Studies showed that not only do male songbirds with highly elaborate songs have bigger brains, they have a larger area of the brain devoted to the high vocal center that is essential for learning song, and also in reproduction. The hens must realize this, as they appear to choose their mates solely and strictly on the quality of their song.

This larger brain structure increases learning abilities, which includes excellence at survival skills, foraging, and other abilities as well as skill at learning complex songs. Neurobiologists are especially intrigued by the finding that these larger brain structures can be inherited.

The studies were made on European sedge warblers, cowbirds and zebra finches, all of which sing rather simple songs, when compared with most canaries.

Maybe this is a better explanation why my canaries are always out-smarting me?  ;-)

Bird Site Report

If you want to learn about pet parrots, this is one of the best places to start! World-famous behavioural consultant Sally Blanshard produces and edits the magazine, Pet Bird Report, and also markets her book, the 'Companion Parrot Handbook' (also known as the Happy Bappy Funbook, lol!)

Anybody interested in keeping a pet parrot should order a copy of this book - and for good measure, while you are at the website, why not subscribe to the Pet Bird Report magazine, as well? I can guarantee you won't be sorry!

To see what you will be getting - just peruse the section of the site devoted to Selected Articles, keeping in mind that much of the magazine's content is not published online... it just doesn't get any better than this!

Amazon Fact
Amazon parrots have a natural body odor which is very reminiscent of a sweet, slightly spicey flower. This odor becomes a good bit stronger when they are interested in, or curious about, something.

The theory is, that this natural body odor evolved as a form of passive self-defense. I suppose when you evolve living in the flowering canopy of a rain-forest, it would tend to make it more difficult for predators to find and catch you if you not only look, but also smell much like a real flower!

Welcome to the Companion Birds e-zine

For bird people who care.

Hello! Welcome to the 7th issue of Flock Talk - I hope you like what you see! If you have comments, criticisms, or stories to share, please send them to Robirda

Feature Article

Hello! This month many people are celebrating another holiday - Thanksgiving. Along with being thankful for a family, home, and food, many of us are very thankful for our pets - indeed, some of us can't imagine living without them!

As one way of being thankful for the bounty offered by the pets, friends, and family in my life, I would like to share this wonderful story of one family and their elderly, semi-crippled canary with you, sent in by a long-time visitor to 'A Place For Canaries' and the 'Birds Board'.

She calls her story;

by Lianne Downey
Copyright © 2000

"Dead vegetables! Hmph!"

That's what my canary seems to sniff every time I try to give him a carrot that's been in the fridge for too many weeks, or that yellowish-tinted romaine that comes from the center of the head after you've used up all the rich, green outside leaves.

He-Bell, our aging orange fluff-master, will not eat Dead Vegetables. Or stale seeds. Or soak seed three days after soaking. And so we've learned the difference ourselves, realizing that his instincts for survival are actually stronger than ours when it comes to discerning vitamin content, nutritional value, and possible spoilage. I swear he looks at certain foods and can see things we can't! So we don't eat Dead Vegetables anymore, either.

I've learned that kale, collards, and endive aren't really as awful as I expected them to be; they're actually quite tasty if you cook them right. For my health alone, I owe this little creature a great debt of gratitude. But there's so much more!

I couldn't begin to explain most of what he's taught me. I do know that while 'bird-brain' may be an insult traded among humans, his brain is as brilliant and sharp as his beak. He's been trying to teach me my place in his flock, and how to feed and bathe him properly. But he's also taught me more about myself than I can convey. I can only hint at these deeper lessons by telling you how I came to own this tyrannical little teacher: he was a gift from my spiritual teacher, who died shortly thereafter, seven years ago.

This woman, Ruth Norman, had changed my life for the better six times over. At 93, she was bedridden but not slowed in the least, still running her educational foundation and treating me like a beloved daughter.

She was the substitute mother I'd dearly needed. And I had no idea that the gift of He-Bell was yet another approach in her never-ending stream of clever plans to keep my mind engaged and my spirit questing, long after she'd left this world. I thought I was doing her a favor, taking him in after she discovered that her household help wasn't doing a good job of caring for him.

He had been a gift to lighten her bedridden days, from a woman who'd just begun raising canaries and apparently knew little about them, although she'd quickly acquired about 50 of them. While I sought a pet-store booklet (one of those terrible volumes full of fatal advice), this woman referred me to an avian vet whose advice was even worse: "Since he's in that nice, big, tall, round cage, why not get him a companion?"

It was years before I discovered just how many huge mistakes were in that one suggestion. But shortly after Joseph and I were married, we tried it, with a hen canary donated by the same breeder.

It was breeding season, and 'She-Bell' lived long enough to lay unfertilized eggs. Poor He-Bell was in no condition for either recreation or procreation.

What's truly amazing is how he managed over the next few months to inform us that: (a) round cages aren't for canaries, and (b) although he'd never had 'green food' or baths in his life, both would be appreciated.

We were quite poor at the time, but managed to find a rectangular cage abandoned by a neighbor, and an old British book on breeding canaries. We had to guess what 'green food' and 'egg food' referred to, having never heard of birds eating fresh vegetables before. The only 'treat' the amateur recommended was one of those bell-shaped commercial concoctions.

He-Bell loved those, of course, since he had nothing else but some roller mix and stale commercial treat foods, but it was probably like giving spoiled cake to a starving child.

We tried broccoli and he quickly devoured it. Reading that canaries like baths, we tried every form of bird bath on the market, only to have all rejected.

One of his first adventures in our home had been zipping out an open cage door, flying a spiral down a flight of stairs, through doors, and around two corners to land face first in an open toilet bowl. My husband ran almost as fast as He-Bell flew and scooped him up in the nick of time, but we think all those bird baths reminded him of this early misadventure.

Eventually we found a purple plastic soap holder in the shape of a bathtub, about 5 inches long by 2 1/2 inches deep, which we plopped down in the center of the cage. The imitation faucets have long since broken off, but he still loves it, dunking his entire body and head in, and splashing out all the water before he's done.

Somewhere along the line, he also let us know that he considers sun-baths essential. More than once, regular exposure to direct, outdoor sunlight has been his chosen form of convalescence.

How does he tell us these things? I'm afraid you can only understand if you also own a pet canary. They have a special language they use with humans, if you listen and watch.

Meanwhile, we moved from our spacious rental and 'She-Bell' sadly - and quite quickly - expired. It was probably a combination of air-conditioning in the new home and fighting in the cage with He-Bell, while in our innocence, we adhered faithfully to our vet's 'expert advice.'

Miraculously, He-Bell survived.

We learned later that he'd been acquired as a 'reject' from another breeder, but we never thought to ask his age. How much of He-Bell's later ailments and phobias came from the horrors of his early upbringing or our ignorance, we will never know. But we have pledged to serve him to the best of our abilities, as long as he chooses to remain with us.

There have been many close calls, and sometimes it seems as if I've watched him make a conscious choice to stay. Some days I wonder why, with his right leg that holds a perch only at an angle, which causes his foot to slip off after a few seconds, with his curled-back middle toenail, with his damaged follicles that make a few of his wing-feathers grow like twisted vines, and this year and last, a moult that goes on forever.

He's now outlasted two 'avian vets' who gave us terrible advice, and finally, after years of communicating with us by chirps, looks, and what I swear is psychic projection, he managed to lead us to Robirda, who very quickly earned her title in this family of Canary Godmother. We've all been eating a lot better since we made her acquaintance!

When I fall into despair over a crisis with He-Bell, Robirda tells me he's decided that I'm still worth teaching. He recently won the battle of the swinging perch. He convinced me it was too terrifying for a physically challenged canary by ignoring his favorite homemade treat and staying as far from the natural branch swing as possible. He 'told' me he tolerates perches as an evil necessity; this was way beyond his intentions.

He's been disciplining me ever since. Now when I reach to fix greens in his cage, he doesn't fly away. He runs at my hand with open beak snapping, until I turn my hand palm up - a signal of 'peace' we've developed.

This year, I hope to turn the tables on him. Until three years ago, he enjoyed free flights throughout our home office while I was working, buzzing my head and landing on my desk. Then his physical impairments started to appear and he retreated into his cage, refusing to come out. He still warbles opera, jazz, country, and salsa, or gives Joseph singing lessons (a story for another day). I'm not giving up on him. I'm going to keep trying new methods to coax him out of that cage again.

But I wonder: Is this really my idea - or his? I probably won't know until we both fly off to higher realms and have a chat with our mutual Teacher, the woman who first introduced us. I know her style, and my guess is, she's been laughing with satisfaction ever since!

by Lianne Downey
November 26, 2000
Copyright © 2000
All rights reserved.

ISSN #1492-8132
Issue Number 7
copyright © 2000
all rights reserved
no reprints without permission

Some people like to use a swing for this purpose, others prefer a fixed perch - either way, take some time after placing the perch to make sure that it is in a spot the bird likes and will use.

The Indian Ringneck was mentioned as a pet bird in 200 BC by the Greek mathematician, Archimedes - these birds were apparently very popular as pets in his time, and later, too - even the Romans kept the Indian, or 'Rose-Ringed' Parakeet, and many of its cousins. Most of these birds are not really much larger than a cockatiel, although their long tail can make them seem bigger. Their beautiful colours and affectionate and intelligent personality makes them a very desireable pet, even though some can be a bit nippy. Some Ringnecks are excellent talkers, too!

Wild ringnecks are still quite common in India, and can often be seen perched on rooftops, or foraging in fields for their favourite meals, which include seeds, fruits, bugs, and berries. Even a small flock can wreak havoc in a grain field, and many farmers consider them pests and nuisances.

Their long, graceful wings make them agile fliers, and when seen from a distance, their swooping, darting flight can make them seem more like a flock of swallows than anything else!

"I woke up this morning and I noticed that my canary was standing on one foot. I took a look and couldn't see anything different from the other foot.

"He is very alert and does fly around and will use that foot to perch, but when he is resting he is on one foot.

"Is this normal behaviour, or do I need to be worried?"

My answer;

 Hello! Canaries often rest standing on one foot, with the other pulled up into their feathers. Usually the only time that indicates a problem is if it is the same foot being protected all the time, and the bird never uses it. Otherwise, this is a perfectly normal habit for most birds.

Hope everybody has a great couple of weeks, see you next issue! Until then, may you and your birds stay happy and healthy!

Robirda
November 26, 2000
Vancouver, BC, Canada