ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 83, © 2003
No reprints without permission

Thanks to the interest shown by visitors, there are some great deals available here to bird owners, from small and large pet cages, to breeding cages, stands, and large flight cages!

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 - shipping is free!

See Robirda's reviews of these cages.

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

It's been over a year since we first offered our CD of Robirda's canaries singing for sale, and it is proving to be a popular choice for many, both for themselves or as a gift. Here's just one of the comments we've received:

"Even after I had made all sorts of changes my canary still hardly sang. But after I ordered your CD, he sings and sings - I guess he just needed someone to show him how he was supposed to be spending his time! Thanks so much for such a nice CD."

Learn more here.

Our new book on keeping canaries has been getting a great response from readers. This special edition is packed with all the information and photos from the ebooks and reformatted especially for print, resulting in a 7 by 8.5 inch book printed with special long-lasting colour-fast inks.

Each volume is hand-numbered and personally signed by Robirda. Don't miss your chance to get one of these unique books!

Here's just one of the many positive comments we've heard:

"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year... Although I fully recommend buying her book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."

Learn more here

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 similar issues.

One consultee says, "I really cannot thank you enough... since following suggestions from you, I enjoy my birds a million times more than I did. After all the canaries I have owned, I finally feel confident that I am caring for them well. Confidence has made me more relaxed with them and instead of worrying, I am enjoying!

"Pets have a great sense about their caregivers... they, too, are more relaxed with me. They see me coming toward their cages and know something good is going to happen... no longer do they flutter about in fright. Again, instead of worrying, I am able to talk to them, sing to them, etc. A very big change!

"This is all very amazing and new to me... and I love every minute of it! Thanks so much!!"

Robirda can help you learn to understand your birds better! Learn more here.

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 83rd issue! Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Just like us, our birds need their sleep to be at their best. Tropical birds should get an average of 12 hours of sleep a day, while other species, like canaries, evolved so that the seasonal changes of daylight and darkness will tell their bodies which season to be prepared for, whether the long nights of winter, or the lengthy days of summer.

Many people have difficulty sleeping in a noisy environment, and so we expect our birds to prefer a quiet environment while sleeping, too. But in actual fact, most birds are more comfortable with a steady background noise, rather than the peace and quiet we expect them to want.

A certain amount of noise level is natural and normal to the environments they evolved in, and will not normally bother them. In fact, for most birds, a steady background noise signals safety, and actually allows them to settle down and get comfy.

Sudden loud noises, (or a sudden cessation of noise), can disturb this peace, and in some species, such as cockatiels, may even help to trigger a panic attack (often known as a 'night fright'), where the bird becomes startled and flaps wildly around the cage in the dark.

So help your bird to sleep peacefully; don't worry about trying to be too quiet while he is sleeping, but do try to avoid sudden changes in the background noises that may cause startlement.

Feature Story

This is the final part of our true story of one of the bravest and stubbornest canary hens I've ever encountered. Against overwhelming odds, she survived with a style anyone could envy...

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 1994-2003

It took me awhile to catch Turker in the act of releasing herself from her cage, and in the meantime she had free run of the house whenever she felt like it. Her escapades more often than not had me with my heart in my mouth as I reckoned the odds with which she toyed so lightly. She led me no mean dance as I tried, in my clumsy human way, to follow her reasoning and discover how she managed to pull off her tricks.

Either her luck was tremendous, or she had a memory like an elephant.

On one of her escapades she found an open window on a hot afternoon. Unable to resist the lure of exploring, off she flew into the great outdoors. I have no idea how long she played out in the yard, but it was long enough for us to return home and find her missing.

I was checking all of her (known) hiding spots in the house, while my partner went to watch the news. I had no idea that there was an open, unscreened window upstairs or I would've been extremely upset instead of just annoyed. I still couldn't figure out how the little brat was getting out!

An amused voice from the livingroom interrupted my internal rantings. "I think your bird's found you, Ducko," he announced.

"What in the world are you talking about?" I demanded, marching into the livingroom, "Oh!"

Turker had found us, all right. She sat on the ledge of the windowsill, outside the window, peering curiously in at us and tapping along the glass with her beak, clearly wondering why there was a barrier between her and the living-room. I sidled over to the latch, and she calmly trotted to the edge of the window and waited for the gap to widen. As soon as there was room enough she lofted herself to the arm of the couch.

"Chee-eep!" she announced triumphantly, and began preening her (immaculate) feathers.

I sighed in exasperation and relief, throwing out my hands. "How in earth does she get out?!" I demanded of the world at large, while my partner shook with mirth and chortled, "Out-smarted by a bird-brain again!"

He knew that most of my free time these days was occupied with trying to figure out how the Turk had managed to pull off this or that particular escapade. I knew that it was pointless to expect Turker to let herself into her cage when she knew we were watching - she pretended to be ignorant of how to do it whenever we were around, although we had plenty of evidence that she came and went as she pleased when we weren't. I sighed.

"Well, I guess I'd better go open up her cage and let her get at her grub, before she decides to have my african violet for dinner again," I mumbled.

A happy twitter and an amused snort followed my exit.

Life was never boring with Turker around. I suffered endless nightmares about what could happen to her on her escapades, but I had a real problem on my hands trying to keep her in when she didn't want to be. Sure, you could catch her and put her in, but that only worked for as long as you were actually standing there watching her.

Turn your eyes away, and there'd be a little scrape and a quick rustle; as fast as you could turn your eyes back, it was never fast enough to see what she did to get out. She managed to present her escapade as an accomplished fact before the ears could cue the eye to look.

I even tried waiting until night to try and catch her. Many avian species, supposedly including canaries, can't see too well in the dark, and can simply be plucked straight off their perches with no more than a stir and a rustle - anyone who has ever had chickens has probably used this fact to their advantage.

Not so with the Turk. Perhaps she didn't see in the dark; maybe she simply had the location of everything in the room memorized. Maybe she was just lucky, I don't know.

It was the dark of the moon, and there was not a scrap of extra light to be had. I carefully observed where she had perched, turned out all the lights, and quietly snuck up.

Before I was within six inches of her, she was off into the darkness. Not only did she never make a wrong move, navigating as if it was broad daylight, she managed to lead me into every single obstacle at knee-height or lower in the room - some of them several times! My poor abused toes and shins were days in recovering.

It was the mirror that finally turned the trick. Turker knew about mirrors to the extent of sometimes playing with her reflection in them, and she knew to avoid them while flying. Thankfully, she never caught on to the trick of watching other things in the mirror, and so it was that I finally got to see how she released herself.

The mirror was a gift from a friend, who had no room for it in her new home. It brightened one of the darker corners of our home beautifully, reflecting light from the big south window.

It also reflected Turker's cage. As long as I didn't alert her to my presence by moving about, I could see every move she made.

She waited until nobody was around, and the only noises were the usual background of the other birds in their flight cages, then went over to one of the vertical bars in her cage. Putting her head down, she firmly pressed it sideways and slipped out, all in one move. It creaked slightly as she let it go to flit to the top of her cage. THIS was the creak-and-rustle I'd been hearing! No wonder I hadn't been able to catch her at it!

"The little scamp," I muttered admiringly, and got the tube of glue out of the drawer. As soon as she was pre-occupied, I was going to fix this little wagon, but good!

Turker did not appreciate having her play time limited to times we could supervise, and let us know in no uncertain terms. She eventually got over it, though, and finally settled down in time for a relatively uneventful winter.

Almost before I knew it, it was time to make preparations for the coming spring breeding season. Turker loved to help shred the two inch squares of burlap for nesting material; the only problem was, she always took them somewhere else to shred them, confident that 'Mom' would pick up the pieces. (*sigh*)

I had no plans to breed Turker. I had not expected her to reach maturity, and it never occurred to me that, having finally achieved good health, she would be like any other normal canary hen in her desire to raise a clutch of chicks. I should have known better.

I guess she came by it honestly, because Turker proved herself to be one of my most reliable hens, and regularily vied with her siblings Remo, Peepicheep, and Reepicheep for best-looking and most youngsters of the year. She bossed all the male canaries, and allowed no other hen to remain near her, save her sister Peepicheep, with whom she apparently had an agreement.

I was continuously re-impressed with her spirit and vitality, and, considering all she'd survived, was often heard to mutter, "Long Last The Days of The Turk!"

Postscript

Turker lived with me for a little more than six and a half years. Late in a hot summer, my birds had been given the run of a large aviary built especially for them. They had been living quite happily for more than two months in their new quarters with no sign of any problems, other than some minor squabbling.

I should have known that if there was going to be a problem, it would be Turker who found it.

It looked later as if it started as a minor flaw in the wood. She had patiently peeled back the layers of the grain, probably spending long hours patiently tugging back each little piece. Eventually there was enough room for her to spot the narrow space behind; apparently this looked like a good snoozing spot to her, for she crawled into it. But this time she couldn't crawl out.

If I had been home from work a half hour earlier I might've found her in time, but I will never know for sure. All I know is that Turker died as she had lived, fiercely independant and stubbornly insistent on snooping into absolutely everything.

I feel that it is ironic that she died in an environment meant to be safe for a flock of bird's living quarters, after all the dangers she flirted with so casually in our home. While there will always be a little Turker-sized hole in my heart, I will never regret one moment of my life with her, for she taught me the importance of never giving up.

It was as if she had said to me "Freedom and happiness aren't things you find laying about - they're how you look at life!"

Fly free, my little Turker-bean. Thanks for everything.

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 1994-2003

If your bird lives in the middle of the household, like most pet birds, then part of his daily routine should be covering his cage for the night.

I like to use a fairly heavy, dark cover that won't let a lot of light through, and I always make sure that at least the top 1/3rd of the cage is thoroughly darkened by this cover.

And yes - you've guessed right - for most birds, I don't cover the entire cage. There's several reasons for this.

For one thing, I like to encourage good air circulation. A completely cloth-enclosed cage traps any heat rising from below, and also traps fine particles and feather dust in the air enclosed with the bird. These kinds of particles can be breathed in and encourage the start of diseases like aspergillosis, which can be hard to detect and expensive and difficult to treat.

For another thing, I will often keep a night light on nearby the cages, so that any birds subject to night frights will be able to see enough to return to their perches, should they be startled off them for any reason. Having the lower part of the cage oncovered allows enough of this light in, to help settle a startled bird.

Finally, our birds are small and have fast-moving metabolisms. This means that they need to eat fairly soon after awakening. Having the lower part of the cage uncovered means that if, as so often happens, my birds should happen to waken before me, they will be able to climb down and help themselves to some breakfast without having to waken the entire family hollering for someone to come and uncover them!

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.

Sponsor us for $75 or more and you'll get a free lifetime Nest membership! For all those who continue to help out in so many ways, thank you for your ongoing support.

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

Our next issue is due Dec 7th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then!  

Robirda
Nov 23, 2003
Kelowna, BC, Canada