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home Back Apr 14, 2002, Issue 43 Next |
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 ISSN 1492-8132 Issue Number 43, Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved, no reprints without permission
Peepity (her mate) was so in awe of this whole procedure that at first he was afraid to approach the nest at all! She tried in vain to convince him to feed her on the nest, but he wouldn't come near it. Finally she decided to 'train' him. This involved leading him around the cage for most of two days, stopping every little while to request feeding, until she had him feeding her next to the nest, but not on it. Then she snuck backwards onto the edge of the nest while being fed, and asked to be fed again. She repeated this several times, each time backing a little further away, until he finally got the idea, and got over being so leery of the nest. In fact, he got the idea so well that the next morning, while she was trying to lay an egg - there he was, trying to feed her! I guess you can't fault him for trying. The first egg was laid March 30th, so hatching is due any day now. What's going to be next? Watch the Cam to find out!
Normally called a 'pastry scraper', it is a simple little tool consisting of a flat steel edge for scraping, with a broad, easy-to-hold handle a little higher up. Designed to scrape sticky pastry left-overs from tables, it is the ideal tool for quick mid-week cleanups such as getting rid of that lump of dried-on matter that somehow got stuck right where the bars meet, or for scraping together and picking up a small localized mess on the floor without having to grab a brush and broom. It is the only tool I will consider using for scraping wire-bottomed cages or cage liners, as it produces far less dust than does a wire-bristled brush, more usually recommended for such a job. My family has often laughed about just what ends up in the bird room, and how it is apt to get used - but hey, when it just happens to fit the need perfectly, why not? - Flock Talk - Birds Board - Articles - Canary Cam - Canary FAQs - Search - Questions - Ask Robirda - Bird Links - Privacy Policy - Sponsorships - Site Map
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 For bird people who care.
Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 43rd issue, thanks for reading!
Share your tips, tricks, ideas, thoughts, stories or comments by sending an email here, to Robirda.
 Those of you who remember Arlene's wonderful explanation of feather colour in Flock Talk 19, will be glad to see her return. This is the first in a two-part series in which she explains for us the details of the...
Ancestral Wild Canary (Part 1) by Arlene Rosenthal The science of avian taxonomy endeavors to classify all species of birds into logical sequential categories based upon their evolutionary relationships with each other. At one time these relationships were figured solely on such physical things as size, form, proportions, bill shape, toe formation, color and pattern, plumage sequences, molt, feather-tract patterns, bone, muscle and organ structure, and a wide range of other internal and external anatomical details. Today, egg white protein analysis, mitochondrial and RNA gene sequencing, chromatography and DNA-DNA hybridization, in conjunction with ever more sophisticated field studies of vocalizations, behavior, courtship, chick rearing, food and habitat preferences, territorial defense, nest construction and the like, have greatly enhanced the tools of the trade - and turned many preconceived notions throughout ornithology on their collective ear. Large divisions of avian taxonomy are currently in a state of flux with numerous unresolved inconsistances and problems at all levels of classification, from ordinal and familial to generic, specific and even subspecific. Many sections are now undergoing drastic revisioning and shifting around, and it will probably be decades before most of the details are completely worked out. The basic finch design has obviously been an evolutionary success story, repeated numerous times through several different lineages into a plethora of species. In the recent past, according to which taxonomic authority one was referencing, the term 'finch' could be applied to members of quite a number of different families and subfamilies. These included the Fringillidae (True Finches), the Emberizinae (Old World Buntings and New World Sparrows), the Thraupidae (Tanagers), the Geospizinae (Galapagos Finches), the Pyrrhuloxinae (Cardinals and Cardinal-Grosbeaks), the Estrildidae (Estrildine Finches and Waxbills), the Passeridae (Sparrow-Weavers and Sparrows), the Viduinae (Parasitic Weavers and Whydahs), the Bubalornithinae (Buffalo-Weavers), and the Ploceidae (True Weavers). The finches in what are now the tribes Fringillini (3 species: the two Chaffinches and the Brambling) and Carduelini (about 125 species including Canaries, Siskins, Serins, Seedeaters, Goldfinches, Crossbills, Bullfinches, Grosbeaks, Rosefinches, Redpolls, Linnets, Greenfinches, the Hawfinch, et al) were all usually classified together as distinct subfamilies under the family Fringillidae as being the 'true' nine-primaried finches. Not too long before this, the Fringillidae also included the Emberizinae, the Geospizinae and the Pyrrhuloxinae, but most authorities eventually came to believe that they probably evolved separately and reclassified them in the Emberizidae under their own subfamilies. The true finches of what is now the Fringillinae subfamily are all primarily seed and grain eating birds that originally evolved in the Old World, primarily in Africa, and for sheer numbers of species are still best represented there. They range from terrestrial to arboreal in habits with strong and usually stout, occasionally quite massive, conical beaks; strong and comparatively heavy skulls to allow for the attachment of their powerful jaw muscles, and a well-developed muscular gizzard. With the exception of the aberrant Przewalski’s Rosefinch (Urocynchramus pylzowi) which has ten fully developed primaries, they all have nine large primary feathers on each wing, plus a small vestigial tenth primary, as well as twelve tail feathers. Other common characteristics include the construction of a cup-shaped nest that the hen alone builds (although the male may bring her some of the material), and incubation duties carried out exclusively by the hen. In the 1990s the new Sibley and Ahlquist and Sibley and Monroe classification system based on DNA analysis threw taxonomy into a tailspin. What they did with all the finch species involved was divide them into two large families, the Passeridae (Old World Sparrows and Allies, 387± species) and the Fringillidae (True Finches and Allies, 994± species), all together comprising nearly one-eighth of all the extant bird species in the world. Many of the relationships their results come up with are quite surprising, bringing together numerous diverse forms that no one had ever imagined were that closely related. While this revised classification system doesn't yet have universal support, and some of the conclusions reached are still ambiguous - and in a number of cases even contradictory - ongoing studies are continually confirming, refining and clarifying more and more aspects. The traditional Fringillinae and Carduelinae subfamilies have been maintained but demoted to the status of tribes, and are now usually remerged with the Emberizinae, the Geospizinae and the Pyrrhuloxinae in various categories of classification under the Fringillidae. Quite a number of former families and subfamilies have been added to the group as well, including the former Peucedraminae (Olive Warbler), the Drepaniidae (Hawaiian Honeycreepers), the Motacillidae (Pipits, Wagtails and Longspurs), the Parulidae (American Wood Warblers), the Coerebinae (Honeycreepers, Conebills, Dacnis and Flower-Piercers), the Tersininae (Swallow-Tanager), the Thraupinae (Tanagers), the Catamblyrhynchinae (Plush-Capped Finch) and even the Icteridae (American Blackbirds, Orioles and Troupials, Cowbirds, Caciques). The Wild Canary is the sole, or at least the primary, ancestral species of all our domestic Canary breeds. It is one of the thirty-seven or so species currently classified in the genus Serinus, a fairly uniform grouping of relatively recently evolved birds. In general, birds of the genus Serinus will be small, usually slender-bodied finches, most predominantly green, yellowish-green, brown or gray in color with various degrees of dark streaking, most with a distinct bright rump patch, and all with a forked or notched tail. The yellower species are commonly referred to as 'Canaries' or 'Serins', the greener ones as 'Siskins', and the drabber and duller birds as 'Seedeaters', but all of these terms may be correctly applied to any of them. The Canary's complete scientific classification, with all its closest relations in the family Fringillidae, superfamily Passeroidea, is now as follows: Kingdom - Animalia (Animals)
Phylum - Cordates (Animals with a spinal cord) Within the Superfamily of Passeroidea you will find the following groups;
by Arlene Rosenthal
"What is the oldest age that hen canaries will breed?" Robirda's answer; "Hello! Really, the answer to that question depends on many variables, such as the genetic make-up of the bird, the kind of life she's led, how many clutches of young she's raised in her lifetime, and what kind of overall care and diet she's had. "Other factors can also figure into the answer, such as how much stress there's been in her life, the size and layout of the cage she's lived in and how many other canaries she's shared it with, even what gender they were - these can all affect a canary hen's health and vigor. "My canary hens will generally breed into their sixth year, with smaller clutches in the last couple of years, but others will tell you that a canary hen is only good for breeding in her first three years. Given that each individual is unique, probably your most accurate answer would be, 'As long as she wants to'." |
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