ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 107, © 2004
No reprints without permission

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 customer comments, "I want to thank you for your excellent customer service. Your responses to my queries were timely and effective. I appreciate that so much. I have a friend thinking of a cage like mine for her canary. I will certainly pass on the news of the excellent service I received, as well as a great cage. Thank you so much."

Find out for yourself by visiting BirdandCage.com.

The more common breeds of canary, such as the Colourbreds, Rollers, and American Singers, need 1/2 inch bar spacing, and can also use cages with the 3/8ths spacing manufacturers intend for the use of smaller finches. 5/8ths inch bar spacing will do for only the larger breeds of canary, such as Border, Norwich, Frills, or Columbus Fancy canaries.

A canary big enough to warrant 5/8" bar spacing also requires a cage large enough to give him a chance to exercise his wings. The bigger the canary, the more flying room he will need to stay truly healthy. Look for cages wider than they are tall - the more common upright design is very pretty, but is better for birds who like to clamber about, such as a hookbills, rather than canaries and finches, who need to fly.

Height is fine, as long as there is adequate width - preferably 30 inches plus for smaller breeds, and 40 inches plus, for larger. A cage that is taller than it is wide reduces the amount of exercise (ie, flying) space available, even with no toys added - add a couple of toys and you lose yet more horizontal flying space! And as if to add the final insult, a tall narrow cage tends to get dirtier faster than a wider cage, requiring more time spent cleaning and servicing.

Bird Site Review Visionary Cages
www.bird-cage.com

These folks specialize in offering bird cages made with clear acrylic panels supported in a structural aluminum framework, with built-in air filtration systems included. These cages offer a clear view of the bird, and help contain the messes a creative bird can produce. The air filtration system ensures that the air inside the cage stays as fresh and clean as the air outside it.

You might want to note that this kind of cage can be a little difficult to keep clean inside, and that you won't be able to easily change the perching arrangement, as you can with a wire cage. But a cage like this can help an asthma or allergy sufferer a great deal, and for those willing to live with the limitations, these cages might be well worth looking into.

For You & Your Birds, With Love

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.

Our next issue is due Nov 21st. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then! 

Robirda
Kelowna, BC
Nov 7, 2004

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 107th issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Table of Contents

Website News

Sales are popping up everywhere, and we have two great sales listed in this issue of Flock Talk - make sure you check them out, and save yourself some money on items you've been wanting!

Last issue, over 450 other AOL members didn't get their issues of Flock Talk, because AOL decided that Flock Talk is spam, and blocked it. We've been working with them to correct the issue - but somehow or other, the 'fix' never seems to last.

A few AOL members never seem to be blocked, and we believe it is possible to ensure that you get each issue of Flock Talk if you have our Flock Talk listmail server specifically listed in your permissions, as 'relay.netatlantic.com'.

Song CD

SAVE over 20% off our usual price until Dec 31! Our 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!

One customer told us, "Even after I made all sorts of changes, my canary still hardly sang. But after I ordered your CD, he sings and sings! Thanks for such a nice CD."

Another says, "I just received my 'New Songs from the Birdroom' CD last night. I got up this morning and popped it in-- You should have seen my baby perk up! Your CD sure did start him singing. He was hanging from his swing looking out the way of the CD player and singing right along with it. Thanks again from a very contented canary and his owner!"

WINTER SALE! Until Dec 31, you can save over 20% on our CD! Learn more here!

Feature Article

It seems to happen to a lot of us, sooner or later. Somebody in the family decides that they want a singing canary, and you've volunteered (or been volunteered) to arrange the process.

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2004

The first thing you need to know is how to go about finding a healthy, well-raised canary who is not too old or too young.

Canaries are seasonal birds, and can seem mighty scarce indeed if you are looking for one during the spring or early summer; the reason being that most adult canaries are breeding just then, while the youngsters they've hatched are barely weaned, probably in the middle of their juvenile moult, and not old enough to have developed their true song yet.

Moulting generally lasts for from 8 to 12 weeks. Once canaries are a year old this should happen from mid-to-late summer. The moult is a highly stressful time for canaries. All birds are at their worst then, in their weakest and least adaptable of all conditions.

A moulting canary should never be moved to a new home, if at all possible - it is just too stressful to have to adapt to new conditions while undergoing a moult. Besides, most moulting canaries rarely sing much, if at all, and they will take much longer to adapt to a new situation well enough to begin singing - if indeed they don't actually get sick! - if moved during the moult.

That means that the best time of year to buy a canary is from the fall through to mid-winter or so, when the youngsters have had time to develop their adult songs, and it is possible to guess more accurately what gender they are.

Young hens often sing quite as well and as much as the young males. This can be true until they are more mature, and in some cases, the hens will even sing when they are adult! So whether a bird sings or not is rarely an accurate way to tell gender - although it IS true that most (or all) of the best adult singers will usually be males.

So unless you find yourself hunting for that special canary during the right time of year for canaries to be available, you might want to consider getting that special person a 'voucher' as a promise that you will get her a healthy, singing canary, when they become more available.

Then all you need to do is find a good source.

Your best bet is to find a reliable breeder, rather than looking in pet stores, and you might want to put some thought into considering that it is often best, once you have actually found a good breeder, to arrange to take your special person to visit, and allow him or her to choose their own bird.

Buying a bird for somebody else is rather like adopting a child for somebody else... everything just seems to work out better if people get to choose their own pet.

You can do the legwork of finding a good breeder, though, and you can also provide transportation, a good sized cage, etc... these are thoughtful details to include in such a gift, and will help ensure that the chosen canary is cared for properly and will remain happy and healthy enough to sing for many years.

I would suggest you look for a bird club near you - that is one of the best ways to find a good breeder. A good place to start is at the A.F.A. website's 'affiliated clubs' listings. You will find a link to this site and more in the 'Clubs and Organizations' area of my 'Links' web pages, which start at www.robirda.com/links.html

You will also find a great many bird clubs listed at www.upatsix.com

You may notice that some breeders advertise online and promise to ship your birds to you. I do not recommend purchasing a canary this way, as shipping is highly stressful on canaries. If something should go wrong in transit and the bird becomes ill or dies, which can happen, you will be out-of-pocket for the shipping AND the cost of the bird. And neither is cheap.

Some breeders will offer to ship UPS. The problem is that it is illegal to do so in many states, and some post offices may reject the parcel, or not handle it properly. Worse, it might take longer than planned in transit. This last can mean that you might find a very weak, suffering canary when your package finally arrives - or even a dead one.

So, you're back to locating a local breeder, via your local bird clubs. Do note that no matter which species the local clubs focus on, they may still be able to help you - bird people tend to know other bird people near them, no matter what species they keep. So don't limit yourself to looking for canary clubs - talk to somebody from every club in your area, if you can, and you may just find a good breeder faster than if you limited yourself to canary clubs only.

Once you've found a club, ask the members about who they think the best local canary breeders are, and why. Then arrange to visit them. Your goal is to learn a little about which breeds they keep and how they care for their birds - some breeders are more reliable than others, and a good breeder is more likely to supply you with a healthy bird who will live a long life.

Here's some of what I look for when visiting a canary breeder (from here on out, I will refer to the breeder as 'he', even though it is just as likely 'he' could be 'she').

Will he allow you to see the kind of set-up he has? Even if you are not allowed too close to some areas, he should be willing to allow you to give the premises a quick look-see. If not, he could have something to hide - and I would not buy a bird there.

Are his birds bright-eyed, tight-feathered, healthy and active, with clean vents, and bright colours? Or are the birds dull, scraggly-looking, and lethargic? If I see the latter, I don't buy.

What kind of condition are the cages and general premises in? All birds can be rather messy, but this is quite different from just plain dirty - it should be obvious that the premises are cleaned throughly on a regular basis.

Is he interested in what kind of home you will provide for his youngster, or does he just want you to buy and scram? I find good breeders care quite passionately that their youngsters will be properly cared for.

Less often seen, but a habit which earns a big plus mark in my estimation - is there toys for the birds to play with? Canaries are quite intelligent for their size - stimulation which encourages play is a healthy part of their environment, and helps encourage proper development.

Most will manage to play even without toys, with whatever they have - paper, seed, greens, water - but if there's safe toys around, you know the breeder cares about his birds' state of mind, as well as their beauty and song.

Do the birds have greens and/or vegetables as well as seed and water? This also earns the breeder a big plus in my mind, as feeding greens takes a little more trouble and time than just tossing some seed or pellets into a cup.

These are just general guidelines, and of course there are different variables in any given situation. But if these basics are met, you can know that you have found a canary breeder who should have strong, healthy birds.

Once you find a breeder you like who seems reliable, you may need to reserve a bird until he is ready to sell his stock. It's usually possible to request that your name be put on a waiting list. Then just get a nice card stating that your giftee has a top-quality canary on reserve for them. Add a cage and a ride out to the breeder's to choose their bird when the time is right, and you will have a very impressive gift indeed!

Finally, you can recommend your giftee learns more about the basics of caring for a canary by reading the articles linked to the webpage at www.robirda.com/basicpg.html

This kind of approach can make the process of giving a gift canary a fun and easy one for everybody involved - even the canary! Have fun, and enjoy your gift of 'Cheep Trills'!  

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2004

Tips 'N Tricks

I like to rotate my birds between a flight cage and a smaller pet-style cage, to keep them flexible about their living arrangements, and to make it easier for me to keep tabs on their physical well-being, nail-clipping and such. This doesn't need to be a chore, though.

Although they don't naturally like being handled, canaries are quite capable of learning that no harm will come to them from it - just some indignity, (which they hate almost as much as a cat does!) It helps if you can make the process as pleasant as possible, so they learn that it's just a passing nuisance rather than a terrible event.

I like to use a show-cage or some such small cage, when I'm catching canaries out of a flight cage. I just rig the cage so it can sit door-to-door with a small door in the flight cage. A treat (most often greens) is placed in it before it is hung up, and usually it's not too long before the bird goes in after the treat. All you need to do then is casually close the door behind him, so he can't get back into the flight cage.

To move him out of the showcage into a smaller individual cage, just match up the doors again, and he should hop from one into the other fairly readily. If not, just leave them hooked together until he does.

I find that removing birds from a flight this way tends to make the moving process a lot easier on everybody. They come to associate the show/travel cage with a treat, and more importantly, they don't learn to associate being caught with being placed into a small cage. This helps them to keep a better opinion of you, which may not seem a big deal, but can help tremendously when you need to handle them.

It's easier to just catch a canary by hand in a small cage, but that's okay too - because with any luck they will come to associate being caught as being just a temporary nuisance that leads to good things (such as being released into a flight cage).

Of course, you can always check nails and keelbones, do any necessary clipping or what-have-you, as you are moving them from the small cage back to the flight.