ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 148, © 2006
No reprints without permission

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You can save 20% ever day in the Sidewalk Sale of overstocked cages. On the rest of the site you will find breeding cages, cage accessories, stands, and some of the best flight cages anywhere. There's even free shipping to the continental US!

A recent customer says,"I wanted to let you know that the 4130 cage stand arrived and I love it! It is quite sturdy and rolls with ease - even fully loaded. And it fits (and organizes) my breeding cages perfectly (24x16x16). Thanks Elaine!"

For a full selection of cages and cage accessories, visit BirdandCage.com.

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"Hi Robirda! 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."

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Bird eZine
Flock Talk!
For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

An introduction to...

The Tours of the Waterslager Song

by Sebastian Vallelunga
abirdinthehand.freehomepage.com
Copyright © June 2006

The most important tours sung by the waterslager are the water tours. Any bird which does not sing at least one of these tours is considered "insufficient", no matter how good the rest of his repertoire is. The key to recognizing these tours is their watery accent; the bird pronouncing the correct syllables is not enough, and a distinct sound of the play of water must be clearly heard as well. The watery accent is said to have been learned from nightingale tutors.

1. Klokkende Waterslag or Slow Water, discontinuous in cadence, watery in accent (bloui bloui bloui, bloop bloop bloop, rarely wuut wuut wuut) 12 points ;

2. Bollende Waterslag or Bubbling Water, semi-continuous in cadence, watery in accent (bub-bub-bub, bu-bu-bu, bou-bou-bou) 9 points;

3. Rollende Waterslag or Rolling Water, continuous in cadence, watery in accent (bubububu) 6 points;

The next most important tours are the steel notes and flutes which both add a distinct sound to the waterslager's song. The deep choong or chonk and the sout sounds are said to have been incorporated directly from the nightingale.

4. Staaltonen or Steel Notes, discontinuous in cadence, metallic in accent (ting ting ting, choong choong choong, chonk chonk chonk) 9 points;

5. Fluiten or Flutes, discontinuous in cadence, varied in accent (dou dou dou, hou hou hou, blui blui blui, sout sout sout, less appreciated in a high tone like tee tee tee) 9 points;

6. Fluitenrol or Rolled Flute, semi-continuous in cadence, varied in accent (du-du-du, hu-hu-hu) 6 points;

7. Chor, Knorr or Bass Note, semi-continuous or continuous in cadence, somewhat hollow or woody in accent (chorr-chorr-chorr, gurrrrrr-like a growl when continuous, but not as lengthy as roller knorr) 6 points;

8. Woeten or Pigeon Flute, discontinuous in cadence, hollow in accent (wuut wuut wuut) 6 points: rare or extinct;

9. Bellen or Bell, semi-continuous in cadence, metallic in accent (ling-ling-ling, lung-lung-lung) 6 points;

10. Belrol or Rolled Bell, continuous in cadence, metallic in accent (ririririri, rorororo, rurururu) 6 points;

11. Tjokken or Choke or Tock Note and Tjokkenrol or Rolled Choke or Tock, semi-continuous or continuous in cadence, somewhat hollow or woody in accent (choke-choke-choke, tock-tock-tock or chokchokchok, toktoktok) 6 points;

The last category contains a single tour, the schokkel, which could be described as a sort of Santa Claus or belly laugh.

12. Schokkel or Chuckle, discontinuous (hee hee hee, ho ho ho, ha ha ha) 3 points: rare;

Each bird can also be awarded impression points and those shown in teams can get points for how well their voices blend together or are in harmony in terms of tours sung and general sound.

Onvoorziene Toer or Improvized Positive Tours, no point value listed;

Indruk or Impression, 3 points;

Stamharmonie or Team Harmony, 3 points;

Total is multiplied by 3

Birds can also be penalized up to 3 points for singing faulty notes. Faults which are specified on the score card are Aspirations and "Riets", Sharp Sounds, "Snitter-Snetters", Nasal Notes, "Tjip-Tjep-Tsiets", and Chops. A bird which sings Chops is to be disqualified and removed from the contest.

In Holland the score card has always been a bit different and Dutch judges are more generous in giving points and particularly in rewarding nightingale sound.

What Next?

Recently, the COM score card for the waterslager has been changed. One Belgian judge has indicated that the bulk of Belgian judges will want to stick to the old score card at home. This means that, at least in the short term, there will probably be more variation from one country to another. No plans to follow the COM score card on the part of US clubs have been announced.

The changes are as follows:

1. Minimum scores have been added and are shown on the card for each tour.

2. Scores are no longer assigned, totaled, and later multiplied by 3 (the points possible on the card are already multiplied by 3 which gives the judge more scoring possibilities - in the past a Klokkende could be scored 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, etc. and these multiplied by 3 yield 12, 15, 21, 24, 27, etc. now Klokkende can be scored as 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, etc. allowing the judge's scores to be more finely tuned to the bird's actual quality).

3. Chor and Knorr as well as Tjokken and Tjokkenrol have been split into separate tours each worth 18 points.

4. Woeten and Improvised (Unforeseen) Tours have been removed from the score card while a Negative Improvised Tours rubric with a penalty of up to 3 points has been added.

To return to Flock Talk 148, click here

For more information on the Waterslager Canary, as well as pictures and song samples, visit www.westernwaterslager.com

by Sebastian Vallelunga
abirdinthehand.freehomepage.com
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!

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