ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 88, © 2004
No reprints without permission

The folks at Bird & Cage Co have made it their goal to provide bird keepers with a great selection of good quality cages and birdcage accessories for great prices. The newest cage might just be one of the best pet canary cages you will ever see. A clearer photo will arrive soon, but there's still plenty to admire! Check it out here!

Breeding season is coming up, and now is the time to make sure that you have all the proper cage accessories that you will need on hand. Check out our list of some of the more useful accessories Robirda recommends for canary and finch owners.

There are some great cage deals available to bird owners too, from small and large pet cages, to breeding cages, stands, and some of the best flight cages you will find anywhere! There's even free shipping, if you live in the continental US! See Robirda's cage reviews for more.

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

Flock reader Jerry says, "This book cannot have an ISBN number because the author specifically recommends certain medicines; apparently there is a law in Australia that does not permit an ISBN, so copies are only available through the author's clinic or a private distributor.

"Dr. Rob Marshall practices veterinarian medicine in New South Wales, Australia, and wrote this 280-page wealth of information based on his personal experience. This permits him to share information with the reader based on actual observations of the Gouldian Finch and other Estrild Finches as they live, pro-create and thrive in the wild.

"Chapter 4 is dedicated to Gouldian Finches while chapter 6 addresses Estrild Finches in general. Other chapters address Health Issues, Captive and Natural Habitat, Gouldian Happiness, and Diseases & Medicines along with an overview of suggested Health Products. Written for the every-day aviculturist and interspersed with colour photos this is a book that will soon become dog-eared on your library shelf."

* * *Do you know of a great bird product? Why not review it for Flock Talk readers? We will be reviewing foods, cages & cage accessories, toys, and other bird items, in upcoming issues. To arrange for a review, send us your inquiry and a brief description of the product(s) here, with the subject line 'Product Reviews'

*** 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.

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 88th issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Website News

It's been over a year since the release of our first CD of Robirda's canaries singing. It proved quite popular, but we were not happy with the quality, and with the help of a new sound producer, David Inkman, began to work on a new canary song CD.

David made true stereo recordings of a group of four of Robirda's male canaries in full song, then painstakingly edited the resulting files to remove as much extraneous sound as possible. (Robirda's canaries are very active while they sing.) You will occasionally hear the whirr of wings fanning the microphone, or the sounds of the birds hopping on their perches or splashing in their tubs; most of these sounds were removed, but some could not be taken out without altering the songs and so were left in. They are very minor, and do not detract from the overall quality of song.

The final CD consists of 12 16-bit true-stereo tracks, each averaging almost 5 minutes long, for a total length of 58 minutes and 48 seconds of canary songs. You can listen to a 10 second sample, in mp3 format, at www.robirda.com/songs.html Listen carefully, and you will be able to 'hear' the different positions of each bird!

We are very pleased to annouce that New Songs From The Birdroom is now available, and for a limited time we will be offering it at a special price of only $10.00 (plus $2.99 shipping and handling). This price won't last long, so order your copy soon! www.robirda.com/songs.html

Feature Story

In part one, we read how Robirda's pet canary had managed to get two youngsters from one egg. Part 2continued the tale into their first breeding season, where Reepicheep and his hen managed to confuse and puzzle Robirda. This final chapter recounts more breeding antics, and their final days...

by R C McDonald
Copyright © 1994 - 2004

Peepicheep, too, had a busy first breeding season. She refused to accept just any old male - he had to match her exacting specifications. After refusing all of the males I'd planned to breed with her, it became clear that she'd decided on a male I'd been hoping to breed with another hen. She had apparently informed him of her decision, as he too refused all other choices and spent all of his time calling her. Admitting that once again I'd been outsmarted, this time by a daughter instead of a son of the Bits, again I bowed to the inevitable.

Two nests and ten babies later, determined not to allow Peepicheep to have too many babies and ruin her health, I looked around for a way to separate the loving couple. There was not a spare cage to be had. In desperation, unwilling to allow her to exhaust herself raising chicks, I put her into a 4' by 4' by 3' flight with my pair of red-cheeked cordon bleu finches, hoping that they'd be able to live peacefully together. The bleus were finished with their nesting attempts for the season anyways, or so it seemed, and I thought, "Why not try?"

I watched that cage like a hawk for the next few days, but everything seemed fine. The bleus (Mr. and Mrs. Whistlebug) ignored Peepers and she ignored them. The only way you could tell that they were aware of each other was by the fact that all three of them were never on the same perch at the same time. If the bleus were there when Peepers arrived, they left, and vise versa.

A few days later, though, I realized there was an interesting development going on. Peepicheep had discovered the macrame hanger stuffed with hay which I'd placed in the cage for the bleus, and decided that it made a perfect nest site. With remarkable skill she pulled out fine bits of grass to use for lining, and a day later had a wonderfully sculpted little nest atop the hanging 'hayball', complete with a few carefully placed strands arranged over the nest itself.

The 'hayball' was only in the sun for about an hour and a half each day, and I was impressed to realize that this rather haphazard looking arrangement of loose hay suspended over her nest gave her shade just when she needed it. Nor was I the only one fascinated by this arrangement. Mrs Whistlebug had been following the whole development closely, and soon I was greeted by yet another amusing moment in my history of keeping birds; every time Peepicheep got off her eggs to eat or evacuate, Mrs Whistlebug zipped straight over and covered those poor bare eggs.

This was all very well and fine - Peepers made no objection - it was just that, when she wanted to return to her eggs, Mrs. Whistlebug wouldn't move! She sat tight, looked apologetic, and 'talked' to Peepers in little cheeps and whistles, but refused to budge. My poor puzzled Peepicheep had to physically push Mrs Whistlebug out of the way in order to resume covering her eggs!

This was funny, but also very interesting, as Mrs. Whistlebug had given up any attempts at breeding a good month or so earlier. Thus I was completely at a loss to explain her attraction for Peepicheep's nest. My birds can be very expressive, but there is no end of times when I wish they could explain things to me in simple English!

In the end it all worked out. The eggs were infertile, but nobody knows how long Peepers would've sat on them if she hadn't had to re-establish ownership every time she returned to the nest. As it was, one day she just quit arguing about it and left Mrs Whistlebug in permanent ownership of the treasured nest.

This all happened about five years ago now, and I still chuckle when I think about all that my little pair of 'teachers' put me through. Every breeding season I have to argue with them over just how many babies they should have. Reepicheep always picks his hen and courts her assiduously, while Peepicheep patiently waits for the male she's chosen to come into breeding condition. They both dote on their youngsters, and it is a rare year when either pair gives me less than ten youngsters.

Many of these youngsters exhibit the curious, outgoing, afraid-of-nothing, swash-buckling, let's-get-into-mischief attitude of their grandaddy, and they are always popular as pets. I've lost track of the stories people have told me about their antics; but usually, somewhere in the middle of the tale, comes the exclamation, "How come nobody seems to know that canaries make such great little pets?! Everybody seems to think that all they're good for is to sit and sing! Somebody forgot to tell that to my little guy, though!..."

Me? I laugh at the tales of their antics, and agree. Then I climb the stairs to my attic breeding room, to curl up on my chair and visit with the birds. The twins often flit over to say "Hi!", and I tell them the stories I've heard about what their youngsters are doing.

Whether or not they understand me is not the point; it is that we all enjoy spending time together. They 'talk' back to me, and investigate the treats I've brought them. Remo and Turker, my other two remaining 'Bitsings', are often with them. We all play for awhile, and I go back to my day refreshed and renewed, mulling over in my mind the joys of sharing my life with these small bright beauties.

As for Remo and Turker, they too have led full and fascinating lives. Maybe one day I'll tell you the story.

by R C McDonald
Sept, 1994

Postscript 1999

It has been five eventful, busy years since I first decided to write down the story of Reepicheep and Peepicheep. Since then, they have both passed on, but each left his mark permanently in my life. Peepicheep became distraught, when, at seven years old, she became unable to lay a fertile egg. In order to give her spring some meaning, I allowed her to have one egg to foster.

She doted on that chick like she always had, but there was a little extra closeness this time - I think that she had given up, and considered this last chick to be a miracle. She raised her faithfully, and then, the day this last youngster became fully weaned, she laid down in her nest and died peacefully in her sleep. When I found her she looked as content as I'd ever seen her.

One year and two weeks later, three days after his last clutch of chicks had become independant, Reepicheep suffered a stroke. It involved his moter skills, and prevented him from resting or eating properly. Instead, he spent all his time trotting in circles, unable to stop, driven past endurance. I felt that his looks to me were filled with the plea to help him make it stop.

Arrangements to visit a vet had been made for that night after work, when I arrived home and discovered that he had found his own peace while I was away at work. Tears filled my eyes as I picked up his small limp body and stroked it fondly, remembering all the adventures we had shared, and all that he and his sister had taught me. He put as much energy and devotion into raising his babies as any hen I have ever known.

"Thanks for everything, old chum," I murmered to the air over my head, and reluctantly turned away from yet another chapter in my life.

by R C McDonald
Copyright © 1994-2004

From the Heart of a Bird

Our new book is calledFrom The Heart of a Bird, and we feel that this collection will be very popular with anybody who enjoys stories about birds. Featuring original cover art by Robirda, and including never-before published material, you won't want to miss getting it at our special low introductory price of $19.99 (plus s & h).

Here's just a few of the comments we've received:

"Absolutely delightful stories and impressive writing, thank you!"

"What a gift you have! Although I cried my eyes out at the end, I was spellbound with every story."

"Lovely! I adore the in-depth stories about your little ones."

Learn more at www.robirda.com/heart.html.

Tips 'N Tricks

"My 'Peter Byrd' is 12 now and getting noticably feeble. I don't heat my house during the winter (we live in California), and I know he feels the cold. I hang a heating pad on the side of the cage and set the temperature on low. If I peek under his cage cover at night, I find him sleeping close to it. On colder nights I set the temperature at medium. By hanging the pad on the side of the cage instead of on the top or under the bottom of the cage, he can get as close to it as he wants.

"If you use this idea, be sure to check what the temperatures really are. Heating pads offer different levels of warmth."

For You & Your Birds, With Love

Sponsor us for $75 or more and you'll get a free lifetime Nest membership! For all those who continue to help out in so many ways, thank you for your warmth and caring.

If you're looking for something different, don't forget to check our home page at robirda.com for links to all our great products!

Our next issue is due Feb 15th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we will look forward to seeing you all then!  

Robirda
Feb 1, 2004