Tugging and pulling on these fibres satisfies a basic early-spring instinct, and can help prevent feather-plucking and other nervous disorders. If you already have one of these up, and your bird doesn't use it, try moving it to another spot. Pick a place just over a perch, where it will be easy for him to stand and pull on the ends.

The song of the Grey Singing Finch is canary-like, but higher pitched, and only slightly less complex. Males and hens alike will sing quite freely, although often the hens' songs are a little simpler than the males'.

Their tiny bodies ensures that even the most enthusiastic Grey Singer is not able to produce any more than a moderate volume, which makes these delicately pretty birds a treasure amidst the raucous crew currently popular as pets!

The Grey Singing Finch is seldom seen these days, due to a combination of restricted imports from their native Africa, and the difficulty of breeding - grey singers need to form a pair-bond with their mates, so getting a pair who like and will accept each other can prove difficult. Once that challenge is met, there is another impediment to success - most pairs require live food, and plenty of it, to reliably feed and raise their young.

These challenges prove to be too much for many breeders. Yet their wild homelands are not protected, and they are less and less seen in their native territories. If more finch breeders do not make the attempt to raise these delicate little beauties in our homes and aviaries, it is not only possible, but probable, that it will not be many more years before the lovely Grey Singing Finch is nothing more than a fading memory.

Welcome to the Companion Birds eZine

For bird people who care.

Hello! Welcome to the tenth issue of Flock Talk - I hope you like what you see! If you have comments, criticisms, or stories to share, please send them to Robirda

This is a resource you don't want to miss, if you want to learn more about keeping pet birds. There is articles on species of all kinds, and pet birds of all sizes, all easily accessible at any time. You can reference articles by issue, with article titles, or access the info through the 'Library', which presents lists of articles and FAQ's, being further defined by catagories for 'General Bird Topics', 'Species Related Articles', and 'Bird Breeding Articles'.

Info on just when each monthly issue is posted doesn't seem to be anywhere to be found - but there is lots to keep busy with in the meantime! No matter what species of bird you keep, there will be something here for you - and probably more in the 'General' articles than you would think, too.

This site falls into the 'Must Keep On The Favourites' catagory for most bird people - don't miss it!

Feature Article

This week I'd like to bring up a rather controversial subject, and ask for your thoughts - a compilation of your responses will be featured in an upcoming issue. I won't quote you directly unless your reply specifies that I have your permission, of course! My topic is about...

by R C 'Robirda' McDonald

One of the most controversial topics out there right now is the case for - or against - keeping pets at all. You will rarely see people getting so stirred up, and even, sometimes, violent, when defending or attacking this issue.

I personally think it would be a mistake to ban pets from our lives. How else are we to keep our connections with the natural world? Yes, it is true that there are other ways to do this - but speaking from my own experience, I believe that there is nothing like living with a being - whatever it's species - to really get to know it.

Our pets seem to have their ways of making sure that we remember to get down to the nitty-gritty as often as necessary, so we can continue to provide them with their daily requirements.

Dogs and cats, great pets though they are, don't hold a monopoly on this - the same is also very true of most, if not all, pet birds. It is most certainly true of all of the pet birds I have known!

Many people I know who keep pet birds say that the presence of their pets has improved their lives immeasureably. This happens both directly and indirectly.

It is well known to all bird owners that pet birds bring more affection and caring into their human partner's lives, encouraging them to become more in touch with their own hearts and minds. What many of us are a little slower to realize, is that the presence of a pet bird also tends to bring about an improvement of the varieties and kinds of foods eaten by its human associates, as well as encouraging the removal of toxic chemicals and their usage from homes and lifestyles.

Most pet owners I know care devotedly for their pets, in all the ways they can. Many have families who accuse them of taking better care of their pets than they do the rest of the family!

An experience a friend mine had last year made me wonder about another side of the story - one we rarely if ever hear mentioned. An acquaintance of hers, while visiting her house, went to the caged canary, and asked what would happen if she should open the door and set it free?

My friend angrily responded that to do such a thing could be a death sentence to the bird, at which reply the person smiled slyly and murmered something about short lives and sweet ones. (as if starving or dying of thirst or exposure would be enjoyable!)

Yet I know from experience, that more often than not, when given a chance to 'escape' from my care, my birds do nothing of the sort! In fact, it is more common for me to find an 'escaped' bird busily trying to 'break in' to one of the cages in my bird-room, than it is to find them looking for a way out of the bird-room - even though the bird-room door is usually wide open to the rest of the house!

It seems that they don't think of a properly set up cage as being their prison, but rather, that it is regarded as being their home.

This leads me to wonder - if keeping pets is so unethical and so 'against nature', then why do our pets so often and so obviously choose to stay with us? What kind of function and instinctive needs do you suppose we fulfil in their lives?

Many actively choose to be our companions, even when they have the choice to leave us for the 'free life'. Why do they so often prefer to stay? Could it be just habit, or do you believe that there is something more?

What kind of therapeutic function or emotional needs do you think keeping pets really fills in our lives, or us in theirs? Over the years, many and various theorys have been advanced, but I would love to hear what you, the readers of 'Flock Talk', think.

If you have thoughts on any of these questions, know of any sites which focus on this idea, or have a story you would like to share on how your birds have improved your life, please send them to us.

We will compile all the responses we receive, and let you know what the concencus is, in a future issue.

I believe this topic is very important to all of us who treasure our birds, and that it is necessary that we tell the world how we feel, for all posterity to know!

by R C 'Robirda' McDonald
Copyright © Jan 7, 2001
www.robirda.com
Vancouver, BC, Canada

A simple, easy, and often over-looked bird 'toy' is seeding grasses and plants. If you have a patch of ground or a lawn, why not consider letting a corner of it grow wild? Seed-heads from many species of grasses are adored by our pet birds, from the smaller, more delicate species used in our lawns, to the relatively huge grasses which produce wheat, corn, and oats. You need to be careful to avoid plants grown with pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but if you can, you will find you have a source for a great bird-treat.

ISSN #1492-8132
Issue Number 10
copyright © 2001
all rights reserved
no reprints without permission

Send your stories to Robirda

"Where do mites come from? Are they flying around in the air? Or are they only transmitted from infected birds? I am a one bird household. Should I expect some day to have a mite problem? Or would that only happen if I brought in another bird who is infected? Thanks - talk of mites makes me feel nervous and itchy."

My answer;

"Consider them the 'fleas' of the bird world and you're not too far off. Like fleas, there are some that live on or near the bird, and are passed from bird to bird, and there are others which are always around in the environment, but usually in quite small numbers.

"It is possible to get them through no fault of your own, sometimes a few will hitchike in on your pants when you've been out walking in a garden, for example. For this reason, if I am ever visiting another aviary, or a pet store, I try to make sure I shower and change clothes before going anywhere near my own birds. It's also a good idea to be careful you don't pick any up when doing things like, say, changing seed in wild bird feeders and such.

" Sooner or later everybody who keeps birds will have to deal with one kind of mites or another. Best to be prepared, so you can deal with the little pests promptly!"

Hope everybody had a safe and happy season, and a very jolly New Year! I hope I will see you next issue, due out Jan 21 - until then, may you and your birds stay safe, happy and healthy!