No problem! Just keep a few facts in mind before you allow him out to explore. The room must be bird-safed before you allow him out - he must be allowed to find his own way out of his cage, and the cage doorway must be made obvious, and easy to find, from either inside or outside of the cage.

This is most easily accomplished by propping up cage doors which open downward so that they are relatively level, making a nice 'landing platform'. Cage doors which open sideways need to be propped open to be sure they won't swing shut when the bird tries to re-enter his cage, and I will often place a temporary perch in the middle of the doorway, as an aid to easy cage exit and entry.

Make sure the room is well lit, and that there are no dangerous items about, such as poisonous plants to chew on, or mirrors or windows which could lead to a fatal crash - especially if something startles him. You will want to check that there are no slippery surfaces about, too - many a canary has slipped and slid into nooks and crannies behind or into leather couches and chairs, for example, and far too often this can have rather deadly results - so throw a cover over any such furniture.

Key to making it easy to convince him to return to his cage under his own steam, is making sure that he can find nothing to eat while he is out. Keep a favoured treat handy, and when you want him to return home, simply make a big production out of checking his cage, and putting the treat inside. Make sure you put it right inside, so he has to go all the way in to get his beak on it.

Canaries love treats - his sharp little eyes will not miss the fact that there is new edibles available, and it is a rare canary who will not head straight over to check it out. Once he is busy eating, all you have to do is amble slowly over and close the cage door!

Be very sure to do this slowly, or he might notice what you are doing, and zip back out again. If he does, no problem - simply shut the door anyway, and wait for him to discover that he is locked away from his treat! Wait for a few minutes longer than it takes him to make this discovery, then open the cage door again. Once he has realized that the choice is up to him, most canaries will choose to stay with their treat.

Many pet owners who only had room for a small cage, have successfully used this approach to allow their canaries some exercise, and most find that they, as well as their birds, enjoy immensely the obvious joy and pleasure expressed by their pets.

A canary's syrinx consists of two separate parts, and once he has learned his songs, he can literally sing duets with himself, if he wants to! This unusual capacity is one reason for the canary's wonderful song, which is widely acknowledged to be one of the most exquisite natural songs within the avian kingdom.

Although these days canaries come in many different sizes, and all sorts of colours, originally it was the beautiful song which led Spanish sailors to bring a rather plain-looking little green bird home to enchant their wives with it's song.

From this small start these birds spread, and their influence has crept into many and various aspects of our daily lives. There is even a colour named after them, and nowadays, many people believe that the Canary Islands were named after the birds, rather than the reverse, which is the actual truth.

Can you imagine a world without canaries? I can't!

Signing Off
Hope everybody has a great couple of weeks, see you next issue! Until then, may you and your birds stay happy and healthy!

Robirda
November 12, 2000
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Welcome to the Companion Birds eZine

For bird people who care.

Hello! Welcome to the 6th 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.

Bird Site Report
Linda Hogan's Canary Tales

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/6364/

Yes, it's another Geocities site - but even with the ads, if you like canaries, this site is a must-visit! There is a broad spectrum of canary info here, from the answers to frequently asked questions, to sources for supplies such as medicines, equipment, and seed.

The one thing you will often find referred to here, is the book 'Canary Tales'. This is considered an essential reference by many canary fanciers, from pet owners to breeders and showpeople.

Home published, and packed full of years worth of canary experience and information, with tips on everything from owning your first pet canary to breeding and showing your most prized birds, this is a book you will want to consider ordering if you are at all interested in canaries in any way. For all its size and complexity, it is a very reasonably priced book, and I am sure you will find yourself referring to it again and again, whether you are a pet owner, a breeder, or just curious.

Whatever your interest in canaries, this is one site you do not want to miss!

Feature Article

Right now Remembrance Day is on many minds and lips. I have my own version of Remembrance Day, and another group of veterans I also honour, on this day - a group far too often ignored, neglected, or abandoned to the whims of fate.

I am talking about the abandoned pets of the world. One of the largest of these groups, second only to dogs and cats, are parrots. Whether large or small, far too often their lives follow a common scenario; for whatever reason, it is decided soon after acquiring them, that they are really not wanted after all - and so they are sold.

As they age, or as their learned behaviours make them less desirable as pets, far too often they will end up being sold many times over.

Many end up in - to be polite - less than desirable circumstances, and far too many die in misery, of neglect.

Most if not all of this can be easily prevented - all that is needed is for the prospective owners to educate themselves in how to deal with a pet parrot before acquiring the bird.

Unfortunately, this is too often easier said than done.

In the interests of making this job a little easier, I would like to introduce to you the first in a series of articles about ways and means which will allow you to succesfully adopt, raise, and live with, your pet parrot.

by Wilhelm Kiesselbach

Parrots, large and small, have become the vogue. They are pretty, colorful, lively and many can talk, more or less. Aunt Jemima has one and now you want one, too. They are capable of being great companions - and just how great is actually entirely up to you.

You may not know it, but there are currently over eight thousand parrots in various sanctuaries and rescue shelters on the North American continent alone. Every day this number grows.

Every one of these birds began its life with great expectations of love, understanding, and a permanent relationship. In each and every case the human caregiver was not up to the task, and the bird was abandoned.

There is only one way to characterize parrots; they are different. They are basically wild animals and need very special handling and training. They also have an impressive beak which they won't hesitate to use to express their frustration, their fear or their anger.

While you can scold your dog and discipline your cat, that won't work with a parrot. It does not understand such punishment, as it is not a part of its instinctive culture.

Please, never buy a parrot on impulse, never buy a parrot from a pet shop, and never buy a parrot that has not been fully and properly abundance weaned. Forcing a young parrot to wean too early will NOT produce a secure pet!

The old tale that hand feeding a baby will enhance your relationship and strengthen the bonding, is pure nonsense. It originates from a combination of ignorance and the attempts of some breeders to get rid of the babies early so they won't have the work to wean them.

Besides, hand feeding requires expertise and extensive knowledge. More than one parrot baby has died as a result of improper hand feeding!

Parrots are instinctively 'programmed' to bond to new care givers. If you are careful to buy your bird from a reputable breeder, you can easily avoid many commonly seen pet parrot problems.

Plan on purchasing a parrot as if you were going to have a human baby. There are excellent books which deal with behavior, environment and diet.

One top-notch resource is a book by the noted behaviorist Sally Blanchard; it is called 'Handbook for Companion Parrots'.

Another is by Bonnie Munro-Doane, titled 'My Parrot, My Friend'. Incidentally, this book uses uses quotes from noted child psychologists as references - that alone should tell you something about the character of parrots.

Now there is a new book, 'My Human, my Slave' written from the bird's perspective of things, available at http://www.toolady.com All of these are excellent books and will provide you with a good start towards understanding your pet parrot.

To not properly prepare yourself for responsible parrot ownership means that you are setting yourself up for failure, and that eventually your bird will join the other eight thousand or more shelter inhabitants.

Having a parrot companion can be pure joy, an exhilarating experience, or a complete and utter nightmare - and the responsibility for success or failure is entirely ours.

Please, always remember, a parrot is not merely a pet. It is a child from another world, a true 'stranger in a strange land' - and it relys on your ability to learn to understand it, not only for its happiness, but for its very life!

Wilhelm Kiesselbach
© November 12, 2000
http://www.nd.edu./~kkiessel/

While relatively easy to keep, they can be difficult to breed, requiring large, preferrably planted aviaries, and a regular supply of live insects, in order for the young to thrive and grow. The hens in particular tend to suffer from egg-binding and over-harrassment from the males unless she has enough room, some cover in the form of plants, and preferably another feeding station, out of direct sight of the one the male uses.

Once regularly seen in the market, due to frequent imports from Africa, where they were common, Cordon Bleus are becoming more and more scarce across the North American Continent, as breeders and aviary owners discover that these hardy little easy-keeper birds, have very strict and definite notions about how and where they will raise their chicks...

ISSN #1492-8132
Issue Number 6
copyright © 2000
all rights reserved
no reprints without permission

It seems that in order for youngsters to sport an ideally shaped crest, a rather differently shaped skull was needed from that traditionally seen on the Norwich canary, thus breeders found themselves trying to breed birds with one type of skull in the plain-headed birds they wished to show, and trying to achieve a very different-looking bird to breed to their crested Norwich, so that the youngsters would sport crests carried well enough that they could be shown.

This was deemed an untenable position by many, and some intense - and reportedly heated - discussions ensued. By the time the dust settled, the Crested canary had become a new breed. No longer to be shown as a crested Norwich, it was known simply as the 'Crested Canary', and had its own standards of appearance for both Crested and Plain-headed individuals.

Thus was the first-ever breed of crested canaries born.

The Gloster canary, so often the only breed of canary thought of when crested canaries are mentioned, was bred much later, by mating small Crested Canaries to yet smaller canaries such as the Fife over a number of generations, until the bird we know today was achieved.

"My female cockatiel sometimes squats on the floor of her cage and sticks her back end up against one corner and sways back and forth on her feet. Is this part of the mating ritual for a cockatiel?

"I am also wondering, what is her fascination with holes? For example, if she's walking around on the couch and there is a throw pillow propped up against the arm rest creating a 'cave' of sorts, she will go over, look inside with wide eyes and crest pointed up and be very curious about it.

"Does anyone know why? I am curious, and could not find the answer in either of my two 'tiel books."

My answer;

 Hello! She is what is usually termed as being 'in the mood' - that conclusion is verified by the fact that she is exploring 'caves' and other dark places - she is looking for an acceptable nesting site, in which to lay and sett her eggs.

"I'd be very careful about letting her see anything that even remotely resembles a secure dark spot she can climb into and lay her eggs in, this should help to reduce the stimulous somewhat.

"You also need to take her diet and environment into consideration - have you been feeding her lots of food high in protein and/or foods with high moisture content? Has she been getting lots of baths lately?

"Cockatiels are native to Australia, and their breeding season occurs just after 'The Wet', when everything is lush, green, and growing, and there is lots of bugs and other easily available high protein foods around. This kind of diet also tends to be high in vitamin E, which can also help trigger a breeding response.

"So if you 'dry up' her enviroment by reducing the amounts of wet, soaked, and high-protein, vitamin E-rich foods, and the number of baths she gets, she will hopefully decide that breeding season has passed, and that she's missed her window of opportunity.