That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

Studies carried out on the campus of Florida’s University of Gainesville (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: May, 2009) have established that, after a mere 60 seconds of exposure, mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) can identify specific people from among thousands of passers-by.

Identifying a Threat

To test the birds’ abilities, researchers gently touched mockingbird nests on 4 successive days, and then walked quickly away.  By the third day, the resident mockingbirds would leave the nest upon sighting the researcher approach, even if the person dressed differently and used an alternate route to the nest.  The enraged birds often attacked the intruders with pecks to the head before they could reach the nest.

When people “not known” to the mockingbirds approached, the birds would freeze and not fly off until the last possible moment.  Strangers who merely walked close to the nests were not attacked, yet the “annoying” researchers were, even as time went on…this despite the fact that the nests were located along walkways routinely used by the campus’ 51,000+ students!

Survival Value

Owners of parrots, mynas and toucans have often commented on their pets’ abilities to discriminate among different people, but this is the first evidence of just how quickly some birds can learn and profit from new information.  This facility for survival may help explain the mockingbird’s unprecedented range expansion in recent years.  Forty years ago they were sporadic summer visitors to New York City suburbs, but are now resident in the heart of Manhattan and points north year-round.

Mockingbirds in Captivity

Mockingbirds are much-favored as pets in parts of Puerto Rico, where their responsiveness is said to lead to extraordinarily strong relationships with their owners.  Those I have worked with as a wildlife rehabilitator exhibited an amazing degree of intelligence and mimicry abilities that I still find difficult to believe.

Further Reading

Not to be outdone, crows and ravens are also quite capable learners. While in Japan I came across some fascinating evidence of tool use (cars, no less!) by carrion crows.  Please see the following articles for a variety of stories documenting just how resourceful some birds can be:

Japan‘s Intelligent Carrion Crows

Do Parrots Recognize Human Faces?

Ravens at Work – the World’s Smartest Birds?

 

 

Please see Part I of this article for information on other nesting concerns.

There are few events more rewarding to bird owners than the discovery of a nest full of newly-hatched chicks.  But along with the excitement of the new arrivals may come a few potential problems.  Today we’ll take a look at how to avoid and handle some of the more commonly-encountered of these.

Protein Needs

Parrots, finches and other pet birds go from helpless chick to adult-sized fledgling in record time.  As you can well imagine, such rapid development must be fueled by the proper foods, and lots of them.  One of the most common causes of nestling loss is poor nutrition.

Parrots are generally easier to deal with in this regard, and most of the foods needed are readily available…please be sure to write in for suggestions.  Canaries and finches however, are another matter.  While adults subsist largely upon seeds, the young of most require a high protein diet that is rich in insects.

Live and Canned Insects

Be sure to provide the parents with large quantities of small live crickets, waxworms, mealworms and mealworm pupae.  Wild-caught insects offer nutrients unobtainable elsewhere, and were standard fare for many species when I worked at the Bronx Zoo.  The Zoo Med Bug Napper  is an excellent insect trap, and is well worth considering.

Canned Insects  offer a very convenient means of providing breeding birds with much needed dietary variety, and are well-accepted by most finches.  I am quite sure that their role in aviculture will grow in coming years.

Other Protein Rich Foods

Other foods that should always be available to chick-rearing softbills,  canaries and other finches include Egg Food, Finch Nestling Food and Anole Food (dried flies).

Feather Plucking

For reasons that are not yet entirely understood, otherwise attentive parents sometimes suddenly begin to pluck their chicks’ feathers.  The attacks often center on the base of the neck, and are usually instigated by the hen, but males may be guilty as well.  The behavior often intensifies over time, and can leave the chicks with severe wounds and stress-related (as you can imagine!) ailments, and in some cases can result in their deaths.

Feather-plucking of chicks is most commonly seen in budgerigars, lovebirds and, to a lesser extent, cockatiels.  A number of theories have been proposed to explain this odd phenomenon.  Captive animals of many species often attack or even eat their young (never clean the cage of a female hamster with a new litter!), but the birds involved in feather-plucking are most often well adjusted to captivity and excellent parents in all other respects.

Some have suggested that the behavior springs from an inherited, genetic defect or a misguided re-nesting instinct, but a proven explanation is still lacking.

Discouraging Feather Plucking

Short of pulling the chicks for hand-rearing, Bitter Apple Spray is the most effective solution to the problem.  When applied to the nestlings’ feathers, this product is very effective in dissuading errant parent birds.  In most cases, the attacks stop and the pair goes on to successfully raise their chicks.

Slipped Claw

Recently fledged canaries and other finches sometimes fall victim to a condition known as “slipped claw”.  The rear claw (the one which points backward, in the opposite direction of the other three claws) slides forward and remains in that position as the youngster attempts to perch, eventually crippling the bird.

Fledgling-Safe Perches

The condition is largely confined to young birds that are kept on hard, smooth perches.  You can avoid this problem by providing your fledgling finches and canaries with thin, supple perches for the first few months of their lives.  Cotton Cable and Rope Perches are ideal.

Further Reading

Please see my articles Feeding Insects to Pet Birds and Zoo Med’s Anole Food for further information.

 

 

A study published this month (May, 2009) by the Massachusetts General Burn Hospital establishes for the first time that a stimulating captive environment can reverse the negative health effects of injury and isolation.  Although rats were the study subjects, the results are believed applicable to a wide range of animals, including birds.

Stress and Captivity

Stress has previously been shown to significantly delay wound healing in humans and many animals.  Students of ethology (animal behavior) have long advised that providing captive animals with opportunities to play, explore, build nests and otherwise remain stimulated improves overall health.  In fact, the American Zoo Association now requires member organizations to incorporate “behavioral enrichment” into the husbandry protocols of most species.

Environment and Health

In the current study, 92% of young rats raised in group situations exhibited normal to rapid healing abilities.  Only 12% of those raised in isolation (a stressful situation for young rats) healed well.  However, when rats raised in isolation were provided with stimulating environments (in this case, the opportunity to build new nests twice weekly), 64% healed normally.

Environmental stimulation was also shown to reduce hyperactive behavior and even to positively affect gene expression in the brain’s hypothalamus, which is important in regulating stress response.

Parrots and other Birds

The implications for parrot owners are clear – provide these intelligent, social birds with companionship (human or otherwise) and as stimulating an environment as is possible.  But don’t forget finches, doves and others not deemed as “intellectually gifted” as our Psittacine friends – my experience has shown that a host of animals, including frogs, lizards and fishes, utilize and benefit from behavioral stimulation.

Enriching Your Pet’s Life

For ideas on improving your bird environment and, it follows, health, please check out our extensive line of bird toys, playpens and cages.

Further Reading

For more on this important topic, please see my article Behavioral Enrichment for Parrots and Finches Use Parrot Toys Too!

 

Images referenced from Morguefile.

Along with providing your pets with a variety of nutritious foods, “bird conscious” gardening will ensure that you are visited by an assortment of interesting native birds and insects.  Wild-caught insects are also a valuable food item for many cage birds, and may be easily collected with the Zoo Med Bug Napper.

Please see Part I  of this article for general bird-gardening information.

Fruit Trees and Bushes

Trees and bushes can provide limbs for gnawing, leaves for shredding and tasty fruits, flowers and buds.  The branches of those listed here are also useful as cage perches, and will provide your pet with a variety of grip widths and surfaces.

Canaries and other finches and most softbills will also enjoy poking though foliage for caterpillars, beetles and other small insects.

Nearly all of the fruits that we consume can be used as bird food.  Those listed below grow well in temperate climates.  If you live in a warm locale, you can include mango, banana, papaya and other tropical varieties as well.

Apple and Crab Apple

Fig

Apricot

Pear

Peach

Most berries, including North American natives (elderberry and juniper)

Flowers

Flowers and buds are relished by many birds – lorikeets and honey creepers will try to extract the nectar, and others will consume flowers outright, search among them for insects, or just enjoy tearing them up.  Some hearty favorites include:

Dogwood

Magnolia

Dandelion

Gardenia

Nasturtium

Petunia

Begonia

Bougainvillea

Seeds, Grains and Grasses

Don’t forget your seed-eaters…in addition to nutritious seeds, the following provide leaves that make excellent foraging toys and nesting material:

Thistle

Canary Grass

Maize/Corn

Sunflower

Most Native Grasses

Some of my earliest bird-gardens sprang up quite accidentally – the result of bird seed that spilled while I was cleaning bird and small animal cages, and wild bird seed missed by visitors to my feeders.  The seeds used in such foods are apparently quite hearty, as I gave the plants no care at all but had quite an assortment sprouting throughout the summer.  Try planting some of our wild bird seed and see what happens.

Toxic Plants

A number of common household and garden plants are potentially toxic, and should not be fed to birds.  Please see my article on Toxic Plants for further information.

Further Reading

You can learn more about gardening for pet and wild birds at the following informative blog:

http://ruralchatter.blogspot.com/2009/02/creat-bird-garden-plant-native-part-ii.html.

Orchard bee photo referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by Artic.

Dogwood photo referenced from Wikipedia.

 

 

Ecuador’s yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) and golden-plumed parakeet (Leptosittacia branickii) face a most unusual threat – an annual religious celebration.  The group Aves and Conservation has identified the collection of palm fronds for Catholic Easter celebrations as the main cause of the species’ near disappearance from Ecuador.

Survival Linked to a Single Tree

Both birds nest exclusively in Ceroxylon palms, the central leaves of which are harvested yearly in an unsustainable manner.  The palms do not reproduce until age 25-30, and live to age 75-100.  Removal of the leaves prevents reproduction, and may kill the palm.  The golden-plumed parakeet, once common throughout much of Ecuador, is now limited to the southern Andes provinces; the yellow-eared parrot has not been sighted at all in recent years, and is believed to number less than 150 nation-wide.

Providing Education and Alternatives

In cooperation with the government and other conservation groups, Aves and Conservation has embarked on a program designed to alert local people of the plight of both palms and parrots.  Local Catholic churches have been cooperating in the effort, encouraging members to use corn stalks and Eucalyptus in place of palms.

These substitute plants, grown at the Botanical Gardens of Quito and other locations, are distributed yearly in front of churches, and are gaining acceptance.  Happily, the golden-plumed parakeet has begun to reclaim some of its former range (please see below).

This program illustrates the importance of including within a conservation plan those people who will be most affected, and of offering alternatives.  Blanket prohibitions that impinge upon people’s religious beliefs or livelihoods are, in my experience, difficult to enforce and rarely successful in the long term.

Further Reading

You can read about recent golden-plumed parakeet nesting records at 

http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/labels/Ecuador.htm#7881806187526800422.

 

Images referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by markharper1 and Loise Wolff