ISSN 1492-8132
Issue Number 62,
Copyright © 2003
All rights reserved,
No reprints without permission

Our tip this issue comes from Nora Martineau, who shares a tale that brought her an important lesson. Nora writes:

"I am a small bird dealer and breeder with a small shop (Chirps & Chatter). I have a quick story on safety during the winter holiday season.

"I recently found a bad Christmas surprise. I had put a small decorated Christmas tree on top of one of my flight cages and forgotten to move it to the counter.

"One of the 'tiels in the cage below had begun to pick at it, and managed to remove some of the fine thread type garland from the tree - you know, the pretty gold stuff.

"She then proceeded to get two toes and her ankle wrapped in it. Trying to get it off, she only made it worse.

"By the time I found her in the bottom of the cage she was able to stand on only one foot. The toes and leg on the other foot had both started to swell. It took two experienced people and thirty minutes to remove this mess from her foot - and it was not at all fun.

"Please make sure this does not happen to you and your birds - something so simple could have been quite deadly. My 'Sugar' is now 'Sugarfoot', and I want to tell everybody, 'Please be sure to be extra careful with the shiny stuff at this time of year, every year!'"

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They, and her other customers, have found her answers to be detailed and reliable, caring and supportive. Robirda can help you learn to understand your birds better. Learn more here.

Our next issue is due Jan 19th - until then, may you and your birds enjoy all the best of everything!

Robirda
Jan 5, 2003

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

The name of this site aside, it is very unlike many other parrot sites, in that THIS one includes stories, articles, and reviews on smaller birds as well as larger. Small birds are neither looked down upon nor ignored, but are instead taken to be what they are - yet another unique and fascinating branch of the mysterious and entertaining world of birds.

There's some great articles posted here, on birds both large and small - check them out, and be sure to let the people who run the site know that you appreciate the fact that they include and honour small birds for their pet quality and individuality, as much as they do the bigger birds. This is a trend all too rarely seen in the world of parrots, that we small bird owners (who know better) should do our best to encourage whenever we encounter it!

After all, we need all the help we can get, in letting the world know just what great pets our small birds can be!

Feature Article

We all know what characters our birds can be, and how much they touch our lives ...and about what they leave behind in their wake! Vacuums are familiar dance partners to pet bird owners, along with apologies (or shrugs) to visitors who grace our homes between routine swipes and wipes, picks and plucks. I often feel that this is the norm for a pet bird owner, but I wanted to let you know a little more about what it is like to be a loyal subject to a tame canary...

by J. Johnson
Copyright © Jan 2003

Some of you may recall that among my flock I have a little blue variegated canary, named Shadow - you may have seen the story of how I found and tamed him, in Flock Talk's 56th issue. Of course, being a mom, I try not to play favorites, but this little one... well, let's just say he has a bigger presence in our lives than our other birds, and it has nothing to do with his size, which is 'gram-atically' quite small.

Shadow is my hand-tamed buddybird. I have him out often, so he is a bit spoiled - well okay, a lot spoiled! I have learned that with that little bird spending so much time perched on either my hand, shoulder, or head, I really have to watch out for what he might leave behind!

The other morning, he and I were sharing breakfast, a bowl of Chex cereal, and upon Shadow's insistence, I placed one of the cereal squares on the table for him to nibble and enjoy. (As luxurious as a milk bath might be for his little birdie feet, sharing my cereal this way seemed a better alternative.) Of course, in his time out, Shadow was all over me - such a busy little bird.

After breakfast, I went to put him back in his cage and on passing the mirror in the living room, I realized there was a little something on top of my head, in my hair.

Yep, you guessed it! A Corn Chex! (not what you'd first thought, I'll bet!)

I didn't think Shadow could even get airborne with one of those, but he must have, maybe while I was distracted with reading the back of the cereal box. It was for sure that I didn't put it there!

At least I discovered it before anyone else did, and thankfully, I hadn't been sitting down to a full course meal or who knows what I might have found!

This little bird is such a sweet little pest! He seems to feel that he has to check everything out lest he miss something important. If you've ever been to a website that has those buggy tracers or trails that follow your pointer all around the page, you can pretty much get an idea of what it's like living with the ever 'hand'some Shadow.

Reaching for something, whether it be up, down, over or around, will most always be accompanied by Shadow as he suddenly appears on our hand in motion. It's happened where I've sworn that Shadow had flown elsewhere, only to turn and find that he's right back with me, acting the epaulet, as I bend in to get something out of the fridge, wander into the laundry room, or what-have-you.

Reach for a book and come up with a bird and a book. Grab a handful of popcorn, and it could suddenly turn into a feathered snack if you're not paying attention!

I don't know how many times I've seen my husband put his hand to his chin, only to have it suddenly 'overShadowed' as a little bird plops down on it, right before his eyes!

Joe just shakes his head - which Shadow takes as an invitation to visit Joe's head next!

Holding a kleenex tucked in your hand is an invitation for 'Dr. Shadow' to alight and start performing a 'tissue-ectomy'... in short order, rippity-rip-rip-rip, it's confetti everywhere! (Care to dance, Mr Vacuum?)

Just goes to show, I guess, that big fun can come wrapped up in a tiny bundle of feathers. Too fun for words!

He's almost too confident, actually. (Fearless comes to mind.) Combine that with his non-stop inquisitiveness and he could find himself bird-knee deep in trouble if I let him explore half the things he aims for!

For example, we almost had him for lunch one day. My son Bry and I had just sat down for some smoked turkey, lettuce, and onion rolled up in a pita. Shadow, nosey little bird that he is, clung to the cage bars wanting to join the party, so we let him.

I'm not real sure if the attraction was due to our magnetic personalities, or our food. (Probably the food.)

I must say that Shadow makes a very interesting dining partner. I swear he thought I had made that pita sandwich just for him. No wonder he was so eager to join us!

Between him mistaking my nose for a perch (youch!) on two occasions and hanging from the hair at the side of my face and leaning around to my mouth, I was pretty much ready to send him back to his seed dish to dine alone before long, but he finally perched on my hand as I held my sandwich and was able to enjoy bits of pita bread and lettuce.

Once he landed near Bry's plate but was promptly warned that if he left anything behind, he would end up rolled in the next pita. Shadow must speak 'bryanese' as he beat a hasty retreat and landed on Bry's shoulder as a second, but very intelligent thought!

I may have created a little feathered monster, but heck, he's part of the family, right?

I am often asked just how I went about taming my little Shadow-bird. It was actually quite simple - I studied Robirda's article on hand-taming a canary, then used the same techniques. (see Robirda.com/handpraise.html )

My advice is that once you find your bird is readily perching on your hand, you can start to incorporate slow movement into your training sessions. Allow him to settle into eating the treat you hold and then proceed. Move very slowly - whether it be a horizontal or vertical move - and maybe just an inch or so at first.

He may very well jump off the first few times. If he does, just hold still and wait for him to return for that favored treat, talking calmly to him the entire time. Try to end your sessions on a good note and always leave him a tiny taste of the treat you're using, as incentive.

After Shadow became somewhat used to the movement of my hand, I took his cage into a very small room. I used my backroom, but a bird-proofed bathroom would work, as long as there's no other birds or people around to distract. That's where I let him out for free flights at first.

He'd land on my head, shoulder, or leg, and when he did, I would place my hand (he prefers the whole hand to just a single finger for a perch) in front of him and say 'up' (a familiar word I always used while training in the cage).

After a few weeks of this (maybe longer than we really needed), I felt that Shadow would land on me (or anyone) while free flying in even a larger area such as our living room.

I'll sometimes bring Shadow up here to my PC/birdroom, where the rest of the flock hangs out - and while he enjoys the company of his fellow feathered friends, he always makes a point to touch base with me now and again, as if to say "Hi mom, watch me!"

I cherish that Shadow has learned to trust me by choice rather than under duress, and that he seeks me out even should I attempt to leave the room for a sec. I often have found myself almost ready to say, "Go play with Dad, I'll be back in a minute!"

No matter what my Shadow is up to, he always makes a point to stop and periodically check in with me before heading back to play. Of course, the others birds, upon seeing this, offer him a look that clearly says, "Eek! What are you thinking, boid!?!"

I hope others will find my story of Shadowplay helpful, and maybe decide tp give it a try with their little bird. I know that I'm so glad that I did, and thankful that Robirda shared her thoughts on taming canaries with us. It's just really cool being able to relate to these sweet little birds on an even more personal level, hey?

Mostly, I wanted to share some lighthearted birdie times with folks who'd not think I was too-too much of nut for being so easily entertained by a bird! Enjoy your fids for the characters that they are, every one of them, and should one of your canaries decide to adopt you as his, well, remember my Shadow, and know that you are not alone!

by J Johnson
Copyright © Jan 2003

Birds are far more sensitive to air-borne toxins than humans for several reasons, among them being the size of their bodies and the rapidity of their respiration.

But one of the biggest differences of all, is due to the fact that birds do not have any psillia, such as most mammals (including humans) possess. These act as traps, seizing larger particles out of the air stream as it passes into our lungs, and preventing us from breathing in as many particles as we would otherwise.

Birds do not have this built-in filtering system for a first line of defense, and so are that much more sensitive to any particulate content that should happen to be present in the air they breath. Any particles contained in their air, are almost certain to be inhaled.

This means that air quality, so important to us, is even more important to our birds, and it is wise of a caring birdkeeper to take this important fact into account, when considering where and how to keep his birds.

This lovely little mineral block has become a favourite with both my birds and myself. Made from the clay found on the banks of the Manu River, in Peru, these blocks are as attractive to our pets as they are to the jungle birds who make their way to the banks of the Manu River from hundreds of miles around, just to get some of this clay.

It is loaded with naturally occuring minerals that birds need, and they seem to find chewing on these blocks very satisfying when it comes to keeping a beak sharp, too. Why not try one for your birds? I'll bet you won't be sorry!

• Do you have or sell a great bird product? Send us a sample, and have it reviewed for Flock Talk readers! We will be reviewing foods, cages & cage accessories, toys, and other bird items we have direct experience with in upcoming issues. To arrange for a review, send your inquiry and a brief description of your product(s) here, to Robirda.