ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 77, © 2003
No reprints without permission

Good news! The sale is over, but thanks to the interest shown by visitors, a special deal still remains; two of the more popular pet bird cages we reviewed will remain on sale, so you can still save up to $120.00 on a great pet cage.

The folks at Bird & Cage Co have made it their goal to provide birdkeepers with a great selection of quality cages for the best possible prices - and if you live in the continental US, there's an even nicer bonus - for now at least, shipping is free!

See Robirda's birdcage reviews here.

For a full selection that includes some great wrought-iron parrot cages, visit BirdandCage.com.

Here's some great homepages and wonderful bird-info sources, first reviewed in earlier issues of Flock Talk. If you missed seeing some of these sites the first time around, here's your chance to take note of some wonderful resources - so don't miss 'em now!

Frank's Fife Fancy Canaries

Ginger's Song Canaries

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Toos

When you need help with housing, feeding, care or behavioral questions, you can get a personal answer from Robirda. Even avian vets sometimes consult with Robirda on small-bird behaviour and other such issues.

A recent consultee said, "My heartfelt thanks go to Robirda. When I consulted her, I learned things that you will never find in any book... not basics, but detail after detail. She has the uncanny ability to advise without criticism. My suggestion? 'Ask Robirda.' She saved my bird."

Robirda's customers find her answers to be detailed and reliable, caring and supportive. Robirda can help you learn to understand your birds better! Learn more here.

Please remember that we rely on you to help keep this publication and its associated websites alive. If you find help you need in this ezine or on one of our websites, please consider joining our sponsors.

If you're looking for something different, don't forget to check our home page for links to all our great products!

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to the beginning of Flock Talk's fourth year - our 77th issue! Subscribe and unsubscribe information is at the bottom of this page.

To celebrate the occasion, we've decided to share the first half of the story of a very special bird with you. We hope you enjoy it! Our next issue is due Sept 14th - 'til then, we hope you and your birds stay well and happy, and enjoy the fall weather. We look forward to seeing you all then!

Robirda
Aug 31, 2003

Around BC, this summer is probably going to be remembered as 'The Summer of Fire'.

First we broke all past records for the least amount of rain, then we broke all previous records for heat. Waves of super-heated air pounded the earth into dust, scorching the foliage of even the most heat-tolerant plants. Then came the thunder-showers, and suddenly lightning was bringing fires to life all across the interior of the province.

Our vacation plans were interrupted when we learned that the park where we'd planned to go camping was engulfed in flames. They spread through the forest of old-growth pines like a warm knife through butter. Soon the entire park was engulfed, and the flames were spreading towards nearby towns - including ours.

Fire-fighters came from all over Canada and the US to combat the flames, and their heroism and dogged dedication have almost battled the largest and stubbornest fire in BC's history to a standstill, in over two weeks of non-stop effort. Smoke from the flames spread as far as the coast and inland over the Rockies, to drop ash and soot on Albertan towns.

Other events pale to insignificance in comparison to an event like this. Over 30,000 of Kelowna's 110,000 - odd population were evacuated from their homes for almost two weeks, but although the fire reached Catagory 7 at one point and is still not fully under control, so far only some 400 or so houses were lost or badly damaged.

Our home is not threatened, but it has taken some intensive and creative effort to see that the canaries' air remained as smoke-free as possible! I have never seen a group of healthy canaries so quiet for so long, before... and I hope to never see it again!

We'd like to thank everybody who has put up with website access problems, slow email responses, and other similar set-backs during this trying time - your patience, understanding and caring have helped tremendously to lighten the load!

Feature Story

Already old when he first came into my life, this canary lived a long, long life...

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2003

First Impressions

I first met Henry in April, 1990. He looked like he felt ready to die. His owners had bought him as an adult, singing crested male Gloster canary some eight years previously. They had no idea how old he really was. While he did wear a band, it was a simple split plastic affair with no identifying markings.

His owners were business and family oriented, and while they meant well, they didn't bother to research canary care, other than to follow what they were told at the pet store where they'd bought him.

For eight years he lived in a six inch by twelve inch by ten inch cage. He ate 'vitaminized' canary mix provided by the same pet store, and had a bath every other week or so. He lived in a corner of the livingroom, with very little view, and in silence half or more of every day. He received no greens, fruit, or toys. His cage had two perches and a swing, and that was the extent of his life.

"He sang quite well at first," this family said when they first called me to find out why their bird had not been singing for so long. "He just seemed to sort of... wind down."

We discussed proper canary care for awhile. They were shocked to find that they had unintentionally been abusing their bird, and wanted to promptly set about improving his lot. Things were not to prove so easy as that, however.

Henry showed no interest in any of the new items they added to his diet, and when he was given a larger cage he cowered in the corner and tried frantically to get back to his old cage. After weeks of struggling to cope, they called me with a compromise. Would I be willing to sell them one of my young canaries and give a good home to their oldster?

After some discussion we agreed that they had the right idea. Dealing with special needs birds is not always easy, and that was what they had created for themselves, however unwittingly. Now that they knew where they'd gone wrong before they intended to do things right this time.

They were quite willing to promise to take their new bird in to our local avian vet once a year for maintenance and a check-up. It had never occurred to them that it might be a very good idea, and save their bird (and them) no end of problems.

One of my young canaries took a shine to their little boy the instant that he saw him. The attraction was mutual, and they happily took him home along with instructions, a variety of foods, and a reference list, to the new twenty-four inch by twenty inch by forty inch domicile which had terrified Henry so, and left Henry to his new life in my quarantine room.

A New Beginning

The first order of the day was to clip those toenails! His family had said they were "kinda long..." I don't know if I've ever seen worse; these nails were so long that they'd curled right around on themselves into almost complete circles! Poor Henry had no way to grip his perches, and was forced to wobble about on those slippery nails. No wonder he didn't want to move!

He froze when I picked him up. He jerked as I cut the first nail, and craned his neck around to see. To my surprise, he then calmly stuck his foot back out for me to work on, holding it rock steady. When that foot was done he withdrew it, grasped my thumb firmly with his newly maneuverable foot, and stuck out the other foot for me to work on!

You've rarely seen such a happy bird in your life as Henry trying out his 'new shoes'. He carefully picked his feet up and put them down again, over and over, and if that wasn't a beak-to-beak grin on that little feathered face, well, I've never seen one!

His diet took a little more work to adjust. After so long, he had strict notions on where food was found. His family had offered him greens in a new cup on the other side of the cage from his seed, and were puzzled that he seemed completely uninterested in them. Watching him, I began to believe that he probably hadn't noticed the cup was there at all!

I used the same approach his family had the first time I offered him some greens, but when he showed no reaction I took out all the cups and replaced them side by side, with the greens cup where his seed had always been, and the seed next to it. He hopped over to get some seed, stopped cold, stared for at least a solid minute, and then began ravenously devouring the greens.

Getting him out of that tiny cage while still keeping him happy took quite a lot longer. He had all the classic symptoms of a cage-bound bird; he was terrified of being anywhere but inside that tiny cage which had been his only home for so long.

First, I changed the bedding. Because his family had said he'd been falling off his perches at night sometimes (no wonder, with those toenails!) I replaced his paper with a softer bedding consisting of a good thick layer of field hay over a thin layer of woodchips.

You need to make sure the materials are as dust-free as possible if you are going to use hay and woodchips, but, used in conjunction with a good negative ionizer they make a marvelous soft natural bedding for old or injured birds. This gadget generates negative ions that help keep dust, pollen or other such tiny particles present clinging to the nearest surface rather than floating about where they can be breathed in.

Seeing hay instead of paper on the bottom of his cage surprised him at first but didn't seem to really bother him much. He'd never approached the bottom of his cage before unless he slipped and fell, and he felt no inclination to go down there now, either. He stared rather a lot for a few days but that was all.

Once he was used to that I changed his perches. His old perches were made of dowelling, both exactly the same size, and his swing was the same. I replaced them with a plastic perch modeled after a branch, a narrow wooden perch with an oval cross-section, and a wider flattish swing.

It was lucky I'd thought to make a soft landing for him, because it took him all of the first day in his new arrangement to trust the new perches enough to land on them. The swing was the most familiar looking, being quite similar to his old one, and he sat on that and stared, and stared, and stared some more. When he finally go up enough nerve to make a try for the wooden perch, he tried to hover at the last minute and ended up -plop!- in the hay.

He sat still for a moment, seeming to be in doubt that he could actually walk in this weird stuff, then tried a step. It worked! He got a foolish, rather silly look on his face and began wading about in the hay, happily nibbling on bits of dried grass heads.

This was the most fun he'd had in years, his whole body seemed to say. After nibbling for awhile, he began to try again to learn how to land on his new perches, and eventually made it, clearly finding them comfortable and to his liking.

That night he sang a few short trills in answer to the birds he could hear on the other side of the house, and finally I knew - Henry was going to be just fine!

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2003

*** Watch for the last half of the story of our little feathered senior citizen, coming soon!