Bird Retailers & Wing Clipping

OK – here’s a contentious one, but no point in fence sitting from my perspective. I recently stopped in at a major bird retailer in Brisbane to pick up a bunch of bird supplies while I was on my way to my monthly consult sessions. Usually I don’t have much time to stop and look at the birds in retail outlets but this time I did, as it is the time of the year when there are a lot of young baby parrots available and it is always interesting to see what is entering the companion parrot community. Whilst I know that there are many highly responsible bird retailers and very good outlets for acquiring a pet parrot, what I saw in this particular store really bugged me. Every single handraised parrot waiting for sale to a pet home was clipped – not one exception. None of those birds had been offered the opportunity to develop their flight skills, coordination, confidence and independence. All were recently weaned and obviously had more than likely never actually `flown’. Whilst I obviously don’t condone the clipping of a parrot’s wings, I have to accept that there is no law to prevent it or legislative authority to monitor it or set guidelines for it, therefore I have to live with it as a reality of what we see in the bird world. But geez folks – can’t we at least give the new owners of these young birds that are sold in pet stores the option??? How hard is it to keep the young birds fully feathered, provide some informed and responsible point of sale pros and cons on wing clipping, offer advice on training and accessing training resources on managing a flighted bird, encourage the buyer to visit a qualified veterinarian to have any clipping done if it has to be done, and most of all, give the parrot a chance to be a parrot.

I then had the unfortunate experience of standing beside one of the sales assistants as a father and son team came in to buy a budgerigar as a pet. Having no handraised or tame budgies to choose from, a young bird was selected from the flock and promptly clipped. Not a progressive clip method used there either – the good old full primary and secondary chop. The sales assistant justified the procedure as nothing more than a `haircut’ – obviously using the analogy to explain that the clipped wings will be replaced over time by new ones. I just can’t seem to remember not being able to walk out of the salon the last time I had a trim. Mind you – my hairdresser is licensed to sell alcohol so a visit there is perhaps not without the potential for a major modification of my physical capabilities. Hmmm.

I think it’s about time that some guidelines and best practice recommendations for the physical modification of parrots within retail outlets was implemented. Parrots presenting with behaviour management issues that also have clipped wings account for the highest proportion of birds in the demographic of my clients. It’s more of a precursor to behavioural abnormalities arising in companion parrots than having them flighted and presents a significantly more complex set of circumstances to develop successful management strategies for – particular birds that are over-dependent or have established feather picking behaviour.

What we need to be clear on is this – keeping a parrot flighted can be successfully managed. Yes, it’s more work, yes, there may be some challenges to overcome, but let’s at least give these birds a start in life where being clipped is not a fait accompli and they are given the opportunity to learn to adapt to a captive life whilst retaining their full complement of physical capabilities.

One final frustration with this particular retailers approach to the selling of handraised parrots as pets was the lack of suitability of some of the species for sale. It seemed as though their only criteria for having a bird available for sale as a pet was that it was handraised - didn't seem to matter what species it was. The most glaring example of this were Pale-headed Rosellas for sale as pets. Honestly, as much as I dearly love the Platycercus for all of their gaudy beauty, I couldn't think of a species more unsuited to life within the confines of a small indoor cage for most of the day. Not only is their lack of adaptability to close confinement a major concern, they don't tolerate tactile handling in the form of head scratches and mature birds have a strong behavioural tendency towards intense territorial aggression that I have yet to see not hold true. I'm also yet to find a pet parrot owner that doesn't consider head scratches and that sort of close tactile interaction with their birds a very desirable reason for them keeping a companion parrot. It's a little like selling a dog that doesn't tolerate being patted. Now before anyone suggests that `there's a right home for every bird' - do you honestly think the retailer is going to screen buyers that walk in wanting a pet parrot and make the mistake of picking the Rosella because blue and yellow are their favourite colours??? Therein lies the problem folks. Betcha we'll see a couple of Pale-headed Rosellas up for grabs in the Weekend Shopper some time later this year - advertisement might run something like this... (additional info in brackets not supplied in ad)

`Pale-headed Rosella. Handraised and wIll make great pet (didn't for us - but might for you!) Owner moving interstate (to get as far away from nightmare parrot as possible). Comes with cage and bag of seed (hates the cage but loves the seed). Whistles (on..and on...and on.... until you let it out of aforementioned cage that it hates) Make an offer (folks, we're desperate, if you're here by 9am we'll just give it to ya)'. Hmmm.

A young and recently weaned Blue-fronted Amazon. Fully flighted, engaging, challenging - and manageable just as he is!

Snakes & Birds… Don’t mix

As much as I love living where I am surrounded by natural, sub-tropical wet forest that includes remnant patches of Piccabeen Palm groves and a meandering creek, the downside is that it’s also prime habitat for those legless things that have a tendency towards adding birds to their daily cuisine menu. I’ve encountered five different species here since we built our house – not bad. Over the past 6 years we have averaged two to three snake removals per year from on, in or around our bird aviaries. I recently remarked to someone that this year had been a good year – no snakes! As the words left my mouth I looked around for that proverbial bit of `wood’ to touch as I knew the season had a ways to go – particularly given that February to April are the wettest months here, and that’s the perfect time for close encounters of the slithery kind. You see, Carpet Pythons in particular are a little like us – complete sooks when it comes to getting drenched. Inclement weather sets in, and they start looking around for somewhere cosy, warm, and dry! Problem is, if you’re a birdkeeper – such criteria for a welcome escape from the elements is often perfectly filled by our backyard aviaries. In the past week, with the deluges hovering around South-east Queensland, I had to perform three python removals in a single week. Whilst that in itself isn’t exactly `blog worthy’ here's what is…

The first snake was relocated on Thursday morning after being extracted from the aviary roof the previous evening (he spent the night happily chilling inside a pillow case – my wife doesn’t know yet). On Friday morning, my usual feed rounds were interrupted by yet again, another carpet python peering back at me, at eye level mind you, about 30cm away from my face and in exactly the same spot where the first one was removed from only 24 hours prior. I had read about carpet pythons moving in on the territory of others that had been relocated but within the same day?!? So, we moved him to a completely different side of Noosa and hoped that the serpentine adventures were over. Twas’ not to be! That same night we were alerted to something not quite right in the `zoo’ by the sound of a very agitated (and bald) African Grey – Cheeky. Poor old Cheek was letting out the most god-awful wail whilst trying valiantly to fight off yet another carpet python trying to get into his enclosure (and thankfully failing). Upon capture, it was obvious to me that this was the original snake that had been relocated less than 36 hours before and had managed to travel over 10 kms in that time to be found perched (or coiled as it was) in exactly the same spot that I obviously had the audacity to remove him from originally. Not bad for something that doesn’t even have legs. I had heard about snakes traveling distances of 2 to 3 kms to return to a spot they had been removed from but 10 k’s??? It’s not like it’s a direct corridor from where he was placed either – it’s heavily fragmented, mixed suburban and semi-rural habitat that includes a train line splitting the area we dropped him off in and our home area. Dang!

Anyway, lessons to be learned here – when you relocate snakes, make sure you really relocate them – ie. As damn far away as you can drive and preferably with a major water barrier between their new home and yours. Below are two pics of two different snakes we caught last season (I didn’t bother to photograph the recent pair – I was too pissed off to bother). One of the pythons below had a very interesting `coffee’ colour, unusual for coastal carpet pythons who are normally coloured like the first snake shown.

New Education & Training Initiative at BBEVS

We are now offering special `Hands-on' sessions at the Brisbane Bird & Exotics Veterinary Service Parrot Behaviour Consult Clinics. These sessions will offer an opportunity for people interested in owning a parrot, but who have not yet made the leap, to develop an introductory understanding of the essentials of new parrot ownership. The consult will cover a discussion of enclosure, diet, and enrichment needs of companion parrots, an overview of the essential resources required by the new parrot owner, and an opportunity to develop some basic `hands-on' handling and training skills with one of our parrots. Clients will also be able to fire away with questions on selection, acquisition and suitability of parrots as pets. This will absolutely be the best point of access to information that will hopefully set the prospective parrot owner up to succeed. Most of you reading this will already be parrot owners so... I am hoping that if you are communicating with anyone interested in taking on the challenge of a parrot as a companion animal (and if they live in SE Qld obviously!), then please refer them to this service - it can really make the difference for people making an informed decision. If you are a breeder, then why not value add one of these consult sessions in as a pre-purchase service. If anyone is interested in finding out more about this service and/or would like to make a booking for one of these `pre-purchase' clinic consultations then please e-mail me directly via jim@pbec.com.au to discuss your goals so that I can tailor our session as directly as possible to your needs and situation. The sessions are available only on the third Saturday of each month at Brisbane Bird & Exotics Veterinary Service - Macgregor, Brisbane. To add to the incentive - You can also select from one of the parrots below to use as your `trainer' bird!!! (There may be times when one of these guys isn't available but just get in touch and we'll see what we can organise ☺).

Our `Trainer' birds...

`Lola' - Yellow-crowned Amazon

`PJ' - Black-headed Caique

`Wobbles' - WA Galah

`Nandy' - Nanday Conure

`Maya' - Green-winged Macaw

`Alphonso' - Yellow-naped Amazon

Feeding Our Parrots Well - New DVD

Last week I received a copy of a new DVD that has been produced by Kris Porter and Pamela Clark, titled `Feeding Our Parrots Well'. I finally had the chance to sit down today and have a full viewing of the DVD. There's not a lot out there these days that gets me thinking differently about my own approach to my parrots but this DVD really did get me excited and challenged to come up with new variations on not only what I am feeding my parrots, but also the way I go about preparing their food. The DVD runs in the same format as a classic `cooking show' - with Pamela and Kris presenting their `recipes' at the kitchen counter, complete with the `I prepared this earlier' timesavers :-) The feeding recipes are wonderfully explained, clear, simple, and not only that - each DVD has an accompanying recipe book so you can recreate everything using the good old fashioned cookbook approach!

Don't expect to see parrots on this DVD - it's all about you, and motivating you to get thinking creatively about preparing fresh, super nutritious, and healthy ways of feeding your companion birds. I was super impressed by Pamela's explanation of converting parrots from seed based diets to a healthy one. She really presents an honest and realistic approach to this in the context of her own experiences with her Moluccan Cockatoo. I personally loved the DVD and will be recommending it via my website and workshop education. For more information on Kris Porter's work on enrichment education make sure you take some time to check out her website at http://www.parrotenrichment.com - Great Stuff! For further information on Pamela Clark check out http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/

All Red African Grey

Well - here's something you don't see every day! I'm not usually interested in mutations in aviculture but this one is just too bizarre to pass up sharing around. What impresses me is that this mutation has come about through a nine year process of selective breeding and is a pure genetic mutation of the species - prevalent in its partial form in the wild. You can check out some video of it at http://www.redafricangrey.com/

Designing & Building Enrichment Aviaries - Part 2

Well, thanks largely to the weather here in SE Qld, I've only managed to make some small progress on the new outdoor enrichment aviaries that will house our Lories. Last week I was able to get the three roofs wired up. This was a good hurdle to get over as doing the roofs is my least favourite part of wiring conventional aviary frames. I managed to do an OK job on two of them but completely botched the last one. All I can hope is that anyone who sees them will be too busy looking at the birds to take any notice of my dodgy roof wiring. I'll have some more `tech' info on the tools and materials I'm using in the next update - and some closeups of the technique used to get the wire nice and tight. The process of building these will hopefully feature in one of my presentations at Parrots 2010. Ya gotta be there people! In the meantime - if you have any questions about building an aviary for your pet bird then get in touch with me via jim@pbec.com.au. Perhaps I'll write up the response as a post here so that everyone can share in the learning.

Parrots 2010 Convention - Program is complete!!!

As some of you may already be aware - the Parrots 2010 Convention program has recently been released to everyone who registered for early bird interest in the event. Registration forms have also been distributed to these people and registrations have already started flowing in! As the guest speaker coordinator for this event, and the person responsible for putting most of the program together, I have to say that I'm pretty darn proud of what we've put together and the opportunities it will provide for delegates to really deepen their knowledge and understanding of parrots in the wild, in aviculture, and in behaviour and training. The 3-day program features an Aviary Tour, Meet & Greet sessions with the speakers, 22 lectures and presentations from 16 different speakers over the weekend and a special Conservation Dinner. There has never been a parrot convention of this scope and kind held in Australia before.

The event is scheduled for Friday July 2nd to Sunday July 4th 2010 and will be hosted at the Bardon Convention Centre, just 6km from the Brisbane CBD. If you would like to receive a full colour PDF copy of the program then please e-mail me via jim@pbec.com.au and I will be happy to answer any questions of enquiries.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at this event - Don't miss it!!!