ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 102, © 2004
No reprints without permission

Our latest CD of Robirda's canaries singing consists of 12 16-bit true-stereo tracks, each averaging almost 5 minutes long, for a total of 58 minutes and 48 seconds of canary songs.

You can hear a 10 second mp3 sample here. Listen carefully, and you will be able to hear the different positions of each bird!

We are now offering New Songs From The Birdroom for only $12.00, plus $2.99 shipping and handling. Order yours today!

The folks at Bird & Cage aim to provide birdkeepers with a great selection of good quality cages and birdcage accessories for great prices, and their customers agree.

A recent comment states, "Just wanted to let you know I received the cage today and put it together right away. It is really nice, looks great and Comet, my African Grey loves it. He was climbing all over it already. It should give him years of enjoyment. Thanks for selling great cages at reasonable prices. You will always have our business."

Find out for yourself by visiting BirdandCage.com

Our special autographed edition of Robirda's book Brats in Feathers, Keeping Canaries has been getting a great response from readers. Here's just a few of the comments we've received;

"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."

"You have a way of making things easy to understand, and I love the look and feel of your book - not to mention that it is so easy to find the information I am looking for. THANK YOU!!!"

"It's SO beautiful, and the photos and illustrations are wonderful, I love it!!!!!! Thanks so much!!!"

"Received your book today, and was surprised how great it is! It's well worth the cost and then some, thank you!"

Learn more about Robirda's books and ebooks here.

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 our websites, please consider joining our sponsors. For all those who continue to help out in so many ways, thank you for your warmth and caring.

Read testimonials or find more details on sponsorships. If you're looking for something different, check our home page for links to all our great products and services!

We are taking a few days off, so our next issue will be out in four weeks rather than the usual two, on Sept 12th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, we look forward to seeing you all then! 

Robirda
Kelowna, BC
Aug 15, 2004

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 102nd issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Table of Contents

Website News

Please be careful about opening any unexpected emails that appear to come from robirda.com, especially those that arrive with attachments. We will never send anybody an unsolicited email, expecially one with an attachment - in order for us to email you, you will need to email us first. (Remember, if you use a spam filter, be sure it's set to allow you to receive our answer!)

In fact, we never send attachments at all, with one exception, and that is if you have ordered one of our Care Sheets. All other emails that may appear to have come from us, have actually be sent by someone else, with a faked 'from' address. This is a fairly common practice, so do please be very careful about opening or responding to any unexpected emails sent to you, no matter who they may appear to be from.

This issue features the next winning story in our contest, a tale of three pet birds, that qualified for 3rd place. We are very pleased to award a prize package to Sabine Naus, of Ontario, Canada. Sabine, please send us an email so we can arrange to send you your prizes, yes?

We are still looking for stories of living with and keeping birds, until Sept 15. We have two packages valued at $135.00 to $140.00 still to give away, but we need your help to do it. The next two issues will each feature a winning story, and the author will each be awarded a prize package. Check out our prizes, then send in your stories while there's still time!

Tug 'n Swing

It's here, and we will begin shipping out orders this week! Try our new Tug 'N Swing bird toy to give your birds something to pull at and chew on while they swing! A great favourite with the small birds we tested it on, from finches and canaries to lovebirds and 'tiels, this swing is made to keep the busiest beaks occupied for a long time. Our special introductory offer won't last much longer, so order yours soon! See a picture and more details at www.robirda.com/swing.html

Feature Story

Sabine Naus
Ontario, Canada
Copyright © 2004

It all started when a colleague of mine introduced me to her yellow cockatiel, named Julio. We made friends immediately. He climbed up the length of my arm, perched on my shoulder and sang Happy Birthday to himself. Not only could he sing but he knew when to use certain swear words - or so it seemed. He was quite the entertainer, very sociable and with quite a vocabulary.

All in all, I deemed Julio to be a clever little fellow. Cute too. Well, I came home that day chattering on and on about this fascinating creature. Up until now, I'd never even heard of a cockatiel let alone met one up close and personal. I thought only parrots and mynah birds could be taught to speak. Boy, was I wrong.

It didn't take long for us to decide a cockatiel of our own was a smashing idea. Off we went to the pet store (big mistake) and bought 'Willy'. The shop clerk told us Willy was a male and was still under a year old. Willy was grey, white and yellow. He looked quite nice but his attitude could only be called nasty.

At the same time we purchased Willy, we bought him a home, a toy and food. None of these items helped to improve his mood; he was just plain mean. No matter how hard we tried to make friends, he would hiss and attempt to beak us to death.

We thought we would at least try to teach him to talk, and so we left tapes or the radio on for him during the day. Not a word out of Willy. The only sound we could count on was his early morning shrieking that the sun was up and he was hungry, needed water or wanted his cage cleaned. Perhaps all three.

After a couple of years and much reading about cockatiels, the Hubby decided we shook take a trip to visit a bona fide breeder of cockatiels. Immediately we could see a difference in these hand raised birds; they were not afraid of humans. We asked for a male because we had learned that a male cockatiel had more aptitude in learning to speak than a female.

The breeder selected a beauty of a bird for us that we named Mickey. He was much brighter in colour than Willy (who we later learned was a female) and would have been a show bird if it hadn't been for a streak of grey on his white breast. We bought Mickey his own little condo complete with cuttlebone and several perches of varying heights.

Mickey fell in love with the Hubby. As soon as he approached, Mickey would scuttle over and tweak his head to one side to peer through the bars. When the cage door opened, he'd hop from one foot to the other as though his little feet were resting on hot coals. Only the Hubby was allowed to softly scratch the little head and I would watch as the tiny eyes closed in bliss.

Mickey would sit calmly on the Hubby's shoulder while he was busy cleaning the bird condo. Sometimes Mickey would scrunch himself very close to his neck as if giving him a bird hug. And there was nothing more special to Mickey than a barbecue potato chip for a treat. With great enthusiasm, he would nibble the chip as fast as he could, his little beak orange from the spice.

On warm spring and summer days, Mickey would sit out on the deck in his cage feeling the wind ruffle his feathers. One day as the Hubby was barbecuing, he left the sliding doors open completely forgetting that Mickey was free inside.

Well, the outdoors beckoned and in one fluttering swoosh, he flew outside into the big blue yonder. Needless to say we were both upset. He was gone in the blink of an eye. Separating, we decided to comb the neighbourhood and hopefully find Mickey before something or someone found him.

I must have looked like an idiot as I peered up at trees calling out Mickey's name. The Hubby preferred using the whistling technique and it worked. He found Mickey just the other side of the back fence. Trembling and no longer wanting to fly, Mickey hopped onto a finger and was transported back to the safety of his cage.

But sadly, Mickey never learned to speak. We couldn't figure it out until several years later when we found a nest of eggs at the bottom of Mickey's cage. Another female! For a whole week, we weren't allowed near Mickey's cage. A lot hissing and rustling went on even when the Hubby approached. Finally realizing that there weren't going to be any offspring, Mickey returned to normality.

When Mickey was about 12, the Hubby came home one day with a horror of a cockatiel named Cocoa. A colleague had explained to the Hubby that Cocoa had nearly been eaten by a dog and thereafter had developed a nervous habit of tearing out all his breast feathers, which left him looking like a half naked wretch. Feeling sorry, we took this dysfunctional and relatively unfriendly bird in.

However, Cocoa was entertaining. He could sing the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel and was able to imitate the cuckoo clock. But his crowning achievement was being able to bark like a dog. Most folks cringed at the sight of Cocoa but would laugh hysterically when he began to bark.

And Cocoa could dance. Put on some Bob Marley and Cocoa was ready, willing and able to 'Stir It Up'. Sadly, Cocoa died not too long after he took residence with us. He died during the winter and we believe it was due to a cold or pneumonia, as he had no feathers to keep him warm.

When he was about 15, Mickey developed a hernia on her bottom. Concerned that this might be hurting her, the Hubby took Mickey to the vet. I think even birds know when they're going to the vet because Mickey was greatly agitated. The vet was very gentle and stated that the bird was not in any pain however he could operate. Operate? I could barely swallow the idea.

Mickey (with hernia) lived to be around 19 years of age and passed away in her sleep. But she's still with us; she has her own burial plot in the garden complete with marker.

Perhaps one day we will have another pet bird, but for now, so ends my saga of our three little tweets.

Sabine Naus
Ontario, Canada
Copyright © 2004

Ask Robirda

This issue's question;.

"Many months ago I searched the internet and found the name of a man who raised canaries. He seemed to know what he was talking about, had many pictures on the internet etc. I paid well over $200. and was sent a bird that does not sing.

"The breeder said at first that he was traumatized from the flight. A few days later I emailed him and said he was singing. Well, he was singing a bit but after that, not a peep. To this day, he STILL does not sing. I found canaries listed in the paper locally for $50.00 and purchased one that sings beautifully. What do you suggest I do regarding the one from the breeder who specializes in raising canaries and charges over $200.00 for a great singer? I am very disappointed."

Robirda's answer;

"I am sorry to hear that you have gone through this experience - it must have been very traumatic for you. From the number of people who've told me of similar experiences, I am sad to say that this sort of thing seems to happen quite regularly.

"It's one of the biggest reasons why I recommend that anybody buying a canary makes sure to see the bird for themselves 'in the feather' as it were, before buying it. That way you can verify that the bird is healthy, that it sings, and also that you like its song (the quality of a canary's song can vary quite a lot, depending on the breed and the individual bird).

"A large part of the expense you were charged for your internet purchase may have been for shipping - since it is illegal to ship a canary through the US postal service, to be legal the bird must go a more expensive route, which often costs at least $100 (depending on where it's shipping from and to, and the service used).

"The old saw 'buyer beware' really does apply in a case like this, and unfortunately, anybody who wants to can offer their birds for sale on the internet - as long as people are willing to buy them sight unseen, and as long as they are willing to pay enough to cover the cost of the bird as well as shipping charges, some breeders will see no reason not to.

"If you agree to buy a bird sight unseen, usually you will be stuck with it even if it dies enroute to you, so there really isn't much you can actually do in a case like this except avoid any future contact with this particular breeder, and be extremely wary of ever buying a bird over the internet, unless perhaps you are already well accquainted with the breeder and are willing to trust them.

"Of course you can also make sure to tell your friends and acquaintances in the bird world of your experiences, in the hopes that they will not have to suffer a similar trial and expense to the one you've endured."

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