BIRD ISSUE FORTY ONE: WINTER 2019
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THE MAGAZINE FOR HOBBYIST BREEDERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS
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MICE, ROOFS AND BIRD ROOM CONSTRUCTION
SP RI N 4T G E H D I 20 MA TIO 19 RC N H OU
BREEDING THE PAGODA MYNAH OR STARLING
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THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION 2018
INTRODUCT
Les Rance, Editor, The Parrot Society UK | www.theparrotsocietyuk.org | les.rance@
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his time last year we were experiencing Avian Flu with an outbreak in Diss in Norfolk that started on 3rd June 2017 and as African Grey parrots had been uplisted to Annex ‘A’ of CITES we are advising people on what was required from DEFRA to ensure that all Greys that are sold have the correct Article 10 papers. We had to inform people thinking of buying an African Grey that they must ensure that it had the yellow CITES documentation, it is an offence to buy a Grey if it is not correctly licenced. On 15th June 2017 Alan Jones and I travelled to the DEFRA offices in Bristol for a meeting with officers responsible for the implementation of the CITES regulations. Well in the past twelve months sellers have become much more aware of the up-listing of African Greys to Annex ‘A’ of CITES and the numbers of calls to our office on this subject have greatly reduced. However we did have a scare regarding Newcastle Disease in Belgium during the run up to this year’s National Exhibition at Stafford, this infection was in holdings of poultry and the authorities in Belgium managed to contain the outbreak and it did not arrive in the UK. We all know that bird keeping is a 04
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relaxing past-time, however, for hobbyist breeders that keep their birds in unheated aviaries through the poor weather experienced during the winter months it can also be a rather worrying time, however, with careful preparation and planning we can mitigate the worst of the weather. If aviaries are exposed to the wind then the provision of clear plastic sheeting wrapped around three sides of the aviary improves the conditions inside remarkably and at a very low cost. During the winter moths it is always important to feed your birds each day, not only to ensure they have plenty of food but also to study your birds and make sure they are not distressed by the weather conditions. Those who keep their stock in breeding rooms where they can easily turn up the heating however are in a far more satisfactory position. In this edition of Bird Scene we are very pleased to have an excellent article from Rosemary Low on the problems that mice can cause, this is very apt at this time of year because it is now that many mice are wanting to ‘move in’ and thus avoid the cold outside. There is also a nice article from Ray Holland regarding Pagoda Mynahs and his experiences with these delightful softbills. Also there is an article by myself on the
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BY THE EDITOR
LES RANCE
@theparrotsocietyuk.org Cape Doves which come from South Africa and are now becoming rare in UK avicultural circles. So really quite a lot for you to read and hopefully pick up some pointers that may well assist you with whatever specie of bird you currently maintain. This is now the fortieth edition of Bird Scene, how quickly seven years can pass when you are working on project – the first FREE on-line bird magazine produced in the UK. At 48 pages this is quite a big read! Every time we post the Parrot Society magazine I cringe at the cost. Postal costs appear to have increased far faster than inflation and if The Royal Mail are not careful they will find that their income will reduce even further as people and businesses send less and less by conventional means. With CPI inflation now running ell in excess of 2.0% costs continue to rise. These costs obviously affect bird clubs when the show schedules have to be posted to potential exhibitors and equally it affects the exhibitors when they return their entries. In addition how much longer will bird clubs be able to afford to post magazines to their members? This must be a great worry to many club officials. Fortunately with an e-magazine we do not have this problem, or for that matter the cost of colour printing. As a
result of increases to the costs of both postage and printing I am really pleased that we decided to produce Bird Scene as a FREE e-magazine. We have learnt a great deal over the past seven years about this way of communicating with bird enthusiasts and I am sure that this knowledge will become more and more valuable as we see further increases in costs to paper magazines. We are always happy to receive articles about the species that are being exhibited at The National and are very pleased to give publicity to the club supplying the information. Regular readers will know that Bird Scene as been produced to publicise The National Exhibition held each year at our October Sale Day/Show at Stafford County Showground which was held on Sunday 7th October and to promote our Conservation efforts for threatened parrots in the wild. An archive of earlier editions of Bird Scene can be found on the Home Page of our website www. theparrotsocietyuk. org so if you would like to see earlier versions please do log on to our site.
ARTICLE BY: ROSEMARY LOW
MICE, ROOFS AND BIRD ROOM CONSTRUCTION
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“BE AWARE THAT INSULATING THE BIRD ROOM IS ASKING FOR TROUBLE. OF COURSE IT HELPS TO PREVENT HEAT LOSS BUT IT IS BETTER TO SPEND A LITTLE MORE ON HEATING THE ROOM (IF HEAT IS NECESSARY)”
ice and rats are extremely resourceful creatures. If there is a way to get into our aviaries and bird rooms, they will find it. This means that waging war on rodents must commence literally before the foundations of the building are laid. In fact it should start with the planning. If you decide to build a wooden bird room or perhaps convert a double garage which is partly constructed from wood, it will be almost impossible to exclude vermin. Gnawing through wood is so easy for mice. Once they enter it will be extremely difficult to exclude them. If you must use timber, take the following precautions: 1. Stand the building on a concrete base. 2. Be aware that insulating the bird room is asking for trouble. Of course it helps to prevent heat loss but it is better to spend a little more on heating the room (if heat is necessary) than living with mice breeding in the cavities between the two walls. I know because this happened to me. After two micefree years, the mice moved in. The glasswool insulating material was deemed perfect for mouse nestmaking. The only solution was to rip out the inner wall, including the roof lining, and leave the building permanently without lining. The mice moved out. But that was not the end of the problem. They moved into the other building which was lined, and took up residence in the
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CHECK THE POINT WHERE ELECTRICITY CABLES LEAVE THE BUILDING, COVER VENTILATOR AND EXTRACTOR OUTLETS WITH SMALL MESH AND ENSURE THAT ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS ARE TIGHT-FITTING.
roof. A nightmare scenario! The patter of feet which I was hearing daily were those of mice. There was no alternative but to take the roof off and construct an entirely new one. That was four years ago and my bird room is now mousefree. One advantage was that with the new roof I did away with the skylight windows. Its inclusion had been a mistake because it caused condensation to drip from the roof to the floor.
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3. If you have a wooden building, nail tin plate or aluminium, inside and out, to the height of 1ft (31cm). This precaution will be useless if there are any holes through which mice can enter. Check the point where electricity cables leave the building, cover ventilator and extractor outlets with small mesh and ensure that all doors and windows are tight-fitting. Also remember that if you have pop-holes to allow your birds access to outdoor flights, mice will enter if
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they have access to the flights. Welded mesh should be buried around the perimeter of the flights to prevent this. For preference, don’t build a bird room from wood. Brick is much more expensive but if you can afford it, brick or breeze blocks are ideal materials. You might also consider obtaining, second-hand, the kind of prefabricated cabins which are used on building sites, for example. As long as there is no wood in their construction!
Precautions If you have outdoor aviaries and you feed your birds in the flight part, mice will be almost impossible to eliminate. You might also attract rats. To protect food and water from vermin, weather and the droppings of wild birds (increasing the likelihood of disease being transmitted), it is essential to have an indoor section, either an enclosed shelter or a cage inside a building, where the birds are fed. This increases the length of time it will take mice to find a food supply,
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“GENERALLY SPEAKING, ONCE A CAT HAS DISCOVERED IT CANNOT REACH THE BIRDS IN YOUR AVIARIES, IT WILL LOSE INTEREST IN THEM - BUT IF THERE ARE MICE ABOUT IT WILL RETURN NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.”
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although it is not guaranteed to keep them out if wood is used to construct shelter or building. There are other precautions that you can take to discourage mice from finding your garden attractive. If you feed the wild birds, clear up any uneaten food before nightfall. If you keep rabbits or other pets that have a dry food, remove any dry food at night. Finally, do not discourage your neighbour’s cat from visiting your garden at nightfall. Generally speaking, once a cat has discovered it cannot reach the birds in your aviaries, it will lose interest in them - but if there are mice about it will return night after night. I would strongly advise that when planning your aviaries, buy enough welded mesh to double wire all surfaces that are accessible to cats and owls. It might seem like an expensive exercise but this will prevent deaths from injuries by night marauders. Also, with the increase in Sparrowhawks in gardens, it will prevent these pests from attacking your birds. Another tip is to grow climbers such as passionflower, honeysuckle and clematis over the top and sides of the flights. Sparrowhawks are now so numerous, even in city gardens, that every step should be taken to prevent them diving on the aviaries. Even if they cannot reach the birds, the shock can cause birds to desert eggs or young.
trap manufacturers, I have to say that I have never caught a single mouse in the metal traps that catch mice alive. I am told that wooden ones are more successful. Obviously traps can be used only in bird rooms where there are no birds loose. They can be used in aviaries only if they can be placed inside a box and if no small birds are present which could enter the box. The traditional type of spring trap, usually baited with cheese, can be successful - assuming you are not squeamish about removing victims. Note also that mice absolutely love chocolate and this can be the best bait of all. Be warned that some very cheap wooden spring traps are almost impossible to set. I once tried a plastic spring-trap which was very easy to set. I soon found it had a major disadvantage. The spring was not strong enough. The mice would be trapped but not killed. I found mice trapped by the tail or the foot and being too soft-hearted to see any animal suffer, I would release these victims alive. The newspapers often feature advertisements for ultrasonic mouse deterrents. I have not tried them since I have been assured by two people who have that they are not effective.
Eliminating mice The trap is the most environmentally friendly form of elimination. But does it work? At the risk of displeasing mouse
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“IF THEY CAN FEED ON SEED, THEY WILL NOT TAKE THE POISON. MICE ARE SO RESOURCEFUL THAT THEY CAN LEARN TO FEED DURING THE DAY BUT OFFERING THEM ONLY POISON AT NIGHT WILL USUALLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM.”
Members’ experiences on this method would be welcome. The obvious alternative to traps is poison. I greatly dislike the use of poison since it can get into the food chain and because death is not swift. Presumably it could also poison a cat if a cat caught a mouse which had eaten poison. I look on poison as a last resort. However, to deal with rats and, in some situations, with mice, there seems to 12
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be no alternative. The mouse poison which you can buy in a hardware store is unlikely to be effective over the long term, since mice will eventually become immune to it. It is therefore advisable to contact the vermin control department of the local council. On one occasion I saw a rat in my garden and a very helpful man from the Council arrived with some blocks of poison placed inside small cardboard cartons. There
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is no charge for this service. If you as much as catch a glimpse of a rat, call the council immediately. Do not leave nest-boxes in position in outdoor aviaries all year unless you close the entrance by nailing wood over it. If a rat enters the aviary and finds a bird roosting inside, it will kill it and you are likely to find a headless victim. If you place mouse poison in your bird room, don’t think all you have to do is
to put it in a suitable place and wait for the mouse population to crash. Now your work begins. On the first and succeeding nights of poison use in a bird room, sweep the floor, clean the cage trays, etc, and remove every food container. If they can feed on seed, they will not take the poison. Mice are so resourceful that they can learn to feed during the day but offering them only poison at night will usually solve the problem. BIRD SCENE 13
THE NATION EXHIBITION
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n contrast to the wet on Sunday morning in 2017 it was dry but very cold, when leaving my room in Stafford I had to de-ice my car, the first time this year! By buying prepaid entry wrist bands all our members could enter the Halls quickly after 7.30 am even though they had to walk through the disinfectant mats used to protect our birds from unwanted viruses. The sale of
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hobbyist breeding stock both from our member’s and non member’s tables who can sell finches, canaries and budgerigars but not other members of the parrot family was very well supported with over 640 tables in the Bingley Hall and Prestwood Centre. A large number of hobbyist bred stock found new homes from the buyers who came in large numbers. There is no
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NAL 2018
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doubt that The National Exhibition is the leading and most popular bird show held in this country for hobbyist bird breeders, not just because of the sales tables but also the Exhibition that is held in the Argyle and Sandylands Centres. There is something for everyone available from the 60+ traders who so generously support this event, especially from our sponsor Johnston & Jeff Ltd the leading UK seed supplier. The exhibition in the Argyle and Sandylands Centres organised with the assistance of the 18 clubs that support this event continues to receive good support. These enthusiasts work so hard to construct the staging from mid-day on
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the Saturday and take in many entries in the late afternoon and Saturday evening. This judged event was as popular as ever with many high class birds on view, even if numbers were down on 2017. Crystal glass rose bowls were kindly donated by Ray Howells of Birds and Things for best bird in Show and by Steve Roach of Rosemead Aviaries for the best junior exhibit, their generous donations for these valuable awards are very much appreciated. Cage and Aviary Birds give the Exhibition a special supplement in their publication so that all their readers are aware of which clubs to contact to enter their exhibition stock into the Show.
FEATURE Again Neil Randle our magazine designer took a 1,000 images on the day so that we have plenty for the next twelve months. Please do enjoy the pictures on the following pages. In 2019 the Show will be held on Sunday 6th October and will follow similar lines to this year’s event. Within the two exhibition halls there is always a great buzz of chatter and excitement, it is always a pleasure just to stand there and absorb the environment and listen to people enjoying themselves and promoting their hobby.
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BY PENNY PICKSTONE
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS AT THE NATIONAL THE FIVE SECTION WINNERS: Best Budgerigar: H. & D. Hockaday’s grey green Budgerigar Best Foreign: normal cock Java sparrow benched by Eric Michie Best Canary: unflighted variegated Gloster corona hen by Rob & Ian Wright Best British: Kevin Taylor’s current-year greenfinch hen Best Zebra finch/Bengalese: a pair of adult fawn Zebra finches bred by Peter Harrison Best exhibit in show: Unflighted variegated Gloster corona canary hen by Rob & Ian Wright Best junior exhibit in show: heavily variegated buff Fife canary hen by Aimee Guy
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THE BLUE LIZARD CANARY CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN Best Blue in Show: Lloyd le Page’s Clear Cap Blue Hen Kevin Skinner Trophy, Best Clear Cap Blue: Lloyd le Page’s Clear Cap Blue Hen Other winners: Best Novice and Second Best Novice John Topping with a broken Cap Blue and 2nd best with a Broken Cap Blue Cock. The other special winners were Best Broken Cap Blue D. Allen, Best Non Cap Blue S. Bolton and best over-year K. Barker.
THE LOVEBIRD (1990) SOCIETY Best Lovebird, Best Adult Lovebird, Best Normal Lovebird, Best Eyering Lovebird: G. Steptoe’s Fischers Lovebird Best Blackcheeked Lovebird, Best Rare Lovebird: A King Best Masked Lovebird: A. King Best Peachfaced Lovebird and Best Mutation Lovebird: A King’s Dilute Blue Series
THE IRISH FANCY INTERNATIONAL Best Irish Champion in Show: D. Hadley Best Champion: D. Hadley Best Champion Unflighted: D. Hadley Best Champion Flighted: J. Hodges Best Novice: L. Kotkowicz Best Unflighted: L. Kotkowicz Novice Ladies Award: Best Novice Flighted: Mrs L Gill Best Junior Award: Master G. Loines
NORWICH CANARY CLUB Best Norwich: K. Ferry’s Yellow Cock 2nd Best Norwich: K. Ferry 3rd Best: D. Hosking’s Flighted Buff Variegated Cock Best Green, Cinnamon or White Norwich: S. Camilleri’s Green Flighted Yellow Hen Best Novice: W. Scott Best Junior: Miss L. Wright
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FIFE FANCY FEDERATION
WAXBILL CLASSES
Winners include: Best Fife In Show: Smith & Evans Best Champion In Show: Smith & Evans Best Novice In Show: J. Roberts Best Junior: A. Guy Best Champion Clear: Smith & Evans Best Champion Up To 10%: D. Weaver Best Champion Variegated: A. Cooper Best Champion H / Variegated: Kendall Stud Best Champion Self/Foul Green: Kendall Stud Best Champion Cinnamon: Clarke & Gillott Best Champion White/Allied: Clarke & Gillott Best Novice Clear: C. Lowe Novice Up To 10%: C. Lowe Best Novice Variegated: Dobbs & Mcguigan Best Novice H / Variegated: Dobbs & Mcguigan Best Novice Self/Foul Green: J. Roberts Best Novice Cinnamon: D. Fones Best Novice White/Allied: M.Woodhall
Best Waxbill in Show: A. Chaney Best Adult Waxbill: A. Chaney 2nd Best Adult Waxbill: Clarke & Jackson Best CYOB Waxbill: Clarke & Jackson 2nd Best CYOB Waxbill: A Chaney
AUSTRALIAN FINCH SOCIETY Best Australian in Show: Grey Heck’s Grassfinch by J. Harris. Best Adult Australian: J Harris 2nd Best Australian in Show: D & H Harris 3rd Best Australian in Show: D.McDivitt Best CYOB Australian in Show: J .Harris 2nd CYOB Australian in Show: P. Heard 3rd CYOB Australian in Show: P. Heard Best Junior Adult Australian: A. Williams
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THE YORKSHIRE CANARY CLUB Cinnamon buff hen shown by champion exhibitor Simon Tammam which went on to be joint runner-up in the choice of Best Bird In Show. The best Novice exhibit was Adrian Harris’s u/f variegated yellow cock; Adrian picked up 5 of the top 7 Novice awards, including Best White
LIZARD CANARY ASSOCIATION Best in Show: D. Higgins’ Broken Cap Gold hen. Top champion, Top champion gold: A. Williamson’s non-cap gold cock Best champion silver: S Bolton’s clear cap silver hen Second best champion: T Horton’s clear cap silver cock - best Novice silver
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CANARY COLOUR BREEDERS ASSOCIATION The Paul Luff and Paul Bright partnership staged a mosaic red agate hen - this bird won a number of special prizes before being awarded the Best Melanin and then Best Colour Canary awards.
INTERNATIONAL BORDER BREEDERS ASSOCIATION
Best Border in Show Best Champion and Best Current Year Bred and 7th Best Border: M. Barnett 2nd Best 3rd Best 4th Best and 6th Best Border: Sillitoe & Rance 5th Best Border: Burton & Potts Novice section Gary Bishop took the first 4 places 5th Best: G Unwin 6th Best: Evans & Owen 7th Best: A Morris Best Junior: Miss L White
THE LONDON FANCY CANARY CLUB Best London Fancy: A. Early
THE JAVA SPARROW SOCIETY UK Best Cream in Show: Hollaway & Oakley Best Adult Cream: Hollaway & Oakley Best CYOB Cream: S Downes Best Pastel in Show: S. Downes Best Adult Pastel: S. Downes Best CYOB Pastel: S. Downes Best Opal Isabel in Show: J. Jackson Best Adult Opal Isabel: J. Jackson Best Agate in Show: S. Downes Best Adult Agate: S. Downes Best A O C in Show: S. Downes Best Adult A O C: S. Downes Best Pair in Show: Clark & Jackson Best Adult Pair: Clark & Jackson Best CYOB Pair: J. Jackson Best Junior Exhibit in Show: L. Owen Best Junior Adult: L. Owen
Best Spangle Back: A. Early
THE ZEBRA FINCH SOCIETY In the Champion section Peter Harrison was dominant, taking all seven top places in the Champion Adult line up. Winning this section was a fine pair of Fawns which went on to be judged the Best Champion and Best Zebra in Show. In second place was his pair of Lightbacks, with another pair of Fawns occupying third spot. In the Champion Breeder section Peter took six of the top seven positions with Nigel Smith taking fifth spot with his Fawns. Novice section [adults] won by C Hill’s Chestnut Flanked Whites, 2nd C. Green’s pair of Creams, 3rd S McCormick’s Pieds
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Novice Breeders - Best Novice M Crowther’s pair of Fawns, followed by C. Hill’s two pairs of CFWs, M. Shields’ Silvers, S McCormick’s Pieds, W Brown’s Fawns and another pair of CFW’s from Gareth Hollings. Best Junior Adult: A Williams’ pair of CFW’s, with second and third best being benched by L McKintosh Best Junior Zebras: The Chestnuts Best Junior Breeder: L McKintosh’s pair of Penguins The biggest class of the Zebra Finch section was provided by the Single birds, which was won by Chris Hill. Best of Colour awards went to: Normal Grey, Fawn, Silver, Cream, Lightback, Blackcheek/Blackface and Any Other Standard Variety – Peter Harrison; Pied, White – Shaun McCormick; CFW – Chris Hill; Penguin – Dennis Webster; and Blackbreasted/Orangebreasted – Huw Davies
BENGALESE FINCH Best In Show, Dilute Fawn & White: P. Cook Best Champion, Dilute Fawn & White: P. Cook Best Champion Adult, Fawn & White: T.,M. & R. Edwards 2nd Best Champion Adult, Pink-Eyed White: T., M. & R. Edwards 3rd Best Champion Adult, Chocolate & White: T. M. & R. Edwards 4th Best Champion Adult,
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Dilute Fawn & White: W. Brown 5th Best Champion Adult, Dilute Grey & White: E. Murray 6th Best Champion Adult, Chocolate & White: J. Harris 7th Best Champion Adult, Dilute Fawn & White: T., M. & R. Edwards Best Champion Breeder, Dilute Fawn & White: P. Cook 2nd Best Champion BBE, Dilute Grey & White: E. Murray 3rd Best Champion BBE, Pink-Eyed White: T., M. & R. Edwards 4th Best Champion BBE, Dilute Fawn & White: D. Smith 5th Best Champion BBE, Dilute Grey & White: E. Murray 6th Best Champion BBE, Chocolate & White: T., M. & R. Edwards
FEATURE 7th Best Champion BBE, Dilute Fawn & White: T., M. & R. Edwards Best Novice, Self Chestnut: Green & Brown Best Novice Adult, Fawn & White: F. Foy 2nd Best Novice Adult, Self Chocolate: M. Heard Many thanks to the Parrot Society, Cage & Aviary Birds, and to Clubs and exhibitors for the information detailed above. The complete list of the individual clubs
exhibiting: London Fancy Canary Club; International Border Breeders Association; Lizard Canary Association of Great Britain; The Blue Lizard Canary Club of Great Britain; National Bengalese Fanciers Association; The Yorkshire British Bird & Hybrid Club; Canary Colour Breeders Association; South Cheshire Budgerigar Society; The Zebra Finch Society; The National Fife Fancy; The Irish Fancy International; Gloster Fancy Specialist Society; The Lovebird (1990) Society; Norwich Canary Club; The Old Varieties Canary Association; The Australian Finch Society; The Java Sparrow Society
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his was a new pairing for me put together in an aviary shared with a pair of Grey Backed Thrushes. There were no problems until I noticed the Mynahs taking live food into the nest box – they had earlier laid two clear eggs and I thought this was probably the end of their breeding attempt for the year. It was now apparent that they had young, but it was only after ten days that any calls for food were heard. With two pairs of adult birds competing for food it was obvious to me that the Thrushes had to be removed before any real trouble occurred. After they were moved everything seemed to calm down. I continued to feed mixed mealworms and some wax worms at least three times a day and twice a day I gave a ration of small and/or medium crickets. Something which should be mentioned now is that both the cock and the hen fed the young, usually entering the next box at separate times. Rarely was the cock seen to feed the hen at the nest box entrance for her to then feed the chicks.
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BREEDIN PAGODA OR STAR
(TEMENUCHUS PAGODAR
ARTICLE BY: RAY HOLLAND
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NG THE A MYNAH RLING
RUM)
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After about three to four weeks the young began to fledge. This was a very exciting time for me – they were really beautiful birds. At this stage I had no idea how many chicks were in the box as I had tried not to interfere too much. The first chick left the nest followed by the second three to four days later and the third and final chick fledged after a further two more days. I thought to myself that this was great, the parents are doing a fine job looking after their family and all I had to do was to carry on feeding and all would be well. Is anything that simple and predictable in bird breeding?
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Shortly after the last chick fledged, as little as an hour or so, the cock bird set about the hen and I found them on the aviary floor with the back of the hen’s head badly pecked. Unfortunately she did not survive this attack – I could not believe what had just happened. I kept asking myself WHY? Looking back over the previous weeks when they had been rearing their young (perhaps even before) there always seemed to be competition between them for the live food. This competition was heightened when they had young in the nest box. There were at least four feeding stations and
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they could always go and pick up crickets off the floor. I still cannot understand this behaviour – has anyone else experienced this? The cock bird has proven himself to be an exemplary father and brought up all three chicks by himself. I thought that I might have to hand rear the chicks but the pleading for food by the chicks worked wonders and he got on with it. All the chicks and their father are now sharing a flight and there seems to be no noticeable bickering – though he will force them off the roof of the nest box when they have the audacity to perch on it.
All the chicks and their father are now sharing a flight and there seems to be no noticeable bickering – though he will force them off the roof of the nest box when they have the audacity to perch on it. I decided that as the cock had proved that he was willing to raise youngsters on his own he was worth pairing to a new hen. This, however, proved to be a mistake because he attacked his new wife. I can only assume that in his desire to reproduce he did not consider the hen which was obviously not in condition when he made his advances. He attacked her on the head just like
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FEATURE his original wife and even a year and a half after this attack, which fortunately did not prove fatal you can still see the point of attack as the feathers have not fully re-grown. He found a new owner who was prepared to give him another chance even though I fully explained his violent shortcomings. As soon as the hen recovered I supplied her with a new less aggressive cock and during the 2013 season produced three young in the first round, one of these youngsters was picked on by the father and when they were sexed by DNA they were two hens and one cock so I guess it was the young cock that was being picked on by the father. Not content with three young they then went on to breed again and in this second round produced
The nest boxes I use are fairly deep and when I looked to see how the baby was progressing I was surprised to see that the parents had been very busy almost filling the box with pine needles gathered from the floor of their flight…
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one youngster. The nest boxes I use are fairly deep and when I looked to see how the baby was progressing I was surprised to see that the parents had been very busy almost filling the box with pine needles gathered from the floor of their flight, there were about 8 inches of these on top of the fledging baby, I thought all was lost but as I started to remove handfuls of the needles I felt movement in the bottom of the box which greatly surprised me the baby was still alive! This has also been reared to maturity and proved to be a hen. So for 2013 the results were three hens and one cock. Results that I am very proud of because 2013 is not going to go down as the best breeding season UK breeders has experienced!! Roll on 2014.
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FRED WRIGHT, 31 REDFORD AVENUE, WALLINGTON, SURREY SM6 9DT TEL: 020 8401 6979
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T
he Cape Dove (Oena Capensis) was a bird regularly imported from its native Africa and very few breeders considered the need to set up a captive bred aviary strains whilst imports were available to meet the demand, prices were low and there seemed no real reason to breed these delightful, colourful doves as imports were quite readily available. All that has now changed, unless aviculturalists really work hard to establish birds that were previously imported in large
ARTICLE BY: LES RANCE
numbers there will be none of them left in aviculture in a few years time. It is now imperative that all those breeders with experience with domesticated or near domesticated birds work hard to establish
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breeding stocks of birds that previously were readily imported. We all need to select one species and try really hard to establish them. About ten years ago I kept Diamond Doves and bred a few of them so to a small degree I did have some knowledge of this family. I have chosen the Cape Dove because my good friend Jerry Fisher on the south coast introduced them to me and encouraged me to work on this species. In the spring of 2007 Jerry supplied me with 3 beautiful young unrelated pairs that I kept in a brand new indoor aviary 8’L x 3’W x 6’H. Cape Doves are easily stressed when
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transported to new homes and within a few weeks I had lost all three hens (why is it that it is always the hens that die?) After this disaster there was obviously no point in keeping the three cocks so I returned them to Jerry, to say the least this was not a good start!! Jerry continued to persevere with his Cape Doves but came to the conclusion that they really needed to be in outdoor flights rather than being bred in cages and in June when the weather was much warmer contacted me and asked if I would like to have ‘another go’, I thought that this was very brave and I decided that I must try again and
FEATURE use one of my parakeet aviaries to see what results could be achieved outside. The day came when the two pairs were due, as we live some 150 miles apart I collected them mid-way in the early evening, all four were in one box and generally they were quiet but when I hit a pothole in the road they would crash about and become thoroughly disturbed. Once home I let them out into their outside aviary as it was light until at least 9.30 p.m. in June. Although built in a block there is a large amount of privacy as most of the walls are constructed with 3/4” plywood but to provide them additional seclusion I placed a 3’ container grown Conifer, a Vibernum and six pots of runner beans to climb up the former. To provide nesting sites I screwed four wooden platforms 6” x 6” with a half inch lip around the edge, to the plywood wall. I had read that they seem to like to use fine roots as nesting material and fortunately I had a pile of forest bark next to a large hazel bush the roots of which had permeated the bark pile, it was therefore an easy exercise to pull up a few roots and make nice nests for the Doves. Evidently placing two pairs in one aviary is generally not successful as fighting frequently occurs but only one of my pairs seemed interested in breeding and possibly that was why I had no difficulties in that regard.
My efforts were very quickly rewarded as within two weeks one of the pairs started to show interest in each other and there was a fair amount of mutual preening and sitting close together, then I saw the hen on one of the nests, progress appeared promising! The first egg was laid on 21st July and the second the following day, they were a rich cream colour and I candled them after the hen had sat for 5 days, they both showed that the vein formation was developing so I speedily returned them to the nest. The first egg hatched on 4th August and the second on 5th. I was aware from the excellent book by I.S. Dyer “Breeding the Cape Dove: My Experience” that around eight days of age can be a critical time as the parents can stop feeding the youngsters. On 12th August I was delighted to see that my two precious
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babies were still doing well and growing quickly, the first left the nest on 20th August and the second the next day. My aviary has a wire floor ‘overhang’ for the last 3’ of its length and the two babies sat on this and the mother joined them sitting very close to keep them warm, the temperature that morning was only 13C which for an August day is rather cold. Jerry Fisher warned me that it is sensible to try to check that the babies are drinking for themselves two breeders have had this problem once the young leave the nest. I took a shallow bowl of water into the aviary and simply picked up one of the babies, there was no attempt from them to fly away, it drank avidly once its beak was placed in the water, once it had consumed all it wanted I then put it down and picked up the second baby and let that drink. On 28th August I again caught my two birds and checked them but they appeared not to be thirsty. Although I mentioned above that there was a 3’ overhang the total flight size is 10’ long, 7’6” sloping to 5’6” high and 3’ wide and 7’ of the roof is covered in glass-fibre roof sheeting giving a very sheltered and protected aviary. Both young developed well and as the days shortened and temperatures dropped I carefully considered if I should move all six birds into heated indoor quarters for the winter. I would
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“CAPE DOVES SEEM A LITTLE UNADVENTUROUS AS FAR AS FEEDING IS CONCERNED; THEIR MAIN STAPLE IS WHITE MILLET. DOVES DO NOT SHELL THEIR SEED LIKE BUDGERIGARS; THEY SWALLOW IT WHOLE AND GRIND IT UP IN THE GIZZARD.” have liked to leave them where they were because they seemed very settled and I know that they are easily stressed when moved. I knew that what to do would be a tough call but decided to monitor them twice a day and if the cold started to worry them I would indeed move them into a heated environment. The signs to look for are that they will sit fluffed up, be inactive and look generally miserable. In late September these signs were all too evident and I decided to move them into a warmer and dryer environment. Cape Doves seem a little unadventurous as far as feeding is concerned; their main staple is White millet. Doves do not shell their seed like Budgerigars; they swallow it whole and grind it up in the gizzard. This means there are no husks to blow off the seed bowls. I provide 50/50 Budgie mix but I do not think that they eat much of the canary seed in the mixture, they will take millet sprays but mine are not over
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keen. Germinated smaller seeds are generally ignored but I do provide them with home made egg food which is prepared for my parakeets, hard boiling 2 eggs each morning and mixing them (shells included) in a food processor with 200 grams (1 large cup) of Badminton Baked Cereal (used
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as a conditioner by horse owners). To this I am currently adding a level tablespoon of Pet Chef, to this dry mix I then add 1/2 a large cup of water, this makes a nice crumbly feed (be careful, do not add too much water or you will get a wet horrible mix that no birds will consume!) The 6 Cape
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“WITH ANY BIRD THAT IS DIFFICULT TO BREED AND IT APPEARS THAT CAPE DOVES FALL FIRMLY IN THIS CATEGORY, FOSTERING WITH A CLOSELY RELATED SPECIES NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED.”
Doves received 1/2 a tablespoonful of this mix each morning around 7.30 a.m. For those not familiar with Pet Chef this is a supplement powder designed to provide essential vitamins, minerals, trace elements and amino acids to ensure peak condition within your stock; there are two formulas,
one for breeding stock which should be provided 6 weeks before the start of the breeding season and as long as the season continues; and a general purpose mix which has been designed for the remainder of the year. With any bird that is difficult to breed and it appears that Cape Doves fall firmly in this category, fostering with a closely related species needs to be considered. I continued to use the outside parakeet aviaries in 2008 and 2009 but both these years were not particularly good breeding seasons and I was coming to the conclusion that to make any real progress with this species I needed some additional stock as I was very determined to be successful with Cape Doves, they are beautiful birds but obviously need a suitable diet and the correct housing. In 2010 I changed tactics and provided them with a fairly large and dry indoor aviary measuring 12’ long x 4’ wide and 7’ high, this had a double glazed window which I wired over and could open on warm sunny
“TO THIS I AM CURRENTLY ADDING A LEVEL TABLESPOON OF PET CHEF, TO THIS DRY MIX I THEN ADD 1/2 A LARGE CUP OF WATER, THIS MAKES A NICE CRUMBLY FEED (BE CAREFUL, DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH WATER OR YOU WILL GET A WET HORRIBLE MIX THAT NO BIRDS WILL CONSUME!) ”
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days giving the doves access to fresh air and direct sunlight, a facility that met with their considerable approval. During the year I did not lose any birds and bred 3 hens and 5 cocks using the colony system with all my stock in one large flight. Jerry Fisher feels that DIET is the key to success; some of the supplements I use are different to his. He uses iodised minerals – a black powder that pigeon breeders use with success. His birds (except the group of cocks) generally refuse his soft food mix the only birds to do so. Given that the only seed they consume in quantity is white millet he is wondering if we can develop a base mix being mainly white millet with some bonding agent to integrate it with supplements. There is no doubt that we need to broaden the diet as much as we can and as we do not know exactly what they eat in the wild we can not imitate their natural diet. I feed blue maw seed and this they will eat so this gives some change/addition to their diet. So far
“JERRY FISHER FEELS THAT DIET IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS; SOME OF THE SUPPLEMENTS I USE ARE DIFFERENT TO HIS. HE USES IODISED MINERALS – A BLACK POWDER THAT PIGEON BREEDERS USE WITH SUCCESS.”
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“THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WE NEED TO BROADEN THE DIET AS MUCH AS WE CAN AND AS WE DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY EAT IN THE WILD WE CAN NOT IMITATE THEIR NATURAL DIET.” the 2011 season seems to be progressing well with 4 hens sitting on 8 eggs (2 is the normal sized clutch) There is no doubt that Cape Doves are very vulnerable and not easy to breed, without concerted efforts they may be lost to UK aviculture forever or perhaps the opposite will happen and we may be able to save them. The Cape Dove is far from the only bird to be in this position and the next few years will be critical to the existence of a number of birds that were previously freely imported but are now increasingly difficult to obtain due to the lack of viable aviary strains. I will certainly continue to work hard to establish these birds in aviculture and I will use all the relevant skills that I have acquired over a number of years with my parakeet collection, it will not be a simple task but someone has to do it!! In the end I decided that I must concentrate on my parakeet/parrot collection and very reluctantly sold all the Cape Doves.
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O
ne 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! (A full article on mice prevention appears on page 6 of this magazine) 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
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“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 WITH THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF CANARY SEED WILL BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE.”
BUDGER FOR BEG
RIGARS GINNERS
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PART T WO BY LES RANCE
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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.
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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
FEATURE 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.
ensure that the young are developing correctly, that the nest box is not becoming too fouled with droppings and 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 01209 212775. 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.
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 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
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to those achieved so far I should have a larger set of statistics to work with at the end of the following year. This article has given me great pleasure to write and I do hope that you have enjoyed these words. 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
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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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