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VOL 36 ISSU E 12 • DEC-JA N 2024

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 GOULDIAN
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 VOLUME 36 ISSUE 12 | DECEMBER-JANUARY 2024

CONTENTS
REGULARS
674
Finch Charm:
702
Hookbill Hobbyist:
Is There a Right Signs and Effects of
Time to Write? Avicultural Burn-out
Beautiful Firetails By EB Cravens
By David Pace

681 704
CONSERVATION
Wild Corner: • WPT: Parrot

FEATURES Lucky Lucas,

the Brush-turkey
Conservation
Grants Program—
By Dr Claude Part 2

665 690 Lacasse By World

Keeping & Breeding the Galah
By Jade Welch
Jade compares the experiences
of two breeders of this Aussie
Parrot Trust
Breeding the Blue-eared Lory
By Rinus Van Den Broek
These truly beautiful creatures
682
Pet Parrot
• LPF: Lifetime of
Conservation
Work Earns Global
are not common in Europe, but Behaviour: Kiessling Prize 3 8 years on… B I R DK EEPER PROV I DE S CO LO U R FU L CU R R ENT I N FO R M ATIO N O N C A P TI V E B I R DS

VOL 36 ISSU E 12 • DEC-JA N 2024

icon across different states, are worth the search to ensure What Makes Your Press Release
Victoria and Western Australia, they remain in aviculture. Bird Hard to Handle? • LPF: Cape Parrot Blue-eared Lories
and gives Galahs the thumbs up. By Hillary Hankey Diet & its Influence

670 692
European Goldfinches 684
on Survival
By Dr David Waugh
• Spix’s Macaws
European Aviculturists— By Horst Mayer Postcards Make History GALAHS
Beautiful
Part 3: Germany Always charmed by European from Vickie: Breeding Again Firetails
By Peter Odekerken Goldfinches in the wild, Horst Missouri’s World in the Wild European
Goldfinches
The level of bird comfort and finds they are not an easy bird Bird Sanctuary By ACTP
state-of-the-art complexes to keep and breed. By Vickie Lillo • Legislation
maintained by German bird Overhaul Called
ON THE COVER
breeders empresses Peter
during the next leg of his
European trip.
700
Hybridising for Mutations:
688
The Wise Owl:
For as Coal Miner
Detects Swift
Parrots
Blue-eared Lory
PHOTO
PETER ODEKERKEN
Don’t Do It! Beyond Flight: By Lock the Gate

678
Going Bird-crazy in the
By Rosemary Low
Rosemary is not alone in calling
for an end to hybridisation in
the Remarkable
Architecture of
Feathers—Part 2 712
Top End aviculture as fears grow of the By Dr Milton Lewis OFF THE PERCH:
By Peter Odekerken impact on pure wildtype birds Who is Speaking
A former Northern Territory
resident and frequent visitor,
Peter gives us an insight into
both in captivity and in the wild.
696
Avian Health
for Aviculture?
By Sam Davis

some of the best places to

search out birds after his most
CLASSIFIEDS with Dr Bob:
Cloacal Prolapse— 714
recent trip. No Easy Fix BIRD TALK

716 By Dr Bob Doneley • Mick Grixti –

The Birdman
• For Sale
• Special Events
• Avicultural Organisations
698
About Birds:
By Ron Hunt
• Macarthur and
Penrith Valley
• Avian Veterinarians Australian Bird of Budgerigar Clubs of
the Year—What It NSW Challenge
Says About Us By Kirsty Gaal
By Dr Kit Prendergast

NEXT ISSUE
Released 16 February 2024

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 663

WELCOME
O doubt the notice below has caught
N your eye. With a tear in mine, but also
editor’s notes
relief in body and mind, it is time for me
to sign off.
After a time of anguish in wanting to find the
‘right’ person to continue this 37-year legacy of
Australian BirdKeeper—I am happy to pass over
to the accomplished pairing of Sam Davis and
Simon Degenhard, as announced below.
APPRECIATION
Founded by Nigel Steele-Boyce in 1987, who
had the entrepreneurship to see the need
for education on keeping birds, Australian
BirdKeeper was born. Thank you, Nigel!
I formed a business partnership with Nigel
early in BirdKeeper’s creation, followed by
creation of the A Guide to… series of bird books.
And nuptials…
When Nigel and I parted ways, we mutually
decided the business was up to me. The first
people I approached on this decision were Peter
and Kathy Odekerken, who have supported me
like family since that meeting—a most sincere
thank you!
Other consultants…Dr Terry Martin and Dr Bob
Doneley, and previously Russell Kingston, have
always supported me in correctness of material.
In recent years, Jade Welch has been magic
with his personable individuality and passion for
photography and mateship. Thank you so much—
you have travelled well with our team, and I see
you continuing the legacy in your special way.
David Pace—our frontman on finches &
softbills—you are a dedicated aviculturist that I
appreciate in every way. Sincere thanks David.
Milton Lewis has also been a dedicated long-
serving contributor, with his interesting and
easy-to-understand focus on the more scientific
aspects of aviculture. And EB Cravens always
FROM EDITOR & enlightens on the nitty gritty of bird care and
PUBLISHER
management. I love these columns, as I know our
SHERYLL readers do!
STEELE-BOYCE To other regular BirdKeeper contributors, both
now and over the years—too many to mention
here—I am sincerely honoured to have published
your well-researched and informative articles
and photos, and look forward to reading them at
leisure in the future.
I will be working with Sam Davis and Simon
Degenhard—both of whom will be familiar to many
BirdKeeper readers—during the next magazine
as they transition into this new venture, although
both are most accomplished in the subject matter
and printing. My able team—Alison Houston
(Sub-editor) and Melinda Leu (Graphics Director)
are to continue with the new ownership team.
Now, onto this issue. Conservation success!
A pair of Spix's Macaws—a male released in June
2022 and a female in December 2022—have
hatched two chicks in an artificial nest strapped
high in a Caraibeira tree. See page 710.
The rare Blue-eared Lory is an enviable species
to keep in any collection, albeit not easy to find!
Dutch breeder Rinus van den Broek is dedicated
to saving this species in aviculture—see page 690.
The Swift Parrot has been announced as the
2023 Bird of the Year by BirdLife Australia and
The Guardian Australia—see more on the winners
across the years on page 698—presented by
Kit Prendergast.
Galahs—Jade Welch confirms this iconic
cockatoo depicts the Aussie spirit of battlers and
larrikins! This intelligent species with innocent
belligerence and flock antics is one we often take
for granted. See page 665.
664 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
Peter Odekerken presents Part 3 of his European
breeder tour, focusing on Germany, on page 670. OUR
State-of-the-art aviaries with inside/outside
complexes required in colder climes are an envy.
Species include Blue King Parrots, Blue Nanday
TEAM
Conures, turacos, Queen of Bavarias, Maroon
Shining Parrots, lories…accompanied by truly EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS
‘wow’ photography from Peter once again. Peter Peter Odekerken
also presents on another of his travels to the Dr Bob Doneley
Northern Territory on page 678. Dr Terry Martin
To finches: European Goldfinches are not an
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS
easy group to breed, as Horst Mayer relates on
Dr Milton Lewis
page 692. EB Cravens
David Pace imparts an important message in Jade Welch
the sharing of his Beautiful Firetail experiences Hillary Hankey
on page 674. ‘… when is the right time to write an Kit Prendergast
article? When a breeder ‘cracks the code’? When Dr Claude Lacasse
a breeder has had consistent success? When a David Pace
Vickie Lillo
breeder feels they are ‘expert’ enough? I’d argue
that all of the above are a great time to write an SUB-EDITOR
article. However, I’d also argue that the time to Alison Houston
write an article is now! Don’t wait to become an
‘expert’. Don’t wait to even have breeding success. ART DIRECTOR
Start by sharing your journey with a species, the Melinda Leu
experiences of successes and, at times even more
ADVERTISING AND
importantly, your failures.
MARKETING
Bird keepers are encouraged to make contact on
Simon Degenhard
birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au to discuss how to
share your experiences. This holiday season is a WRITERS
wonderful opportunity to take time out to write. Jade Welch, Peter Odekerken,
Wishing you all Season’s Greetings & a Safe and David Pace, Dr Claude
Healthy 2024! Lacasse, Hillary Hankey,
Vickie Lillo, Dr Milton Lewis,
Rinus Van Den Broek, Horst
Mayer, Dr Bob Doneley, Dr Kit
Prendergast, Rosemary Low,
EB Cravens, World Parrot
Trust, Dr David Waugh, ACTP,
Lock the Gate, Sam Davis,
Ron Hunt, Kirsty Gaal.
G’DAY FRIENDS AND FELLOW BIRD-LOVERS,
It is with great pleasure that we announce that Sam Davis
and I (Simon Degenhard) will be taking the reins at ABK
as of the next issue, Volume 37 Issue 1—Sam as publisher PUBLISHED BY
Birdkeeper Pty Ltd
and myself as editor.
ABN 41 672 804 607
Firstly, we want to say thank you, Sheryll, for the faith
and trust you have in Sam and I in taking on your legacy POSTAL ADDRESS:
and that of Nigel, who was, like yourself, undoubtedly a PO Box 188 Kurmond NSW 2757
champion of education in the bird world. We take this Australia
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International Standard
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We are thrilled to be given this opportunity—to take on EMAIL
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My enthusiasm for aviculture and conservation is as DISCLAIMER While every care is
strong as ever, as is my desire to promote and improve taken, the publisher accepts no
responsibility for the content of
our wonderful hobby through the sharing of knowledge advertising or editorial material
published. Articles represent
and the passion and enjoyment that we so clearly all the views of the authors and not
derive from it. With this wonderful opportunity, I continue necessarily those of the publisher. ABK
Publications also reserves
my journey within avicultural literature world, which has the right to refuse any advertising
it deems to be detrimental to the
already spanned quite some years and which I feel great integrity of the publication, Australian
Birdkeeper Magazine
hunger for.
I look forward to what’s to come and thank you all for COPYRIGHT It is an offence under
the Commonwealth Copyright Act
the support that has been given to this iconic Aussie bird 1968 to reproduce any part
of the contents of this publication,
publication over the past 37 years. We hope that you will including advertising artwork
all stick around for the decades to come! and photography.
Reproduction in whole or in part
All the Very Best to You & Your Families for the Festive in any form or medium, without
express written permission of
Season and New Year. Birdkeeper Pty Ltd is prohibited.
©2023
Simon All rights reserved.
 AUTHOR & PHOTOS

JADE
WELCH

A Galah feeding on Casuarina along A wild Galah inspects a

the beach at Coolangatta QLD potential nesting site

PITOMISING the Aussie spirit as

KEEPING & BREEDING THE
E battlers and larrikins, the Galah

Galah
Wild Galahs will eat the shoots
and roots of grasses and plants
Eolophus roseicapilla, is an endearing
cockatoo. They are often seen
performing aerial acrobatics or swinging
about on powerlines in suburbia, in a splash
of pink and grey.
Previously restricted to more inland areas,
they are now widespread, proving just how
hardy and adaptable they are. They now
inhabit Tasmania and can even be found
along the east coast of Australia, on beaches
and sporting fields. The word ‘galah’ is
reported to have come from the Aboriginal
Yuwaalaraay language of north-western
New South Wales. It is not only, given to
the bird we so love—referred to abroad
as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo—but also
to someone acting the fool, and has truly
cemented itself in the Australian vernacular.
While the Galah is a welcome sight in many
areas, in farming districts it is divisive. A
recent sighting of a flock of over 1000 Galahs
at Cunnamulla in Queensland was a definite
concern to farmers with crops which Galahs
are known to raid and damage. In suburban
areas, smaller flocks are often seen, with
some being creches where parent birds leave
their young to socialise with other Galahs,
young and old. The creche system allows
them to learn and gives them the opportunity
to bond and pair up.

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 665

IN CAPTIVITY
Meet the Breeders
Within aviculture, the Galah is popular
worldwide. It would have to be one of our
must successful avian exports. What’s not
to like? They are bold in colour and high
in intelligence. They draw one in and are
true icons, joining the likes of the koala,
budgerigar, magpie, emu, kangaroo, echidna
and platypus.
In this article we look at how two Australian
aviculturists keep and breed the Galah—
Stephan Maric of Ambessa Aviaries in
Melbourne, and Hayden Dix of Argyle Aviaries
in south-west Western Australia.
Stephan has been keeping and breeding
Galahs for 30-plus years now. He has kept and
bred all three subspecies. Hayden has been
keeping and breeding Galahs for 40 years, has
kept all three subspecies, and successfully
bred the Eastern and Western races.
Galah Subspecies
The three Galah subspecies are commonly
referred to as the Western Eolophus
roseicapilla roseicapilla, Eastern Eolophus
roseicapilla albiceps, and the Northern or
Khuli Galah Eolophus roseicapilla kuhli.
All three are available within aviculture
and, in several cases, Western and Eastern
subspecies have been mixed. The Khuli is the
least common in aviculture.
Stephan uses both conventional
and suspended aviaries
The Galah is a popular aviary subject worldwide
666 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
The Northern or Khuli Galah, bred by
Barry and Julie Blanch at Rosewood
Aviaries, is the least commonly kept
Hayden Dix houses his birds in
conventional aviaries
PHOTO HAYDEN DIX
Housing
Both Stephan and Hayden house a single
pair of Galahs per aviary, with Stephan at
times flocking his birds in the offseason to
help strengthen their bond. While Stephan
uses a combination of conventional and
suspended aviaries, Hayden’s are all housed
in conventional aviaries. The benefit of this is
that it allows the birds to come to the ground,
replicating natural wild behaviours.
Stephan’s aviaries face north and vary
in length, with the conventional aviaries
measuring from 3.9–5m. They are 1–2m wide
x 2m high. The suspended aviaries are 2.7m
long x 90cm x 90cm.
Most of the conventional aviary is open,
with the rear and part of the roof covered in
Colorbond™. Stephan utilises an automated
sprinkler system for his aviaries, which not
only keeps them cool but allows the Galahs to
shower, particularly enjoyed on hot days. The
aviary design and layout work well in Victoria,
well known for having ‘four seasons in one day’.
Hayden’s view is that aviary size helps
prevent obesity. His conventional aviaries
measure 4–5m long x 1m wide x 2.4m high.
One-third of the rear is covered in Zincalume®
which reflects the heat, as is 1m at the front,
to offer protection against inclement weather
or marauding birds. One-inch weldmesh
starts at the floor and meets halfway up and
adjoins Colorbond™.
Hayden utilises Wobble-Tee™ water-
efficient sprinklers on risers. They are fully
automated and programmed to come on
when the temperature reaches 28ºC. They
drop the temperature by a few degrees
and offer welcome relief for the birds,
particularly important, as in Hayden’s area the
temperatures can reach over 40ºC.

Non-toxic weed species
can be given to Galahs
Feeding
Stephan’s Galahs are given a diet of good-
quality small parrot seed mix, along with
various grasses and weeds. The grasses
and weeds, fed with roots and seeding or
flowering heads attached, are often procured
from his parents’ property, where he also
keeps a number of birds. The grasses and
weeds are quickly devoured, and Stephan
finds that leaving the roots on not only
replicates the birds’ diet in the wild but gives
them added nutrients. He also feeds some
fruit and veg.
Closer to breeding time, Stephan increases
the quantity of food given to pairs, particularly
the green food, and he continues this while
young are in the nest. This gives the parents
a greater chance to get chicks on the perch.
Over the years, this diet has proved extremely
successful.
As Galahs can be prone to obesity, Stephan
takes measures such as feeding only small
quantities of sunflower seed in the off-season
and maintaining a high green-food source on a
weekly basis. All foods and water are fed using
stainless steel and ceramic bowls, which are
swapped out and cleaned as required.
Hayden similarly gives his birds a small
parrot breeder mix as a base diet. To this he
adds weeds, seeding grasses and branches
with seed pods attached. Hayden is fortunate
to have access to a number of trees, such as
Platypus Gum Eucalyptus platypus, on his
property, and these provide an additional
food source. Corn on the cob and other fruits
and vegetables are also fed.
Leading up to and during breeding, the
quantities fed are increased, and Hayden
supplies his birds with sprouted pigeon mix.
This has seen him have great success over
the years.
Hayden uses a combination of long aviaries
and the restriction of fatty seeds to prevent
obesity in his Galahs. This has worked well,
with all pairs in optimum condition and
producing well each year. He too utilises
ceramic bowls for water, and Thomson slide-
out feeders which can be accessed externally.
Breeding
Stephan finds his breeding season runs from
August until February, while Hayden’s season,
much further north, starts in July and can
continue through summer, although ‘they
tend to stop if it’s too hot’.
Both Stephan and Hayden find Galahs easy
to breed. However, Stephan says ‘some pairs
can be difficult with eggs and youngsters, so
human intervention must take over to ensure
survival’. Hayden finds that Galahs will readily
nest but that ‘compatibility and fitness are
the key’.
As the breeding season approaches, the birds
become increasingly vocal, display more and
line the nest with the branches of Eucalypts.
Pairs can also become aggressive to their
keeper or nest-defensive, as both Stephan and
Hayden report experiencing with their birds.
Stephan uses a combination of nesting
receptacles including logs, nest boxes and
PVC pipes 40–50cm high, with an internal
diameter of 20–25cm. In the conventional
aviaries, the nest box is located ‘roughly in
the middle of the aviary’, and at the rear in
suspended aviaries.
Hayden uses hollow logs exclusively, which
he positions just under the shelter at the
back of the aviary. Generally, the logs are
approximately 50cm high, with an internal
diameter of 30cm.
Galahs reach sexual maturity at about
three years of age. Both Stephan and Hayden
provide their birds with leaves and branches
leading up to breeding, which the birds then
take back to the nest for lining, just as they
would in the wild. In Stephan’s experience,
some pairs use a lot of leaves and others use
minimal amounts. Eucalyptus leaves and a
range of other species are suitable.
Hayden does not provide nesting material,
as he finds that his birds kick the majority
out. Instead, he provides plenty of branches,
which he says are essential. He goes so far
as to say that for him ‘in breeding time it’s a
must to supply Eucalyptus leaves for nest
building’. Hayden uses several varieties of trees
to source his leaves so the birds have a choice.
Neither breeder has had any experience of
aggression with Galahs in their aviaries.
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VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 667
 G A L A H M U T A T I O N S

Albino Blue

Lutino Western Galah E. r. roseicapilla

Foreground: Black-eyed White

Cinnamon and Normal Galahs bred by Hayden Dix

PHOTO HAYDEN DIX

Cinnamon

668 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

Young Young Galahs are handreared
In Stephan’s experience, 1–4 eggs can be for the pet trade
PHOTO HAYDEN DIX
expected, while Hayden finds a clutch of 3–5
eggs is normal in his pairs. If the chicks are
pulled for handrearing, both Stephan and
Hayden have found it quite common for the
parents to go down for a second clutch.
Incubation takes around 26 days, and
Galahs wean at 12–14 weeks of age. Stephan
says young can stay with their parents until
the next breeding season. Both Stephan and
Hayden handrear some of their young for
a number of reasons, including pet market Colourful 112 pages on
demand, to get mutations on the perch, or to
Sulphur-cresteds, Short-billed
assist parents that haven’t yet mastered the
art of rearing chicks. & Long-billed Corellas, Major
Mitchell's Cockatoos & Galahs
PETS & MUTATIONS
Galahs are in high demand as pets. They Available from ABK at
make loyal, intelligent and incredible pet www.birdkeeper.com.au
birds for those experienced enough to care
for them, and they are long-lived. Such is the
demand for Galahs as pets that both Stephan ADVICE TO NEWCOMERS CONCLUSION
and Hayden handrear birds each year for the When asked for their advice for anyone The Galah has come a long way over the years,
pet market. Stephan adds that Galahs ‘make wanting to begin keeping and breeding and it appears that in the wild they will soon
excellent family pets’. Galahs, Stephan said that they are ‘easy inhabit the whole of Australia. Yes, they may
Adding to the attraction is the plethora of to keep in a suburban backyard, not be one of our most numerous birds but they
Galah mutations now on offer. Mutations difficult to breed and not as noisy as are to be admired for that. They are a tough,
include, but are not limited to, Lutino, the white cockatoos’. Hayden adds that adaptable and resilient bird that is equally
Spangle, Cinnamon, Pied, Black-eyed White, Galahs are a ‘fantastic, playful aviary as beautiful in the wild as it is in our aviaries.
Dilute and Blue. They vary in rarity, with some subject with a willingness to breed’. Long live the Galah and people’s passions for
still being developed or costing a substantial They are also ‘easy to feed, so a good this pink and grey jewel of the sky!
amount of money. The Lutino, Black-eyed beginners’ cockatoo’, and do not show * Many thanks go to Stephan Maric and
White and Cinnamon mutations are more the aggression of some white cockatoos. Hayden Dix for sharing their experiences in
readily available at present. keeping and breeding Galahs.

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VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 669

 AUTHOR & PHOTOS

PETER
ODEKERKEAN

Male Blue Eclectus, possibly

E. r. polychloros, in Gerhard
Rübesam’s collection

European Aviculturists
PA RT 3 :
Germany
AST year I had the privilege of

L seeing some lovely collections in

Germany, and so many enthusiasts
lavish their species with state-of-
the-art complexes. Whether large or small
collections, I must say, a lot of effort and
money has gone into keeping these birds very
comfortably housed. Of course, heating needs
to be provided in many situations because
of cold winters which many Australian
aviculturists do not have to contend
with. Still, I don’t know many Australian
collections, including my own, that provide
air conditioning for their birds, which is a
comparable situation.
Our birds do get stressed when
temperatures go above 30°C in Australia’s hot
summers. It is not unusual in my area, sub-
tropical Queensland, to have a considerable
number of days in a row that approach the
high 30°s. I try to minimise stress in the
birds by putting a sprinkler on for part of
the day. However, if you are in a rural area,
that invariably entails taking care not to
compromise our own water requirements in
the house.
I am just mentioning this because I do Blue Nanday Conure in Gerhard Rübesam’s collection
think we (myself included) could do more
to provide comfortable conditions for our Many European keepers have tiled bird GERHARD RÜBESAM
birds, to provide a better life for them. More rooms—the envy of my own bathroom!—with Gerhard Rübesam has a very large
than likely, we would also achieve better proper drainage so that the birds can bathe collection, with a number of rare mutations
breeding results by doing so. How often have or be sprinkled without the aviaries becoming that I have not seen in Australia. The very
we all said, ‘had a bad breeding season this damp and creating problems with mould etc. attractive Blue mutation of the Eclectus
year, probably because it was too hot this For lory and lorikeet breeders, these tiled Parrot is exquisite—I believe it is the race
past summer’. So, visiting other collections, facilities make cleaning easy and efficient. I polychloros. Many aviculturists would wish
both overseas and in Australia, gives me the am now approaching the age when I need to to own a pair. Certainly, I had many enquiries
opportunity to take on board what other downsize my collection but maybe I should when I posted pictures on my Facebook
aviculturists are doing in order to improve my already have had a smaller number of species page. If they were mine, I’m sure I would
husbandry and, more importantly, better the kept in similar conditions to those that I have have had multiple orders!
conditions for my birds. admired in Europe.

670 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024


Gerhard Hinz with one of his favourites,
a Queen of Bavaria Conure
Major Mitchell’s at Gerhard Heinz’s
complex can walk along a perch to
access the indoor aviary—note the
large hollow log for their amusement
Heated indoor compartments at
Gerhard Heinz’s house are home to
Red-faced Lovebirds, a Collared Lory
(pictured) and Blue-crowned Lorikeets
GERHARD HINZ
Gerhard Hinz has a wonderful set-up, with
tile walls and a semi-transparent sheet
between adjoining aviaries so that pairs
cannot fight or bite each other. The birds have
access to outside flights, and their indoor
accommodation allows enough room to
exercise during inclement weather.
The indoor and outdoor sections of the
aviary can be closed off but, of course, during
much of the year the birds can move between
areas as they wish.
Gerhard’s collection comprises the Red-
faced Lovebird Agapornis pullaria that I was
fortunate to keep when living in South Africa
Lory and lorikeet enthusiast Johannes Schäfer’s
in the 1970s. I have written a previous ABK
state-of-the-art and temperature-controlled
article on this species (vol. 29, no. 5) and it aviaries—note the tiling, floor drainage and lighting
describes how the species excavates a nest in
an arboreal termite mound. This is one of the JOHANNES SCHÄFER
reasons why success in breeding this species Another collection of note is that of Johannes
in captivity has been very limited. Gerhard Schäfer. He specialises in my favourites, the
has been successful in using cork to emulate brush-tongued lories and lorikeets. The bird
a termite mound. The work performed in room is magnificent—tiled and just spotless.
excavating stimulates the birds to breed, and The attention to detail is as you would want
Gerhard has successfully bred these birds a in your own home. He has Stella’s Lorikeets
number of times. He also keeps and breeds Charmosyna papou stellae with fledged
two special lories, the Collared Lory Phygis young, Blue-streaked Lories Eos reticulate
solitarius and the Blue-crowned Lorikeet Vini and Obi Lories Eos squamata obiensis to
australis, from Fiji and Samoa respectively. name a few.
Blue-streaked
Lory—note the
side panelling
to separate and
avoid disturbances
between aviaries
A male Stella’s Lory
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 671

One of Rocco Dinger’s planted aviaries
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672 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
ROCCO DINGER
Rocco Dinger has conventional aviaries in
his backyard, similar to ours in Australia.
However, the shelter is fully enclosed,
and entry for the birds is through a small
door that can be shut in cold weather,
and the shelter can be heated.
Rocco has a fondness for the African
Turacos—birds we are sadly never likely
to see in Australia. They generally are a very
colourful family, with red noticeable in their
wings as they fly. These colourful birds are
usually found in more wooded or forest areas.
A few of the more plainly coloured Turacos
are found in the open, more arid plains of
Purple-crested Turaco—this part of the aviary
Africa. For the forest species, Rocco has is devoid of shrubs, allowing the birds to
vegetation in the form of living bushes that fly into the interior accommodation, where
the Turacos hide in as if they were in the wild. nesting and food is available
DR ROBERT PETERS
The last collection I would like to mention
is that of Dr Robert Peters, which I have
always wanted to visit. He has one of the best
collections of rare parrots in Europe.
Robert also has multiple pairs of the
Australian cockatoos but my main interest
was his Island King Parrots, which he has
successfully kept and bred for many years.
He has maintained Maroon Shining Parrots
Prosopeia tabuensis taviuensis, endemic to
Rocco Dinger’s conventional Fiji, which I believe could be the only ones
planted aviaries reminded me of
in Europe.
an Australian backyard collection
The Maroon Shining
Parrot from Fiji,
one of very few in
Europe, owned by
Dr Robert Peters
FREE OF
PRESERVATIVES,
COLOURS &
FLAVOURS
CONCLUSION
There are so many wonderful collections in
Germany, and the aviculturists there were
©ABK
so willing to share their knowledge of their
husbandry and experience. I wish I had
more time in Germany and other parts of
Europe but, of course, I needed to get back
to my own commitments at home!
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Knows birds best.™ VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 673

 Beautiful Firetails in the wild in South

FINCH CHARM
Australia—they are secretive birds and
best observed by waiting near a small body
of water, as they drink and bathe regularly

IS THERE A RIGHT TIME TO WRITE?

HEN is it the best time to write an

Beautiful W article? When I have discussed

this with other aviculturists, the
answers vary. Many suggest it’s
when one has ‘cracked’ a species, in that the

Firetails
breeder has had a fair amount of success and
is summing up their strategies to share with
present and future readers.
There are many excellent aviculturists who
have shared their experiences with others
through the pages of various avicultural
AUTHOR & PHOTOS
& T H E VA LU E O F journals, magazines such as Australian
DAVID PACE Birdkeeper, and in books. Past aviculturists
SHARED EXPERIENCES who are no longer with us, such as Russell
Kingston, Eric Baxter, Jim Ray, Harry Carr,
Bill Gordon and Ron Hastings (to name but
a few), have left a truly priceless legacy.
Their countless articles will continue to be
shared well into the future. There are many
breeders now leaving a similar legacy for
the future. Names such as Graeme Hyde,
Peter Odekerken, Mark Shepard, Jade Welch,
Sam Davis, Gary Fitt, Cheryl Mares, Graham
Bull and Graham Mitchell come to mind
(apologies to those I have not named).

RARE & THREATENED SPECIES NEED YOU

Unfortunately, too many breeders fail to
share their experiences in publications.
A case in point is those who breed rare or
threatened species in Australian aviculture.
Where are the articles on softbills such as the
Sharma Thrush, Peking and Magpie Robins,
the various bowerbirds, catbirds, whipbirds,
pittas, chats, spinebills and figbirds, or even
Australian finches such as the Red-eared
and Beautiful Firetails? All these species are
being held and bred in private aviaries but the
number of articles written could be counted
on one hand, if indeed any exist for a number
of these species.

674 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

 FINCH CHARM

VITAL LEARNING FROM GOOD & BAD
So, when is the right time to write an article?
When a breeder ‘cracks the code’? When a
breeder has had consistent success? When
a breeder feels they are ‘expert’ enough? I’d
argue that, obviously, all the above are a great
time to write an article.
However, I’d also argue that the time to
write an article is now! Don’t wait to become
an ‘expert’. Don’t wait to even have breeding
success. Start by sharing your journey with a
species, the experiences of successes and,
at times even more importantly, your failures.
The following article documents the very
beginning of my avicultural journey with the
Beautiful Firetail.
for me over the past few years, and I felt
privileged recently to receive two pairs.
Although breeding this species is a major
objective, to be honest, it was more about
sharing and recording my journey with them.
I required a specialist permit in South
Australia and an import permit to bring birds
into South Australia from Victoria. The permit
process was straightforward, and all was in
place to legally hold the Beautiful Firetail.
THE FIRST WEEK—TRAGEDY
My journey with the Beautiful Firetail started
like a Shakespearean tragedy. Three days
after receiving two pairs, the two females
were dead, while the two males were actively
showing themselves off beautifully in their
respective aviaries.
The birds had been boxed in Victoria since
4pm the evening before their flight from
Melbourne, arriving in Adelaide at 11am.
Collecting the birds at the airport was
exciting, and I was filled with anticipation, as
I could see one of the firetails peering out at
me. Tragedy followed when the birds arrived
home and I discovered one female dead in
her freight box. The box was three-sectioned,
containing individual birds in two sections
and a pair in one compartment. It was the
female in this pair that had died in transit.

THE BEAUTIFUL FIRETAIL—

THE CHALLENGE BEGINS
A personal Holy Grail for me has been to one
day obtain and breed the Beautiful Firetail
Stagonopleura bella. For the past few years, I
have studied and photographed this species
in the wild. When researching this species
in captivity, the number of articles was
alarmingly lacking, despite several people
expressing verbally that they had held or
bred them. There are a couple of articles
by Brian O’Gorman and David Myers in the
1980s and Neville Cayley’s excellent chapter
on the species in the 1932 publication
Australian Finches in Field and Aviary.
Marcus Pollard also wrote on this species in
BirdKeeper vol. 21 no. 3 and vol. 29 no. 5. Not
much over the last century!
Obviously, the low number of articles on this
species is, at least in part, due to their rarity
in captivity, but numbers are presently being
held and bred in Australian aviaries. Where
are the articles that share the important
experiences that have recently occured? My
assumption is these breeders are waiting An immature Beautiful Firetail comes in to drink
to ‘crack the species’ or become ‘experts’.
The tragedy is that their experiences may
never be shared widely through avicultural
publications and so will be lost forever when
they and indeed their birds pass on.
The following diary notes are my
contribution to the avicultural record on the
Beautiful Firetail. Let me start now by saying
that I am not an expert with this species—in
fact I have not even had breeding success
to date! What I am endeavouring to do is
demonstrate that there is value in recording
our journey with a species and sharing the
mistakes and setbacks we encounter. Don’t
wait to be an ‘expert’—if you haven’t done so
yet, start sharing. Aviculturists today and in
the future will appreciate your efforts.

PERSONAL NOTES:
AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2023
I have long been captivated by the Beautiful
Firetail and its enigmatic presence, or should
I say lack of presence in aviculture. Little has
been recorded in recent decades and the
writings of Cayley, Myers and O’Gorman were
my only clues in understanding what was
First Nations people share their Dreamtime story of the couple who stole fire from the sleeping
required to keep and breed them. Verbally, firekeeper who, on waking, threw two flaming spears into their backs, creating the world’s first
several aviculturists have shed more light firetails. The bright red rump is a reminder not to steal

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 675


Young male settling into its aviary, heavily planted with salt bush
Male Beautiful Firetail displaying with long grass stem 24 hours after arrival
Male Beautiful Firetail settles into the new well-planted environment
676 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
AVIARY INTRODUCTIONS
After discussions with the breeder, it was
recommended the remaining birds should be
liberated into their aviaries ASAP on arrival,
rather than being placed in holding cabinets.
I felt uneasy about this as I generally always
hold birds in cabinets for some time prior to
aviary release.
I placed two birds in one aviary (Aviary 4)
which contained no other birds. This aviary
measured 2.5m x 4m and was heavily planted
with saltbush and Lomandra longifolia. The
lone bird was placed into Aviary 2, of similar
dimensions, with three pairs of pictorellas, a
pair of Rock Parrots and a pair of Turquoise
Fairy-wrens.
Liberal amounts of seed were thrown onto
the aviary floor as too were seeding grasses—
Winter Grass Poa anua and Panic Veldt—just
to ensure the birds could locate food as soon
as possible.
The next day all three were seemingly
okay, although the lone bird in Aviary 2
seemed to have collided with something
and was sporting a mark above its right eye.
I photographed the birds and sent images to
the breeder. I was promptly told I had placed
the two male birds together and the female
on her own—a comedy of errors!
That day after work I caught out the
lone female and one of the male birds and
swapped them over, so I had a pair together
and a male bird in Aviary 2. Again, I would
normally never move birds to different
aviaries late in the afternoon but was so
paranoid of housing this species in cabinets
for fear of stressing them. Throwing caution
to the wind, I went ahead and made the swap.
A SECOND BLOW
Heavy rains that night kept me awake as I
hoped all would be well with the firetails.
In the morning, only the male firetail was
visible in Aviary 4. He was active and
looked immaculate but there was no sign
of the female. Tragedy had struck again, as
I discovered her dead on the aviary floor
amongst the vegetation. As you can imagine,
my heart sank—I was now the proud owner of
two male birds!
SETTLING IN
The following days were less emotional,
with the two males settling in well to their
respective aviaries. By the end of the first
week, the males had been observed feeding
on dry seed at the feeding tray, with a
preference for plain canary seed, followed by
red panicum and, on one occasion, one male
was observed feeding on white millet.
The male sharing the aviary with the
pictorellas, Rock Parrots and Turquoise
Fairy-wrens seemed tamer and was more
relaxed when being observed on the feeding
tray, while the second rarely fed while I was
watching. I suspect having other birds feeding
at the table creates more security and I
thought the lone male would benefit from
sharing his aviary with an appropriate pair of
finches or softbills.
 FINCH CHARM

Daily clumps of Meadow Winter Grass
Poa annua were supplied, as well
as other greens such as chickweed
and seeding grasses. Dry seeds were
offered in separate containers to
monitor preferences
The two aviaries housing the Beautiful
Firetails have an extra dish for seeding
grasses and leafy greens. Winter grass,
panic veldt and oat veldt are provided daily
in these dishes, as are leafy greens in the
form of milk thistle, spinach, chick weed
and bok choy.

DIET INITIAL PREFERENCES

I continued the daily seeding grasses and,
after the first two weeks, both males settled
and awaited their respective mates.
Of note is that the sound of Beautiful
Firetails is a high-pitched ascending note,
very similar but quieter than that of the
closely related Diamond Firetail.
During September the Beautiful Firetails
showed themselves to be exceptional aviary
inhabitants. Both males became quite tame,
utilising the feeding trays at the front of the
aviary. All feed, including seeding grasses,
is placed on the trays which measure 1.8m x
0.4m. I placed two juvenile pairs of pictorellas
in with the lone male and I believe this helped
him to settle, as they would soon all be seen
together feeding at the table.
The feed tables are set up so that most
foods are fed in isolation, allowing me to
determine dietary preferences at different
times of the year. The trays contain
individual tubs of white millet, red panicum
and plain canary, together with tubs of shell
grit, cuttlebone, microwaved eggshells and
diatomaceous earth.
Each feeding tray has the addition of fresh
sprouted seed and frozen peas and corn,
with a sprinkling of a vitamin supplement
and a slice of fresh Lebanese cucumber. This
sprouted seed mix consists of the three seeds
described. These items are standard for all
aviaries containing finches.
If an aviary houses softbills, such as fairy-
wrens, a dish of Wombaroo™ Insectivore
Mix and hard-boiled egg is available, as well
as a few mealworms and maggots. As I keep
Rock Parrots, sunflower seed is also added
to the sprouted seed mix. Each aviary also
has a microwaved (cooled) corn cob placed
on a spike. Most species I keep relish corn
this way.
During mid-September the weather warmed
and the days had become notably longer. At
this point I did notice a change in dry seed
preference from plain canary to red panicum.
To date (late October) I still haven’t observed
a Beautiful Firetail consuming white millet.
Seeding grasses are generally the main
item sought. The biggest surprise came after
videoing an individual feeding on soaked
seed. There was no doubt that the bird was
seeking out sprouted black sunflower seed
and bypassing Allocasuarina (sheoak) seeds,
seeding grasses and other fleshy greens.
CONCLUSION
As of mid-October, well over two months
since their arrival, the two Beautiful Firetails
are in splendid condition, vocalising for mates
and showing themselves as excellent aviary
subjects while they await the imminent arrival
of another two females.
*These notes will be continued through
Finch Charm as any developments occur.

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VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 677


Recently fledged
Galah race kuhli
with part of a large
flock and a corella
waiting for a raptor
to disappear and
AUTHOR & PHOTOS then to quench their
thirst
PETER
ODEKERKEN
HEY say that if you live in the Northern
T Territory longer than two years you can
be classed as ‘Troppo True’. Whether
that means you are slightly crazy or
you have just become accustomed to the very
humid and hot conditions in summer, when
your best friend is an air conditioner, I am not
sure. I was fortunate to live in the Territory for
two years, from 1985–87, and have visited a
number of times. Whereas down south in July
we head to a heater almost every night, up there
you can walk around in a short-sleeved shirt and
shorts and enjoy the ‘barbie’ all night long.
My latest trip to the Top End was just a few
weeks ago and brought about an incredible
experience, witnessing the largest flock of
Cockatiels I have seen in my life. An estimated
1500–2000 birds came to drink in very dry
conditions near Agate Creek, on the Victoria
Highway, west of Katherine.
678 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
Pair of Hooded
Parakeets
disputing turns
at a leaking tap,
Pine Creek
Bird-crazy
in the Top End
THE NT’S CHANGING FACE
Darwin and Palmerston now comprise quite
a big city area—according to the ABS three
in five people in the NT lived in Greater
Darwin (140 000) in 2021. But I remember
those days in the mid-1980s when outside of
the city and town limits there was no speed
limit, and you would dodge water buffalo,
brumbies, cattle, kangaroos, wallabies and
all kinds of small critters. The NT even today
can give you the feeling of being ‘far from
the madding crowd’ but you have to travel
down the Stuart Highway away from the
Big Smoke, because Darwin is coming into
line with cities such as Adelaide and Perth,
albeit on a much smaller scale, with just
about all the modern shopping facilities and
night life.
It is still possible to do some serious bird
watching even in Darwin’s environs, with
Gouldian Finches having a comeback at Lee
Point, after a long disappearance from the
area. There have also been reports of 300
Gouldians coming in to drink at sprinklers
at Tumbling Waters, only 60km south of the
city. However, it is best to head to places like
Kakadu, Litchfield and Nimitluk (Katherine
Gorge) or further to get to grips with this
wonderful part of Australia and the world.
G O I N G
PINE CREEK
I tend to arrange my first night or nights in Pine
Creek, 225km south along the Stuart Highway,
after at least one Paul’s Iced Coffee—those
of you who have been to the Top End will
know what I’m talking about in regard to the
'Territory's own' perennial favourite!
Pine Creek is a small settlement created by
finding gold in 1872, and is the only original
mining town remaining in the Top End. In the
dry season—July through to October—it is the
easiest place to observe Hooded Parakeets
Psephotus dissimilis, as they are frequent
visitors to the sprinklers watering the centre of
the town’s park. They also enjoy feeding in the
park or surrounding dry bushland. It is a must-do
stop if you are interested in this gorgeous parrot.
On our recent visit, we saw 40-plus birds
come in to drink at one leaking tap. Crimson-
winged Parrots Aprosmictus erythropterus
and the northern form of the Sulphur-crested
Cockatoo Cacatua galerita fitzroyi can also
be found feeding on mango in the many
trees in the village streets. Northern Rosellas
Platycercus venustus are also to be seen
but are decidedly less common and tend to
frequent town margins. In the southern states
we are spoilt by seeing rosellas frequently in
numbers in park-like areas or in the suburbs,
Red-collared Lorikeets, much like but our northern neighbour is generally much
the eastern Rainbow Lorikeet, are more difficult to observe.
common in the Top End
Of course, Red-collared Lorikeets
Trichoglossus haematodus rubritorquis are
also fond of a free feed of mango but I have
yet to see any Varied Lorikeets Psitteuteles
versicolor indulge. They usually fly overhead to
flowering Eucalypts and, as yet, I have not seen
them in trees in the village.
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus
banksii macrorhynchus are commonly seen,
especially in the surrounding dry wooded
savannah grassland. They are a common
sighting around Darwin. If you see a recently
burnt area, be sure to keep an eye open, as
these are favoured sites for cockatoos, Hooded
Parakeets and a number of finches.

FIRE BENEFITS & DANGERS

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
C. galerita fitzroyi is common in
the Top End. Note it is a slimmer
bird with a longer yellow crest
compared to the eastern form
Fires are a common sight in the late dry, as
pastoralists seek to burn off the dry grass, and
these areas are replenished with green shoots
popping out in no time for the cattle to feed
on. If fires are termed ‘cold fires’, then much
of the grass seed that has fallen is relatively
accessible to the birds and has the added
benefit of being in the open, instead of the
birds becoming entangled within dry stalks
of grass and finding it difficult to safely reach
fallen seed. There is a trade-off, however, as
now raptors can see them readily.
It is the ‘hot fires’ that do the most harm to
seed and everything else consumed. It must
be said that too much burning seems to be
forthcoming in Australia’s northern areas. This
trip had us driving through kilometres of smoke
haze and flames along the roadside west of
Timber Creek—visibility down to 100m at times
in broad daylight. The amount of damage is out
of hand, but this year’s late rain has exacerbated
the size of the fires and they cannot control the
current situation, with a vast area damaged.
A common roadside sign is an indication of
some people’s concern about these fires. The
sign reads, ‘We like our Lizards to be Frilled not
Grilled’. Sadly the Frilled-neck Lizard and others
have suffered, and gone are the days of having
a few sightings of this NT local a day.

PINE CREEK TO EDITH FALLS

Around Pine Creek you are likely to come
across Maskeds, Long-taileds, Double-bars
and, in surrounding areas, Gouldian Finches. I
have found that further south, along the Edith
Falls road, sightings of Crimson and Gouldian
Finches are quite likely. The best practice is
to find a dried-up creek with a few remaining
waterholes and sit quietly in a hide, or create
a hide by using a natural bush or two to keep
out of sight. It is important to not move too
frequently, as the birds will spot you. If a fly is
bothering you, try to avoid any frantic waving
of the hand. Make your movement as calmly
as possible or you will give away your position.
I have to say that on a number of occasions
I have been in full view of birds, which have
come down to drink within metres of me on the
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos opposite side of a pool of water, thanks to me
Calyptorhynchus banksii
managing to be very still…as well as the fact
macrorhynchus are common. From
left: male, female and recently fledged that, no doubt, the birds were very thirsty!
juvenile, pictured west of Katherine

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 679

WEST OF KATHERINE
Other great areas to see birds are found Star Finch male foraging along the
by heading west of Katherine towards the Victoria Highway near Timber Creek
West Australian border. Sites along the
Victoria River have proven successful for
Yellow-rumped Mannikins, Star Finches
and Gouldians.
On our recent trip, we came across Yellow-
rumped Mannikins next to the roadside and,
a little further on at the junction with a road
leading onto Bulloo River Downs, we came
across a flock of Star Finches feeding on the dry
grass and fallen seeds, again next to the road.
Also to be found in the area, generally
away from the river but at drying waterholes,
stock troughs and dams, is the wonderful
Pictorella Mannikin. I find the Pictorella and
Yellow-rumped to be among the most difficult
species to see. This is not to say they are rare
but you can consider yourself lucky to get
amongst them.
The Plum-headed Finch of eastern Australia
can be found in numbers for a few weeks and
then disappear from an area for years.
Timber Creek, 290km from Katherine, is a
good base for visiting the surrounding region This beautiful Rainbow Pitta A Green-winged Pigeon at Lee Point,
was a highlight at Howard one of Darwin’s suburbs
to build up your list of sightings.
Springs, south of Darwin

LEE POINT DELIVERS

We did visit Kakadu National Park which
provided mainly waterbirds to admire, but we
didn’t spend much time in the surrounding
open forest. We needed to press on to Darwin
as my friends were to leave soon to return
overseas. Lee Point, only about 17km from
Darwin, always seems to deliver for me.
Sulphur-crested, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos,
Red-collared and Varied Lorikeets, Crimson-
wings and of course Double-barred Finches,
Green-winged and Pied Imperials (also called
Torres Strait Pigeons), and a selection of
honeyeaters were easily seen.
Another worthwhile nature reserve is
Howard Springs, where the beautiful Rainbow
Pitta is comfortable with the many human
visitors that come, especially on weekends,
for a cool swim in the spring pools.
The Northern Territory is a must-see
destination for nature-lovers, so make sure it
is on your bucket list!

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680 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

 WILD CORNER
Crimson Finch
male perched

WILD CORNER
on a Pandanus
frond—this LUCKY LUCAS, THE
variety grows
along NT
streams and
is utilised by
Crimsons for
nest sites
Brush-turkey

A large wooden
stick had lodged
itself just in front
of the right leg

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birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au DR CLAUDE
or Phone 0431 209 612 LACASSE
DVM, MANZCVS
(Australian Wildlife)
ILD Brush-turkeys are extremely nervous when

W captured. Lucas jumped out of the transport box on

arrival and ran around the clinic. The poor bird was,
however, having difficulty using his right leg properly
because he had impaled himself on a large wooden stick! A wildlife
rescuer had used a net gun to capture him.
Lucas was immediately anaesthetised with Isoflurane for a
thorough examination and radiographs. No fractures or other
injuries were detected. The large wooden stick had lodged itself
under the skin in the right lower abdominal area, just in front of the
right leg. With care, the stick was gently removed. It had been in
this position for a while judging from the amount of necrotic tissue
present around it.
Once the stick was removed, the large tunnelling wound had to
be debrided of all dead tissue and flushed abundantly with saline
solution until completely clean. To be able to properly clean the

LAST wound, the skin was surgically cut to join the two stick entry
points and make a large open wound, exposing the underlying

COPIES tissues, rather than two small holes. The large wound was then
sutured completely closed. Lucas was given subcutaneous fluids
on arrival, as well as antibiotics (Clavulox) and anti-inflammatories
(Meloxicam) orally twice a day for the first week.
The wound healed well and the sutures were removed after
a period of two weeks. Lucas is extremely lucky that the stick
missed vital structures. He was released to the wild, where he
hopefully will continue to scratch up a large mound for this year’s
breeding season!

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 681

 PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR
W H AT M A K E S Y O U R
Hard to Handle?
Having another bird in the home doesn’t mean you will
automatically lose your relationship with your first bird—
care needs to taken with each relationship
Reading body HAVE been called to work with many
language and
avoiding extreme
expressions of
aggressive response
are the key to
enhancing your
I unhandleable birds in my career. I have even
fostered several parrots that could not be
handled, and after a bit of work and a lot of
effortful patience, we built enough skills to the
point that they were stepping up for me.
relationship A bird that cannot be handled looks like a
lot of different things to different people. They
can be so aggressive that they just cannot be
stepped up at all. Perhaps, we can eventually
coerce a step-up, which basically means
we force them to do so, usually by us losing
blood or wrapping our hand with a towel
or sweatshirt! In these cases, we are often
working with a bird that cannot fly—when
you treat a bird like this, more often than not,
other fallout behaviours develop, and you end
up leaving your bird in its home space.
An unhandleable bird might be one that
lunges, strikes out, or goes after a particular
member of the family. Often, we have choice
names and epithets for them—don’t worry,
been there before myself! An unhandleable
bird is often one we label as an ‘attacker’, one
that lunges as we walk by or, if it does step
up, it bites hard unpredictably or sits on our
shoulder, grabbing at our ears, face, or even
climbs up our head.
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?
I like to perform an introspective search with
my clients straight off to decide why we need
to solve this problem with their bird. What
AUTHOR & PHOTOS
does success look like to you and why do you
HILLARY need change?
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682 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
B I R D
Some birds are perfectly fine with minimal
handling and just being a buddy that exists
with you. One client’s older African Grey is
like this. He enjoys company, I can move
him in and out of a crate when I need to, and
complete other skills, but he doesn’t want to
be handled. His person is fine with that.
You might think that a tactile relationship is
the only kind you want, but I encourage you to
keep an open mind on your goals. Sometimes,
reducing the pressure will remove boundaries
around how you physically and psychologically
arrange your relationship for the better.
In other scenarios, building a closer, more
communicative relationship will reduce stress
for everyone (and every bird) involved.
TRAINING—IT’S NOT JUST FOR DOGS
Everyone is in a different place with their bird,
and we are here to help you work through
these stressors and build the skills both you
and your bird need for a better life together.
Training is something we often associate
with dogs—puppy classes and obedience.
Dogs have coexisted with us for ten thousand
years and have even been selectively
bred for traits that make our cohabitation
easier, yet we still need training to better
understand one another. Now, parrots have
not been bred selectively for any of these
traits, so training is needed to help us live
together under one roof, not for obedience
or submission but for communication and
understanding, to provide value for mutually
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DON’T INFER EMOTIONS
Let’s get one thing straight, I know it feels
like it sometimes but, most likely, your parrot
does not hate you or the household member
that they attack and lunge at. It’s not that I
am denying that birds have emotions, but
when we use the word ‘hate’, many times it
becomes personal to us, and we are taking
away the environmental conditions as to
why, from the bird’s point of view, they are
exhibiting this behaviour.
It is really hard to make observations
without interpretation attached. We develop
this practice over time, as emotion scientist
Dr Lisa Feldman Barrett teaches. Think of
the difference between moving your face
and an expression. In the same way, we make
inferences about the emotional meaning in
people’s facial movements, we do this to the
animals that live with us, inferring emotional
intent that we can’t know. It’s not that there
isn’t emotion behind their actions but it is
likely very different to ours.
PREVENTATIVE TECHNIQUES
So, instead of discussing behaviour in terms
of ‘hate’ or ‘jealousy’, let’s look at what our bird
is actually doing. We look at what conditions
surround the problem behaviour. If you are
familiar with the way that I approach behaviour
problem-solving, you know that what I look for
first are ways to prevent the problem behaviour
from being rehearsed. For some people, this
is an easy, low-effort, less-technical step. We
might change a few things in the environment,
shift the way we move and work around the
bird, we might build a couple of basic skills,
but we are working to stay fairly simple. If the
bird strikes at me when I ask it to step up or I
am cleaning the cage, then I stop asking for a
step-up or head scratch, and I target the bird to
a play gym before I clean the cage.
Generally speaking, using preventative
techniques doesn't take a lot of technical
skills. Our birds may need a few essentials
like target training, but we are really looking
at our habits and how we operate around
the bird, making sure (as much as possible)
that we aren't putting our birds into a mode
of stress. This is the time to get creative and
break out of harmful patterns of thinking
that have been keeping us confined in these
problematic interactions.
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BUILDING YOUR PARROT’S SKILLS
Finally, it’s time to build a broader foundation
of skills for my parrot which either attacks
all the time or won't step up. When we
have a bird that has this level of distrust in
people, we need to make sure that we have
our cart and our horse in the right order. It's
understandable that we would confront this
behaviour as a pathology—what is our bird
doing incorrectly that we need to remedy?
Teaching a bird like this to step up is a
topical solution, meaning it's a one-to-one
solution-seeking pathway. However, over the
course of my experience, I have found that
simply teaching the bird to step up when
they are missing all of these other skills to
communicate properly is not going to get us
where we need to be.
Stepping up is not the first skill I look to
build then, and I would suggest that, in
most cases, when we are confronted with
a problem behaviour, we look for a suite of
skills that will serve as a foundation. For
unhandleable birds, I often see a bird that
needs skills that provide options for outlets
for positive behaviour, or to show frustration
in a way that doesn't hurt us.
Think of this in terms of a human who
has anxiety due to stressors in their work
life. We don't expect them to simply ‘not
be stressed’, we help them with time-
management, communication, leadership
and other skills related to increasing
proficiency and fluency. This is what we
know as ‘skill-stacking’ or ‘layering’. When we
feel good about ourselves and know what
we are doing, we can cope better. Simply
meditating isn't going to help us with stress
when we don't have the skills to succeed at
our job or communicate effectively.
Hands-off Behaviours
The first skills I look to build are hands-
off behaviours. These can be husbandry
behaviours that serve to increase our
communication skills, as well as reduce the
amount of force we have in our relationship.
Husbandry behaviours can be as simple as
stationing and food bowl manners, to more
complex behaviours like nail-trims. Even
birds with complicated learning histories can
perform protected contact nail-trims when
we start with this foundational framework.
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PET PARROT BEHAVIOUR
Rescue-type Behaviours
I also look at ‘rescue-type’ behaviours. These are
the behaviours I need to train to help me solve
a problem to minimise the fallout before the
problem happens. For instance, teaching a bird to
step onto a T-perch voluntarily is a great behaviour
to have for an unhandleable bird like this.
Shifting your parrot onto a play gym or other
space while you clean their cage avoids
negative interactions and reduces the stress
quotient of your relationship
With a T-perch we can safely transport our
bird no matter what their mood at the time,
preserving the trust that we need to progress.
A ‘go back home’ cue—as in return to cage
behaviour—is also a great one, as well as a ‘go
away from me’ behaviour. We have courses for
each of these at the Avian Behaviour Lab.
These rescue behaviours are fantastic ways
to defuse an interaction before coercion
and stress come into play. By teaching these
skills, we enhance our communication and
strengthen the practice of recognising body
language cues before they escalate into a
bigger problem. This, in turn, keeps our bird
from existing in this heightened upper tier
of fight or flight mode, reducing the stress
hormones coursing through their body.
CONCLUSION
You can see how stress in the human-bird
relationship has a systemic, even compounding
effect. Simply teaching a bird to step up is
not what leads to them becoming more easy
to handle or soliciting a closer, more tactile
relationship with us. If we are still unable to
interact together in the rest of our relationship
in non-coercive ways, our birds will continue to
show signs of stress in our presence.
Only when the parrot has mastered these
foundational behaviours do I feel they have
what we need to build towards a more
trusting relationship.
SIZES
TO FIT
COCKATIELS
TO MACAWS
ABK©
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 683
 MISSOURI’S OU would think a brightly coloured

POSTCARDS FROM VICKIE World Bird Y ruby-red face, brownish-black wings

with silver-grey flight feathers, and
an impressive 2m (6.5ft) wingspan
would earn a modicum of respect for any
bird. But not so for the Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura. With a penchant for the

Sanctuary flavour of putrefying flesh, and its seemingly

small head for body size, this perfect eating-
machine ranks low, almost non-existent, on
the ‘must-see’ lists of birdwatchers.
But here, at the World Bird Sanctuary (WBS)
in Valley Park, Missouri, vultures are highly
valued, rather than being seen as harbingers
of death, courtesy of their habit of circling
dying animals. After all, according to the
park’s education director Aileen Abbott, ‘Their
stomach acid can kill (almost) any known
disease on the planet’, making them immune
to anthrax, botulism, cholera and salmonella.

A KETTLE OF BUZZARDS
Turkey vultures, in particular, have the most
advanced olfactory system of any bird. Flying
together in groups of four or more, a ‘kettle’
of turkey buzzards (a committee if they were
at rest) can smell carrion at 8km away, and
a blood trail at 1.6km. As if an incredible
‘sniffing’ ability wasn’t enough, they can spot
a cadaver at 6.4km, flying close enough to
detect the rank-smelling gasses given off by
the onset of decay. ‘They can tell how long
the prey has been dead and if it’s ready to be
eaten,’ Aileen says.
Found on all continents except Antarctica,
and in all 50 US states, these birds of prey are
Turkey Vulture
PHOTO PETER ODEKERKEN
often seen on the edge of the highway in a
‘wake’, feeding on roadkill and gorging on up
to 9kg (20lbs) of offal daily. As my husband
Gustavo, best friend Laurie, and I approach
the gargantuan aviary, the local talent, known
as Attila, perches next to the wire mesh of its
enclosure in a staring contest. His bald head,
refined to prevent bacteria from sticking to
the feathers, glistens in the frosty air.
In the adjoining cage, a mating pair of
retired zoo entertainers—Black Vultures
Coragyps atratus called Lumpy and Gar—
huddle together in their nest box, warding off
the cold. Frequently, they treat visitors to a
‘show’ of their own, either awkwardly running
the length of their pen or squabbling over
the meat entrée at dinner. Without a syrinx or
voice box, they can only hiss and grunt.

SANCTUARY BACKGROUND
We continue down the World Bird Sanctuary’s
Avian Avenue, flanked on both sides by
amazing raptors. It is currently taking care of
about 200 birds, representing over 60 species.
AUTHOR A forest home of 123.43ha (305 acres), the
VICKIE safe haven has many full-time residents,
LILLO either endangered or incapable of surviving
in the wild due to injuries or imprinting. Some
PHOTOS are used as educational ambassadors to
GUSTAVO Aviaries along demonstrate the importance of their ‘job’
'Avian Avenue'
LILLO within the eco-system. Others are used for
conservation, in Species Survival Plan (SSP)
programs, to help grow their species.
As a non-profit entity, the sanctuary rents

684 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024


the land from the Missouri Department of
Natural Resources. But the rent is ‘paid’ by
actually donating their services, time and
education, to various statewide parks.
Founded in 1977 by internationally renowned
wildlife rehabilitator and conservationist
Walter C. ‘Stormy’ Crawford Jr, the
shelter began as a simple raptor hospital,
rehabilitating birds of prey. Over 21 000
debilitated birds have now passed through
the infirmary—approximately 600 per year.
Almost half (43%) have been released back to
the wild.
Besides conservation, which is a
fundamental pillar of the sanctuary’s
organisational goals, the focus has always
been on education, schooling the general
public about ‘the gift of birds’. The park’s
mission statement reads, ‘Local, national,
and international education programming
for the public is key to our efforts to protect
birds and the environment. We ensure that
our messages reach diverse audiences
by offering programming to children in
under-served communities via grants from
our supporting foundations and trusts, as
well as partnering with groups focused on
the LGTBQ community and those who are
differently abled’.
As we continue down the paved trail
through the raptor coops, Aileen points out a
migrating Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis,
a small New World sparrow, pecking in the
grass. ‘Walking this stretch to see the birds is
my favourite part of the job,’ she says smiling,
‘and interacting with people on busy days.’
STONE THE CROWS!
We pass a trio of American Crows Corvus
brachyrhynchos, one of which is bouncing
up and down. ‘That’s Petri—he laughs all the
time,’ Aileen introduces us. Frequently, his
chortle is mistaken for a human’s. ‘Aesop’s on
vacation right now—the birds ‘work’ for six
months, then earn six months rest. We try
to encourage natural behaviours and keep
them from getting bored,’ Aileen explains.
Some of those ‘natural behaviors’ in the wild
include tool-making…shaping wood into an
implement for poking into fence-post holes to
retrieve food. ‘Crows can recognise people,’
she says. ‘They can even teach their young to
like…or not like…you!’
QUITE A HOOT
Continuing on, we encounter a myriad
of owls. Aileen discusses their hunting/
eating habits, noting, ‘they are nocturnal,
diurnal, crepuscular…and opportunistic’’, or
‘opportunivores’, if you will.
We meet Bogart, an orange-eyed Eurasian
Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, working on his nest
site, despite the fact he doesn’t have a gal to
share it with. No one has the heart to tell him.
Up ahead, a Barred Owl Strix varia, looks up
from his perch. Because these ‘silent flyers’
are often called the ‘laughing owl’ for their
numerous vocalisations, we are unfazed when
we hear a snicker, but it’s only Petri, the crow
we met earlier.
POSTCARDS FROM VICKIE
We converge on the Barn Owls—a British B E C A U S E B I R D S F LY,
Tyto alba and an American subspecies Tyto
furcata. With their heart-shaped, eerie SOMETIMES THOUSANDS OF
pallid faces, they are the local ‘screamers’,
not the more delicate ‘hooters’. ‘We have MILES, THEY TIE…ECOSYSTEMS
successfully bred and released over 1200
Barn Owls,’ Aileen says with pride, pleased TO G E T H E R , D E M O N S T R AT I N G
to have strengthened weak populations and
contributed to their IUCN status change HOW DEPENDENT EACH
from Endangered.
CONTINENT IS ON THE OTHER.
BALD EAGLES & PEREGRINES
Ex-situ breeding (propagation outside the B I R D S S H R I N K T H E D I S TA N C E —
natural habitat range) is what the World Bird
Sanctuary is best known for. They started with THEY’RE THE ORIGINAL
programs involving Bald Eagles Haliaeetus
leucocephalus, the American symbol of WORLDWIDE WEB.
freedom, followed by Peregrine Falcons
Falco peregrinus, both on display here at the
sanctuary. Aileen says they currently have
The Park’s educational director
nest boxes in the Greater St Louis area, and
Aileen Abbott outside the Kathryn
band the birds. G. Favre Wildlife Hospital
Up ahead, a stylish blue-grey Peregrine,
named Evelyn, is shredding its small prey,
adroitly stripping feathers from the tiny quail
to expose the meat. Here at the sanctuary,
resident predators are fed outsourced game
birds and chicks and, at times, donated
venison. ‘This is the fastest animal on Earth.
They tuck their wings back, put their head
down and dive,’ Aileen says.
It’s this bird’s swooping ‘stoop’ dive that
served as the role model for the United
States’ Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit ‘stealth’
bomber. ‘They can reach 386kph (240mph)
when chasing prey.’
We stand in awe of this North American
‘duck hawk’, clutching the quail with its talons,
and tearing it to ribbons with its sharpened
nib. With each stab at the bloodied flesh, the
black bars on its white underparts quiver. ‘At
night, wild falcons nest on skyscrapers in the
city and feed on pigeons,’ Aileen tells us.
CONSERVATION FOR THE WORLD
Other initiatives for WBS include the creation
of conservation education resources for
children from developing countries. They also
conduct ‘environmental impact’ surveys for Crystal, a Snowy Owl, has a
large corporations. Population management detached retina and lives indoors
programs monitor avian populations in the during summer months
wild and track disturbances in habitat.
They have banding teams for songbirds and
Saw-whet Owls Aegolius acadicus, those
adorable big-eyed, small-bodied ‘true owls’ Bald Eagle
with the loud ‘too-too-too’ call. Staff and
volunteers tag and collect data on the birds
traveling through the Mississippi Flyway.
These migrants, having wintered in South
and Central America, the Caribbean and
the Yucatán, return to North America in the
spring. They either nest in the area along the
flyway or rest a few days before continuing
their northward journey to Canada for the
summer months
World Bird Sanctuary CEO Dawn Griffard
sums up the seriousness of the situation.
‘The entire balance of the world’s ecosystems
depends greatly on the stability of bird
populations…Because birds fly, sometimes
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 685
 thousands of miles, they tie those
ecosystems together, demonstrating how
dependent each continent is on the other.
Birds shrink the distance, they’re the original
worldwide web.
‘The loss of just one species can cause a
domino effect, affecting entire habitats, and
the animals and humans that live within. The
loss of 95–98% of vulture species alone has
caused cataclysmic effects on world health.’
INDIA’S EXPERIENCE
Indeed, the rapid decline of India’s top three
Evelyn, a Peregrine Falcon, plucking vultures—the Long-Billed Gyps indicus, the
feathers from a piece of meat Slender-billed Gyps tenuirostris and the
White-rumped Gyps bengalensis—has sent
the avian (and human) world into a tailspin.
Over 40 million of these scavengers helped
rid the subcontinent’s streets of festering
carcasses in the first years of the 1990s.
Barely a decade later, all were floundering
on the brink of extinction.
A 2017 survey estimated that only about
20 000 individuals across the three species
remained, with a mere 1000 Slender-billed left.
The culprit is diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory
drug used in cattle and swine throughout
Asia. The vultures die of kidney failure within
days of eating contaminated tissue.
Cow carcasses being a mainstay of
the vulture diet across India, when the
vulture populations dwindled, a vacuum
Andean Condor
was created, leading to countless remains
putrefying in the heat. Rats and feral dogs
attempted to fill the void, but without
the necessary metabolism to efficiently
Silver Pheasant eliminate infectious pathogens, these new
male ‘foragers’ became carriers of the lethal
germs. Diseases like TB, brucellosis, foot-
and-mouth and anthrax flourished.
With the canine explosion came a rabies
outbreak which claimed over 47 000 lives
from 1992–2006.
NEW HOPE
With the health crisis slowly waning, and
vulture populations beginning to rise
again, the latest collaboration for WBS with
South Africa’s VulPro, a leader in vulture
conservation, has great implications for the
future of the planet. Featuring five African
vulture species, VulPro’s rehabilitation
programs have rehabbed more than 1000
The Edward's Pheasant, from vultures, with 70% successfully returned to
Vietnam, has not been sighted the wild at a 75% survival rate. Furthermore,
in the wild since 2000 captive breeding since 2015 has produced
70 Cape Vultures Gyps coprotheres and
a handful of African White-backed Gyps
africanus, a species first.
Dawn Griffard is excited to join forces with
VulPro CEO Kerri Wolter in offering a haven
for these critically endangered birds, as well
as breeding them ex-situ for eventual release
into the ecosystem. Twenty birds from VulPro
are coming, of which four are new species for
WBS. The refuge is already home to several
endangered Old World Vultures, the Hooded
Necrosyrtes monachus, Egyptian Neophron
percnopterus, Red-headed Sarcogyps calvus,
and Bearded Gypaetus barbatus.
686 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
THE MIGHTY ANDEAN CONDOR
The wildlife trail continues past areas of
ongoing construction, with Aileen advising
they are getting a new crane and condor
exhibit. ‘And Dorothy here, is getting a
boyfriend,’ she says, indicating the stately
Andean Condor Vultur gryphus. A New World
vulture and the largest bird of prey across
the globe, this enormous scavenger makes
its abode in the Andes of South America.
Gustavo and I have actually seen this
magnificent creature in nature, in my
husband’s home-country of Chile—
circling above the mountain range, gliding
without effort on ‘thermals’ of air. Without
binoculars, we were able to witness its
3.5m wingspan from a mile away.
Now, up close, we can appreciate the
majesty of this Herculean vulture. Hatched
‘under human care’, Dorothy is part of the
WBS’s ongoing initiative to breed and release
condors into the Venezuelan highlands.
‘Look, she’s wearing ear muffs,’ says my
friend Laurie, refering to the gorgeous
white ruff of feathers clustered around
the condor’s neck. ‘I want those—I’m
about at my limit of cold.’ Despite only a
light dusting of snow on the ground, the
temperature is brutal—my hands have
already lost all feeling.
STILL MORE VULNERABLE BIRDS
We move along to another ‘vulnerable’
bird species under propagation. Jake and
Neytiri, Cabot’s Tragopans Tragopan caboti,
found in South-east China, are in their
first breeding season. A similar ground-
dweller, the critically endangered Edward’s
Pheasant Lophura edwardsi, endemic to the
rainforests of Vietnam, hasn’t been seen in
the wild since 2000.
Victims of hunting and habitat loss, these
glossy cobalt-blue birds, with crimson
facial skin around both eyes, were further
decimated by Agent Orange—the wicked
chemical herbicide used by US military
forces from 1961 to 1971 as part of their
combat strategy during the Vietnam War—
more evidence of man’s hostilities catching
animals in the crosshairs.
Working with government officials in
Vietnam, plus SSP stud-keepers, the WBS
has identified a pair with potential for
bearing successful offspring of strong
genetic biodiversity. The pair has already
raised five chicks which will eventually
make their way back to Vietnam, but today
they do not make an appearance outside
their bird box. We can only catch a glimpse
of their colouration as they crouch inside
their home.
Equally lovely are the Silver Pheasants
Lophura nycthemera next door. An ancient
breed, mentioned in Chinese poetry 5000
years ago, Lafayette, the male, struts
majestically. He is swinging his enormous
white tail fan to and fro, perhaps to impress
his lady, Adrienne. Though dullish-brown,
she apparently tickles his fancy—they are a
thriving egg-laying couple.
 POSTCARDS FROM VICKIE

HAWKS & EAGLES

The hawk and eagle compounds stretch ahead. Cousteau, an
agitated White-tailed (Sea) Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla, from Eurasia,
is perfecting a nest, delicately adding sprigs to the bivouac. Upon
completion, he stands on a roost, preening, quite content with his
performance. ‘Calypso, his mate, will completely redo it after he
leaves,’ Aileen advises.
Augur Buzzard Buteo augur, Caesar, a South African hawk, delights
us with his bold personality. He’s always a crowd fave. Adjacent, a
Swainson’s Hawk Buteo swainsoni, with wing damage near the joint,
shares a cage with Blaze, a Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis.
He also suffered trauma to his primaries, which required partial
amputation. Both are traveling educator birds. They are known as the
‘Hawk of the Highway’, since so many of the Red-tails get hit while
eating prey in the middle of the road. White-tailed (Sea)
Eagle female Red-tailed
As for the Bald Eagles, there are four of them in the ‘Stars and
Hawk
Stripes’ exhibit. Hovering on a branch outside the cage, a wild local
juvenile looks out across the facility, as if nodding his approval.

HOSPITAL PATIENTS
Another youngster, experiencing spinal trauma, is being treated at
the on-site Kathryn G. Favre Wildlife Hospital. Rehabilitation tech
Andrew holds its claws securely as hospital manager Kira Klebe
pokes a capsule for lead poisoning down the eagle’s throat. Two
squirts from a water-mister encourage it to swallow. She adds a tail
guard to keep those feathers from ‘rumpling’. Patient #2, a Cooper’s
Hawk Accipiter cooperii with a dislocated wing, sports a ‘calming’
hood. ‘Once the eyes are blocked, they kind of just shut down,’
Andrew acknowledges. Kira dabs antimicrobial gel on a leg wound
the hawk refuses to quit nibbling.
‘We treated over 700 birds of prey last year,’ Kira says. Most are due
to traffic accidents, window strikes, and lead poisoning from bullets.
Bald Eagles are especially prone to contamination from lead sinkers Augur Buzzard
hiding inside the bellies of fish they eat.
There are currently 20 patients at the hospital, we hear. One, a Red-
shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus, involved in a methane flare, has to
moult all its feathers to recover. Another raptor embroiled in a newly
tarred roof had its wing tips snipped off because they were so badly
burned. It will probably recuperate at the hospital for a year.
Aileen explains that with volunteers, they can now pick up more
wounded birds from a larger area, rather than hoping for them to
be brought in. The ‘helpers’ are trained how to immobilise birds for
transport and, whenever possible, these same volunteers are allowed
to release their rehabbed bird.

A NEW RESPECT FOR VULTURES

Once back outdoors, I dally beside a second Turkey Vulture, hopping
in customary ungainly fashion inside its pen. Never again will I feel
revulsion when I see this ‘garbage disposal’ of nature feeding on
organic remains, keeping the planet free from pestilence. Any bird
capable of thwarting its enemy with toxic vomit by regurgitating semi-
digested meat, plus cooling its body temperature and killing parasites
through self-urination, well, that’s just a badass bird!

Hospital manager Kira Klebe

checking a dislocated wing
joint on a Cooper's Hawk
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VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 687

 THE WISE OWL
B E Y O N D F L I G H T :
Architecture of Feathers
O
NE of my greatest pleasures
throughout my life has been
looking through the lens of my
camera and viewing the beautiful
detail of a feather, and its vibrancy as it glows
in the morning light. Sitting at a waterhole
in the chill of the morning, watching the
spectacle of colour, feathers and wings
reflected in the surface of the water cannot
be equalled…but at least when I come home
I have images to brighten my time away from
the extraordinary beauty of these birds.
I’ve mentioned previously that a key
attraction to aviculture and keeping birds
is the complexity of feathers in providing
colour, texture and beauty to our otherwise
ordinary lives. Clearly, feathers are important
for more than just aesthetics, and the last
Wise Owl column started our investigation
into the many traits and functions of feathers,
including for locomotion, manoeuvrability,
balance, bracing and buoyancy.
In this column, I am going to start by
exploring thermoregulation and then go on
to highlight other physiological benefits of
feathers, including protection from solar
radiation, waterproofing, protection from
parasites, and the benefits of feathers in
nest-lining.
TEMPERATURE REGULATION
Perhaps one of the most costly energy
AUTHOR & PHOTOS
problems we all face every hour of the day
DR MILTON is keeping our body temperatures constant.
LEWIS
In the heat of summer, we think about little
BSc (Hons) PhD
more than cooling ourselves and then, when
winter arrives, it is all about staying warm.
My first behavioural response to the cold
is to grab my feather-down jacket. Within
a few minutes, the warmth of my body is
trapped and I begin to feel the heat permeate
throughout my system.
Birds acquire their feather-down jackets
during the first adult moult, and this allows
them to maintain homeothermy throughout
their lives in a multitude of environments
and extremes of temperature. There are not
many species able to survive in Arctic and
Antarctic conditions but birds, because of
the insulative qualities of their feathers, have
become a well-represented part of this biota.
Feathers aid insulation by trapping a layer
of air between the skin and the external
environment. You may have noticed your birds
looking a bit ‘fluffier’ in the late afternoon,
just before sunset. This is not because they
are sick, rather they are increasing the layer
of insulative air among the feathers before
roosting in order to stay warm overnight.
The feathers of birds living in colder climates
are generally characterised by having longer
688 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
T H E R E M A R K A B L E
PA RT 2
down feathers, with lower barb and barbule
densities, to increase the ability to trap air.
In hot environments, birds are able to open
the layer of feathers and allow air exchange
across the skin. Small blood vessels on the
skin’s surface can then release heat with the
cooler external surface, and carry the cooler
blood around the body. It is a little similar to
humans taking a cool shower or a swim on
a hot day and feeling our body temperature
decrease. This is a simplified explanation but
the results are the same.
DEFLECTING SOLAR RADIATION
Another function of feathers in extreme heat
is the deflection of solar radiation. Terrill &
Shultz (2023) use the interesting Australian
example of kangaroos seeking shade during
the middle of the day, yet emus are able
to continue walking around and feeding
because their feathers reflect the sun.
The reflectance of feathers (how much
light is reflected from the surface) is critically
important in protecting birds from solar
radiation. Feathers provide a similar function
for birds to us wearing clothes and sunscreen
for protection from the sun’s rays. Some
species in extreme environments also have
black skin as added protection to the cover
provided by feathers.
Solar radiation has been suggested as the
major cause of feather degradation. The Nestlings of
results can be observed easily in the exposed many bird
outer feathers which are not shielded by
species,
including
other feathers. Anyone that has kept Fawn canaries, are
Zebra Finches in outside aviaries might have naked after
noticed the fading caused by exposure to the hatching and
sun during the summer. It is suggested that are therefore
not able to
one reason why wing feathers overlap almost regulate
completely is to prevent this damage so that their body
a bird’s ability to fly is not hampered. temperature

INSIGHTS TO BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY
Relating these ideas and facts about
thermoregulation to my birds has given me a
few valuable insights. I had not thought much
about the abilities of nestlings, particularly
canaries, in being able to maintain their own
body temperature. Obviously, as chicks in the
nest they are almost naked and the female
performs the role of keeping them warm,
because at this time they are particularly
vulnerable to temperature stress.
However, it is not just during the nestling
period that changes in temperature might
be dangerous. Canaries and other finches
do not moult into their adult feathers for
several months, meaning that during this
period without the full complement of
downy under-feathers and dense outer
feathers, they have a very poor ability to
thermoregulate. This may partially explain
the vulnerability of some young birds
which cope poorly with the extremes of
temperature experienced during the last
month of summer before the adult moult.
THE BENEFITS OF BATHING
A second thought about the role of feathers in
keeping our birds comfortable throughout the
year relates to cleanliness. Birds in the wild
bathe every morning in either pools of water
or dew on the foliage of plants. I have always
promoted and allowed my canaries to bathe
as often as they wish throughout the year.
Strangely, there is a belief among many
canary aficionados that allowing females
to bathe during the breeding season will
somehow reduce the viability of clutches and
cause hatchlings to die. My experience is in
complete opposition to this and, after trials,
I have found that nests in which bathing is
encouraged have a higher hatching success.
I suspect that having clean feathers, without
dirt particles reducing the ability of feather
barbules to interlock and insulate at the
proper level, is probably an influencing factor.
WATERPROOFING
Linked to the discussion about buoyancy
in the last Wise Owl, are the waterproofing
qualities of feathers. In regards to buoyancy, it
was all about holding pockets of air, similar to
the life vests we wear on boats. However, this
waterproofing also helps keep birds warm by
preventing their skin from becoming wet and
chilled in unfavourable weather conditions.
This is especially important for marine and
aquatic birds but can be essential for any
birds when rain events occur.
Waterproofing of the feathers is achieved
through the feather microstructure, where
barbules with large angles prevent water
droplets from moving through the feather.
This results in water surface tension and, as
droplets form and grow in size, they simply fall
off the feather, keeping the bird dry.
In the past, it was thought that oils
exuded from the preen (or Uropygial) gland,
located just above the tail, were the key to
keeping bird’s waterproof. However, it is now
recognised that this gland has other functions.
The exudates from this gland are in fact
maintaining the feather microstructure and
reducing wear.
PARASITE PROTECTION
The architecture of feathers also plays an
important role in the protection of birds from
external parasites. Just as they are a nuisance
to us, mosquitoes are a menace to birds, even
our aviary birds. Not only can they leave an
annoying, itching red swelling, but they can
be an unwelcome carrier of disease such as
avian malaria. Feathers are a primary shield
against these biting insects and protect most
of the bird, except for the legs and naked skin
around the face.
Another blood-sucking parasite is the
Hippoboscidae (or louse fly), which might
not be so familiar to many people. I have
encountered these on numerous occasions
while working with wild birds and have been
painfully bitten. These flies have flattened
bodies and run around on the surface of the
bird’s body, slipping between feathers and
feeding on blood. They are highly evolved
to suit their lifestyle and difficult to control
without chemicals.
In response to parasites such as these, and
other unwelcome guests including mites and
feather-consuming bacteria, birds and their
feathers have evolved a few weapons. Some
feathers release volatile compounds such as
isobutyl butyrate, naphthalene, hexadecane,
and trans-limonene oxide that deter some
species of mosquitoes and other feather
intruders. In a few species of birds, antibiotic
compounds are produced by symbiotic
bacteria resident in their uropygial glands,
which helps in controlling feather-destroying
bacteria. Feather pigments such as melanin
also aid in strengthening feathers against
these forms of damage.
NEST LINING
The value of feathers used as nest lining is
probably underestimated but it is important
and extensively used by many species,
including my canaries. In many instances,
females will pluck their own feathers or steal
them from somewhere else to use in their nest
to improve the insulation for eggs and chicks.
THE WISE OWL
The very high reflectance of the black
feathers on the back of an ibis protect these
birds from high levels of ultraviolet radiation
Notice the hair-like feathers, or filoplumes,
projecting from the back of this canary’s head
There is conflicting evidence suggesting
that feathers may help reduce the bacterial
load in the nest but it is clear that the lining
is beneficial at least in producing healthier,
heavier chicks compared to nests that do not
contain feathers. A further benefit may be that
by providing a muffling effect and reducing
noise, the feathers lower the risk of predation.
THE SURPRISING FILOPLUME
Finally, let’s consider the filoplume. These are
long, thin feathers with an elongated rachis
that might function in a sensory capacity
similar to the whiskers on cats and dogs.
Often they are located on the back of the
neck and nape but some species also have
filoplumes on the wings.
Canary breeders might be aware of these
‘hair-like’ feathers, often seen on the back
of the neck in males and plucked before a
show to improve the appearance of the bird’s
overall outline. As mentioned, these unusual
feathers may be sensory and help detect
contour feathers that require preening to
be placed back in the appropriate position.
However, in a few species they have evolved
an ornamental role to attract the attention
of mates.
COMING UP
In the next column investigating the variety
in feather form and function across the
avian world, I will include discussion about
how feathers may have evolved to help in
collecting food or aiding digestion. But for me,
the most exciting area to explore will be the
role of feathers in communication.
We have all seen the bright colours of males
in a great number of species and are aware
that these colours and patterns communicate
with females as potential mates, or with
males as rivals. However, have you thought
about the noises created by feathers? Think
about this the next time you hear a Crested
Pigeon flying away or watch the wing-
clapping display of a Bronze-wing Pigeon.
REFERENCE
Terrill, RS & Shultz, AJ 2023, ‘Feather function
and the evolution of birds’, Biological
Reviews, vol. 98, pp. 540–566.
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 689
 HE Blue-eared or Seram Lory Eos
Blue-eared Lories

T semilarvata has a limited distribution

in the mountains of central Seram,
Indonesia. It is Near-threatened on the
IUCN Red list, with 10–20 000 mature birds
believed to exist in the wild. It is one of six Eos
subspecies introduced to European aviculture in
small imports during the 1990s. They were never
bred in big numbers, so today there are only
limited quantities left in Europe.
AUTHOR & PHOTOS
I first saw a young pair of these beautiful
RINUS creatures in 2020 in the aviary of a friend, when I
VAN DEN BROEK picked up a new photo cage that he had made for
me. I just loved them! Last year he decided to cut
down the number of lories he kept and offered this
pair to me—happy days! Before they came to me,
they had bred two youngsters in their first nest.
When I first housed them at my place for a
few weeks, the female laid a new clutch of two
eggs. Unfortunately, they were both infertile. I
then placed the pair in another aviary with an
attached outside suspended flight, and a new
nest box design. Slowly they got used to my
BREEDING THE management and, after nearly a year, the female
started laying again.

Blue-eared HOUSING & NESTING

The Blue-ears are kept in aluminum flights, with

Lory
an inside section measuring 130cm wide x 100cm
deep x 210cm high, and an attached outside flight
that measures 130cm x 80cm x 100cm. The aviary
is kept heated to a temperature above 15°C.
In early October, I found an egg in the nest box.
A few days later there was a second egg. One was
fertile. The female was leaving the nest box quite
often, so I was worried about the development of
the fertile egg. However, about 24–25 days later, a
youngster hatched. (I start counting from the day
the second egg is laid.)
The vertical nest box measures 20cm square
x 50cm high, with a PVC pull-out drawer. It was
easy for me to make quick inspections, and even
take photographs, because the female was still
leaving the nest box on a regular basis. I use hemp
bedding to keep them as dry as possible.

Above: Part of the aviary complex
showing access to the indoor area
Blue-eared Lory nest box.
The inspection door is
gradually opened to allow
light in as the chicks develop
B L U E - E A R E D
C H I C K D E V E L O P M E N T
CHICK DEVELOPMENT
The chick was banded with a 6mm band on
his ninth day. When my youngsters are around
three weeks of age, I open the inspection door
of the nest box a little to allow some light in, and
change the PVC pull-out drawer on a daily basis
to prevent the parents from feather-plucking
the youngsters.
The chick will be independent around 80 days of
age. Plumage colour is still duller than the parents
L O R Y (which are similar in appearance). As the chick
grows, it will develop a dark, nearly black beak
colour compared to the yellow seen in adults.

21 days 32 days 41 days

690 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

 Young male, left, at 69 days with his
mum—notice the differences

Fruits mix
fed daily

DIET
My lori wet mix is a composition of 65%
Aves® Lorinectar, 30% NEKTON-Lori® and
5% Wisbroek Lory Nectar. To this is added a
mix containing a small amount of rice flour,
dextrose, eight grains (whole wheat, rye,
oats, barley, millet, cornmeal, flaxseed and
sunflower seeds) and bee pollen. I feed this
wet mix twice daily, and a fruit mix once daily.

CONCLUSION
The Blue-eared Lory is a wonderful species
to keep in any collection, but these birds
are not easy to find in Europe! They are very
active birds, measuring 25cm in length.
Unfortunately, the number of lory breeders is
decreasing, so it becomes harder and harder
to keep this genus in European aviculture.
We must work together to maintain them in
aviculture for future fanciers.

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VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 691

 Siberian Goldinch
C. c. frigoris

Corsican Goldfinch
AUTHOR & PHOTOS
C. c. tschusii

HORST
MAYER

European
Goldfinches
European Goldfinch
C. c. carduelis

INTRODUCTION
The contrasting and brightly coloured
plumage and characteristic call make the
European Goldfinch charming to me. I am
always happy when European Goldfinches
fly over our grounds, or when I come across
these pretty birds in a street lined with
Platanus plane trees in our village. Usually,
you hear them before you see them, and
I think to myself, ‘there they are again, my
favourite birds!’ When they occasionally sit
in our garden in late spring and feed on the
seeds of the Evening Primrose
Oenothera biennis, it is a very special
moment of happiness.
When it comes to keeping them, however,
goldfinches can be problematic, as I
have discovered.

TAXONOMY & DISTRIBUTION

(According to del Hoyo et al 2010 & Dickinson 2003): Order: Passeriforme; Family: Fringillidae; Genus: Carduelis (Brisson, 1760);
Species: Carduelis carduelis. There are 14 subspecies in total, 10 in the western group and four in the eastern.
Western Black-crowned Group (‘carduelis’)
C. c. britannica (Hartert 1903) British Isles, north-western France, western Netherlands.
Southern Scandinavia, south-eastern Finland, eastern Russia as far as the Urals and the Volga,
C. c. carduelis (Linnaeus 1758)
south to central France, Italy, Slovenia, north-western Romania, Moldavia and northern Ukraine.
C. c. volgensis (Buturlin 1906) Southern Ukraine, south-eastern Russia, north-western Kazakhstan.
C. c. frigoris (Wolters 1953, formerly
Siberia, northern and north-eastern Kazakhstan.
C. c. major Taczanowski 1879)
Canary Islands, Madeira, Balearic Islands, Iberian Peninsula to southern France,
C. c. parva (Tschusi 1901)
Morocco to northern Libya.
Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily. (This subspecies is also widespread on Elba and the Italian mainland
C. c. tschusii (Arrigoni 1902)
according to Natale & Pidalà 2005.)
C. c. balcanica (Sachtleben 1919) Balkan states, south to Greece and Crete, north-western Turkey.
C. c. colchica (Koudashev 1915) Crimean Peninsula and northern Caucasus.
Rhodes, western, central and north-eastern Turkey, east to southern Caucasus, Cyprus,
C. c. niediecki (Reichenow 1907)
Lebanon, Israel, south-western Iran, northern Egypt.
C. c. loudoni (Zarudny 1906) incl. brevirostris. Eastern Turkey, Azerbaijan, northern Iran.
Eastern Grey-headed Group (‘caniceps’):
Western Turkmenistan, eastern Iran, Afghanistan, western Pamir and Tien Shan mountains
C. c. paropanisi (Kollibay 1910)
(parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and north-western China).
C. c. subulata (Gloger 1833) North-eastern Kazakhstan, south-central Russia, north-western Mongolia.
C. c. ultima (Koelz, 1949) Southern Iran.
West and north Pakistan, Kashmir and north-western Himalayas to Nepal and
C. c. caniceps (Vigors, 1831)
south-western China.
* The European Goldfinch nominate form Carduelis carduelis carduelis has also been introduced to south-eastern Australia, Tasmania,
New Zealand, Uruguay, various parts of the USA, Bermuda, the Azores and Cape Verde (del Hoyo et al 2010).

692 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

European Goldfinch Subspecies
It is very easy to distinguish the four
eastern grey-headed subspecies from
their western counterparts by the absence
of the contrasting black-and-white head
colouration. Grey-headed goldfinches
are characterised by a predominantly
greyish-brown head (but also have the
pretty red mask).
Within the western European goldfinches,
subspecies can be distinguished by
size and plumage colouration (lighter or
darker browns and the amount of whitish
colouration). Size varies between 10.5–
13.5cm and weight from 9.5–30g, depending
Left: European C. c. carduelis male
on the subspecies (del Hoyo et al 2010). Right: Siberian C. c. frigoris male
The photos in this article show the
differences in colour and size of the
subspecies C. c. carduelis, C. c. frigoris and
C. c. tschusii which I have kept.
C. c. frigoris is clearly the largest and
shows the greatest amount of white in the
plumage, while the small C. c. tachiai shows
browner colour on the breast.

Sexing
Adult European Goldfinches can usually be
distinguished by their plumage colouration,
although there are always cases where
a clear sex determination is impossible.
Males almost always have a larger and more
intensely red facial mask than females. The
red colouration extends far behind the eye, Left: Corsican C. c. tschusii male
whereas in females it only reaches about Right: Siberian C. c. frigoris male
the middle of the eye. Furthermore, the
black colouring on the head is more intense
in males, and they show black feathers
on the wing, whereas in females this area
is grey-brown and therefore lighter. Less-
pronounced characteristics of the male
are the larger head, its longer and wider bill,
the darker plumage at the base of the bill,
and the larger and more intensely yellow
wing patch.
During breeding season, the male's
swollen sexual organ is clearly visible as a
protruding ‘cone’, while the female's cloaca
remains flat. Finally, male goldfinches
almost always sing more powerfully
and persistently than females, and they
express more strength and dominance Siberian Goldfinches. Adult pair at
through their posture. 6 months old—female on the left
In young goldfinches, the sexes cannot be
distinguished until after the 40th day, when
the first black marginal feathers appear on
the males and the plumage around the beak
begins to turn black.

CAPTIVE EXPERIENCES
European Goldfinch
I had kept the European Goldfinch twice
over a very short time. In 2009, I bought
two pairs.
Coming from outdoor aviaries, I located
them in a 5m-long outdoor aviary. The
acclimatisation phase went well.
In early March (Northern Hemisphere) one
pair was placed in a 2m-long indoor aviary
and the other pair were placed in a 1.6m Corsican Goldfinch C. c. tschusi—
long x 90cm high x 60cm deep cage located male (left) and female
against the back wall of the outdoor aviary.

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 693

European Goldfinch chicks at 7 & 8 days old
Pair 1
The pair in the spacious cage produced their
first four-egg fertile clutch at the end of April.
On 13 May I found eggshell remains of at least
two eggs, so young must have hatched. (The
incubation period had so far been 13 days).
When I provided fresh dandelion heads, the
female left the nest to feed on this sought-
after green food. Two days later I was able
to photograph four young birds, aged one
and two days old. The female, given fresh
dandelion heads as a distraction, immediately
returned to the nest.
At the age of six days, the two largest young
birds were ringed with 2.8mm leg rings,
followed by the ringing of the next in the nest.
On 29 May the first young bird fledged at 16
days old. The second followed the next day,
while the other two fledged after another two
and three days respectively. On 12 June, two
youngsters were already bathing in a shallow
water bowl. They were 30 days old at this
point and were still being fed by their mother.
A Second Clutch
Also on 12 June, the female laid the third egg
of the second brood, and started incubating.
The female laid a third egg and started
incubating. The nesting site was the same
artificial nest that had been chosen for the
first brood. (The old brood nest had been
removed soon after the young had fledged,
and the female had built an elaborate new
nest.) The full clutch consisted of five eggs
but only three were fertile.
Three days after the second clutch hatched,
the male suddenly chased his young around
violently. I feared for their lives and put the
overly active male into a small cage, which I
hung directly in front of the breeding cage,
hoping the male could still feed his offspring
through the bars—but I did not observe this
to happen.
One day before the expected hatching date,
the four young from the first brood were
weaned and the adult male was let back into
the breeding cage.
The next day the breeding male bathed
extensively and at 4.45pm the female flew
off the nest with half an eggshell in her
beak. Shortly afterwards she dropped the
shell, quickly ate something, returned to the
nest, looked inside and flew off again with a
piece of shell. She again dropped this to the
694 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
European Goldfinch juvenile
ground, flew to the nest several times and
immediately went away again, before she sat
down in the nest and huddled the young. Both
halves of the eggshell were still moist and
a little bloody, so the young must have just
hatched on this 13th day of incubation.
Unfortunately, the next afternoon the male
chased his female violently through the
whole dwelling. He was separated again into
the small cage. However, so that the two
could remain in visual contact, I hung it again
directly in front of the breeding cage. Even
through the bars, the male continued to try to
attack his partner! The three young were still
alive, as a quick nest check revealed, but the
female did not go back to the nest.
Although I could still hear begging sounds
from the nest and the male had been housed
further away in the meantime, the female no
longer took care of the brood. Next day the
two lay dead in the nest.
There is so little in bird breeding between joy
and disappointment.
Diet
Before and during breeding seasons breeding
seasons my goldfinches were fed seed
mixture for siskins and goldfinches and
various mineral preparations, germ food (in
the morning and at noon), half-ripe dandelion
heads (at least four times a day, initially 3–4
pieces per feeding, then up to 10 pieces each
time as the nestlings grew), and a few thawed
pinkies or cut-up mealworms 2–3 times a day.
When available, dandelion leaves or half-ripe
seeds of wood sedge Carex sylvatica were
also provided. After the fourth egg was laid
and until one day before hatching, the pair
was not fed any of these additional foodstuffs
but only dry food in order to dampen the
breeding instinct.
Pair 2
Unfortunately, the pair housed in the bird
house did not give me pleasure for long.
Although there was a brood at the beginning
of May, the clutch was abandoned only a few
days after a short incubation. Besides several
small eggshell remains, only one cold egg was
left in the nest on 11 May. The location of the
nest was perhaps also remarkable—a nest
made of green plastic, hung at a height of
2.3m, without any perching protection. One
month later I suddenly found the female lying
dead on the ground. Three weeks later I placed
the widowed goldfinch male with the breeding
female in the outdoor enclosure, as I could
not reunite her with her impetuous partner.
After only two weeks with the new male, the
female was already incubating another clutch.
However, this probably all happened too
quickly as the five eggs were infertile and lay
destroyed in the nest later.
New Joy with a New Male
With my proven breeding female and a newly
acquired male, I succeeded in raising two
more young birds in May 2010. The pair was
housed in a spacious basement aviary with
several pairs of Estrildid finches. The two young
birds moulted to be a male and a female at
the age of five months. Unfortunately, neither
bird showed a beautifully red facial mask.
The female had probably not eaten much of
the green food responsible for a strong red
colouration of the head mask. I also had not
fed any marigold flowers which, according
to the experience of a successful breeder of
goldfinches, have a particularly strong effect on
intensive colouration.
Although our native goldfinches gave me a lot
of pleasure despite some failures, I gave them
away in late 2010 because I wanted to gain
experience with other goldfinch forms.
Siberian Goldfinch
The Siberian Goldfinch C. c. frigoris is the largest
goldfinch form and an impressive bird. The
difference in size between it and the nominate
C. c. carduelis is quite clear. However, the
Siberian Goldfinch does not have as much to
offer in song as our native European Goldfinch.
The typical call was rarely heard—a pity.
Early November 2010, I received two beautiful
pairs of Siberian Goldfinches which I chose
from numerous offspring birds. The breeding
pairs—six pairs each of Siberian Goldfinches
and Eurasian Bullfinches Pyrrhula pyrrhula—
were housed in a spacious outdoor aviary. This
communal keeping of various breeding pairs
worked well, at least partly because the aviary
was not just one big complex, but divided
into different distinct territories, with several
smaller compartments into which the birds
could fly.
I initially housed two pairs of Siberian
Goldfinches in a basement aviary (1.4m x 60cm
x 2.2m), as I wanted to observe the birds.
Corsican Goldfinch clutch of four—a few
hours old, hatching and still under incubation
I also had some concerns about weather/
temperature fluctuations in our area. However,
it would have been better for the birds to
be housed in the 5m-long outdoor aviary,
because as it turned out later, they didn't mind
our weather in winter, as I had feared.
After quarrels, one pair was moved to a 3m
square basement aviary. Here, housed in a
community with Estrildid finches and a pair
of canaries, the rather shy goldfinches slowly
became calmer, especially because they
could withdraw in this larger accommodation.
These birds slowly became more familiar with
each other.
However, goldfinches cannot compete with
the trusting nature of my Eurasian Siskins
Spinus spinus and Arctic Redpolls Acanthis
hornemanni.
Breeding
In the first two years of keeping Siberian
Goldfinches, we had no breeding. In 2011, the
female in the outdoor aviary began to have
increasing convulsive seizures. She could
no longer hold onto the perch, staggered to
the ground and sat completely apathetic.
Then, after a few minutes, she recovered and
behaved normally. However, the seizures
became more severe over the next few weeks,
and one day she lay dead on the aviary floor.
In spring 2013, the remaining pair, which
had not bred in the basement aviary for two
years and had therefore been relocated to a
3m long outdoor aviary in autumn 2012, finally
became eager to breed.
Here, in the company of one pair each of
Isabel Eurasian Siskins and Arctic Redpolls,
the female laid five eggs in a nest 2m above
ground at the beginning of May. After 12 days
of incubation, young hatched from all the
eggs. What an event, my first young Siberian
Goldfinches, and five of them at once!
Unfortunately, the joy did not last long,
because two or three days later four nestlings
were dead.
One remaining young was raised. On the
eighth day of its life it was leg-rung with a
3mm species protection ring, and at 18 days
it left the nest. It didn't look very nice at the
beginning, with down still on the back of its
head, but it was my first and, unfortunately,
only young C. c. frigoris ever.
In contrast to young C. c. carduelis, the
young of the C. c. frigoris are strikingly light
Head colouring on male (left) and
female Corsican Goldfinches
(whitish) in colour. The young bird developed
into a beautiful male, so I could not use him
as a new mate for my widowed old male as I
had hoped. I gave both birds away when the
opportunity arose to get hold of the Corsican
Goldfinches C. c. tschusii, which I had been
seeking for some time.
Corsican Goldfinch
Italian goldfinch expert Dr Massimo Natale
writes about these particularly small
goldfinches, C. c. tschusii, in his 2005 book:
‘It is a small, perfect Calimero, with small
stature, melodic song, pleasing and friendly
attitude, lively and racy behaviour, rich
colours and clear markings’.
This impressed me and I was pleased when
a breeding colleague agreed to bring me
genuine, subspecies-pure, closed-rung C. c.
tschusii from Italy in November 2013. I was
impatiently waiting for his call as to when
I could pick up the two pairs, but when the
time finally came, it was a big shock. All
four birds were sitting in their cages looking
more dead than alive! Apparently, they had
not drunk anything during the entire time
from purchase to arrival with my breeding
colleague, and the 800km journey had also
taken its toll.
In order to keep further stress to a
minimum, I placed the birds individually in
small exhibition cages and put them in a quiet
cellar room. Here they were sitting on the
floor plumped up and, even after hours, they
hardly took any of the food lying directly in
front of their beaks. I feared the worst, so I put
a red light in front of the cages. The warmth
obviously did the birds good, but after several
days their condition had only improved
slightly. It took more than a week before all
four seemed to be at least far enough out of
the woods that they could be moved into a
1.1m long cage.
As a precaution, I also installed a red light
radiator in the basement room, emitting
about 10–14°C, and at first the birds frequently
visited this area. They became increasingly
lively, and I was happy that all four had
made it. Unfortunately, the fittest and most
beautiful bird, a male, got an eye infection
and diarrhea after a few weeks. He emaciated
quickly and died only a few days later. But at
least I had two females and one male, a much
better constellation for breeding.
When the weather warmed, the three C. c.
tschusii were moved to an outdoor aviary,
together with a pair each of Eurasian Siskins,
Arctic Redpolls, Hooded Siskins Carduelis
magellanica and Chestnut-breasted Mannikins
Lonchura castaneothorax sharpii. As expected,
the goldfinches did not breed in their first year,
but they delighted me with their lively nature
and pretty plumage, although there was not yet
much to hear in the way of song.
Sadly, one of the two females died the next
winter but, to my great delight, the remaining
pair bred the following spring. Two young
hatched, but they were dead in the nest after
only a few days. To make matters worse, the
breeding female also died soon afterwards.
My last of these extremely interesting little
goldfinches, a male, suddenly and completely
unexpectedly lay dead on the ground in the
morning the next year. Probably a cat or a
marten had caused a commotion in the aviary
the night before. Since then, an electric fence
has protected my birds in the outdoor aviary
from such attacks.
CONCLUSION
Goldfinches are not easy to keep and do not
tolerate improper keeping and feeding—they
are not a beginner bird.
I have mentioned my experiences and errors.
It is interesting that Massimo Natale also had
losses of about 90% in his offspring in the
beginning. It took many years for his breeding
stock to stabilise so that today 90–95% of
his young were successfully raised from
30 breeding females. The most important
criterion, he says, is that he has not crossed
any foreign blood into his strain for many years,
which has enabled his birds to build up a well-
functioning immune system.
For two years now I have been keeping and
breeding my beloved goldfinches again, namely
our native form C. c. carduelis. Every year there
have been a few young birds but, unfortunately,
there have also been losses. I have learned a lot.
REFERENCES
Del Hoyo, J, Elliot, A & Christie, DA 2010,
Handbook of the birds of the world, vol. 15,
Barcelona.
Natale, M and Pidalà, LG 2005, Der Stieglitz,
Monza, Italy.
Natale, M 2010, Allevare il Cardellino, Alcedo,
vol. 9, pp. 9–25.
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 695
 AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB Cloacal Prolapse
N O
O
CCASIONALLY I get a call from
a worried bird owner: ‘There’s
something sticking out of my bird’s
backside!’ This is almost always
a cloacal prolapse, but what caused it? To
answer that, we need to understand the
anatomy of the cloaca and, from there, look at
what can cause it to ‘fall out’.
ANATOMY
The word ‘cloaca’ is from the Latin verb cluo,
meaning ‘to cleanse’. The noun cloaca means
‘sewer or drain’. The origins of the word give
you a good idea of what its purpose and
structure is.
The cloaca is found at the end of the
digestive tract, just under the tail. It consists
of three chambers lined up in a row.
a. The chamber at the front end is the
coprodeum. It is the termination of the
intestinal tract and receives waste (faeces)
from the rectum. There is no distinction
between rectum and coprodeum, and it
is the largest of the three chambers. It is
separated from the next chamber (the
urodeum) by a small fold in the wall.
b. The urodeum is the middle and smallest
chamber. The urogenital ducts open into
the urodeum on the top of the chamber
(the ureters) and the sides (genital
papillae). The ureters open via a simple
opening, the ductus deferens (from the
testicles) open via a conical papilla. In
the mature female, the left oviduct opens
on the side and floor of the urodeum,
relative to the left ureter. There may be a
small mound at its opening. In immature
birds, it is covered with a membrane that
disappears at maturity.
c. The proctodeum is the last compartment.
In immature birds, an opening in the dorsal
wall leads into the cloacal bursa. This
is where mixing of the urine, urates and
faeces occurs before defecation.
Interestingly, because birds do not have
a urinary bladder but still produce a large
volume of dilute urine (to flush the urates out
of the kidneys and ureters), they are able to
concentrate their urine by back-flushing it up
into the rectum, where most of it is absorbed
across the rectal wall.
The vent, the exit from the cloaca, is a
transverse slit guarded by top and bottom
lips. The vent has a muscular sphincter that
AUTHOR & PHOTOS keeps the chambers closed to the outside
PROF BOB walls. The whole cloaca is held in position
DONELEY within the body by fat, and a fine network of
BVSc FANZCVS fibres. Unfortunately, that is sometimes not
(Avian Medicine) enough to keep everything in place, and a
prolapse occurs.
696 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
E A S Y F I X
This female
Major Mitchell’s
Cockatoo has
prolapsed its
oviduct. The
grooves in the
prolapse identify
it as the oviduct.
Sadly, she died of
internal bleeding
and shock
This female Cockatiel
had an oviductal
cancer, causing her
oviduct and cloaca
to prolapse
WHAT IS PROLAPSE?
The word prolapse comes from the Latin
word, prolapsus, meaning ‘to fall out or down’.
A cloacal prolapse is a condition where
the inner lining of the cloaca (the mucosa)
protrudes and ‘falls out’ through the vent.
Most commonly, only the cloacal mucosa
prolapses through the vent, but both the
rectum and/or the oviduct can sometimes
come out with it. In waterfowl and ratites,
the phallus (sitting on the floor of the
proctodeum) may also prolapse.
While a cloacal prolapse may be related
to loss of cloacal tone, because of spinal
cord disease or chronic trauma, it is usually
associated with excessive straining. This can
be due to a number of causes:
a. Excessive straining due to egg-binding,
diarrhoea, constipation, or cloacal disease
(such as internal papilloma disease,
cloacitis, or cloacoliths—cloacal ‘stones’).
b. Increased pressure in the body due to
fluid accumulation (heart or liver disease or
yolk peritonitis), enlarged internal organs
such as the liver, or a mass growing inside
the body.
c. Masturbatory behaviour in male cockatoos,
usually closely bonded to their owners.
d. Sexual overwork in male waterfowl
and ratites.

APPEARANCE & ACTION REQUIRED
A cloacal prolapse is usually accompanied by
straining and grunting while defecating, and
blood around the vent or in the droppings.
When fresh, the prolapse looks like a pink
or red dome-like mass protruding through
the vent, but if it has been long-standing, the
prolapsed tissue may be swollen, discoloured,
and superficially necrotic. The feathers
around the cloaca are often soiled with foul-
smelling faecal material as a consequence of
the bird’s inability to defecate normally.
This is a condition that requires veterinary
attention, and often surgery. If you can’t get to
your avian vet that day, you can try a couple
of short-term remedies:
1. Gently clean dirt and faecal material from
the prolapse and keep it moist.
2. If the prolapse is very swollen, put sugar or
honey on it every few hours to ‘draw’ the
fluid out of the swollen tissue.
3. Gently reduce the prolapse (push it back
into place with a gloved, lubricated finger).
Please note, these are short-term measures
only. The prolapse will almost certainly come
out again in minutes or hours. A longer-term
fix will almost certainly require surgery to
keep the cloaca inside the body while it heals.
This egg-bound female strained to deliver
her egg but her cloaca prolapsed. Here, we
are collapsing the egg with a needle and
syringe before reducing the prolapse
Essential Reference
Books from ABK
Available from
www.birdkeeper.com.au or
Phone: 0431 209 612
AVIAN HEALTH WITH DR BOB
WHAT WILL THE VET DO?
Your avian vet’s initial treatment will be to
stabilise your bird if required—IV fluids,
pain relief, antibiotics etc. They will reduce
the prolapse as part of this, but that is not
the complete fix.
Under general anaesthesia, your vet will
gently clean the prolapsed tissue and,
if possible, identify the prolapsed tissue
(cloaca, rectum or oviduct). They may use
an otoscope or an endoscope to follow the
centre of the prolapse back into the body.
Once the cloaca is clean and normal sized,
the prolapse will be gently reduced and This female Neophema had a massive build-
returned to its normal anatomical position, up of fluid inside her body—so great that the
pressure caused her cloaca to prolapse
flushed with saline to inflate and clean it,
and an antibiotic cream applied.
The next step is to keep it in place. At its
simplest, this may involve placing some
sutures on either end of the vent to narrow
the opening, while keeping the opening
sufficiently large to allow the bird to
defecate and urinate. These sutures may
need to stay in place for several days, or
even 1–2 weeks.
All being well, this may be all that is
required. The supporting tissue heals,
and the cloaca stays in place. But this is
often not the case—I would go so far as
to say that this treatment is rarely, if ever,
This cockatoo has prolapsed its cloaca.
sufficient to fix the problem. It was replaced and held in place with
To try and prevent this happening again, two sutures, but this case was very
your vet will play the role of detective, problematic and required several surgeries
seeking to find the cause of the prolapse in to eventually resolve
the first place and then treating that. This
usually requires taking a thorough history
and performing a physical examination,
blood test to assess general health, a
cloacal culture, whole-body X-rays, and
possibly cloacal endoscopy and biopsying
the lining.
Often further surgery is required to
minimise the possibility of recurrent
prolapses due to weakening of the
connective tissue around the cloaca that
would normally hold it in place. Long-term
follow-up on cloacal prolapses indicates
a reasonably high degree of recurrence,
The hole in the middle of the prolapse
regardless of the techniques used. Make
identifies this as a rectal prolapse. It was
sure you are aware of this before starting reduced and stayed in place, and the bird
any treatment. recovered completely
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 697
 ABOUT BIRDS...
Australian
Bird of the Year
W H AT I T S AY S A B O U T U S
HE Swift Parrot has been announced WHAT MAKES A SPECIES POPULAR?

T as the 2023 Bird of the Year. There’s no

prizemoney at stake, but this highly
contested title has bird-lovers pitting
themselves against each other to crown
their favourite Australian bird as the national
It would appear there are no clear trends
when it comes to things we might
immediately think will give a species the
popular vote. Not all these birds are cute—
the Australian White Ibis, for example, has
favourite. In fact, competition is so intense a long bald head and small eyes. Not all
that each year some voters even stoop to these birds are colourful. In fact, the Tawny Top: The Swift Parrot
fraudulent voting! Frogmouth survives by being the antithesis took out this year's
So, let’s look at the competition, which birds of bright and colourful. Not all these birds title of Australian
Bird of the Year
have emerged as the favourites over the are ones Australians can encounter in our PHOTO PETER ODEKERKEN
years, and what our votes might say about us. day-to-day lives—the Swift Parrot occurs in
The Australian Bird of the Year Competition only Tasmania and Victoria and is very rare.
is, despite the name, held biennially, and But neither is rarity the key, as the Australian
is hosted jointly by the conservation White Ibis can be encountered daily.
organisation BirdLife Australia and The
Guardian Australia. Members of the public Table 1. Australian Bird of the Year and Runner-up 2017 – 2023
are invited to vote anonymously in an online
poll, with a chance daily to cast your vote. Year Winner Runner-up
Voting takes place over two weeks, starting
with a line-up of 50 Australian bird species. Australian Magpie Australian White Ibis
2017
At the close of each weekday, the bottom five Gymnorhina Threskiornis
bird species are eliminated.
When it gets to the top 10 birds, all previous Black-throated Finch Tawny Frogmouth
2019
votes are removed, and the top 10 battle it Poephila cincta Podargus strigoides
out for popularity all over again. After one
AUTHOR Superb Fairy-wren Tawny Frogmouth
day of intense voting, the bird species that 2021
Malurus cyaneus Podargus strigoides
DR KIT receives the most votes is awarded the title
PRENDERGAST of Australian Bird of the Year the following Swift Parrot Tawny Frogmouth
PhD, BSc First Class, BA day. So, let’s look at the present and past 2023
Lathamus discolor Podargus strigoides
winners (Table 1).

Not all these birds have important roles

in the ecosystem, for example ibis can be
considered a nuisance, and their nesting
grounds are, frankly, a bit of a pong. Not all
these birds are harmless either, with magpies
notorious for being a menace during the
breeding season. So, is there anything that
these winners have in common that makes
them so popular? Well, I have a theory.
The Tawny Interestingly, all of these species have
Frogmouth is
been featured in their own article in this very
a perennial
'bridesmaid', magazine—in fact, I have featured the Magpie,
coming second Australian White Ibis, Tawny Frogmouth, and
in the three Fairy-wren in this very column over the years.
most recent Now, I’m not suggesting that being featured
Australian Bird
of the Year in Australian BirdKeeper is the key to public
competitions popularity. Rather, these species all have a story
Australian Bird to tell—they have a narrative, and that’s what
of the Year humans, as a whole, love. (This hypothesis was
competitions
supported in my article about how the Disney
PHOTO KIT
PRENDERGAST movie Rio helped catalyse public support for
protecting Blue or Spix’s Macaws.)

698 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024


THE STORIES BEHIND THE WINNERS
Swift Parrot
The critically endangered Swift Parrot made
headlines this year with news that the Swift
Parrot Recovery Plan, recently announced
by Federal Environment Minister Tanya
Plibersek, was not actually finalised, nor had
it been shared with the experts who helped
to develop it. The Swift Parrot is known for
its amazing biannual migration across Bass
Strait, being one of only three migratory
parrots in the world. It is also facing an
unusual threat, predation by Sugar Gliders
in Tasmania, on top of the threat of habitat
destruction, and is the face of biodiversity
loss from ongoing logging of forest habitat in
both Tasmania and NSW.
Tawny Frogmouth
The delightful Tawny Frogmouth fascinates
us as it masquerades as a tree branch and,
when it feels its cover has been blown,
stares at you, golden eyes wide, mouth
agape. Once seen, the Tawny is the perfect
photographic subject for your average wild
bird photographer (me!) because they sit
still and are relatively large, but also have
such a charismatic face. In fact, the Tawny
Frogmouth is one of the most photographed
birds on Instagram. Videos of the ridiculously
cute, fluffy white babies with their big gaping
mouths like Muppets have also gone viral,
and Tawnies were also featured this year by
Guardian Australia Walkley award-winning
cartoonist First Dog on the Moon.
Australian Magpie
Emblematic of Australia, these beautiful,
charismatic birds can either be your mate or
your enemy. Every spring we hear stories of
the tenacious parents defending their nests
against perceived threats (such as cyclists!)
There are also numerous stories from ongoing
research about how intelligent these birds
are. Magpies are the perfect subject for
memes and, of course, are the emblem of this
year’s AFL grand final winners, Collingwood.
The Australian White Ibis, colloquially
called the 'bin chicken' was runner-up in
the 2017 competition
PHOTO KIT PRENDERGAST
Australian White Ibis
Aussies also have a love-hate relationship
with this bird, colloquially called the ‘bin
chicken’. Bin chickens have been featured in
memes, news stories, on the mockumentary
Planet Earth: Bin Chicken, and were described
by the ABC as ‘the totem for modern
Australia’. Australians do love an underdog,
and the success of the Australian White Ibis
and its quirky behaviours makes a great story.
More recently, it earned fame for snacking
on a creature that makes bin chickens seem
cute, the introduced cane toad.
Black-throated Finch
This endangered bird has been the symbol of
the crisis that biodiversity faces in a country
whose economy is largely driven by mining
and agriculture, where profit is pitted against
the very survival of species. The Black-
throated Finch was part of a campaign by
conservationists emphasising the climate,
environment and biodiversity costs Adani’s
Carmichael coal mine in Queensland would
have on the species.
The Black-throated Finch got some
much-needed attention as Australian
Bird of the Year, with its imminent
decline in the face of mining
PHOTO DAVID PACE
Australian Magpie
PHOTO TRACIE LOUISE
ABOUT BIRDS...
The Superb Fairy-wren was named
Bird of the Year in the wake of the
2019/20 bushfires
PHOTO DAVID PACE
Superb Fairy-wren
The common name says it all, these little
passerines are superb! They have featured
in news stories around research into their
complicated mating lives. They also won
the Bird of the Year award in the wake of
the 2019/20 bushfires, when news stories
covered how these little jewels of the forests
lost much of their habitat. While these pretty
little birds can be seen in backyards across
much of the country, over the seven years of
the Australian Backyard Bird Count there has
been a concerning decline in their numbers,
especially in cities like Melbourne.
ROOM FOR ENHANCEMENT
This fun event is important in raising
awareness about our native birds, and by
allowing members of the public to scroll
through a list of 50 species at the outset,
they can learn more about Australian
bird biodiversity, as well as about the
species’ biology and ecology in the ‘blurb’
accompanying each species. This can be
especially important for lesser-known
endangered species. As the late Steve Irwin
once said, ‘if we can teach people about
wildlife, they will be touched…because
humans want to save things that they love’.
But we need to do more. This year’s winner
is critically endangered, and while it takes the
crown for the most popular bird in 2023, no
prize money goes towards this species to aid
in its conservation. And boy, does the Swifty
need it! Given its name, maybe Taylor Swift,
who has made over $1 billion just on her Eras
world tour, could donate even a fraction of
this money to help in saving the species? Of
course, the Australian government also needs
to tighten laws prohibiting clearing of the
Swift Parrot’s natural habitat, invest more in
captive breeding programs, and place tighter
laws on cat owners.
I also question the initial line-up of birds
for this competition. Australia has over 900
species of birds. The public get to nominate
those that will be voted for in the top 50.
But perhaps it would be better for BirdLife
Australia to select the top 50, draw attention
to the unsung heroes, or those species that
desperately need more attention to secure
public, if not national, conservation actions.
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 699
 Hybridising
for Mutations:
AUTHOR
!
ROSEMARY
o i t
Don’t d
LOW
PHOTOS
JADE
WELCH
F you were looking for a young parrot as a
I companion, and were offered a very pretty,
colourful bird, would you be brave enough
to ask, ‘What is it?’ Rest assured, this is not
showing ignorance. Due to the breeding of
mutations, many birds these days have had
their appearance altered so drastically that it
is difficult to identify the species.
This is especially true where there are
mutations in closely related species—such as
Forpus parrotlets and Pyrrhura Conures, and
in species not normally sold as companions,
such as Neophema grass parrots and finches.
ENDANGERING WILDTYPES &
GENE PURITY
Breeding mutations is the main interest of
some specialist breeders. This is regrettable,
as in some species the original wildtype
colour, without the genes of any mutations,
has become very difficult to find. There are
very few breeders who make an effort to build
up a stud of such birds, although I know that
some exist in Australia for native species.
Breeders who do this are to be applauded.
However, there is another very serious
problem. Hybridising, that is crossing two
different species to transfer a colour mutation
into another species, has also occurred. This
has happened for some years with lovebirds,
Indian Ringnecks, Alexandrine Parrots and
Rainbow Lorikeets. This is deplorable!
Recently a confused breeder in Australia
sent me photos of Green-cheeked Conures
Pyrrhura molina. He wrote, ‘It's clear that
they are either Crimson-bellied Conures,
and not as old as claimed, or that they are
hybrids. The belief that they are crosses
comes from the lack of crimson on the
bellies and that one bird seems to be a
‘jade’, ‘khaki’ or ‘misty’, whichever term you
prefer. So, my question is, is there a Jade
mutation in the Crimson-bellied? There is
a Cinnamon mutation now in Australia—
the result of crossing the Crimson-bellied
with the Green-cheek—that are seventh
generation birds. They look like Crimson-
bellieds, not a mash-up of the two species’.
I was not pleased to read this. Even the
beautiful Crimson-bellied Pyrrhura perlata
is apparently now tainted with the genes of
another species. I conveyed this story to Nigel
Hewston, chairman of the UK Avicultural
Society until 2021.
700 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
Hybrid Alexandrine x Ringneck Parrot
He understood my concern, saying:
‘I am not against propagating colour
mutations per se, and there are cases in
Europe, for instance in British finches, where
hybridisation doesn't appear to interfere
with the maintenance of pure-bred stocks (at
least at species level—the use of northern
subspecies may be more contentious).
‘A century ago, hybrids were sometimes
produced in an attempt to clarify relationships
between species, but scientific advances long
ago rendered this approach redundant.
‘Hybridisation through ignorance, accident or
laziness has also led to problems with groups
such as pheasants. The use of hybridisation
to transfer colour mutations between
closely related species, as has been done
with Agapornis and Psittacula and obviously
now with Pyrrhura and probably with other
genera, is certainly a problem. It inevitably
leads to the production of several generations
of hybrid stock, some of which are virtually
indistinguishable from the parent species.
‘It is unrealistic to expect that all these birds
will be kept by their breeders or disposed of
responsibly. Some are certain to be passed off
as pure specimens, quite possibly inadvertently
by third parties, and are then likely to damage
the captive gene pool of the parent species.
With Pycnonotus bulbuls, which have
been hybridised for singing contests in
Thailand, there is even concern that the
release of such unwanted birds is affecting
wild populations.
‘In today's regulations in the UK and
probably many other countries, where it is
virtually impossible to introduce new genetic
material from wild or captive populations
overseas, this can be a major problem
even where the species in question is not
threatened. All our captive populations
are now under threat, whether they are
of conservation concern in the wild, and
hybridising is a practice which needs to be
strongly discouraged’.
Les Rance, secretary of The Parrot
Society UK, says that because the resultant
youngsters are often difficult to identify
visually, breeders should cease this practice.
‘If it continues, we will have numerous birds
that are of mixed heritage, and we will not
know what their parents were,’ he said.
MACAW HYBRIDS
In June 2019, Eevin Jennings, PhD, published
a blog (www.dreevin.com/blog) with a chart
of all known macaw species and their hybrids.
This included a lot of invented names for
hybrids, such as Rubalina, Capri, Camelot and
Fiesta. In the USA, breeders are purposely
hybridising large macaws to produce different
coloured birds, to which they attach an
exotic-sounding name. Naive buyers believe
they are buying something rare and desirable.
Aviculturists should be doing everything
possible to avoid and discourage hybridising,
especially with macaws, with most large
macaw species of conservation concern,
including in the Critically Endangered
category. We should not be promoting
interest in this irresponsible use of precious
genetic material. In fact, it is ammunition for
those who are working to discredit and even
end the keeping of birds in captivity!
HYBRID CONFUSION
Lovebirds and lorikeets have been especially
badly impacted by irresponsible breeders
trying to produce new and expensive
mutations. However, now that many parrot
species have become harder to find in
aviculture, some breeders might be tempted to
pair a single bird with a closely related parrot
species if they cannot find the species they
need. I implore them: please don’t do that!
Stop and think what the production of
hybrids does to the individual birds. Will they
be accepted by closely related species, or
will they be shunned? If their vocalisations
are different, they might never be accepted.
Their breeding behaviour or display might not
match the behaviour of other birds if their
parents were not very closely related species.
If they are closely related and eggs are laid,
will they be fertile? This has proved possible
in a few cases.
Hybrid Rainbow x Scaly-
breasted Lorikeet
There are so many mutations in Indian
Ringnecks that finding a pure wildtype
green is extremely difficult
There are a few species of parrots that
are not closely related to any other species,
thus hybrids have never been bred. The
Cockatiel and the Budgerigar are two
such species. Decades ago, this was not
understood and erroneous reports were
published. In 1946 WR Purvis, writing in Bird
World, stated that a friend in South Australia
had successfully crossed an Eastern Rosella
with a female Cockatiel. Of course, the two
young both resembled the Cockatiel—he
was seriously mistaken!
In the earlier days of aviculture, mixed
species aviaries were common, and hybrids
were sometimes accidentally bred. This was
a problem for the breeder as hybrids were
rightly considered to be worthless and no one
would buy them.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
This leads me back to the situation
mentioned at the start of this article—being
offered a young parrot or macaw which you
are told (or suspect) is a hybrid. Should you
buy it? If breeders of hybrids were unable
to sell their young, they would surely stop
hybridising. The resultant contamination of
existing pure stocks if such birds end up with
an unsuspecting breeder is the issue here.
Unfortunately, there are some genera
in which all species appear to be closely
related and almost any two will hybridise.
This includes the Amazona parrots. This
has had very unfortunate results for stocks
in captivity. Some hybrids differ very little
from one parent and, given the variation
in plumage that can sometimes occur in
Hybrid Galah x Sulphur-
crested Cockatoo
Named ‘Harlequin’ this hybrid is a
Blue and Gold x Green-winged Macaw
members of the same species in this genus,
this has resulted in offspring that are very
hard to identify once they are sold. On several
occasions, I have received photos of what is
to me clearly a hybrid Amazon parrot, with
the request that I should identify the species.
Most people are not familiar enough with all
members of the genus to be able to do this.
There are several mutations of Amazona
parrots in aviculture. Most are rare and
expensive. It would be the height of
irresponsibility to hybridise with such birds.
Of course, this applies to whichever genus
is referenced but in some, hybrids are much
more obvious when adult. Young hybrids in
species which have a well-defined immature
plumage are a huge problem to identify if
you cannot view the parents. That is why,
whenever possible, you should visit the
breeder and ask to see the parents. If this
request is refused, it is quite likely that the
seller is a dealer, not a breeder. These days,
with so many birds being sold on the internet,
opportunities for fraudulent sales abound.
CONCLUSION
Professor Luis Fabio Silveira, an important
scientist and ornithologist in Brazil, and
a former aviculturist, is highly critical of
hybridising any parrot species. ‘The existence
of these hybrids is disastrous. When we say
that some breeders are ruining aviculture,
we are referring to people like these hybrid
breeders. They have no sense of responsibility
at all with the birds, the species, or
conservation. They have no morals.’ It cannot
be clearer than that!
Hybrid Chestnut-
breasted x Yellow-
rumped Finch
FINCH HYBRIDS
AUTHOR & PHOTO DAVID PACE
When breeding finches, it is all too tempting to place
many birds in an aviary and to colony-breed a species,
in this case a colony of Yellow-rumps and Chestnut-
breasted finches. An issue with colony breeding is when
birds inevitably are lost, and the sexes become uneven.
This results in unmated birds seeking a breeding
partner. If closely related species are held within the
same aviary, hybridisation is almost inevitable.
Avoid housing closely related species together,
especially in colonies. For example, avoid members
of the Lonchura genus together (Yellow-rumps and
Chestnut-breasted) or from the Poephila genus
(Long-tails and Black-throated Finches).
There are many other examples in our foreign species,
such as Strawberry Finches with Orange-breasted
Waxbills and the Red-faced, Blue-faced and
Tri-coloured Parrotfinches.
These species should be held separately.
A hybrid becomes nothing more than an oddity and
is useless genetically, doing no favours for the
long-term survival of our captive strains.
A Guide to
Colour Mutations
& Genetics
in Parrots
BY DR TERRY MARTIN
BVSc
Available from
ABK at
www.birdkeeper.
com.au
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 701
 HOOKBILL HOBBYIST
S I G N S A N D E F F E C T S
Avicultural
Burn-out
Y avicultural career began
M with the purchase of a few pet
birds from a small local shop
back in 1981. First I acquired an
imported Nanday Conure, then another in
hopes of getting a female, a pair of adoption
Cockatiels, and then a Red-lored Amazon. I
was working at Feathered Friends of Santa
Fe during the late 1980s and spending four
AUTHOR
winter months a year planting and building
EB CRAVENS a small farm on the Big Island Hawaii. That is
where I planned and began to construct my
large planted aviary enclosures.
HAVE YOU HIT THE WALL?
If you consider that my expert friends and
mentors always taught me to monitor
and feed my psittacines twice a day, while
washing food and water dishes out every
morning, I calculate that I have fed my
parrots, other aviculturists’ parrots, the Santa
Fe shop parrots and miscellaneous nearby
acquaintances’ pet parrots at least
24,820 times for a total of approximately
292,640 individual cages. This does not
include the early 1980s when I only had two or
three pets, nor does it include going back to
702 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
O F
Do you have too Taking time out
many birds to to reorganise
cater for? your preparation
ARTWORK area makes
BILL NAYLOR
for less clutter
physically and
mentally as well
as increasing
efficiency
PHOTO JADE WELCH
each cage to replace the cleaned
water bowls.
Then of course, there are those two-plus
decades when I was seriously maintaining
breeding cages that had to be fed fresh,
cooked, and raw food up to five times a
day to satisfy parents after their babies
hatched. And that’s not to mention countless
thousands of hours handfeeding baby
formula to neonate chicks up to and beyond
fledging and weaning time.
So what is the point of all this, you ask?
The point is, am I tired of devoting the major
portion of my adult life to taking care of
psittacines? Am I ‘burnt out’? Do I resent all
the years not being able to get away for long
weekends, let alone any normal vacation
times? Is it exasperating to have to get up
and mix foods, then trot out to the aviaries to
feed and water when I am under the weather
or downright sick, when my bum-knee needs
rest or my lower back is out?
Well, it often seems inconvenient, to be
sure—but then, so is having to weed and
prune around the macadamia orchard trees
or change the oil in the SUV when I would
really prefer going down to the beach!

Make feeding easy using double sets of
serving dishes that are placed in a slide-out
drawer, to reduce spillovers onto the aviary
floor. Place soiled dishes in a dishwasher
ready for the next feed
PHOTO DAVID PACE
I have known aviculturists who worked
exceedingly long hours for literally decades,
then kind of ‘hit a wall’ as far as tolerance
and commitment for such long efforts is
concerned. In some cases, they ended up
hiring help. Occasionally, they just folded up
their facility and quit bird keeping, including
not even a single pet bird in the house!
A few even changed over to breeding horses
or English Setters or something else to
reignite that passion for animal husbandry.
This ‘syndrome’ can be accentuated at
facilities where aviculturists are up at night
every hour or two feeding young chicks
during the breeding season. I knew one
person who slept with an alarm watch on her
wrist to wake her each time the next neonate
feed time arrived. This went on season after
season, year after year.
I thank my lucky stars that I was influenced
by an expert lory keeper back in the 1980s
who told me that in his aviaries ‘if the parents
won’t raise them, they don’t get raised’.
That set me on a road to teaching all my
pairs to feed their own babies—and
saved me countless hours of
middle-of-the-night handfeedings!
‘You have to get
to grips with this
obsession. You
acquire new parrots
every week and now
you roost with us
every night’
ARTWORK BILL NAYLOR
ARE YOUR BIRDS PAYING THE PRICE?
Quite often, I have found the signs of burn-
out were apparent many months, if not
years, in advance of people taking action,
in the way their parrots were being
taken care of…
This is a key for those owners who
have been caring for a flock for a very
long time. Ask yourself, are cages
getting bare of stimulation? Is food
always the same year in, year out? Do
chores get rushed or accomplished
merely out of habit? Does frustration
or outright annoyance creep into
the picture with certain unproductive,
aggressive, or ‘less-favoured’ birds? Are
you skipping tedious cleaning tasks more
and more often? Does the hour of completion
for your morning feeding become a bit later
each year? All these and more are the signs
of minor tedium in our bird-keeping activities.
In my own aviaries, I have found that over
the years I have not continued to observe
my hookbills as closely as I used to. I do not
spend as much time playing with former
pets which are now breeders who desire it,
and I sometimes rush through daily duties
oblivious to little changes in the parrots’
behaviour, need for newness, or even minor
cage issues. To some degree this is because
April is so observant that I have come to
rely on her, to the detriment of my own
awareness. This, of course, can be another
sign of loss of enthusiasm for the tasks at
hand—dependence upon another person
that leads to distancing oneself from the pet
or breeder endeavour. It is a shame, because
falling into complacency or apathy totally
affects the joy and exhilaration a keeper
gleans from his or her avicultural hobby. In
essence, we slowly end up relinquishing the
motivation that drew us into the world of bird-
keeping in the first place.
HOOKBILL HOBBYIST
IS THERE AN ANSWER?
This is a fast-paced, busy, and often hectic
age of the world we are all living in. Believe
me, if I can feel new daily pressures and the
artificial tension of too many things to do
on a ‘list’ that never ends here in a small
farming community on one of Hawaii’s outer
islands, then I am quite sure there is likely
no place in the developed world where many
of the same stresses do not exist! And when
owners are too preoccupied, uneasy or
dispirited, the parrots know it. They may not
truly understand what is going on, but they
see the ramifications and feel the changes as
they transpire.
So, what can bird keepers do about
potential avicultural burn-out? This is
obviously not an easy dilemma for those
of us who are growing older (and older)
while having 30-plus years and over 200,000
(or even 950,000) cage feedings under
our sneakers.
I look at it this way:
Firstly, recognise the signs of early
spiritlessness and avicultural burn-out.
Admit to ourselves that we are just not
quite as enthusiastic concerning the day-
to-day responsibilities of taking care of
one, two, tens or scores of living feathered
beaks. Admit also that our ever-speeding-up
lifestyles are affecting the way we value, keep
and relish our avicultural experience.
Then go out and ponder…
In other words, slow down. Take a serious
look at the beloved parrots in your care,
especially those you remember being so
excited to buy, adopt, birth at your home, or
otherwise obtain. If confused or in doubt,
start with the ones you yourself gave names
to. Try to recall the pleasure you used to
experience working with and providing for
these same psittacines. If you are lucky, you
will get that subtle little tingle in your upper
chest area, and you will feel a grin coming on
and growing from ear to ear—especially with
those hookbills that gleefully respond to you.
Now, take that feeling with you on your next
trip out to the aviaries to clean poop and
scrub water bowls. It’s infectious, I can assure
you. The love of exotic bird keeping in those
of us who have been doing it for decades
without end never dies out.
Yes, it can become buried beneath the
oppressive stress of everyday 2020s living.
Yes, it can be shoved to the back of our
favourite hobby itinerary when a puppy, or a
rabbit, or a new mare enters our lives. But,
make no mistake, if you are a decades-long
parrot pet owner, a finch aviary keeper, a
hookbill breeder, even an avid conservation-
oriented birdwatcher with a flock at home
you care for, then the love you have felt, and
continue to embrace deep inside, cannot be
killed off by a period of apathy and potential
burn-out. It’s a deep part of you. Face it, you
are a bird person!
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 703
 CONSERVATION
Parrot
Conservation
Grants I
N the previous issue, we introduced you
to a number of dedicated people and
organisations that are working to save
some of the most endangered wild parrots.

Program In Part 2, we present more of these deserving

recipients of joint WPT-Natural Encounters
Conservation Fund grants.

P A R T 2

B E N E D I C T U S

F R E E M A N,

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F L I B E R I A

COUNTRY: Liberia

SPECIES FOCUS:
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh

PROJECT:
To build on current knowledge to understand the conservation
AUTHOR status and threats impacting the Timneh Parrot population
WORLD in Liberia. Despite being recognised as a stronghold for the
PARROT TRUST remaining population of the endangered Timneh Parrot, little is
STAFF known about the conservation, population, threats, and cultural
beliefs associated with this species in Liberia. To address
these knowledge gaps, this project seeks to collect field-based
data to understand the conservation status and threats (such
as trafficking and trapping) impacting the species, as well
as to document the underlying traditional beliefs behind the
conservation of a unique roosting population.

USE OF FUNDS:
This funding provides support to document the current
conservation status of the Timneh Parrot in Liberia,
which will serve as a baseline for further research.

LEARN MORE: Timneh Parrot

@theuniversityofliberia, @benedictusfree1 PHOTO SIPU9945 GETTY IMAGES

www.parrots.org
AUSTRALIAN CONTACTS

Representative Media

Carolyn Pradun Australian BirdKeeper

©ABK

australia@parrots.org birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au

704 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

 CONSERVATION

K I B A L E P A R R O T

C O N S E R V A T I O N

C O A L I T I O N

COUNTRY: Uganda

SPECIES FOCUS:
Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus

PROJECT:
Monitoring released Grey Parrots in Bigodi Region, neighbouring
Kibale National Park. Confiscated Grey Parrots that were ringed
then released into the wild over 10 years ago have never been
systematically monitored for survival or integration into the
resident parrot population. This project will co-ordinate the
monitoring of parrots through local bird guides and children
from the village bird clubs to build knowledge and support for
parrot conservation among community members.

USE OF FUNDS:
The funding will facilitate community monitors to reach sites
used by parrots, equip monitors with smart phones and cameras
for data collection, and provide training in the use of appropriate
data base systems.

LEARN MORE:
@AfricanBirdClub, @VillageBirdClubsKibale @KAFRED
@SunbirdHill Grey Parrot
PHOTO © PEERA SATHAWIRAWONG

B Y R O N

S S E M A M B O,

L O N D O N
S O U T H B A N K

U N I V E R S I T Y

COUNTRY: Uganda

SPECIES FOCUS:
Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus

PROJECT:
The aim of this project is to study the distribution, ecology,
breeding season, habitat use, threats and people’s perception
on conservation of Grey Parrots on Koome Islands, Uganda,
with the ultimate goal to ensure the survival of this
endangered species in the country.

USE OF FUNDS:
Funding will help cover costs for the field equipment to be
used by the community-based monitors, allowances for
monitors, and facilitation for participants during Focus Group
Discussion and Awareness Meetings on threats and people’s
perception of parrots.

LEARN MORE:
https://ug.linkedin.com/in/byron-ssemambo-msc-2334aa25 Grey Parrot
PHOTO © PEERA SATHAWIRAWONG

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 705

 B O S Q U E
N U B O S O A.C.
COUNTRY: Mexico
SPECIES FOCUS:
Lilac-crowned Amazon Amazona finschi
PROJECT:
Conservation of the Lilac-crowned Amazon
in the Sierra of Atoyac, México. The project
is a first approximation of the current
knowledge of the species. Although the
Lilac-crowned Amazon is an endangered
species, there are no conservation
plans in the region.
C E N F O R
COUNTRY: Liberia
SPECIES FOCUS:
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
PROJECT:
To save the Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
through strengthening the enforcement
network and stakeholder engagement
in Grebo-Krahn National Park (GKNP),
south-eastern Liberia. The objective is to
involve communities in protection of the
endangered Timneh Parrot against killing,
A V E S
A R G E N T I N A S
COUNTRY: Argentina
SPECIES FOCUS:
Vinaceous Amazon Amazona vinacea
PROJECT:
To save the endangered Vinaceous Amazon
by in-situ conservation management in
Argentina’s Atlantic Forest. This project
complements the Atlantic Forest Project
(Aves Argentinas-BirdLife International) and
other existing initiatives for the conservation
of endangered parrot species in the
province of Misiones, Argentina.
The aim is to contribute to the conservation
of Vinaceous Amazons through the
implementation of long-term in-situ
management strategies, update the
conservation status of threatened and
poorly known psittacines of the southern
portion of the Atlantic Forest, understand
the impact of illegal trade on conservation
targets, and work with local communities
to change the perceptions, attitudes and
706 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
USE OF FUNDS:
Funding will allow us to generate
current information about the
Lilac-crowned Amazon population
and possible threats, which is the
first step to the conservation action
strategy.
LEARN MORE:
LinkedIn: https://mx.linkedin.com/
company/bosque-nuboso-a-c;
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
BosqueNubosoAsociacionCivil/
Lilac-crowned Amazon
PHOTO © DOPEYDEN GETTY IMAGES
trade and trafficking in Grebo-
Krahn National Park, Liberia.
This will be achieved through
stakeholder engagement and
law enforcement.
USE OF FUNDS:
The funding will help CENFOR expand its
activities around Grebo-Krahn National
Park and highlight the urgent need to end
threats against the Timneh Parrot.
LEARN MORE:
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/
Timneh Parrot
cenfor.liberia.7 PHOTO © ESTIVILLML GETTY IMAGES
behaviours that have driven several
of these species to extinction.
USE OF FUNDS:
Funding will be essential to
finance the purchase of nest
boxes and support annual counts.
LEARN MORE:
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/
cenfor.liberia.7
PROGRESS UPDATE
The Vinaceous Amazon, endemic to
the Atlantic Forest, is critically endangered
in Argentina. Between March 24–26 a new annual
census was held in Misiones, Argentina.
Organiser Aves Argentinas, birdwatching clubs, farmers
and their families, the Ministry of Ecology of Misiones,
the National Parks Administration and University of
San Pedro students all participated.
In total 247 parrots were counted at a
number of sites, with likely more Vinaceous Amazon
individuals to be found in PHOTO © GLOBALPICS, GETTY IMAGES
other locations.
 CONSERVATION

Lifetime of

CONSERVATION
W O R K
Conservation
E A R N S G L O B A L K I E S S L I N G P R I Z E

HERE is ‘simply no higher purpose

T than that to protect and preserve

our world’s most precious asset—
animal life’. So says Loro Parque
founder Wolfgang Kiessling, after whom an
international prize has been named, and
presented for just the second time on 13
September at Washington’s Capitol.
Kiessling is considered the greatest
exponent in the world for preservation
of species, and the Wolfgang Kiessling
International Prize is ‘dedicated to bringing
worldwide attention and support to significant
achievements in the field of conservation
practice, theory, and research that adds
substantially to humankind’s efforts and
knowledge for the benefit of all life on Earth’.
A project of Global Humane, which is
committed to ensuring the safety, welfare GLOBAL HUMANE & LORO PARQUE At the Wolfgang
and well-being of animals, this year’s prize Global Humane is the international brand Kiessling Awards
Ceremony, from left:
recognised the work of a scientist who has of American Humane, founded in 1877 as
Wolfgang Keissling,
dedicated his life to working for the defence America’s first national humane organisation. Theo Pagel, Robin
of biodiversity—Theo Pagel, director general It has become the world's largest certifier of Ganzer and Brad
of Germany’s Cologne Zoo. In addition to the animal welfare, helping to verify the humane Andrews
$US80 000 prize money, which will be used treatment of more than a billion animals
for new projects to save species, the award across the globe each year.
brings vital global focus onto conservation
work being done against the clock.
Loro Parque, which Kiessling founded in 1972, became
‘A HERO FOR OUR PLANET’ the first zoo in Europe to receive the Global Humane
‘Theo Pagel has led a global charge to push Certification in 2017, reinforcing its recognition as an COMPILED BY
back the effects of what scientists call a Sixth international leader in animal welfare. Loro Parque ABK
Mass Extinction, with up to one million species Fundación is to date credited with saving 12 parrot species
at risk of disappearing forever. His ability to from extinction, and Kiessling has been recognised for
bring people together to make positive change the captive breeding of the Blue-throated Macaw.
for nature is inspiring,’ said Global Humane He acknowledges the commitment of accredited zoos
president and CEO, Dr Robin Ganzert. ‘We are and their staff worldwide that work on a scientific basis
so pleased to honour him with the Kiessling with devotion to the environment and the preservation
Prize as a hero for our planet and its animals.’ of species.
Pagel is co-chair of the international
Reverse the Red (RtR) initiative of the Species
Survival Commission of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Theo Pagel Wolfgang Kiessling
aimed at strategic global co-operation to
ensure the survival of wild species, and a
former president of the World Association of
Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
Starting out as a young man in the fight
for the protection of species, he initiated
a program in 1988 for the recovery of the
Bali Starling, which was on the verge of
extinction. Since then, Cologne Zoo has
achieved recovery successes in endangered
species such as the Little Penguin Eudyptula
minur, the White-fronted Bee-eater Merops
bullockoides, and the Elegant Pyta Pyta
elegans, of which it obtained the first
breeding in the world.

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 707

 CONSERVATION Cape Parrot Diet
& I T S I N F L U E N C E O N
Cape Parrots
PHOTO WCEROB/CC BY 3.0
HE Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus
T is endemic to South Africa, with its
habitat restricted to fragments of
mist belt forest. Fragmentation of
native forest is caused by the timber industry,
especially selective removal of the large
Outeniqua Afrocarpus falcatus and broad-
leaved Podocarpus latifolius Yellowwood
Trees, which these birds prefer for nesting
AUTHOR and feeding.
DR DAVID Other threats to this species include illegal
WAUGH trade, the reduction of water bodies, disease,
hunting and shooting by farmers. All of this
has resulted in the Cape Parrot being listed
as Vulnerable in the International Union for
Cape Parrot
clinging to a large Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of
Yellowwood Tree Threatened Species. To help prevent the
PHOTO SUNCANA- species’ demise, the Loro Parque Fundación
CC BY 3.0
has provided support for conservation
actions, first to the Amorentia Estate in
Limpopo province in 2015, and currently to
the Wild Bird Trust for its Cape Parrot Project
in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces
further south.
RESEARCHING THESE
DIETARY SPECIALISTS
Cape Parrots are considered dietary
specialists, known to prefer the kernels of
Yellowwood seeds, and eating other species
when these are not available. They are also
known to be partial to pecan nuts Carya
illinoinensis, grown in commercial orchards.
Without doubt, an improved knowledge
of the species’ feeding and breeding
requirements can help to avoid conflict
and aid conservation success. To this end,
708 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
S U R V I V A L
researchers of the Wild Bird Trust and partner
institutions investigated the diet composition
of Cape Parrots in the Amathole region of the
Eastern Cape province from 2016–2021 and
have recently published their results.*
Cape Parrots are usually quiet, difficult to
see in the forest, and not easily located even
when feeding. Therefore, the researchers
made opportunistic observations of parrots
feeding for about two hours from dawn at
12 sites monthly throughout the study. They
also included feeding records in this region
reported by citizen scientists, where the plant
species could be confirmed by photographs.
Each observation record was treated as a
‘feeding event’, regardless of the number of
parrots observed.
Over the same timeframe, the researchers
monitored the availability of indigenous and
exotic forest fruit. They also monitored Cape
Parrot presence and their diet at a pecan
tree orchard on a weekly basis, and collected
pecan nuts for compositional analysis.
Further, they investigated whether Cape
Parrots tracked pecan nuts as a resource
relative to changes in the composition of the
nuts and the abundance of local native fruits.
FINDINGS
Cape Parrots were observed feeding on 36
tree species during 1688 feeding events in the
Amathole region during the study. Fourteen
species (39%) were indigenous and 22 (61%)
were exotic. Of these, eight indigenous and 16
exotic tree species were new food trees not
previously recorded as eaten by Cape Parrots
elsewhere in their distribution.
Conversely, another 13 indigenous tree
species, found in the study area and
consumed by Cape Parrots in other parts of
their range, were not recorded as consumed
in the study area. A total of just 10% of feeding
sightings involved native species, with two
indigenous forest fruits being the most
consumed: Outeniqua Yellowwood and wild
plum Harpephyllum caffrum. Although 90%
of the total feeding records were of exotic
plants, the data was mainly collected during
the peak pecan season when parrots were
targeting pecan nuts at a specific orchard.
Most feeding observations outside of that
season involved native species.
In terms of the frequency at which Cape
Parrots were recorded consuming different
parts of the plants, leaves were seldom eaten
at 2%, flowers 4%, fruits 16% and seeds 78%,
confirming the species as predominantly a
seed-eater. Ripe seeds (57.2%) were preferred,
although unripe seeds (35.7%) were also
well represented. Few old seeds (7.1%) were
recorded in the diet.
 CONSERVATION
Table 1. Plant species consumed by Cape Parrots in South Africa (2017-2021)
THE PECAN MODIFICATION Part consumed % of observations
Species Common name
Interestingly, Cape Parrots fed on pecans and state feeding on:
in each season, despite the relatively high Native species (number = 14) Native spp. All spp.
availability of indigenous forest fruits. They Afrocarpus falcatus Outeniqua Yellowwood Seed: unripe, ripe 57.05 5.8
also appeared to track changes in pecan Bersama lucens Glossy White-ash Seed: ripe 0.59 0.06
nut composition, gathering in the largest Calodendrum capense Cape Chestnut Seed: ripe, old 1.18 0.12
numbers in autumn when fat levels in the
Celtis africana White Stinkwood Seed: unripe, ripe 6.47 0.65
pecans were highest.
Curtisia dentata Assegai Seed: ripe 4.12 0.41
Researchers venture that the Cape Parrots
appear to be adapting to human-modified Ficus burkei Common wild fig Fruit 0.59 0.06

habitat, based on the observations of annual Harpephyllum caffrum Wild plum Seed: unripe, ripe 21.75 2.2
visits to pecan orchards and the high number Kiggelaria africana Wild peach Seed, fruit: unripe, ripe 1.18 0.12
of exotic species in their diet. The impact of Olea capensis Black Ironwood Seed: unripe, ripe 0.59 0.06
feeding on exotic species in the context of Olea europaea africana Wild olive Seed: unripe, ripe 0.59 0.06
potential further loss of native forest and the Protea caffra Common Sugarbush Seed: ripe 1.18 0.12
success or otherwise of attempts to curtail Scolopia mundii Red Pear Seed: unripe, ripe 1.18 0.12
such loss and restore damaged forest, is yet Searsia chirindensis Red Currant Seed: unripe, ripe 2.94 0.3
to be determined. Ziziphus mucronata Buffalo Thorn Seed: ripe 0.59 0.06
Exotic species (number = 22) Exotic spp. All spp.
Acacia mearnsii Black Wattle Seed: unripe, ripe 0.86 0.77
Acer spp. Maple Seed 0.07 0.06
Aesculus hippocastanum Horse Chestnut Seed 0.97 0.06
Carya illinoinensis Pecan Seed: unripe, ripe, old 95.1 86.29
Castanea sativa Sweet Chestnut Seed: ripe 0.07 0.06
Ceiba speciosa Silk Floss Tree Flower: open flowers 0.26 0.24
Crataegus monogyna Common hawthorn Seed: ripe 0.07 0.06
Eucalyptus
River Red Gum Fruit 0.07 0.06
camaldulensis
Fagus sylvatica Copper Beech Seed: ripe 0.13 0.12
Pecans still in their shells Ficus macrophylla Moreton Bay Fig Fruit: ripe 0.07 0.06
PHOTO GEO LIGHTSPEED7-CC BY-SA 4.0
Grevillea robusta Australian Silky Oak Seed: ripe 0.07 0.06
Jacaranda mimosifolia Jacaranda Seed: unripe, ripe 0.13 0.12
Malus pumila Apple Fruit: ripe 0.2 0.18
Melia azedarach Syringa Seed, fruit: unripe, ripe 0.66 0.59
Pinus pinaster Maritime Pine Seed 0.07 0.06
Platanus acerifolia London Plane Seed: ripe 0.07 0.06
Prunus domestica European Plum Fruit: ripe 0.07 0.06
Prunus salicifolia Mexican Bird Cherry Seed: unripe, ripe 0.66 0.59
Pyrus communis European Pear Fruit: ripe 0.13 0.12
Quercus palustris Pin Oak Seed 0.07 0.06
Quercus robur English Oak Seed: unripe 0.07 0.06
Tipuana tipu Pride of Bolivia Seed: unripe, ripe, old 0.13 0.12

Table 2. Seasonality of plant species consumption by Cape Parrots (2017-2021)

Feeding observations on: Summer Autumn Winter Spring
Native species (total obs. 170) percent: 11.2 11.8 24.1 52.9
Wild plums Harpephyllum caffrum
PHOTO CC 0
Number of native plant species eaten: 6 9 4 8
Exotic species (total obs. 1,518) percent: 1.7 85.9 11.7 0.7
Number of exotic plant species eaten: 9 14 3 5

Table 3. Other known native food tree species of Cape Parrots1

Species Common name Part consumed
Apodytes dimidiata White pear Seed kernel
Chionanthus peglerae Giant Pock Ironwood Not specified
Commiphora woodii Forest Corkwood Seed
Ekebergia capensis Cape Ash Not specified
Erythrina caffra Coastal Coral Tree Seed, flower nectar
Outeniqua Yellowwood seeds
PHOTO PAUL VENTOR-CC BY-SA 4.0
Ocotea bullata Black Stinkwood Not specified
Pittosporum viridiflorum Cheesewood Seed, leaves
REFERENCE Podocarpus latifolius Real Yellowwood Seed kernel
* Wimberger, K, Carstens, K, Carstens, JC, Prunus africana African Almond Seed
Brooke, FR & Rautenbach F 2023, ‘Cape
Ptaeroxylon obliquum Sneezewood Seed
Parrot Poicephalus robustus diet in a
nutshell: use of indigenous and exotic Rapanea melanophloeos Cape Beech Seed

plants in the Eastern Cape province, Scutia myrtina Cat-thorn Seed

South Africa’, Ostrich, vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 28– Xymalos monospora Lemonwood Seed
39, DOI: 10.2989/00306525.2022.2164805 1 Present in the study area but not observed to be eaten during the 2017–2021 period.

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 709

 CONSERVATION Spix’s Macaws M A K E H I S T O R Y
B R E E D I N G A G A I N I N
Two healthy Spix's
Macaw chicks...
a picture of hope
C
AUTHOR ONSIDERED extinct in the wild
ACTP since 2000, the Spix's Macaw has
reached a significant milestone by
breeding successfully in its natural
habitat for the first time since 1986! The
wild nesting of the Spix’s Macaws is pivotal
for this critically endangered species, and
represents the ultimate goal of the project—
the establishment of a breeding population of
Spix’s Macaws in the wild.
A SHORT RECAP
The journey to this achievement has been
arduous, beginning in 2000 when the last
known wild Spix's Macaw vanished, rumoured
to have fallen victim to power lines. This
incident sent shockwaves through the
This remains a bird conservation community, prompting
critically dangerous a united effort. Collaborative endeavours
period until the
chicks fledge between private breeders, zoos, and the
Brazilian government aimed to bring together
the remaining captive Spix's Macaws to
create a population that could one day be
reintroduced into the wild.
Private aviculturists and scientists, armed
with decades of captive breeding and
management expertise, tirelessly worked to
transform what once seemed an impossible
dream into a reality. Their dedication and
unwavering commitment to the cause is
making it possible to bring the Spix's Macaw
back from the brink of extinction.
In 2022, the Association for the
Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP)
and their partners pulled off the successful
release of Spix’s Macaws back into their
Artificial nest former wild Caatinga habitat. As of that
strapped high in a
Caraibeira tree, moment, the Spix’s Macaw was no longer
site of the first extinct in the wild. But would they breed in
successful breeding the wild? Well, we have the answer—yes!
710 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
T H E W I L D
THE SUCCESSFUL PAIR
A pair of Spix's Macaws—a male released
in June and a female in December 2022—
have hatched two chicks in their chosen
nest—an artificial nest strapped high in a
Caraibeira tree. The initial clutch of eggs
proved infertile, but the second clutch
contained two fertile eggs, leading to the
hatching of two healthy chicks.
These are young first-time parents, and the
fact that they incubated and hatched the
chicks on their first attempt was great news.
Then the instinct to feed the chicks kicked
in, yet another milestone. It is important to
note that this is a critically sensitive and
dangerous time for the chicks, and we are
awaiting with bated breath their fledgling,
but the fact that they have overcome the
initial challenges is very promising for the
species' future.
WHAT IT MEANS
This achievement is testament to the power
of collaborative conservation efforts and
the resilience of a species on the brink of
extinction. It serves as a reminder of the
critical role captive breeding programs can
play in saving endangered wildlife. We express
our gratitude to the partners and supporters
who have stood by this remarkable journey.
This historic breeding event provides
hope and inspiration for the conservation of
endangered species worldwide. The images
and videos shared with the public capture
this remarkable moment and will undoubtedly
inspire many to join the cause of safeguarding
our planet's biodiversity. To watch this
remarkable event, go to https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=wBMBZkeTyWo. It takes just
one minute to fill you with hope.
The Spix's Macaw Release Project is
only possible thanks to the many years
of support from our partners in Germany
and in Brazil, including ICMBio Bragança/
PA; Pairi Daiza Foundation—Spix’s Macaw
(AWWP); Blue Sky Caatinga; Museum für
Naturkunde Berlin; Zoologische Gesellschaft
für Arten und Populationsschutz (ZGAP);
NuTrópica Nutrição Especializada; Grumbach
Brutgeräte; Arndt-Verlag—Wachtel-Shop.com;
birdfarm büngerheide; Parrots International
and many, many more, including Australian
sponsors Bowman Books and the Australian
Society for Avian Preservation.
 CONSERVATION

L E G I S L A T I O N O V E R H A U L C A L L E D F O R
PRESS RELEASE

A S C O A L M I N E R D E T E C T S LOCK THE GATE

Swift Parrots the first time in 20 years but will need broad
‘Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek
needs to alter the conditions of the Boggabri
coal mine to prevent further clearing of Swift
Parrot habitat. She needs to ensure that when
EVELATIONS that Japanese mining Australia’s environment laws are overhauled,

R company Idemitsu has detected 21

critically endangered Swift Parrots
near its Boggabri open-cut coal
mine in the Leard State Forest near Narrabri
in NSW—the second year in a row it has
detected the parrots without a change to
practices—has prompted calls for urgent
federal government action.
Boggabri Coal’s latest Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
(EPBC) Act compliance report shows the
federal department charged with monitoring
compliance may be unaware the critically
endangered parrots have been detected
twice in two years, as it has not requested
species and ecological survey data to date. As
a result, conservation advocates are calling
on the Albanese Government to ensure that
all habitat for critically endangered species
is protected from clearing as part of its EPBC
Act reforms, and for Environment Minister
political support to deliver the reforms that
nature needs.’ BirdLife is asking bird-lovers to
contact their federal Members of Parliament
and urge them to support new laws that will
genuinely protect and restore special places
like the Leard State Forest forever.
Lock the Gate Alliance head of research
and investigations Georgina Woods said,
‘This extraordinary situation has exposed
the urgent need to overhaul Australia’s
environment laws. Idemitsu has cleared vast
swathes of irreplaceable forest. It’s required
to search for Swift Parrots but is under no
obligation to stop clearing their habitat
if it finds them. The discovery of critically
endangered birds should bring clearing
activity at the mine to an immediate halt.
‘THE DISCOVERY OF
there is a clear prohibition on clearing any
habitat for critically endangered species’.
Ms Woods said the Albanese Government’s
EPBC Act reforms must ensure we identify
and protect all remaining habitat for critically
endangered species like the Swift Parrot. The
significance of Leard State Forest to the Swift
Parrot should also put a stop to proposed
coal mine expansion plans by both Idemitsu
and Whitehaven, she said.
Currently, Idemitsu subsidiary Boggabri
Coal is awaiting an outcome from the
NSW Planning Department for its planned
‘modification 8’, which would require more
habitat clearing. Whitehaven Coal plans to
expand its Maules Creek coal mine, also
located in the Leard State Forest.
Swift Parrot
PHOTO CREATIVE COMMON

Tanya Plibersek to amend the conditions of

the Boggabri coal mine in particular to prevent CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
further clearing of Swift Parrot habitat.
Advocates say the discovery shows that BIRDS SHOULD BRING
Leard State Forest is an important foraging
area for Swift Parrots, and highlights the CLEARING ACTIVITY
need for the remaining forest to be protected
from further clearing. Currently, Idemitsu has AT THE MINE TO AN
approval to continue clearing Leard State
Forest and, extraordinarily, while its approval IMMEDIATE HALT.’
requires it to survey every year for Swift
GEORGINA WOODS
Parrots, no action is required if the rare birds
are found.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTION

BirdLife Australia spokesperson Mick
Roderick said, ‘Swift Parrots are on a fast-
track to extinction within the next 10 years
if we continue with business as usual.
Protecting the places where they are known
to feed and congregate, such as the area in
and around Leard State Forest, is not only
important for individual birds, but also critical
to the survival of the whole species’.
The CSIRO reported in December 2022
that only 750 birds remained and they are
also continuing to be put at risk by logging
of their Tasmanian habitat. One of just three
migratory parrot species in the world, the
Swift Parrot breeds in Tasmania in spring and
summer, migrating to the mainland in the
autumn and winter months.
‘This is just another example of death by a
thousand cuts because Australia’s national
nature laws are weak, outdated and are failing
to protect threatened birds and the places
they live,’ Mr Roderick said. ‘These same
national nature laws are being rewritten for

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 711

 OFF THE PERCH W H O I S S P E A K I N G
Aviculture?
RECENT NEWS & BACKGROUND
Many readers will be aware that I recently
stood down as president of the Canary &
Cage Bird Federation of Australia (CCBFA).
I made it clear when I first stood that five
years would be my maximum term, and I was
in my sixth year. I had chosen the five-year
milestone based on my experience in other
areas, where I know my motivation dwindles
and it becomes time to move on.
In the case of CCBFA, I was considering
staying, as there remains much work to
do in countering animal rights influences
throughout the country. However, a small
but significant group of mostly canary-
based clubs in the Sydney region decided
the direction I was taking the CCBFA was
not what they wished. They expressed the
view that the CCBFA should return to its
roots, primarily representing exhibitor clubs
throughout NSW. They strongly and clearly
opposed government activism, specifically
political activity. As exhibiting is not my
current focus, and political and government
action is, I was clearly no longer a good fit,
so it was best to stand aside. I wish CCBFA
well with whatever direction the organisation
decides to follow.
I have a background working with
government in the education area, and
AUTHOR & PHOTO
have been active locally for many years on a
SAM DAVIS range of issues, both positive and negative,
affecting the community. With regard to
aviculture, my advocacy began in a serious
way some 10 years ago. I started attending the
Associated Bird Keepers of Australia (ABA)
meetings with the with the late Kevin Devnie.
Wife Barbara led the ABA a few years prior.
I was under the impression that the ABA
was looking after us nationally at all levels of
government. To my dismay, when attending
their meetings, it became clear to me this was
not the case, although it may have been in the
past, and I believe many consider the group
today to be basically NSW-focused.
DO WE NEED A UNITED NATIONAL VOICE?
There are a range of departments and
committees at state and federal level where,
on behalf of the CCBFA, I have gathered
terrific contacts. We had been putting out
fires before they were lit. I could list a stack
of issues that have been circumvented via
such contacts. These relationships need to
be fostered. The question is, do we need a
national body to represent all of Australian
aviculture? The CCBFA and the ABA are not
able to fill this role currently.
712 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
F O R
Animal Rights Extremism vs Welfare
I have written previously, and most readers
will be aware of the Animal Liberation and
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals) organisations—both of which
I, like many others, believe are extremist.
There is a growing number of such animal
rights-based organisations emerging,
including political parties.
Animal rights extremists believe that
animals should not be used by humans
for any reason. This includes for food,
labour, entertainment, as pets, hobbies
and any other of the myriad ways animals
exist in modern society. Although their
number is small compared to the number
of people who benefit from keeping pets,
who eat meat or use animal products, the
animal rights lobby has an ever-increasing
influence on politicians and government.
In some cases, they masquerade as
animal welfare advocates while aiming to
eventually abolish all animals in captivity.
It is often not easy to distinguish between
organisations based on an ‘animal rights’
ideology and those which truly aim to
improve ‘animal welfare’. ‘Animal rights’ is
not animal welfare. Animal welfare refers
to an animal’s quality of life and how well
it is coping in the conditions in which it
lives. (The Five Domains Model of Animal
Welfare was mentioned in my article in
vol. 36, no. 11). Animal welfare is rooted in
science and based on observable facts.
Real animal welfare organisations fight
for animals to have positive physical and
social experiences in their lives, without
restricting the keeping, breeding or
ownership of animals.
Positive Representation
There are two national representative
organisations of note—the National Finch
and Softbill Association (NFSA) and Animal
Care Australia (ACA). Both are now well
established, with capable committees
and a record of competent representation
to government.
In addition, there are successful state-
based representative organisations—the
Victorian Avicultural Council (VAC) in
particular, and also the United Bird Societies
of South Australia (UBSSA). In the past I
have also engaged with the the Queensland
Council of Bird Societies (QCBS) and United
Bird Societies of Western Australia.
So, do we need a new national body? Let’s
consider the role of the NFSA and ACA.

National Finch & Softbill Association (NFSA)
The NFSA was formed in 2006 to represent
the interests of finch and softbill keepers
across Australia. Membership currently
includes the major finch specialist avicultural
clubs and societies in Queensland, NSW,
Victoria, South Australia and Western
Australia, with an estimated total member
representation of about 5000 finch and
softbill aviculturists.
The NFSA executive has assisted with
numerous significant matters around the
country. Of special note is the NFSA census.
The results of the five censuses to date have
provided valuable data during discussions
involving state-based native animal licensing,
invasive species meetings at state and federal
levels, and import/export discussions at
federal level.
The NFSA’s sixth census is underway
now until December 15 and everyone is
encouraged to participate— https://www.
surveymonkey.com/r/NFSAcensus2023.
There is no doubt the NFSA, of which I’m
proud to have just been appointed vice-
president, has an ongoing role to play as a
representative body.
Animal Care Australia (ACA)
ACA has just turned five years old,
beginning as an idea in 2018. I had often
thought that government and politicians
who were reluctant to engage on bird-
only matters would have to take notice if
everyone who keeps pets united under a
single representative organisation. Initial
discussions took place with various pet
groups and an animal welfare symposium was
proposed and held on 30 June 2018.
Attendees included those representing
organisations for dogs, cats, horses, rabbits,
reptiles, wildlife educators, exhibited animals,
together with bird representatives including
poultry, pigeons and Budgerigar clubs, as
well as general avicultural representatives.
The symposium was a great success, with all
agreeing that working together to lobby for
animal welfare while opposing animal rights
extremism was the way forward. In this spirit
ACA was formed.
At subsequent meetings the management
structure was determined, a constitution
approved and ACA began operation. The
management committee consists of the
president, vice-president (myself), secretary
and treasurer, but more importantly includes
each of the animal representatives. Current
representatives are:
OFF THE PERCH
Birds: Sam Davis, Cats: Michelle Grayson,
Dogs: Kylie Gilbert, Exhibited Animals: Tracey
Dierikx, Fish: vacant, Horses & Livestock: Karri
Nadazdy, Native Mammals: Michael Donnelly,
Reptiles: Joanne Payne and Small Mammals:
Rachel Sydenham.
This committee works incredibly well
together under the current leadership of
president Michael Donnelly. The number of
matters under review at any one time by ACA
is significant. For examples of the issues and
cases in which ACA has had success, go to
www.animalcareaustralia.org.au. Why not
have your club join ACA, or join yourself as
a supporter?
Although ACA has certainly had a range
of major wins, it is the relationships with
government at the highest level, and with
politicians at the Minister and Shadow
Minister level that are making a real
difference, with many of the committee
members, including me, having provided
evidence at numerous parliamentary
inquiries, met with Ministers, Shadow
Ministers, and MPs on all sides of politics.
ACA is routinely asked to comment on A V I C U LT U R E I S U N D E R
confidential Bills prior to them entering
parliament, and many parties seek our advice INCREDIBLE PRESSURE IN
on all things to do with animal welfare. As
a result, many politicians now understand M A N Y C O U N T R I E S C U R R E N T LY.
the difference between ‘animal welfare’ and
‘animal rights’. ACA definitely has a significant I’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM
role as an advocate for aviculture in Australia.
THOSE IN THE KNOW AS TO
IN CONCLUSION
These are my thoughts for you to consider, W H AT OT H E R C O U N T R I E S
but no real way forward has yet emerged. I
know others feel a national body representing ARE DOING TO PUSH BACK
aviculture is needed but NFSA and ACA are
filling the role currently. Perhaps they are AGAINST ANIMAL RIGHTS
well positioned and sufficient to continue
this role? I just hope others feel strongly EXTREMISM.
enough to formulate a way forward, and
more importantly, to get involved and make Send your thoughts to
it happen. birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au
CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP CONTACT DETAILS
AS OF 1 DECEMBER 2023
Birdkeeper Pty Ltd Postal Address:
ACN 672 804 607 PO Box 188
Kurmond NSW 2757
Publisher & Director Phone: 0431 209 612
Sam Davis Email: birdkeeper@birdkeeper.com.au
VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 713
 BIRD TALK Mick Grixti
T H E B I R D M A N

Mick Grixti—the Birdman

O other name could I give Mick

AUTHOR

RON
HUNT
Severe’s Macaw
Red-tailed
Black Cockatoo
N Grixti than ‘the Birdman’. He breeds
anything and everything from
finches to pheasants, doves to
domestic fowl and, not only that, he breeds
them all successfully.
Born in Malta, Mick migrated to Australia
European Chaffinch with his parents at the age of three. He
inherited a love of birds and good husbandry.
He started breeding canaries and Budgies
at the age of seven. A boilermaker by trade,
he has the tradesman’s ability to construct,
and his ability to weld was a great advantage
in building aviaries out of metal. Living in
Fairfield, it was not long before he decided he
needed a larger property to achieve his full
desire to breed birds.

A DREAM HOME
Moving to a much larger property with an
existing house, Mick and his wife Rose lived
here while building their dream home. A true
birdman, Mick spent 12 months clearing the
Major Mitchell’s
bush and dreaming of the aviaries he was
Cockatoo
Golden Whistler going to build. Having been to see his aviaries,
I must say both house and aviaries were a
credit to his skill as a tradesman. He started
off with Cordon Bleus, Star and Gouldian
Finches. He then learnt how to incubate eggs
and to handraise parrots. This gave him the
money to buy more birds.
Imagine, after 42 years living in his ideal
home, how hard it was when ‘development
and progress’ forced them out. Mick’s words
to me were, ‘I fought back tears when the
bulldozers went through the property’. Never
one to be defeated, however, he and Rose
bought another property away from the
developers and added improvements to make
Orange-breasted
Waxbill the new set of aviaries even better than the
old ones!

714 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024

 BIRD
FEATURE
TALK

A NEW BEGINNING A QUESTION OF TIME

Red-headed Gouldian Finch
The large, planted aviary is 20m x 7m x 3m
high—a wonderland for birds to breed in and
a great place for someone with a camera. He
has Pin-tailed Whydahs and their nesting host
St Helena Waxbills. There are brilliant flashes
of colour with yellow, orange, red and blue
dancing in the sunlight before one’s eyes from
the Orange-breasteds, Yellow Song Sparrows
and Venezuelan Siskins, to name only a few.
There are 30 aviaries for breeding purposes
that house parrots, doves and finches.
These measure 3m x 4m x 3m. I was able
to see Squatter Pigeons breeding, and
Strawberry Finches, Cuban and Gold Finches
successfully raising young. The parrots were
also suitably housed and make quite a display,
as do Mick’s domestic hens, which are from
show stock. Their pen was adjacent to a
paddock which is home to deer.
The work side of all this is quite large, two
hours each morning and two hours each
afternoon. The morning is devoted to feeding
seed, live food and softfood, the afternoon to
the water dishes and any other jobs that crop
up. Mick is quick to tell me all of this is only
possible with the assistance of Rose.
My question is, with all of this, how on
earth did they move from one property to the
other? Mick tells me they had six months to
move the whole establishment to the new
site. The new aviaries were all prefabricated
and arrived in perfect size to fit the concrete
base, which made things quicker and easier.
Two days to move all the birds and animals
was a little tight, but they achieved it. I was
really impressed with Mick’s birds, animals,
and his and Rose’s marvellous hospitality
when I visited.

P E N R I T H V A L L E Y T H R O W S D O W N T H E

B U D G E R I G A R C H A L L E N G E T O

M A C A R T H U R C L U B

AUTHOR

KIRSTY GAAL
PHOTOS

RON HUNT

Most members of the teams competing in the mini challenge Steve Gaal and Jennifer
Bell thank the judge Alan
McCauley (centre)

ACARTHUR Budgerigar Club of NSW president Steve Gaal At the end of the day, Penrith

M has worked hard to create a club of members who are all

good friends and who enjoy getting together to talk about
their birds and help one another when needed.
When the Penrith Valley Budgerigar Club of NSW asked if our club would
like to meet with them to hold a mini challenge, the idea was met with
were the victors, outscoring
Macarthur by 109 to 77.

The winners of the classes were:

• Normal Grey benched by Ross Christie
great enthusiasm by all. It gave members of both clubs the opportunity to • Normal Blue benched by Keith & Bridget Prior
meet with other fanciers and enjoy one another’s company. • Lutino/Albino benched by Ken Mitchell Steve Gaal with
Owen Watson volunteered his home for the venue, which proved to • Cinnamon Wing benched by Owen Watson the partly-filled
be ideal for our mini challenge. Ron Hunt, founding president and life • Spangle benched by Keith & Bridget Prior scoreboard
member, was available to pass on information from experience with • Double-factor Spangle benched by
previous mini challenges. Peter Stone
National judge Alan McCauley agreed to adjudicate on the day. So, • Opaline benched by Marty Gorrie
all was set for an enjoyable, fun-filled event. • Clearwing benched by Steve Bonello
The weather was great and all members from both clubs enjoyed • Pied benched by Peter Stone
‘fraternising’, while admiring Owen’s birds, and a good laugh amidst the Thanks to Owen and Lyn for making their
light-hearted rivalry. The winners were each presented with a gift card to home available and for their wonderful
help with the Budgerigar food bills! hospitality. We are really looking forward to
Steve was able to keep the points flowing through, as the classes the re-match mini challenge in March 2024
were judged, meaning that Alan was free after he completed the to be hosted by members of the Penrith
judging to pass on his show bench wisdom and how to look for faults. Valley club.

VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU 715

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 AVICULTURAL ORGANISATIONS
AFRICAN LOVEBIRD SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC
meets on 3rd Wednesday bi-monthly, February to December at
Thompson Hall Activity Room, Baulkham Heights Estate, 92 Seven Hills
road, Baulkham Hills. We have a quality bi-monthly magazine. Meetings
are friendly and informative, commencing at 8pm. Phone Colin Isbister
on (02) 9674 4256
AVICULTURAL SOCIETY OF TASMANIA INC
meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month at the Geilston Bay Boat Club,
DeBomford Lane, Geilston Bay. New members and visitors welcome.
Enquiries PO Box 714 Moonah TAS 7009. Phone 0408 720 130
www.asst.org.au
BUNDABERG BIRD BREEDERS CLUB INC.
PO Box 5471, West Bundaberg Qld 4670. Meetings are every 3rd
Tuesday of the month, at Family Centre, Old Bundaberg Showgrounds,
Bundaberg at 7.30pm. New members and visitors most welcome.
Enquiries Phone Kim Chapman 07 4126 1495
DOWNS BIRD BREEDERS ASSOCIATION INC
Meets second Friday of each month at 7.30pm. Venue—Win Building,
Toowoomba Showground, Glenvale Road, Toowoomba, QLD.
Phone Richie Waters 0424 488 132 Secretary Downs Bird
Breeders Association
ILLAWARRA PARROT CLUB INC.
Meets every 4th Monday of the month at Dapto Ribbonwood Centre
(behind McDonald’s) at 7pm. Club contact number is 0455 613 457 or
secretary@illawarraparrotclub.org.au and website
www.illawarraparrotclub.org.au
AVIAN VETERINARIANS
NEW SOUTH WALES
Dr M. Cannon BVSc MACVSc (Avian Health)
Dr Kym Fryer BSc BVSc MANZCVSc (Avian Health)
Cannon & Ball Veterinary Hospital, 461 Crown Street, West Wollongong,
NSW 2500, Phone (02) 4229 8888
Canley Heights Veterinary Clinic, Shop 6, Harden Street and Avoca
Road, Canley Heights, NSW 2166 Phone (02) 9604 9792, 9604 9300
Dr R. Marshall BVSc MACVSc (Avian Health) Carlingford Animal
Hospital, 772 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford, NSW 2118.
Phone (02) 9871 7113
Avian Reptile and Exotic Pet Hospital, University of Sydney
415 Werombi Road, Camden NSW 2570, Phone (02) 9351 1798
Dr Mathew Grabovszky BVSc (Hons) MANZCVS (Avian Health)
Pacific VetCare Coffs Harbour 320 Harbour Drive, Coffs Harbour
NSW 2450. Phone (02) 6652 3455 www.pacificvetcare.com.au
diagnosis@pacificvetcare.com.au
Dr Kathy Fearnside BVSc (Hons) MANZCVSc (Avian Health)
Hills District Veterinary Hospital Unit 1, 276 New Line Road,
Dural NSW 2158 (02) 9653 9992
Dr Melinda Cowan BVSc (Hons) FANZCVS (Avian Medicine)
MANZCVS (Unusual Pets)
Small Animal Specialist Hospital 1/1 Richardson Place,
North Ryde NSW 2113 (02) 9889 0289
718 BIRDKEEPER.COM.AU VOL 36 ISSUE 12 | DEC-JAN 2024
ASSOCIATED
BIRDKEEPERS OF
AUSTRALIA INC
UNITY IS STRENGTH
Your Watchdog
Protecting our Hobby
Public Liability Insurance
available to CLUBS
For Membership Details
Phone Craig Jeffery
on 0448 479 925
Visit the ABA’s website
www.birdkeepers.com.au
AVICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF AUSTRALIA INC.
The monthly journal Australian Aviculture features original
articles about Australian birds and related topics.
Meetings held at 8pm, fourth Wednesday every month,
The Pines Learning Centre, 520 Blackburn Rd,
Doncaster East VIC 3109 Melway ref 34 D5
Subscription – Australia – $50 with Journal,
$25 Non-Journal – Overseas $75
Kevin Gadsden 28 Maroong Dve, Research, VIC 3095
Email asaustsec@gmail.com
Website www.asaust.com
MACARTHUR AVIARY BIRD CLUB
Meet First Tuesday of the month 7.30pm. Catholic Church Hall
58 Edgar St. Macquarie Fields. NSW 2564
Visitors always welcome More info 0413 526 307
MORNINGTON PENINSULA AVICULTURAL SOCIETY INC.
PO Box 4210 Frankston Heights LPO Vic 3199. Meets on every
3rd Monday of the month at 8pm at Baptist Church Hall, Craigie Rd,
Mt Martha. Visitors always welcome. Excellent guest speakers.
More details contact David 0428 518 646 www.birdclub.org.au
ORANGE BIRD SOCIETY
Meets every 3rd Wednesday of each month (excluding December) in
Senior Citizens Centre 77 Kite Street. Secretary Gisela Deasey
Phone (02) 6368 7319 or Fax (02) 6368 7294
QUEENSLAND
Dr Bob Doneley BVSc FACVc (Avian Medicine) CMAVA
Registered Specialist in Bird Medicine Veterinary Medical Centre,
School of Veterinary Science University of Queensland, Gatton
QLD 4343, Phone (07) 5460 1788
Dr A. Gallagher BVSc (Hons) MACVSc (Avian Health)
Brisbane Bird Vet 248 Hamilton Road, Chermside, QLD 4032.
Phone (07) 3359 2233 www.brisbanebirdvet.com.au
contactus@brisbanebirdvet.com.au
Dr Peter Wilson BVSC MACVSc (Wildlife)
Currumbin Valley Bird, Reptile and Exotic Veterinary Services
1596 Currumbin Creek Road, Currumbin Valley,
Gold Coast, QLD 4223 Phone (07) 5533 0381
Dr Deborah Monks BVSc (Hons)
CertZooMed DipECAMS FACVSc (Avian Health)
Brisbane Bird and Exotics Veterinary Service
191 Cornwall Street (Corner of Earl Street), Greenslopes, QLD, 4120
Phone (07) 3217 3533 www.bbevs.com.au
Dr Stacey Gelis BSc BVSc (Hons) MANZCVS (Avian Health)
Lamington Terrace Veterinary Surgery
18 Lamington Terrace Nambour QLD 4560
Phone (07) 5441 3333 info@lamingtonvet.com.au
QLD FINCH SOCIETY INC.
Receive “Finch News” the monthly colour
glossy magazine dedicated to finches.
At the same time joining the most progressive
club in Aviculture and reap the benefits.
Australia A$45
Overseas (PDF only) A$45
Send Subscription to:
The Membership Registrar,
PO Box 1074, Park Ridge, Qld, 4125, Australia
Ph: 07 3802 1511
BIRD KEEPING IN AUSTRALIA
THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC
Founded 1928
First Avicultural Society In Australia
Our monthly full-colour magazine features articles on all
aspects of aviculture. Sample copies available
Monthly meetings held at Latvian Hall, Clark Street,
Wayville, at 7:30pm, second Wednesday of the month.
Also two country branches
For further details contact: amalurus@adam.com.au
www.birdkeepinginaustralia.com.au
THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF NEW ZEALAND (INC)
President: Dave Creed Ph +64 3 9428989
Vice President: Luke Greenfield
amber133@windowslive.com
AGM once a year
Bi-monthly magazine and weekly email trading
service for members
Overseas members welcome
For membership details email the Secretary,
Amber Greenfield on amber133@windowslive.com
www.facebook.com/aviculture
PARROT BREEDERS & EXHIBITORS SOCIETY OF NSW INC.
PO Box 87, Casula Mall, NSW 2170. Hon. Sec. Mark Gallagher
Phone 0459 251 182
PARROT SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND.
High quality magazine including colour. Enquiries to PO Box 79202,
Royal Heights, Auckland, New Zealand. Rates: NZ$45.00,
Australia $55.00, Rest of World $85.00. www.parrot.co.nz
THE AUSTRALIAN BUDGERIGAR SOCIETY INC.
Meetings held on the third Thursday evening of each month at the
Eagleby Community Hall, 4 Cowper Avenue, Eagleby QLD 4207. Show
Table with up to 82 budgies benched, Mini Workshop, Guest Speakers,
Events discussed, FREE supper provided by Café ABS, super raffles.
www.absbudgieclub.org.au/
VICTORIA
Dr Pat Macwhirter BVSc (Hons) PhD FAZCVS
Dr Matthew Gosbell BVSc MANZCVS (Avian Health)
Melbourne Bird Veterinary Clinic 1 George St (corner Stud Rd), Scoresby,
VIC, 3179, Phone (03) 9764 9000 www.melbournebirdvet.com
Dr. Susan Bibby BVSc (Hons), BAnSc, MANZCVS (Avian Health)
myvet Strathfieldsaye, 942 Wellington Street Strathfieldsaye VIC 3551
Phone (03) 5439 5066 clinic@myvetstrathfieldsaye.com.au
www.myvetstrathfieldsaye.com.au
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Dr Anne Fowler BSc (Vet) (Hons), BVSc MANZCVS
(Avian Health, Wildlife Health, Unusual Pet Medicine)
Adelaide Bird and Exotics Vet Centre, 129 Richmond Road, Richmond
SA 5033 Phone (08) 8443 4838 Fax (08) 8443 4758
info@abevc.com.au www.abevc.com.au
ACT
Inner South Veterinary Centre
47 Jerrabomberra Avenue, Narrabundah, ACT 2604
Phone (02) 6295 0770 www.innersouthvets.com.au
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Dr Ray Butler BVSc MACVSc, Dr Ian McDowell BSc BVMs &
Dr Toni Cockburn BSc BVMs MANZCVS (Avian Health)
Avian & Pet Practitioner Risley Veterinary Clinic
Unit 13, 110 Holme Crt, Myaree WA 6154 Phone (08) 9329 9222
 TH E B EST B OOK S ON
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5
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3$ 0
2$ 5
3$ 6

5
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45

.5

.5

.5
.7
2$ 7 .

5$ 5

9$ 9
3$ 0

4$ 9

4$ 9

2$ 8
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