The Canary Cam is a small java-based web-page where, when the Cam is running (during the canaries' daytime only) a new picture is uploaded to the web every 30 seconds. The nest is well underway - soon there will be eggs, and then - who knows?

This site aims at aiding in the creation of a network of bird owners and breeders who care about their birds. You will find all sorts of bird information here, including a good selection of species-specific pages and links. You can also find a plethora of data on acquiring - or not - a pet bird, and get an idea what to expect when you do.

Most small birds are capable of living at least a decade or so, some as much as a quarter of a century. Many of the larger species are capable of living a lifetime as long or longer than that of a human!

Adopting a pet bird into your life means taking on a huge commitment; to see to the welfare of this creature to the best of your ability, for all its days. This site can help you understand just what that means, and give you some ideas on how to go about doing just that. Don't miss it!

"I bought a female crested canary and paired her up to a non-crested male just as the breeder suggested I do. They mated and hatched 4 beautiful baby birds but none of them came out crested! What happened?! I was told that at least 2 babies would come out crested. Did I do something wrong or is there something wrong with my bird? Please help."

My answer;

"Hello! No worries, you did nothing wrong - you just fell prey to the law of averages. On average, the results of a crested-to-non-crested pairing (which is absolutely the correct match - you did right, there!) are fifty percent crested young, and fifty percent non-crested young.

"However, percentages are based on large numbers - each individual nest can be another story entirely. It is not unheard of for a single nest to contain all crested young, or, as you found, all non-crested. Don't worry, your chances of getting at least one or two crests in your hen's next nest are higher than the average, now, so with any luck, you should find some crested youngsters, when your next clutch feathers out."

Coccidiosis is a disease of the intestines of birds. Affected birds suffer severe intestinal upsets that may include diarrhea, blood in the droppings or sudden death. Warm wet conditions allow the organism to survive in the aviary and multiply.

Coccivet is an effective treatment and preventitive in an efficient water soluble formula that is added to the drinking water for 5 - 7 days depending on the severity of the disease.

For more information visit birds2grow.com

Welcome to the Companion Birds ezine

For pet bird owners and breeders who care.

Hello! Welcome to the seventeenth issue of Flock Talk - I hope you like what you see! This ezine is published in HTML on the web, or can be received directly in your email in text-based format, every two weeks. It is about the joys and trials of keeping or breeding companion birds of all sorts.

We hope you like what you see! If you have comments,ideas, tips, tricks, or stories to share,please send them to Robirda

Feature Article

The word 'canary' has come into wide use in recent years as a term for describing a person or an animal species who has displayed extreme sensitivity to one or more of the commonly-encountered toxins found everywhere in our modern lives. Often the potential these toxins have for harm is not properly understood until the adverse reactions of the 'canaries' in question impels the undertaking of in-depth studies.

It always astounds me how casually so many people sling the word 'canary' around, while understanding so little about the bird species from whom the term sprang. I believe it would benefit all of us greatly, if, in our daily rush to learn and earn, we remember occasionally to...

by R C 'Robirda' McDonald
Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The world of the canary is a tremendous one, and not much at all like the traditional view of the canary as a little yellow bird who "just sits in a cage and sings".

They come in every colour of the rainbow, except proper blues, purples, and black, and can be seen in an almost bewildering array and combination of colours, sounds, and shapes, all that you can imagine - and probably as many that you can't.

Many are capable of charming humans with more than just their song - they have been known to develop and express winsome, brassy, confident and confiding personalities. In fact, many canary owners are people who started out with other pets or birds, but upon having acquired their first canary, by whichever happenstance of circumstance or fate, found him-or-herself utterly enthralled by this mysterious and often confusing little ball of feathers.

The wild ancestor of most of our current-day canaries came from the Canary Islands. The various colours which include red or orange in their colouring, sometimes known as 'red factor' canaries, also count the South American Black-capped Red Siskin in their ancestry, but even their genetic code acquires most of its unique characteristics from the little gray-green birds native solely to one group of Atlantic islands.

Contrary to what many people believe, the birds were actually named after the islands, not the other way around.

Roman naturalist Plinius wrote how Juba, the King of Mauritania, vassal to Rome in the first century BC, sent an expedition to explore the mythical 'Fortunate Islands', said to be located in the 'Dark Ocean' (the Atlantic) beyond 'the Columns of Hercules' (the Strait of Gibraltar).

The islands were indeed there, and the expedition reportedly found, explored, and named the islands in the group. Plinus wrote that one of the islands, in which was found a fierce breed of wild dogs (canis in latin), was named 'Canaria', or, 'Island of Dogs'.

Plinius, however, may have been wrong; the history of the island today known as 'Gran Canaria' holds that the island's original inhabitants were a tribe who called themselves the 'Canarii'. In the fifteenth century, the island of the Canarii became famous for the brave defense deployed by their natives against repeated attempts at invasion by the conquistadores. It was the conquistadores who began to call the entire island group 'the Islands of Canaria', from which term eventually came the name under which we know them today, the 'Canary Islands'.

The original canary, while sweet-voiced, was small, being mostly a rather dull gray-green in colour, with black striations. It attracted the notice of some of the fifteenth century Spanish sailors with its confiding ways and freely offered songs. Being opportunistic sorts, they took the chance to capture and bring home a few of these charming little songsters.

History - or legend - tells us the intent was to present these little charmers to their ladies fair. From those small beginnings, the species eventually spread worldwide, and spawned literally hundreds of colours, shapes, sounds and kinds of canaries.

Renowned at first for their song, they were extremely rare and in high demand until the secret of breeding them was worked out. It wasn't long after that before canaries began to make their way into our hearts, history, and even our many and various cultures!

Once the techniques necessary to encourage reproduction began to be worked out, a whole new world of experimentation opened to those involved in breeding canaries. Suddenly it was possible to experiment with how a bird's genetic traits passed from generation to generation, and to observe the results. Song, colour, body shape and size could all be altered to fit the inner vision of the breeder.

Similar practices had been available all along, of course, with regard to other domestic animals and livestock, but when working with species who take years to mature, such experimentation can take several lifetimes to refine the qualities of a breed. Canaries, with their one-year-to-maturity breeding cycle, provided exceptionally fast results, by comparison.

Contests began to be held, where the birds were judged on singing ability and presentation, or on colour, size, shape, and stance; the variations were almost endless. To own a canary was the height of fashion, and was the desired goal of many.

Fashion is a fickle mistress. she will take you up in a sudden, breathless rush, then drop you without notice. The Canary's interaction with Lady Fashion lasted several hundred years, but has been under slow decline for the entire last century.

War decimated entire branches of the species, as their owners marched away to serve their country. Too often, the birds were left in the hands of people who had little to no idea of how to provide even basic care, much less the skills and techniques required to satisfy the demanding needs of the breeding canary.

When the explorations of the 'newly discovered' lands in the South Pacific brought more small enchanting birds to win the hearts of the public, the decline of the canary as 'the' pet bird to keep was sealed.

Many of these birds (the budgie is a good example) were not only beautiful, small, affectionate and easily tamed, but they also were far easier to maintain and breed, requiring far less demanding care and upkeep. Soon they became available at far cheaper prices than canaries could ever be sold for. Slowly, unnoticed by the majority of the world's population, the canary quietly and inevitably began to once again become a rarity.

I couldn't tell you how many people I've talked to who "couldn't find a canary anywhere", although they hunted high and low, leaving no stones unturned. After days or weeks of searching, maybe one or two sad, rather bedraggled-looking specimens are turned up. Too many have spent a good sum on a bird like this, only to have it languish in its cage, never sing, and soon die.

All too often the conditions these birds are required to live in are almost entirely due to a lack of understanding of the needs and inclinations of the canary. Little enough is written about them, and often any interest is deemed to be very far from 'the middle of the road' (read, 'money-making').

They are generally regarded as somewhat exotic, but overly expensive, rather boring little creatures, good for nothing other than to sit in a cage and sing, or perhaps to serve the purpose of keeping old Aunt Sarah or Uncle Bob happy in his or her dotage.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Understanding more about the 'common' canary could hold an important key to the future of our entire planet. This often-unremarked little bird was used in the mines for the same reason it may yet prove to be invaluable in the future - its needs and requirements are similar to those of humankind, but it has far more sensitivity to toxins and chemicals than us - so, any place where a canary thrives, is a good place for a human to live too.

If the canaries begin to die, there is still enough time to escape with your lives. This was the lesson taught to many a miner by the canaries of their time. What they and other similarly sensitive species may yet teach us, as we learn to live - or die - with the rapidly shifting and ever-increasing levels of toxins and chemicals in our planet's atmosphere, has yet to be discovered.

In the meantime, perhaps we should begin to consider learning more about our canaries, lest in the end, we find we have lost, not only them, but the entire spectrum of life they represent - including ourselves, and the rest of our planet.

by R C 'Robirda' McDonald
copyright © April 2001
www.robirda.com

"We had a teflon disaster in January! Mom is still not in her home. She got new pots for christmas, the cast aluminum with teflon coating. She left one on the stove and forgot it, then went to work. She never realized how bad teflon could be.

"When she came home the house was filled with a pink smoke. The birds were in the back bedroom with the door closed. It would have been okay, but the heater was on and sucked all the smoke from the front of the house and spread it all over the rest of the house.

"All the birds died, as she brought them into the fresh air. The house also suffered major damage. The pot contained the fire, so nothing was burned - just ruined by the pink chemical film all over it all. Anything made of cloth soaked up that chemical like a sponge... all carpets, furniture, clothing, even things in storage in the closets were ruined.

"She's been out of her home for weeks waiting for them to replace everything. She was too embarassed to claim the canaries on her insurance so she lost $1100.00 US worth.

"I no longer use anything with teflon on it... I got rid of all my pots and got stainless steel! Surprisingly, it's both cheaper and easier to clean."

(editor's note; tempered glass and cast iron are good, too!)

Remember though - the smaller the bird, the larger amount of flying room it needs to keep healthy! Another noteable fact to keep in mind is that some waxbill species can be very aggressive to other adults of their own species - some will even attack their young, as soon as they are adult sized!

Many waxbill species are notorious for the hens being prone to egg-binding and other such problems. Often this is due at least partly to extreme harrassment of the hen by the male of a pair. This can be avoided through the use of shrubbery planted in the aviaries to provide cover for the hen to use if she should need it. It is also wise to arrange for multiple feed and water stations, some out of sight of the others.

With an arrangement like this, which includes a few good nesting sites and an adequate supply of live food, you may just find yourself raising some very fine little waxbills!

Well, I guess that's it for this time - hope everybody has a safe and happy time over the next couple of weeks! The next issue is due out April 29th - until then, may you and your birds enjoy all the best of everything!

Robirda