are once again spreading west across Europe, carried by migrating birds – particularly geese, swans and ducks. The current strains are highly virulent and contagious to birds, but have little pathogenicity to humans.

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As yet no cases have been reported in the UK, but Defra imposed the following restrictions on 6th December 2016 as a precaution. Susceptible species are poultry, including turkeys, ducks, geese, ornamental waterfowl and gamebirds. All

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BY ALAN JONES

UK UNDER THREAT AGAIN FROM AVIAN ‘FLU DECEMBER 2016

flocks of over 50 birds must be registered with Defra, while smaller back yard flocks are exempt from this ruling. All such birds must now be kept indoors where practicable for the next 30 days,(until 6th January 2017), to prevent access and contact by wild birds. The viruses are

spread via direct contact with droppings and respiratory discharges. In addition, biosecurity improvement is advised, in the form of disinfectant footbaths as well as good standards of cleaning and disinfection generally, improved control of rodents, prevention

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Susceptible species are poultry, including turkeys, ducks, geese, ornamental waterfowl and gamebirds. All flocks of over 50 birds must be registered with Defra, while smaller back yard flocks are exempt from this ruling.

of access to food and water by wild birds, and reducing human and vehicular traffic between sites where poultry are housed. To date, this ruling does not apply to parrots or birds of prey, but the situation will be updated on a daily basis, especially if the virus crosses our shores. The thirty-day ruling may also be extended if required. Please keep an eye on our website/facebook page, or www.gov.uk. However, it is still sensible to take precautions, by bringing your

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birds into closed buildings where possible, or covering their aviaries with Perspex or plastic sheeting, as well as noting the biosecurity methods noted above. Be vigilant and careful, but don’t panic! Any findings of dead wild waterfowl (swans, ducks, geese, gulls) or groups of more than 5 other wild bird species must be reported to the Defra helpline at 03459 335577. Further updates will be posted as we have them. Alan K Jones BVetMed MRCVS (7 Dec 2016)

SALE DAYS IN 2017 SUMMER SHOW: SUNDAY 2nd JULY 2017 NATIONAL EXHIBITION: SUNDAY 8th OCTOBER 2017 ‘HELP BIRD KEEPERS SHOW’: SUNDAY 3rd DECEMBER 2017

ALL P.S. MEMBERS ENTER OUR SHOWS EARLY. ALL SHOWS IN 2013 WILL BE HELD AT STAFFORD COUNTY SHOWGROUND ST18 0BD

PARROT SOCIETY

THIS IS JUST A NOTI FICATION OF DATE S PLEASE DO NOT BO OK UNTIL YOU SEE FU LL DETAILS IN THE MAG AZINE All our shows are he ld at Staffordshire County Showground, Westo n Road, Stafford ST 18 0BD.

ALL MEMBERS ENTER OUR SHOWS EARLY NDS

ASED ENTRY WRISTBA

WITH FREE PRE-PURCH

BY DAVE DICKASON

THE WORLD’S LARGEST FREE FLIGHT AVIARY BIRDS OF EDEN

or anyone thinking about a holiday touring the garden route of South Africa a visit to Birds of Eden is a must. Located near Plettenberg Bay in South Africa, Birds of Eden is the world’s largest free flight multi species aviary. The aviary

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housing approximately 3000 birds comprising of over 200 species of which around 58 are parrots, it has been developed to establish a place for unwanted birds, a place which is unique in all respects. All of the birds have a sanctuary which

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DONATE TO OUR CONSERVATION FUND… CLICK THE LINK BELOW: http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/donations.php

covers 2.1761 square hectares (21.761 square meters). Construction of the aviary was an enormous task, the frame structure comprises of 28 masts, and heights vary between 2 meters and 34 meters. A series of cables link the masts and

support the wire mesh (stainless steel knit mesh) The entire project was built by unskilled workers from a neighbouring village; the flight took four and a half years to complete. There are several interesting features

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including a river which runs through the entire aviary in a closed system to prevent any pollution. A mist system has been fitted to simulate the rain forest, 70% of the area within the flight is indigenous forest. The entire flight has dedicated walkways and is wheel chair friendly. It’s a safe haven where previously owned

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pets and unwanted birds can be taken and will be safe within a protected environment. Feeding stations are located throughout the aviary providing a variety of seed and fresh fruit / vegetables. Interaction with the birds is not encouraged; the aim is to give the birds an environment which is as natural as possible allowing them to live a natural life.

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All of the parrot species are free flight alongside other birds including various Turacos’, Barbets’, finches’, Sunbirds’, several breeds of water fowl, Flamingo, Ibis and numerous other species which creates an amazing sight as one follows the walkways through the flight. The enclosure also houses Bats,

Squirrels, Antelope and primates, although we didn’t see any Bats as we visited late morning. It’s so large it took us a few hours to walk the pathways this included a welcomed stop at the café within the aviary. A really good and memorable visit, highly recommended for all parrot and bird enthusiasts.

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BY RICHARD JOHNSTON

SPONSORS LETTER 2016 I

found it amazing how passionate people became with the recent Brexit vote. Both for and against it

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sparked deep discussion which is still carrying on. Whether for or against we now have to wait and see what this great country will make of this historic public decision. We will also have to wait and see what impact it may have upon our hobby.

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I would not want to touch upon movement of livestock which may include avian species for breeding purposes but what interests me is the amount of seed that we currently import from EU countries. These commodities are allowed free trade within EU countries and without tariffs. The tariffs were set up to restrict importation of certain goods from outside the EU to encourage trade between member states. Whilst the tariff on canary

seed was set at zero many years ago, it still remains on millet. This means that USA white millet is £50.00 per tonne dearer than French white millet because of the import tariff. As we leave the EU this tariff may not apply and so it opens up the market in free trade. However, will the EU apply export tariffs to their goods when we are no longer members? We grow all our medium striped and white sunflower under contract with BIRD SCENE 33

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farmers in southern France – these regions are excellent growing areas with the right soil and plenty of sunshine. We import large amounts of black oil sunflower for wild bird food as well as red dari, hempseed and buckwheat. What’s more, import tariffs were lifted from the Ukraine because the country wants to join the EU - which has meant we were able to import millet from there at much more competitive rates than France for the first time in years. All this has proved very beneficial over the years and logistics have improved massively to accommodate this. However, things change and we must embrace this and look to make things better out of the challenges that face us. Thirty years ago we imported all our canary seed from Australia and Canada. Due to improved growing conditions and stronger seed varieties, this year we are growing canary

We grow all our medium striped and white sunflower under contract with farmers in southern France – these regions are excellent growing areas with the right soil and plenty of sunshine. seed as close as quarter of a mile from our warehouses in East Yorkshire. As our own farmers face uncertainty with the potential loss of agricultural subsidies, we can perhaps offset this with growing other specialist crops in the UK. Whilst there are uncertainties and challenges ahead, one thing that does remain is Johnston and Jeff’s support for the hobby, the Parrot Society and the National. We hope that you have a great day and we look forward to seeing you there .. particularly as this is the 50th Anniversary of the Parrot Society. What a tribute to this great organisation.

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BY SIGRID MARZ

CAUGHT BY THE LINEOLATED PARAKEET BUG 36

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t’s only a few months ago that I was able to read a lovely piece of English Linnie literature that was published in ‘The Magazine of the Parrot Society UK’ in June 2003 (Vol 37, pages 266 – 269). Thanks a lot – Les Rance – for sharing that with me. Well, in this article Jerry S. Fisher described his first experiences with the Lineolated Parakeet in a very humorous way which made it a pleasure to read. The author chose names for his Linnies, but from his cat’s point of view. So they end up with names like ‘Breakfast’, ‘Lunch’, ‘Pringle’ and ‘Pretzel’. It’s more than obvious: this guy had been caught by the Lineolated Parakeet bug! So am I for 20 years and because I really enjoyed reading it I will use this article – aptly called ‘Lineolated Parakeets’ – as a central theme for my little essay about these adorable little parrots. ”Always bear in mind that the birds may not have read the same books or articles!“ This ‘slogan’ perfectly fits to Lineolated Parakeets. It was not until the late 1990’s that Linnies were characterized as boring, even lethargic tiny parrots without a spectacular plumage or manner. And indeed, when kept in small cages with only little interior Lineolated Parakeets are really calm and don’t move around a lot.

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However, when a few people tried to place the parakeets into bigger aviaries, gave them room to fly, a few perches and twigs, the birds proved the literature wrong. Suddenly they behaved like we know today: perky little climbers, fast fliers and charming personalities. But – let’s take one thing at a time... Fine feathers make fine birds At first glance the Lineolated Parakeet mainly is green, although many tinges are possible from light green to darker grass green. The parakeet-typical long tail feathers are missing, only one third of the total body length of around 16 cm is covered by the short, pointy tail. Also the body shape is more like that of a shrunken Amazon parrot than that of svelte parakeets like Budgies or Cockatiels. With its weight between 45 and 70 g – depending on the size – the Lineolated Parakeet definitely belongs to the small parrots. A striking characteristic of these so called Linnies is the big horn-coloured beak with its featherless cere on a relatively huge head. So it is no surprise that the Latin genus name ‘Bolborhynchus’ indeed describes this as a ‘bulb beak’ which the Lineolated Parakeet has in common with the other members of the ‘Thick-billed parakeets’. Referring to the second part of the Latin species name ‘lineola’ we find another characteristic of these little parrots: fine black lines and

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markings on the grass-green plumage which are only missing on the lime-green underside, forehead, cheek and throat. The flight feathers shimmer bluish. Their giant feet with dark claws seem to be too big for these tiny birds. We can learn from literature that the native habitat of the Lineolated Parakeets is in cloud forests and woodlands of Middle and South America, from Mexico in the north to Peru and Bolivia in the south. There they spend the majority of the day hidden secretly in the treetops, relaxing, caring for their feathers or cuddling with one another. In small or big groups Linnies go out for a hunt for

food, which due to their nomadic lifestyle varies and possibly includes tree seeds and fruits, but also tree buds, fresh shoots and insects. Now we can understand the appearance of the green mini-parrot much better: Well camouflaged among the treetops, their black feather markings imitate the play between light and dark perfectly and they appear to melt completely into their surroundings. The compact physique allows the birds to move more easily around between twigs and leaves, long tail feathers would only disturb. And the huge feet as well as the stocky beak turn out as perfect tools for climbing on thick

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branches and gnarled trunks. Nowadays not all Lineolated Parakeets are simply green any more. During the last years several different colour variants emerge. Probably the most prominent colour mutations are those of the green and turquoise colour lines. A so-called ‘dark factor’ leads to dark green (D green) Linnies when present once, and to olive green (DD green) when present twice in green birds. The same is true for turquoise birds which are not of pure blue colour because there is still some yellow colour left. Therefore the plumage is more of a green-bluish colour which becomes cobalt blue (D turquoise) with one, and dark grey - called mauve - (DD turquoise) with two dark factors. ‘Inos’ look like Linnies from another planet. Due to the loss of all melanin (which gives the feather its blue and black colour) ‘Lutinos’ show a sun yellow plumage with no black markings, the down is white and the eyes are red. Combined with the turquoise colour mutation the parakeets appear in an angelic cream-white colour and are therefore called ‘Creaminos’. Another colour mutation arose: the greywing factors. Like the dark factor they can show up as one or two factors, leading to lighter plumage colours or even to pastel-coloured parakeets. All these mutations can be combined – at least to a certain extent – and therefore represent an almost endless chart of

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colour in the Lineolated Parakeets. It’s also the number of these mutations that make it very difficult, if not impossible, to draw conclusions from the plumage concerning the gender of the birds. There are many approaches like a bluish shimmer on the head of a female Linnie, as well as less black markings especially on the elbow and the two middle navigational feathers. But whatever you heard, most of these methods turned out to be extremely errorprone. It probably would be more accurate to make a guess. Sometimes it works properly to keep two hens or two cocks. The first usually is easier, but may lead to constant egg-laying. The combination of two mature males – however – will cause problems if they are both dominant. Fights and aggressions might be the result. So, if you want to be sure: let the sex of your parakeets be determined by DNA analysis. Chow down When kept properly Lineolated Parakeets can reach an age of 13 or 14 years. In addition to a stimulating environment, a relatively high air humidity and nice company, one major basis for a long, healthy parakeet life is of course a varied nutrition. Because Linnies love eating and they eat a lot they need a low-calorie diet which is rich in greens. If fed too fatty and rich food they would become portly, and sooner or later also sick.

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Therefore today the following suggestion applies for Linnie nutrition: 50 % fruits and vegetables, 10 % greens and herbs, 40 % different seeds. You can serve nearly everything you can find in the fruit and veggie shelves in your local supermarket (except for avocado and cabbage leaves). Most Linnies prefer fruits like apples, grapes and melon, but also carrots, celery and fennel. You will

When kept properly Lineolated Parakeets can reach an age of 13 or 14 years. In addition to a stimulating environment, a relatively high air humidity and nice company, one major basis for a long, healthy parakeet life is of course a varied nutrition. Because Linnies love eating and they eat a lot they need a low-calorie diet which is rich in greens.

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Inevitably there will be liaisons and love affairs in a Linnie flock, or within a harmonic single pair. If two parakeets ‘fall in love’ they might want to start a family. Once in spring and a second time in the late summer the hormones drive the Lineolated Parakeets crazy which appears by grooming, feeding, but also arguing.

have to find out if your birds like their food as a whole fruit, chopped into little pieces or even grated. For a change you can offer wild herbs like chickweed or half-ripe wild grasses, lamb’s lettuce or other kinds of leaf salads. To complete

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the menu of your parakeets a wellbalanced seed mixture for Cockatiels, Neophema parakeets, Lovebirds or Parrotlets will work perfectly. Many Lineolated Parakeets also love spray millet, soaked seeds or even cooked foods. It’s up to you to find out. Family bliss Inevitably there will be liaisons and love affairs in a Linnie flock, or within a harmonic single pair. If two parakeets ‘fall in love’ they might want to start a family. Once in spring and a second time in the late summer the hormones drive the Lineolated Parakeets crazy which appears by grooming, feeding, but also arguing.

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Later on you might observe copulations where the cock mounts the hen from the side, and a few days later there will be a telling bulge on the female’s cloaca, meaning she is nearing the time to lay her eggs. Three to eight eggs are laid between every one and three days. However the hen usually doesn’t start incubating before the second egg appears. The first Lineolated Parakeets were imported into Europe in the 1900s. Breeding them turned out to be very difficult because the parakeets caught in the wild were susceptible to illnesses and stress. Now there are no more wild Linnies in Europe, and breeding them –

except from little difficulties – is easy. A speciality of Lineolated Parakeets is colony breeding, where young birds are reared and raised successfully in a group of Linnies. If provided with enough space Lineolated Parakeets are still friendly and hardly territorial during the breeding season. That’s why the chicks, which hatch after approximately 21 days incubation time with white down, often not only are fed by their parents but also by older siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents or any other Linnie that passes by. After six weeks the young are independent but should still remain in the flock for several months, or several weeks at least, to learn proper social behaviour. Please always keep in mind: If you are not able to keep all the chicks look out for a nice place for the young birds BEFORE you allow the parents to breed. If you don’t want parakeet offspring, remove all nesting boxes and provide sleeping boxes without bottoms instead. Or replace the eggs with plastic eggs and wait. Usually the hens leave the clutch after four weeks then. Home sweet home Though the above quotation was about young Linnies doing their first flights it’s also true for some adult birds sometimes. A Lineolated Parakeet’s flight pattern, while by no means elegant, is strong, fast and practical. This allows them to cover BIRD SCENE

large distances, which is necessary in their native environment. Landing properly – obviously – is not of that big importance and sometimes really looks adventurous. Kept in cages or aviaries Lineolated Parakeets still need a lot of space despite their small size. The bird house should be one metre long at least. If you keep your birds in a small cage without time of free flight you will end up with lazy, lethargic green feathered balls. Only when provided

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Lineolated Parakeets love to hide, even in the daytime. They look for caves, clefts, holes or they get a sleeping house or box. To avoid them going broody you should provide them with sleeping houses without ground floors, but with one or two perches to sit on. In addition to ropes, swings and ladders there’s still some space for a few toys in the aviary. with enough space to fly and move around your Linnies will show their full temperament. Beside several containers for food and water you should furnish the bird house with many branches of different size from

FEATURE trees like apple or plum tree or other non-poisonous woods. This is to wear down the parakeet’s claws properly which otherwise tend to grow until the bird gets problems walking and climbing. Therefore, always pay close attention to the length of your bird’s claws, and trim them, if necessary. Lineolated Parakeets love to hide, even in the daytime. They look for caves, clefts, holes or they get a sleeping house or box. To avoid them going broody you should provide them with sleeping houses without ground floors, but with one or two perches to sit on. In addition to ropes, swings and ladders there’s still some space for a few toys in the aviary. For a good illumination use a full spectrum lamp that imitates sunlight this produces an environment in real colour. For the ground wood shavings and granulates will work perfectly. Depending on the size of the parakeet flock you may have to provide a bigger aviary, made of wood or metal, indoor or outdoor, the bigger the better. But, also keeping your Linnies in a separate bird room is possible. It’s delightful to watch a harmonic couple of Lineolated Parakeets grooming day in, day out, caring for one another, doing everything together or just hang around for hours. Multiply this by 2, or 4, or even 6. In their native habitat Lineolated Parakeets also live together in small or bigger

groups, search for food together and spend the night side by side in their sleeping tree. The group represents variety and protection, too. Nobody is alone. Single birds live together with couples, young with old, widows with adolescents. If young birds have the chance to grow up in a group like that it’s not only the parents that educate and – if necessary – to rebuke them. This process of socialization is very important for little birds. There is no fixed rule when a Linnie flock develops such a group dynamic because it depends on the birds’ age, gender ratio, individual characters, level of socialization and also the state of health. Over the past years it showed that a group number of at least six individuals can work as a guidance level. Although Lineolated Parakeets are really peaceful and friendly fellows there are sometimes arguments within a group, especially during the breeding season. The easiest way to solve that kind of conflict is to provide the flock with enough space to keep the squabblers out of each others way. It goes without saying that the volume/ sound of the parakeet group rises with its size. Several Linnies just have to talk more and louder to understand everyone and everything than a single couple. Especially during their daily ‘5 minutes’ in the morning and the late afternoon a flock of Lineolated Parakeets may be

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louder than tolerable levels, which should be kept in mind when housing the birds in an outdoor aviary. Before breakfast the group gathers itself and says ‘hello’ to the world loudly. Afterwards the day flows easily with grooming, eating, relaxing, eating again, maybe having a shower and – you might have guessed already – eating. In the late afternoon the birds come together again, chattering and gabbling, until they fall asleep after sunset. Lineolated Parakeets usually are peaceful and inoffensive and therefore can be kept together with other peaceful parrots or finches. However, you should always make sure that the amount of Lineolated Parakeets outnumbers any livelier birds, such as Budgies. On the other hand Cockatiels, despite their size, are easily dominated by Lineolated Parakeets. It can be problematic to mix different 46

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birds due to their species-specific needs. Compare Budgies and Linnies and you will find two species from different continents with totally different nutritional habits, temperament and daily routine. Is there a way to satisfy both species in one aviary? Or - maybe – it’s better to keep a pure Budgie group or Linnie flock. Slightly different from the rest ... There’s a big advantage of keeping Lineolated Parakeets in an outdoor aviary: they can breath fresh air every day, they can relax in the sun – and they can enjoy a rain shower. The latter is really spectacular because the bathing behaviour of the Linnies is – well – different. They latch themselves onto thin twigs or lie down onto gnarly branches, spread their wings and every single feather, moving around, writhing, just to

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be sure, that every bit of their body would get wet. Afterwards they spend a lot of time on caring for their feathers and grooming. Of course you also can shower your ‘indoor birds’ with a water spray bottle which they definitely will enjoy. But this strange manner is not the only Linnie-like style: • Climbers: Lineolated Parakeets love to fly, and they do it fast and efficient. But they even more love to climb around. If you think Linnies are dull and slow sometimes, you should watch them crawling and climbing. They can do this unbelievably fast, trees up, trees down, preferably head first. • Following the last issue – nearly everything can be done head first: sleeping, dozing, having a shower, climbing and – of course – eating. • While sleeping or snoozing Lineolated Parakeets often spread their feathers, the eyes are nearly closed the posture is more hanging than sitting. Altogether they look like an exploded ball of wool. But you can be sure: As long as your birds don’t show any signs of illness they are really fine. Because that’s how Linnies relax. • Lineolated Parakeets trust in their camouflage. That’s why they have a very limited flight distance. If the flight distance falls short, though, the birds will begin to fly aimlessly in a panic screeching loudly. These panic

attacks usually end in injuries, or, in some cases, death due to a broken neck after a collision with the wall or aviary wiring. You should therefore use caution when approaching your birds. I now want to finish my little essay with another quotation from Jerry S. Fisher: You see, they are different, they are special, and they are absolutely adorable. It’s so easy to get infected by the Linnie bug and – to be honest – is there really a reason to resist?

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LOW SUNFLOWER FOR LARGER PARROTS

A low fat high nutrition, low fat blend for all larger Parrot species including the large Macaws, Black Cockatoos and Moluccans - 26 ingredients, 57% fruit and nuts - 7 different fruits, 6 different nuts. Composition: medium striped and white sunflower, safflower, whole maize, oats, pumpkin seed, flaked peas, flaked maize, puffed maize, papaya, banana, currants, pineapple, apricot, coconut, dates, brazil nut kernels, walnut halves, peanuts, monkey nuts, pine nuts, soft shell almonds, chillies, rosehips, carrot. Items such as micronised peas and puffed wheat and maize give a sweeter taste and are easier to digest than the raw equivalent.

THE FINEST BIRD FOOD CONTACT: JOHNSTON & JEFF LTD., BALTIC BUILDINGS, GATEWAY BUSINESS PARK, GILBERDYKE,EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE HU15 2TD T: 01430 449444 www.johnstonandjeff.co.uk mail@johnstonandjeff.co.uk Johnston & Jeff foods are only sold through retailers. Please contact us if you need information on your nearest stockists, our mail order partners, and for information and feeding guides. We reserve the right to add to the composition of our blends if we find a better grade or wish to enhance the menu. Please check our web site for up-to-date details.