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ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 138, © 2006
No reprints without permission
Sponsor's Space
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For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.
Product Review
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Quiko Carrot Egg Food Enhancer
Rarely has any new product impressed me - or my birds! - as much as this one has. It's simply freeze-dried carrots, in a pelleted form. The magic happens when you re-moisten them and mix the results with your nestling food. They keep the mixture moist enough to remain appealing, while at the same time helping to prevent the mix from souring. As a result, the eggfood stays fresh for far longer than usual, and from the way they gobble it down, seems to make a plain nestling food much more appealing to the birds. I don't recall the last time I saw them take to a new form of food quite so fast! This is one of those experiences that has to be seen to be believed - why not give it a try for yourself? You just might be as amazed and pleased as I was!
* * *Do you know of a good or bad bird product? Why not review it for Flock Talk readers? We accept review for foods, cages & cage accessories, toys, and other bird items. To arrange for a review, send us a brief description of the product(s) here, with the subject line 'Product Reviews'
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Table of Contents
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- Testimonials
"I love your website, your information has made me a very well-informed canary friend/owner. Thank you."
"Thank you for your love of birds and your commitment for helping those of us who are learning to share our lives with our feathered friends!"
"Robirda's website, bird board and e-zine are invaluable tools for any birdlover."
"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year...Although I fully recommend buying the book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."
"I cannot thank you enough for your kind and considerate responses to all of our questions. Your website has really been a wonderful find for us! And we absolutely love your canary CD!"
"Just a short note to tell you how great your ezine is... As a long time bird lover I thank you for your wonderful mag. Keep up the great work!"
"Thank you so much for the book on canaries. That is a really nice book. I needed one, because I bought my Mom two canaries, a male and a female, we don't know anything about them. I'm so glad to have this book, I couldn't believe how much was in there. Thank you so much!"
Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.
Website News
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Well, it's happened; we've sold all our copies of the limited first edition of Robirda's book, "Brats in Feathers".
We're considering publishing another edition, but we'd like to hear what you think; in your opinion, should we publish a black-and-white edition without all that so-expensive colour, which would allow us to lower the price - or should we instead just re-issue 'Brats' with all the original photos and colour?
Please send your thoughts and comments to us using this form.
Feature Story
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Over the years, there's been a great many people who have taught me about my birds, one way or another. Most had kept birds for several decades, and all generously shared their experiences. I will always be grateful to all of them, but on thinking back I find one man in particular who stands out among the rest.
Sharing the Dream
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © Jan 2006
It was late afternoon, and I'd just finished caring for my birds after returning home from a long day's work. I was planning to settle down with a freshly-made cup of coffee and browse through the paper for awhile, when the phone rang.
Grabbing for my coffee with one hand and the headset with the other, I heard, "Is this Robirda? I just read your story in Newsbeak, and I LOVE it! I'm the editor for the Okanagan bird club, and I'd like to use your story in our newletter, is that okay?"
Of course it was, but that was only the start. Over the next few hours, our conversation ranged through all the vagiaries of bird-keeping; feeding, breeding, taming, training, healing, selling, judging, showing, and more. By the time I hung up the phone almost four hours later, I felt that I had learned more about keeping canaries in those few hours, than I had learned in the previous decade.
It wasn't until that moment that it dawned on me that I had no idea who I'd been talking to! We'd been so busy talking about our birds that he'd forgotten to introduce himself, and I'd not even noticed!
Luckily, the same fact dawned on him that same evening, and the next day he called again. This time we exchanged contact info before settling down to another wide-ranging, long-winded discussion, and before the evening was out, I knew I'd found a kindred spirit.
His name was Jack Merkens, and he had a lot to share. He was 78, and had been keeping birds since his childhood in Bandoeng on the Indonesian island of Java, where he'd been born.
As a member of a Dutch family, at that time he was considered one of the ruling elite, and was not allowed to work. Born with a naturally restless spirit and an endless drive to learn, by the age of six Jack had turned to keeping birds as an outlet for some of his energy. In a way, it was a natural direction for him, since his father was a veterinarian. (Luckily for both of them, working with birds or animals was not considered 'work'.)
He started with budgies, finches, and canaries, and a single large aviary. It wasn't long before he began building (at first, with help) more cages, and almost before he knew it he was keeping several more species.
Considered by most to be just a hobby, Jack told me that bird-keeping was to be responsible for driving him to gain experience in a wide range of fields. Among them were a keen interest in nutrition and food values, along with an interest in the plants from which foods came. He became an accomplished carpenter, and went on to learn cabinetry too, so he could build his own cages, show-cages, and aviaries.
He learned to weld, braise and paint, not just passably, but well enough to have made his living at any of those trades, if he'd wanted. But perhaps the best thing Jack was good at, was communication. He seemed to have an instinctive understanding of and interest in people of all kinds and walks of life, and was always able to draw them out.
When he retired in 1983 from his job in Calgary as a draftsman for an engineering firm to move to Kelowna, his station wagon was packed full of birds. "There wasn't enough room, so I decided canaries were my first love," he told an interviewer from a local newspaper a decade later. Eventually his bird-room grew to include several breeds of canaries, but his biggest love was the Gloster canary.
He was not impressed by the trend to increase the size of a Gloster; the standards, he maintained, stated that one of the key traits of a Gloster was that it be a "diminutive" bird. To Jack, that meant as tiny as possible, and in order to remain in his aviary as a breeding bird, a Gloster had to be just that.
Jack also had a keen awareness of the canary's personality and pet potential. He insisted that young birds required plenty of stimulation, including a variety of toys as well as exposure to changing cages, changing diets, changing environments, and more. He would even sometimes pack several youngsters into show cages and take them for rides in his car, and told me that before each show season began, he would be sure to wear different clothing, hats, and even sometimes wigs or a fake beard when working around his birds.
This led them to become, he said, far more adaptable, and would allow them to become complacent in the face of changes that would drive another, more nervous bird, into fits.
Although he didn't raise any canary species bred specifically for song, a male canary's singing style was another important factor to consider when breeding, according to Jack. He required his birds to be free in offering their song, and made sure that those he chose to use for breeding sang no harsh tones. Even if they matched his requirements in all other ways, if he didn't like the song a particular canary sang, he would not use it.
Although he loved red canaries for their colour, he found them frustrating. Most red canaries are bred with complete disregard for the quality of their song, and Jack found their songs far too harsh or even shrill, too often degenerating into stridency. When he heard that I had some red canaries descended from an old sisken-roller cross, he was thrilled, and decided on the spot that he had to come visit and acquire a few.
At that time, we lived almost 400 miles apart, and my clunky old rattletrap was not reliable for distances over 10 miles or so. Jack, on the other hand, was involved in bird club, community, and family activities, and generally had a very full schedule.
As a result, it was over three years before he had a chance to visit, and although neither of us knew it at the time, it was to be both our first and last face-to-face meeting.
We had arranged to trade equally, and I had chosen several of my best birds, and put them together into a convenient flight, for him to choose from. He, in turn, was bringing some of his best Glosters along with him. Each of us would choose the birds we liked best, and then the rest of the evening was to be devoted to visiting. I could hardly wait.
I was practically dancing with excitement by the time he pulled into the driveway - it's not every day you get to meet somebody who excels in an art you admire! When he turned to the car and began to unpack the birds he'd brought along, my admiration grew even more - although a few minutes previously I'd have thought that was impossible. I've never before or since seen a more practical, useable, or efficient travelling case for canaries.
It had several unique points, fitting a rather remarkable number of show-cages into a compact and easy-to-handle space while still allowing the birds light and air, but perhaps the most unusual and (to me, at least) attractive point about the whole affair was the way it unfolded into a miniature show-stand, once he'd brought the case into the house.
Without moving the cages it contained, he simply undid a few clips, folded out a couple of braces, and unfolded the box so that the two parts stood side-by-side, instead of back-to-back as they had travelled.
Within a few short minutes, he'd assembled a display stand for his canaries, modelled after the display stands seen at any bird show. His canaries were ranked on three shelves, each of which held six show cages side by side. It stood on fold-out legs, to bring the birds to a height easy to look at, standing in front.
I slowly realized that in the space of that one carrying case, which even fully loaded was still light enough for him to haul into and out of his station wagon, he now had a small show stand in which to display the eighteen birds he'd brought along with him. I shook my head in wonder, and looked at him.
He was gazing fondly at me, wearing a grin as broad as the Mississippi while he watched my reaction.
"Where on earth did you come up with that design?" I asked, although I was sure, from the size of his grin, that it had to be an original.
"Oh, it just seemed the logical thing to do," he demurred, then demanded to see the birds I'd set aside for him to choose from.
We both took our time choosing the birds we wanted, and then spent several hours talking. All too soon, our time had passed, and he had to leave. I wandered out to the car with him, to see him off, but before getting in, he turned and fixed me with a serious gaze.
"I want you to promise me you'll keep writing about your birds," he insisted, "Never stop, okay?"
I was a little surprised at the strength of his insistence, but willingly promised, and he climbed into his car and drove away. I don't think either of us knew that those were the last words we were ever to share.
Two weeks later, worried that I hadn't heard from him, I phoned his home and talked to his son-in-law, who shocked me to my toes when he told me that Jack was in the hospital; he'd suffered a serious heart attack only a few days ago. I was charmed to learn that he'd insisted on having at least one canary in the hospital room with him, and that he'd chosen one of my canaries for the honour.
Apparently he'd been telling the whole family how much he enjoyed the song, and insisting that he was going to be okay, because he finally had some good red singers for the next breeding season. But it was not to be - shortly afterwards, he suffered yet another heart attack, and soon after that, he left this life behind.
I never did find out what happened to his birds; his wife and daughter apparently felt that the work he put into them had contributed to his passing, and sold them to whoever could most quickly take the entire birdroom and its contents away.
But the legacy Jack left behind lives as strongly as ever, in the hearts of every bird lover his life touched over the years.
And I, for one, plan to keep his last request to me, and keep writing about my birds. It just seems to be the best possible way to honour his generosity, courage, and caring.
Thanks, Jack. For everything...
by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © Jan 2006
* See a photo from a 1992 newpaper article, of Jack at 76, with one of his canaries.
"Everyone always asks me why my birds are such beautiful singers and breed such magnificent babies...I tell them that I learned from Robirda! While they give their birds all kinds of 'magical' formulas, I just follow your guide to 'keep it simple.' My birds are now very healthy, and there has been no recurrence of the infection. Thank Goodness!" R.C., Florida
Song CD
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Do you like to keep your canaries singing? Our CD of Robirda's canaries in full song encourages pet canaries to sing, and is a popular choice for many canary owners. But it can also be used to bring more wild birds to your feeders, or to make your pet parrots more comfortable with their surroundings; and some folks even use it to entertain their cats!
We get a great deal of positive comments from our customers. Here's two of the more recent comments we've received:
"Received the 'New Songs from the Birdroom' CD a few days ago... Professionally done, great sound quality! I enjoy listening to this CD very much but most important, I have happier canaries. They looooove listening to the other birds! So happy I bought it, thank you."
"My 'baby' and I are thrilled with your CD! It arrived within days of my purchase and it's the best CD out there! I have purchased every CD available, and yours was the only one my canary responded to. He...is singing his little heart out now!"
Find out more about our Canary Song CD here!
This is a new site dedicated to the American Singer Canary, and it's very refreshing to see one that's made with thought and consideration! It's not only appealing to the eye, but is also well laid out and easy to navigate - and it has some great content, too. It just doesn't get much better than this, so be sure to stop by and have a look, you'll be glad you did!
Tips 'n Tricks
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Instead of chopping hard boiled eggs I force them through a plastic net used for packing vegetables like onions etc. I find this very satisfactory. It takes a fraction of the time and leaves the eggs in same size bits. Mirek L, Australia
Help Needed
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Do you know of a great bird site which deserves a review? Maybe you have a favourite tip or trick that you like to use, or know of a product that has made your bird's life better or easier to manage in some way? Why not share them with other Flock readers? Just send an email here.
Stories Wanted
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Send us your stories of how your birds confuse and puzzle, interest and amuse you, and we will share them with the rest of our readers in a future issue. Just send an email here.
For you
& Your Birds,
With Love
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If you find help you need in this ezine or on one of our websites, please consider joining our sponsors.
Read testimonials or find out more about becoming a sponsor. If you're looking for something different, check our home page for links to all our great products!
Our next issue is due Sunday, Feb 12th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then!
"You have the most informative and helpful small bird site on the Web. I have found your information priceless and inspiring."
"Hi Robirda! Thanks for your thoughts. My little one is singing as loudly as ever. He looks much better today. Your advice was most welcome; I'm particularly grateful about the recipes! I sent you the same amount the vet charged me; you have done no less than he did. You are a real blessing to all of us canary lovers the world over."
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