21 Bird Scene - December 2014 & January 2015

BIRD ISSUE TWENTY: DECEMBER 2014 / JANUARY 2015

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THE MAGAZINE FOR HOBBYIST BREEDERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS

ON • CONSERV ATI A RV

27 ISS TH UE F 2 20 EB 2 O 15 RU UT AR Y

BY KEITH JONES

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BLUE MASKED LOVEBIRD

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EXHIBITION BIRDS AT THE NATIONAL SHOW

CONSERVAT ION

ERVATION •C ONS O •C

THE TASMAN PARAKEET

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CONTENTS

BIRD SCENE: DECEMBER 2014 / JANUARY 2015

CONTENTS DONATE TO OUR CONSERVATION FUND… CLICK THE LINK BELOW: www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/donations.php

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INTRODUCTION TO 21ST ISSUE OF BIRD SCENE

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WHO’S TRAINING WHO?

By Amanda Cole

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THE TASMAN PARAKEET

By Dr. Luis Ortiz-Catedral

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HIGH WYCOMBE & DISTRICT CAGE BIRD SOCIETY

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EXHIBITION BIRDS AT THE NATIONAL SHOW, PICTORIAL

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BLUE MASKED LOVEBIRD

By Keith Jones

ON THE COVER

BIRD ISSUE TWENTY: DECEMBER 2014 / JANUARY 2015

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ON • CONSERV ATI A RV

BLUE MASKED LOVEBIRD

BY KEITH JONES

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EXHIBITION BIRDS AT THE NATIONAL SHOW

CONSERVAT ION

27 ISSU TH E FE 22 20 B O 15 RU UT AR Y

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THE TASMAN PARAKEET

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THE MAGAZINE FOR HOBBYIST BREEDERS AND CONSERVATIONISTS

BIRD SCENE: Issue Twenty One: December 2014 / January 2015 BIRD SCENE is run by The Parrot Society UK, 92A High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 2BL, England. FOR SALES AND EDITORIAL ENQUIRES Telephone or Fax: 01442 872245 Website: www.theparrotsocietyuk.org E-Mail: les.rance@theparrotsocietyuk.org

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INTRODUCT

Les Rance, Editor, The Parrot Society UK | www.theparrotsocietyuk.org | les.rance@

T

his is the twenty-first edition of Bird Scene our e-magazine which is proving very successful.

For those who know its format I apologies but for new readers this publication is produced to allow us to promote both our Conservation projects that have interest around the world and give publicity to The National Exhibition that is so strongly supported by the 18 exhibiting clubs who support the event.

I am certain that this edition of Bird Scene will give readers the same level of quality and interest as the first which went ‘live’ on Monday 22nd August 2010. Over these forty-two months we have now produced 21 issues of Bird Scene. This edition will confirm the areas that we will continue to cover in future publications. Our intention right from the start was to publish this e-magazine every other month and we have fairly easily achieved this goal with the February/March 2015 edition appearing on 27th February 2015 By fixing the date of Issue 22 now you will know when to access our website for the latest edition. At this point it is appropriate to thank our Trade

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advertisers who so generously support us, you will see their advertisements in this e-magazine and without their assistance it is unlikely that Bird Scene would have been produced.

Our intention is to use Bird Scene to promote and raise donations for our Conservation activities around the world there are donation points on pages 3,10 & 45 where you can pledge money to a particular project.

Additionally Bird Scene will raise awareness of The National Exhibition which was held at Stafford County Showground on Sunday 11th of October. To run the National Exhibition we have built strong links with the 18 clubs who support the event and organise the entries and judges for the Show, these clubs are specialist societies run by bird enthusiasts the vast majority of whom are actively associated with local cage bird societies. These local clubs make a valuable contribution to the UK bird scene and allow new comers to this fascinating hobby a place local to themselves to meet other enthusiasts.

In this edition we are featuring a bird

TION

BY THE EDITOR

LES RANCE

@theparrotsocietyuk.org club local to myself where I have spoken on many occasions over the years namely High Wycombe Cage Bird Society, they have kindly allowed me to publish items from their website www.hwbbs.co.uk so that you can see the range of their activities and how they have embraced the digital world to spread their message on bird keeping. As a taster under Bird Care the opening paragraph reads:Many of our club members have very successfully bred birds for many years.

Successful bird breeding is about providing the right environment and nutrition, especially show birds which are the equivalent of pedigree dogs with all the attention required. Come along to our monthly members meetings and you’ll find decades of hands on bird care information willingly and freely available.

Some of the basics are: This gives a great insight into the willingness of this and many other UK local cage bird societies which promote our feathered friends and the reception that you should find in

your local club.

In this issue we also have more images from the 2014 National Exhibition an interesting article from John Hayward about the work of The National Theft Register with his Security Report covering last year.

‘Who is Training Who?’ an interesting article by Amanda Cole featuring her hen Blue-fronted Amazon and details of the popular blue mutation of the Masked Lovebird by Keith Jones our Treasurer.

I do hope you enjoy this e-magazine please tell your friends where to find it!!

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WHO’S TRAINING WHO?

BY AMANDA COLE

H

ave you ever asked yourself this question about your companion Parrot, are you doing the training; or is she/he training you? I have come to the opinion that my Parrot has in many, many ways, trained me! No, she is not in control of me, but I certainly 06

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needed to rethink my ways of conformity towards her, by doing this we are only now beginning to live in harmony with each other.

This time last year I was about to become the proud owner of a 17 week old female Blue-fronted Amazon. I had

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waited for this moment for years. As a young child I was surrounded by numerous house pets, including a beautiful Yellow-headed Amazon, and various aviary birds. My Dad and I would spend hours travelling the English country side attending Bird

shows and always looking to expand our ever growing collection of birds. I was under the impression that I had quite a bit of knowledge on keeping birds; I can now say how wrong I was.

My knowledge was no greater than a ‘grain of sand’ when it came to the BIRD BIRD SCENE SCENE 07

time when we brought our baby Amazon home!

I bought (Molly), our Amazon, from a reputable breeder. She had been hand reared well, all health checked, D N A tested, wormed, fully weaned, etc, etc.

We had bought her a huge cage, numerous toys, play stands, good quality parrot seed, pellets, fresh vegetables and fruit was in abundance, you name it she had it!! This bird was going to have a fantastic life! I had this idea in my head that Molly would be living amongst the family, out of her cage more than in, joining in with breakfast, dinner and tea, accompanying us on trips, generally conforming to ‘our ways’. It was going to be a piece of cake, after all I did handle the birds in our aviaries years ago, and more so, I had brought up 3 children, managed a home, and a husband!!! Owning a baby Amazon parrot would be a breeze, how wrong was I, and how naive of me to think that it would definitely be as easy as that. For some bird owners it is exactly like that, which must be great, but sadly for many others; it is more about what you are just about to read next!!!

Prior to bringing Molly home I bought a couple of books on ‘keeping parrots, these books were ok; however the advice was quite conflicting. I was under the notion that when you bring your bird home, if she/he seems willing to come out of its cage after short time, then you should allow it. Maybe this is the case for some birds, but for our parrot it was not the right thing for us to do. It all seemed so simple, take the baby Amazon out of its cage, sit on 08

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the floor with the family members(preferably in a circle), and gently pass the parrot from one person to the next, talking calmly etc, etc, after all baby Amazons DO NOT BITE!!!!!! So after a few attempts of getting the bird ‘to step up’ she came out with us that is where the trouble began. Molly was not happy to be passed from person to person, but rather she wanted to fly around the room, land on my shoulder, and attempt to bite anyone who came close to touching her. When I attempted to get her on my hand I would receive a very hard bite, she certainly wasn’t beaking, or steadying her balance; these were blood drawing bites!! How could a baby Amazon bite so hard when all we had heard was that they were cuddly, loving birds?? What was wrong with ours, we thought? We had her checked out by a vet but all was well, thankfully. Please let me make this very clear that this behaviour was very unusual at such a young age, I was told that over and over again, but that did not help me in any way.

After a few weeks I had no choice but to call the breeder, I was in need of help and advice. I had already bonded with Molly and had no intentions of asking the breeder to have her back.

The breeder had no reason for this behaviour, she had heard from the other people that had bought the two other parrots, (Molly’s brother and sister) and they were absolutely fine, no biting at all. I had to ask myself what we were doing wrong. I felt a failure, so disappointed and very badly bruised!! All I wanted was for us to

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When I attempted to get her on my hand I would receive a very hard bite, she certainly wasn’t beaking, or steadying her balance; these were blood drawing bites!!

How could a baby Amazon bite so hard when all we had heard was that they were cuddly, loving birds??

love her, and to be loved by her.

Eventually it got to the point where I dreaded getting Molly out, and yet she was so keen to come out!! I therefore had to put layers of clothes on under my jumper, and sadly even resorted to gloves of which she took no notice!!! I banned the children, and husband from coming into the room where she was out, this wasn’t to protect her, but to protect my family from the hard, blood drawing bites, I also didn’t want to be bitten anymore.

As you can imagine this caused a great deal of tension within the family, many times I would be told to get rid of that’ nasty bird‘!!! The situation became so desperate, that I decided to call a well

known Parrot expert. We had a long chat, she did give me some good advice but she stressed that she had not come across this behaviour at such a young age, she advised me whether I should think of re homing her as an Aviary bird, but definitely not as a companion bird. I was heart broken at the thought of possibly having to do this, it worried me that if I did re home her; what would become of her?

Despite the fact that she bit me so bad I still loved her so much.

Being determined not to give up on her I set about researching for hours on the internet, some advice was good but so many things did not work. I tried all that there was to try, BIRD SCENE 09 25

DONATE TO OUR CONSERVATION FUND… CLICK THE LINK BELOW: http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/donations.php

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unbalancing the bird on your arm if its about to bite, distracting it, squirting it with a small water pistol, getting her to step from one hand to another, giving her the evil eye, putting her back in her cage, you name it, I tried it!!!

After 8 months of trying different techniques I came across Barbara Heidenreichs Web site www.

GoodBirdInc.com. (Good Bird Magazine, PO Box 684394, Austin, TX 78768.) I emailed Barbara and she kindly sent me some advice from her website. I also found out that Barbara had written books on parrot behavioural problems, these included screaming, biting, cage bound birds, feather plucking and much more, plus DVDs on parrot training etc,etc.

Barbara is a well known animal trainer in America she also travels to many other countries throughout the world.

From reading just one of the few books that I bought on Parrot problems

by Barbara Heidenreich, I learnt so much, and the techniques that Barbara uses were different to what I had heard before. I began to learn why parrots act or behave the way that they do, all about their natural inbuilt instinct to survive, how parrots don’t hate people (like I had become to believe!). These books taught me so much about my bird, how to NOT force her to do something she does not want to do, to respect her, and to try to look at the situation like a parrot does. Yes, she did seem keen to come out with us in the beginning when we first brought her home, but she was a little baby, she didn’t know what was right for her.

From reading just one of the few books that I bought on Parrot problems by Barbara Heidenreich, I learnt so much, and the techniques that Barbara uses were different to what I had heard before. I began to learn why parrots act or behave the way that they do, all about their natural inbuilt instinct to survive There were times that I can see now, when we did force her to step up, she was really telling us in her own way that she wasn’t happy to do so, I just didn’t read the signals!!!! We had reinforced, and sadly taught her to bite, our ignorance had caused this bad situation. From reading Barbara’s books, it was clear that she is in favour of reinforcing good behaviour, ignoring the bad, but also actually giving the bird the right to say ’no‘ to something that we want it to do. If within a few seconds that you ask a command, hold a treat out, and if the bird doesn’t comply promptly, then to actually walk away from the bird with the treat, but to return a few minutes later and try again. No it’s not letting the bird have its own way, but its giving the bird respect by letting it have a choice to do the command promptly; or in a few minutes later. In no way should you force the bird to do something it just doesn’t want to do, if you do, your more likely to receive a bite! If when your bird really misbehaves then give her/him ‘time out’ in its cage for only a very short time.

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There are so many valuable techniques that Barbara uses, and I can say that I have put them into practice and they are WORKING!!

My beautiful Molly now ‘steps up’ onto my hand willingly, without biting and receives her treat for doing so. She enjoys to lay on my lap whilst I stroke her head and her beak, the beak that would once pierce my skin so often.

Molly loves to be sung to, and she falls asleep on my arm. My children can stroke her head through the bars of her cage, and my husband, who she would hiss and lunge at in her cage; can now talk to her through the bars, take treats from his hand, and mimic the words she knows to him.

We have still got a long way to go. My next step is to have Molly come out of the cage when one member of the family is in the room, of course I will stay out of the room because she is 08 12

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bonded to me, but I can now teach my family members how to reinforce good behaviour like I do. Hopefully one day we can let her join us at the table, watch TV out of her cage with us, even come in the shower but that would be out of the question just yet!!! I’m leaving those decisions for Molly, however we will endeavour to help her make up her mind, and in her own time!!

I am very grateful to Barbara for her techniques that were suitable for my individual bird; without these techniques that have helped me understand my bird unfortunately I may have given up and parted with my beautiful Blue-fronted Amazon. I would urge anyone in this situation to not give up, but on the other hand do not punish yourself if you have to resort to re homing your bird. If you can just manage to spend some time

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Don’t give up hope, there is help out there. If you find yourself in a similar situation to mine, just pause a minute and ask yourself what is my parrot thinking right now, how do they see the situation through their eyes?

Keep calm, smile at them and try again, even if you are afraid inside, try not to show it! researching what will work for your bird then you may find that you can live in harmony with your beloved companion parrot.

I have had to learn that what we may want from our bird isn’t what she/he

wants at the moment, but that’s not to say she/he won’t change its mind in the future! I hope I have encouraged even just one person by this story?

Don’t give up hope, there is help out there. If you find yourself in a similar situation to mine, just pause a minute and ask yourself what is my parrot thinking right now, how do they see the situation through their eyes? Keep calm, smile at them and try again, even if you are afraid inside, try not to show it! You will be pleasantly surprised, when the bird that you so feared, that annoyed, or ruled the roost, will warm to you and behave the way that suits you both! If I can do this, then so can you!

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(CYANORAMPHUS COOKII)

THE TASMAN PARAKEET

BY DR. LUIS ORTIZ-CATEDRAL

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generous donation by The Parrot Society of the UK to Massey University is the helping create a brighter future for one of the rarest bird species in the South Pacific: the Tasman parakeet (Cyanoramphus cookii). Dr. Luis OrtizCatedral from the Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University has been working closely with staff from Parks Australia to

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identify and implement management interventions that can bolster the number of chicks produced per nest and increase post-fledging survival.

Like many island species, the Tasman parakeet is highly susceptible to predation by introduced cats and rats.

Being a cavity nester, incubating females, eggs and chicks, are particularly vulnerable. Tasman parakeets can nest throughout the

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year. Keeping an eye on breeding pairs is thus crucial as females that make it through a nesting cycle one time, might be depredated during subsequent attempts. This close monitoring has been possible thanks to the installation of infra-red motionsensitive cameras that capture thousands of images that can later be analysed for behavioural signs indicative of breeding activities or

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The extensive fieldwork initiated in July 2013 has paid off, with 51 chicks successfully fledged from 11 nests! vulnerability to predators. Vulnerable nests can be then prioritised for antipredator modifications such as slippery surfaces so rats can’t access the nest entrance. The extensive fieldwork initiated in July 2013 has paid off, with 51 chicks successfully fledged from 11 nests! You can read more about the current status of the Tasman parakeet here: http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/ about-massey/news/article. cfm?mnarticle=norfolk-island-greenparrot-numbers-on-therise-23-09-2014 The conservation of the Tasman parakeet is possible thanks to the combined support from Parks Australia, The Department of Environment, The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, The Parrot Trust of Australia, The Parrot Society of Australia, BirdLife Australia, WildMob, Island Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, The World Parrot Trust, The Parrot Society UK, The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and Massey University. Also countless hours of fieldwork conducted by keen volunteers have contributed towards the success of the project so far.

Thanks everyone!

You can have a look at the behind the scenes work here: https://www.flickr. com/photos/93830516@N06/ sets/72157645973635402/# BIRD SCENE 19 09 25

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PARROT SOCIETY MAGAZINE: 41

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FEATURE

HIGH WYCOMBE & DISTRICT CAGE BIRD SOCIETY

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s Chairman of High Wycombe & District Cage Bird Society I like to promote all aspects of aviculture. Our birds rely on us for their happiness, fitness and reproducing capabilities. All birds should be left in clean well lit accommodation with plenty of fresh air. I promote all these aspects and try to help other bird keepers both members and non-members to achieve

these goals. When we have bred our birds we are then able to exhibit them to enable fanciers and lay people to admire their beauty, All birds must be made accustom to the specialist show cages so that they feel at home on the show bench. At our monthly meetings I encourage people to share their experience and knowledge with other fanciers. We have monthly meetings which are very interesting with guest speakers, slide shows, young stock shows, quiz nights etc and the chance to meet with like minded people. So please come and enjoy the High Wycombe & District Cage Bird experience Yours Brian Hogg

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www.hwbbs.co.uk

High Wycombe CBS on top of the World Well High Wycombe club can say they are the World Champions with our Chairman Brian brining home 2 gold and a silver medal from the world show in Porto, Portugal. He gained the gold and silver medals with his Lancashire coppies on 90 points and 91 points his third bird in this class also gained 88 points. Brian said his aim was to get a medal with a coppy as all his previous madals has been won with plainheads, well he certainly did just that. His plainhead also picked up a gold medal with 91 points. this goes to show what a world class stud of Lancashires Brian has.

Brian was not the only prson at the event representing Great Britain and team High Wycombe in Portugal, Saviour Cammillieri also enterd his Norwich at the show and was unlucky not to win a medal with his varigated norwich picking up 91 points, he also entered astam of norwich (a stam is a team of 4 which should be identical) his stam gained 352 points. The final

member of our team was myself entering Lizards. I came very close to picking up a medal with one of my Blue Lizards which received 90 points just one point of a bronze. These three Wycombe members made up a 5th of the GB team......So I think we can say that High Wycombe are on TOP of the WORLD with canaries....Well done lads from everyone.

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High Wycombe’s Chairman reports on the Crested Canary Revival In 2006/07 the Crested Canary was deemed to be classified as “RARE BREED” by DEFA. This protects the breed from being culled in the event of a disease out break in the area of the country for which DEFA decided a cull was necessary to contain the diseae. If we look deeper into the need to term the “CREST” rare you will find their are probably less than 100 breeding hens in the country! What a sad time for a wondeful indigenus breed of canary which in its hayday was the most sought after breed to exhibition canary in the country.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the “CREST” was at its most popular, with large classes of quality exhibits at most shows. Its status was at its highest and was a beautiful bird admired by all. It had evolved from the Lancashire canary and its turn helped produce the Norwich and Gloster which are so popular today. With the enthusiasm for the breed and the high staus of the exhibitor which went with owning the best bird came its downfall. A price hike! Birds changed hands for hundereds of pounds and so the average wage

earner was unable to buy stock. So the decline statred and when you look at some of our exhibition canaries today you must ask yourself which breed will be next! Will it be the Border canary which is now being priced out of the market? Other birds commanding high prices are Yorkshire and Norwich canaries. You have to ask is it good for the future of the breeds that command these high prices.

A stock register is being produced to calculate the numbers of stock, bloodlines etc. this is needed to ensure no in-breeding of stocks and keep the bird vibrant. it is a determined effort to regain some lost ground but we all know it will not be “plain sailing”. So i am asking all other breeders of the Crested canary who would like to share thier information to contact John Page who is going to produce our stock register. We need Numbers, Sex, Age and Bloodline details. All information will be kept confidential but progress of the breeding plan for the Crest survival will be published after the 2008 breeding season.

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www.hwbbs.co.uk

Bird Care Many of our club members have very successfully bred birds for many years.

Successful bird breeding is about providing the right environment and nutrition, especially show birds which are the equivalent of pedigree dogs with all the attention required. Come along to our monthly members meetings and you’ll find decades of hands on bird care information willingly and freely available. Some of the basics are:

variety depends on the bird being kept, again not unlike ourselves if that diet is very restricted then vitamin and mineral suppliments are frequently included yo ake up for deficits.

SPACE. Many domestcated birds have been in captivity for hundreds, in some cases thousands of year, they are very used to confined spaces, however virtually every breeder will tell you an unexercised bird and hence unfit will be a poor breeder, indicating that excercise is good for a bird’s wellbeing.

GRIT etc. Birds do not have teeth and many birds are seed eaters, seeds are not very digestable and with no teeth to break the seed up they swallow grit, they then use the grit in their gut to grind up the seeds. Out in the wild birds have to work much harder to gain there food, during this activity they are continuously wearing down their claws and bills, in capitiity with a mcuh easier lifestyle you have to ensure yo provide facilities for a bird to wear the bill down and you may find you need to trim toenails.

DIET. Not indifferent to ourselves variety is important, the scope of that

MIXING. Again ask advice, some birds are happy in colony, in many cases two cocks in the space will do their best to kill each other. Some varieties happily mix others will never be happy with one another.

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H Bir igh W dS wo o yco uld ciety mbe & to t w b he e an ould Dist d m th lik ric c o pra e opp nthly urren e to t Cag e inv cti tb or m to o ce in tunity eetin ird ke ite al gs. epe l to att uts bird T ann enda tandi keep discus here rs (Ad ual s nce is ng sp ing a s bes is nd ea u u t f ple lts) Jo bscrip ree o kers. liste ase tion f ch Firs n int wh join o £8 Ju is £ arge t a 5 op lac ur bo niors per y nd e th dy a e eir of m re FR ar E bir e ds mbe Efirs r t. s

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France COM Show Two members of our society who showed this year at the France COM Show and received Gold Medals.

Saviour Camilleri won 3 Golds and Brian Hogg gained 2. To gain a gold medal the birds have to attain the standard for the breed at this high level. Results are as picture show after being studied by a COM Beligun judge.

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Welcome to HIGH WYCOMBE CAGE

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Barry Wolgar (Show Sec) & Hellen Stone (President)

George Taylor, Mick Stone & Barry Wolgar

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Rye Show

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Silvia & Shirley (Former Club Stewards)

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w b ook f r o m e n A

R A Y M LOW E S O !

R • 196 pages, 210mm x 210mm

• Price £21.99

• 20 colour illustrations

• UK postage £3.45

• 56 mono photos

Rosemary Low provides rare insights into their world, gained from 50 plus years of intense daily observations of more than 200 species and of parrots in their natural habitats in 27 countries since 1974. She reaches out to those privileged to interact with them on a daily basis, appealing for new standards of parrot care that recognise parrots are sentient and highly intelligent creatures whose psychological needs are too often neglected. The author has woven together details of their lives in the wild and relates them to what they need in our homes and aviaries.

The text is beguilingly enhanced by the delightful, often quirky and humorous, colour illustrations of Mandy Beekmans.

Published by: Insignis Publications, PO Box 100, Mansfield, Nottingham, NG20 9NZ, UK

Email: rosemaryhlow@gmail.com Tel: (44) 01623 846430 Visit www.rosemarylow.co.uk

PARROT SOCIETY MAGAZINE: 15

Tony Tilford © www.naturepicturesource.com

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FEATURE

AGAPORNIS PERSONATA

BLUE MASKED LOVEBIRD

BY KEITH JONES

Scientific Name: Agapornis Personata / Family: Psittacidae / Forder: Psittaciformes / Fclass: Aves

Habitat: Masked Lovebirds in the wild are found in a relatively small area in the northeastern territory of Tanzania bounded to the North by Lake Manyara in the Manyara National Park. Lake Manyara is situated south-west of Lake Victoria and the Serengeti National Park in the Great Rift Valley. Masked lovebirds will be found on the high inland plateau, a grassland wooded with acacia trees and feeding on shrubs, mainly grass type seeds and cereal crops if they are in the vicinity.

History: This species was first discovered in 1877 shortly after the Fischers Lovebird. Both were named by the German ornithologist and explorer Anton Reichenow. They were first imported into the UK in 1925 and in one of these early imports of wild birds was a single Blue Masked mutation.

The first photograph of a Blue masked appeared in the February 1928 issue of the Avicultural Magazine. The bird was sent to London Zoo where it was later found to be a cock. It is reported that the original importer of this bird was a Mr. Chapman. In 1932 three aviculturists in California, USA, were surprised by an explosion of Blue chicks in nests of Masked Lovebirds that were thought to be Normal Greens.

Physical Appearance: Masked Lovebirds and the other eight Agapornis species are considered to be the smallest of the parrots and no separate sub-species of the Masked Lovebird are recognised. They are stocky birds and grow to about fifteen centimetres long. Lovebirds have a larger hooked upper mandible or beak that is hinged to the skull, and a reversible fourth toe. Their natural calls are sharp and loud, but their thick

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fleshy tongues and voice apparatus allow a wide range of sounds, including imitation of the human voice.

The Blue-masked lovebird is the only naturally occurring mutation in the wild. Its main plumage colour is sky blue with a white collar about fifteen millimetres wide around the neck, widening across the breast where it merges with the main body colour of blue. The overall head colour, including lores and cheeks, is sooty black.

Another identifiable characteristic of this species is a white featherless ring that encircles both eyes making it also one of the four Eye-ring species of Lovebirds. Juveniles are identical to the adults but their colours are not so bright until after the first moult.

Feeding: In the wild they are mainly grass seed eaters but will also raid and devour cereal crops grown in the near vicinity.

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I have found in captivity they will readily eat a commercial lovebird seed mixture which can be supplemented by wild grass seeds when available. If hung in the aviary in bunches they will soon make short work of these wild seeds. Millet sprays are a favourite of Masked lovebirds and more sprays should be added when young are in the nest. Cuttlefish bone should always be available to provide calcium for good hard shelled eggs.

Too much sunflower seed however will make the birds fat.

Breeding: In my experience Masked Lovebirds are the hardiest of all the species of Lovebirds available to UK breeders. If their aviary is sheltered on three sides and roof covered, along with a nest box to roost in they can withstand the bleakest of winters in the UK and I have personally rung chicks on Christmas Day with 15cms of snow on the aviary roof. Although Masked Lovebirds are colony breeders in the wild they can be the most vicious towards others if the aviary is allowed to get over-populated. Youngsters should be moved away from their parents as soon as possible after weaning, and each nest of youngsters should be caged separately in order to avoid fighting between the families, even at this early age.

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LOW SUNFLOWER FOR LARGER PARROTS

A low fat high nutrition, low fat blend for all larger Parrot species including the large Macaws, Black Cockatoos and Moluccans - 26 ingredients, 57% fruit and nuts - 7 different fruits, 6 different nuts. Composition: medium striped and white sunflower, safflower, whole maize, oats, pumpkin seed, flaked peas, flaked maize, puffed maize, papaya, banana, currants, pineapple, apricot, coconut, dates, brazil nut kernels, walnut halves, peanuts, monkey nuts, pine nuts, soft shell almonds, chillies, rosehips, carrot.

Items such as micronised peas and puffed wheat and maize give a sweeter taste and are easier to digest than the raw equivalent.

THE FINEST BIRD FOOD CONTACT: JOHNSTON & JEFF LTD., BALTIC BUILDINGS, GATEWAY BUSINESS PARK, GILBERDYKE,EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE HU15 2TD T: 01430 449444 www.johnstonandjeff.co.uk mail@johnstonandjeff.co.uk Johnston & Jeff foods are only sold through retailers. Please contact us if you need information on your nearest stockists, our mail order partners, and for information and feeding guides. We reserve the right to add to the composition of our blends if we find a better grade or wish to enhance the menu. Please check our web site for up-to-date details.