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ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 148, © 2006
No reprints without permission
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The folks at Bird & Cage aim to provide bird keepers with a great selection of good quality birdcages and accessories for great prices, along with some of the best customer service you will find anywhere, and their csutomers all agree, they do a great job!
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For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.
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Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.
Website News
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We're pleased to announce that we've finally managed to overcome the hurdles we were experiencing with regards to producing the video DVD we asked you about last year, and that you've been asking us about ever since! We're rapidly making progress, and estimate we will be able to offer you some excellent results by the end of July or sooner.
In celebration, we're offering you a chance to reserve your own copy in advance, for a one-time special low price that includes shipping and handling! Then, as soon as it's ready, we'll ship you a copy of Robirda's new Canary Care DVD. Reserve yours now, at www.robirda.com/canarydvd.html
Meanwhile, our Flock Talk Photo Contest has close to 12 dozen entries! See what's been entered so far at www.robirda.com/flockphotos
Please note we've had to change the deadline for sumbitting entries from July 3rd to July 2nd; but there's still time to send your photos in, if you don't wait too long! There's some top-notch prize packages to be won; over $800 US dollars worth!
Voting commences on July 4th, and runs until midnight July 14th. Winners will be announced in our 150th issue, Sunday, July 16th. For full contest details, see: www.robirda.com/contest.html
Feature Article
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An introduction to...
by Sebastian Vallelunga
abirdinthehand.freehomepage.com
Copyright © June 2006
Almost 300 years ago, at around the time that a list of the first type and color canaries was compiled in France and the miners of Germany were selecting their canaries for deep song, a traveler was writing about the watery-voiced canaries of Malines, Belgium. 300 years is a long way back when it comes to breeding canaries, so there is some doubt as to how much these birds resembled the modern waterslager, but the fact that the specific area which would later become famous for its waterslagers already had birds that sang water notes at that time, is telling.
Canaries had been known in Europe for over 200 years at that point. Spain's early monopoly on the birds and their breeding meant that the Spanish set the style for the "little sugar birds", as they were called on their native islands. Even today, many Spanish breeders favor birds which are similar to the wild canary of the islands. These Spanish birds are on the small side, often green or darkly variegated, with bright and metallic voices. It wasn't until the Spanish monopoly was broken that breeders of other countries could begin to breed for color, feather texture, size, or voice.
At some point the birds were taken to the Low Countries and the mountains of Germany where breeders experimented with trying to achieve a canary voice to rival that of the "queen" of European song birds: the nightingale. Perhaps because of its drab covering of gray and brown, this songster was referred to as 'she'; the truth is that it is the males who sing. The old-time waterslager breeders swear that they heard from their grandfathers, who had it on good authority from their grandfathers (and so on), that the first waterslagers were tutored to sing by nightingales. The same story is told in roller literature, which leads many to suspect a single origin for the two breeds.
There is one problem with this story: the song season for the nightingale is at its peak in early spring, before the young canaries are ready to learn. This difficulty was said to have been overcome by forcing captive nightingales to molt during the spring by manipulating the dark vs. light hours, 'pushing' their song season to the summer and fall when the young canaries were polishing their songs.
How plausible the accomplishment of this shift is before the invention of the electric light bulb, or even the gas light, is a matter for debate. The molt in canaries is triggered by the longest days of summer giving way to shorter and shorter ones. Assuming that nightingales moult for similar reasons, this would mean a breeder would have to first artificially increase and then decrease the hours of light in each day; not an easy task with only candlepower on hand!
Others claim that it was the natural habitat of the area where these canary breeds developed that was the real tutor of both breeds along with the nightingale: falling rain, babbling brooks, wind in the trees, etc.
Whether or not the nightingale-as-tutor or nature-as-tutor stories are true, it seems that there must have been a mutation, an inheritable genetic modification, that occurred among the song canaries of this part of Europe. It changed the depth of voice, to later become the 'hollow' songs in canaries bred in Germany, and the 'water' sounds in canaries from Holland and Belgium.
Later these strains, already moving in different directions, probably experienced other subtle mutations to get each to where it is today. In addition, many generations of breeders have worked to mold the two breeds by means of selection.
Selection in the Low Countries may have included crosses using a now extinct breed known as the 'Old Dutch' or 'Great Yellow' canary. From this came the waterslager's somewhat larger size and predominantly yellow color.
It should be noted that a competing theory insists that the size and color of the waterslager is a natural part of the whole package and that the Old Dutch or Great Yellow canary is not extinct at all but is simply an older name for the waterslager. British writers claim that the 'Old Dutch' served to provide improvments to several type breeds such as the Lancashire, Yorkshire, Norwich, Scotch Fancy, and (indirectly) the Border and other breeds. Therefore the waterslager may share its bloodlines with these breeds.
It is said to be the Belgians who invented the hobby of animal showing as we know it, sometime in the early 19th century. It was a recreation of working men who came together in back rooms of ale houses to talk about their animals, or to listen to birds, smoke clay pipes and share a social drink or two.
Originally, song contests were staged between two birds who sang head to head, and it was the quantity and not the quality that mattered. Eventually, however, the quality became more important as breeders named the various parts of the song in onomatopoeic Flemish words which imitated the sound of the birds. Tours like ‘woet’, ‘chor’, ‘knorr’, or ‘tjok’ were named in this way, the birds singing them precisely in the same way that they were written. Soon systems for awarding points for the tours were developed and then modified over time.
The traditional way to judge waterslagers in Belgium involved keeping them in covered or closed cages so that the judges could listen to the birds without the birds being aware of it. Here, it was said, the birds sang a more mellow and pleasant song that was not rushed or forced. More recently, many Belgian clubs have moved to the approach used with roller canaries: 4 birds are staged together as a team in open cages set before the judge.
Rather than being stacked four-high as are the rollers, the waterslagers are stacked in two stacks of two cages with a divider between them. In this situation the voices of the members of the best teams harmonize sweetly, but they may also tend to compete with one another and rush their songs.
At the high point of the sport in Belgium, three well-trained listeners would sit in judgment over the birds, each awarding points. Later the three scores where added together for each bird and the winners rewarded. The awards which were given were often household goods, intended to convince the wives that the time in the ale houses was well-spent. Today, only one judge evaluates each bird or team and his score is multiplied by three to correspond to the old system.
In the United States, all waterslagers are currently shown in open cages. This is because when the founders of American waterslager breeding approached Belgian breeders, they first came into contact with some who had decided to show their birds using the open system exclusively. Although the closed system is the older way of doing it and closed cage clubs predominate in Belgium itself, exhibitors who participate in the COM sanctioned show, the World Show, do so in open cages that are identical for all song breeds, regardless of country. Therefore the open cage system has become an international method among those countries who have allied themselves with the COM.
Since the time waterslagers were originally imported into the United States the song quality has steadily improved, until today a good number of American breeders are consistently succeeding in exhibiting birds that are truly world class.
The waterslager is known for having the widest voice range among the European song canaries, incorporating, as well as watery, metallic, and even some hollow sounds into its repertoire of songs. In recent decades the waterslager has become the most popular song breed in Europe, outside of Germany where the hollow-voiced roller still predominates and Spain where the metallic-voiced timbrado is favored.
There are regular correspondences posted by waterslager breeders from Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Latin America on the internet waterslager discussion groups, as well as those from North American and Europe. There is no sign of the waterslager's rising star being slowed; new inquiries about how to import them into places in Asia, the Pacific Islands and elsewhere around the world, are seen on a regular basis.
Learn more details on Waterslager songs and how they're judged; www.robirda.com/flock148extra.html
For more information on the breed, as well as pictures and song samples, visit www.westernwaterslager.com
by Sebastian Vallelunga
abirdinthehand.freehomepage.com
Copyright © June 2006
by Richard Rolloff
Copyright © June 2006
I grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota, and had the song of the German roller imprinted in my brain at an early age. When I decided to raise canaries in the early 70's that breed was a natural start. I also bred various color bred breeds and type canaries. In my later years, the desire to raise roses that smell and canaries that sing took over. Again, I returned to rollers.
Two things influenced my start in waterslagers. My wife's hearing was failing, and she could not hear the roller. I also found that in the search for perfection, many of the roller strains had become very limited in their song repertoire. Most had a very limited loop that they sang to perfection. When I heard some very excellent waterslagers I was hooked.
My wife has often commented that I tend to get into a hobby 100%, achieve some level of accomplishment, and then move on. We can truthfully say that my waterslager experience has been totally different. After many years, and some level of success, I only know how little I know about this wonderful songster.
Another observation I would like to share is which breeders stay and which goes. Through these many years I have noted a high percentage of turnovers in our hobby. I think a good waterslager breeder must be somewhat stubborn and not easily frustrated. Along with all the usual husbandry issues of raising canaries, there is the great unknown of song training.
I sometimes long for the simple life of a color or type breeder. Training consisted of getting a few of the best specimens to settle into their show cages and look their best. I start song-training my male waterslagers in November, although our WWC show is in January. During that entire (almost three months) period the song is evolving. I keep pretty good records, and it is fascinating to me how often my favorite in December is not even on the show team in January.
Then there is always the faulty note that shows up the week before the show. If you can't laugh at yourself, this may not be your hobby. But if you are looking for some great companions, check us out. The "best" have been humbled often enough to know that the journey is more important than the awards presentation.
by Richard Rolloff
Copyright © June 2006
"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 stimulates pet canaries to sing more, and is a popular choice for many canary owners. But its potential uses don't end there! It can also help call more wild birds to your outdoor feeders, or help make your pet parrots more comfortable.
We get a great deal of positive comments from happy customers, so we're sure you'll be pleased. A recent customers tells us:
"Your CD is playing right now and my bird room is going crazy - in a good way! We have cockatiels, parrotlet, budgies and 2 canaries, and we want to assist the canaries with their song, which is why I purchased your CD. Years ago I had a CD for canaries but it had muzak in the background and was awfully annoying to listen to. With yours we can play it in the yard, in the house... wherever all day long and not get sick of it."
Find out more about our Canary Song CD, here!
Having a good strain of live probiotics on hand can make a world of difference in maintaining disease resistance and general state of well-being, so when I heard there was a new avian-specific probiotic on the market, I was willing to test it.
To my surprise, this new product turned out to culture faster than any other powdered probiotic I've ever tested, supporting the manufacturer's claim that it includes the highest percentage of live, easily-cultured avian-specific probiotics in dry form currently available on the market. Every bird-keeper's on-hand resources should include some probiotics, and this product is likely to be the freshest and most easily available source, for a great many of us. Why not try it? You just might like it too!
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