ISSN 1492-8132
Issue 91, © 2004
No reprints without permission

Our new CD of Robirda's canaries singing replaces our old song CD, and is an improvement in almost every way. It consists of 12 16-bit true-stereo tracks, each averaging almost 5 minutes long, for a total of 58 minutes and 48 seconds of canary songs. There's a 10 second mp3 sample here. Listen carefully, and you will be able to hear the different positions of each bird!

For a short time we are still offering New Songs From The Birdroom at only $10.00, plus $2.99 shipping and handling. This special price is ending soon, so order yours now!

The folks at Bird & Cage Co have made it their goal to provide birdkeepers 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.

Breeding season is here, and now is the time to be sure you have all the proper cages and accessories you will need on hand. Check out our list of some of the more useful accessories Robirda recommends.

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 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.

Shelters these days are over-flowing with unwanted parrots, in large part due to a lack of understanding by buyers of the needs of these beautiful but complex creatures. This website belongs to a Wisconsin-based bird sanctuary that not only takes in unwanted birds and educates the public, but (with their small army of volunteers) tries to see that their charges receive the care, rehabilitation, and comfort that they deserve, whatever that may be. Drop by, check out their upcoming auction, and show your support today!

If you want to store larger amounts of dry seed, soak seed mix, or pellets, you can ensure that they remain fresh by storing them in the freezer. Just pour them into a plastic bucket or tub (ice cream tubs work well), and keep it in the freezer.

These tubs are heavy enough to prevent freezer burn, and there is only one other problem you need consider, and that is preventing moisture from condensing on the food. Don't worry though, that is easily dealt with!

Just leave a small scoop in the tub, so when you want to offer your bird some food, you can simply pop the top of the container and get a quick scoopful without having to remove the entire container from the freezer. This prevents condensation problems before they can occur.

Frozen seed or pellets thaw within a matter of a few seconds, so it is not necessary to pre-thaw them before serving.

Welcome to Robirda's Companion Birds eZine

For breeder or pet bird owners who care.

Hello! Welcome to Flock Talk's 91st issue. Subscribe and unsubscribe information for the email version of this ezine is at the bottom of this webpage.

Table of Contents

Website News

We'd like to say 'Thanks!' to all those who wrote in after the last issue expressing care and concern for Robirda. Yes, she is feeling better every day, and hopes soon to be back to normal. In the meantime, she's doing the best she can, and wishes to thank all of you for your extraordinary patience (especially with regards to emails).

Canary Books

Our special autographed editions of Robirda's books Brats in Feathers and From the Heart of a Bird have been getting a great response from readers. Here's just a few of the comments we've received:

"I ordered 'Canary Tales' by Linda Hogan last year... Although I fully recommend buying her book, I find Robirda's book much more complete, easier to read with less difficulty finding information."

"You have a way of making things easy to understand, and I love the look and feel of your book - not to mention that it is so easy to find the information I am looking for. THANK YOU!!!"

"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 about Robirda's books here.

Feature Article

It's an odd fact, that the 'common' canary is one of the most difficult of all the more commonly kept pet birds to learn to breed reliably and successfully. They are the easiest of the songbirds to breed - but that is about the only light in which you could call them 'easy breeders'.

Of all the problems that can arise when learning to breed canaries, one of the most confusing can be...

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2004

Even when both birds involved are in full breeding condition, there are a number of possible causes for infertile eggs. Some of the more common reasons are simple to fix - for example, if the hen doesn't have a solid, stable, easy-to-grip surface to perch on while mating, infertile eggs are almost a certainty. All that's necessary in such a case, is to see that the perches provided in the breeding cage are solid, not bouncy, not slippery, and of a size and shape that is easy to grip firmly.

Other causes can be more difficult to diagnose. Possibilities include a diet low in sufficient nutrients, or a lack of compatibility between the birds. Age is often cited, too, and it is true that once a hen passes three years old, her fertility can drop quite drastically. This can happen with the males as well, although generally it will not occur until they are somewhat older - say, 5 or 6 years of age or more. But age is a factor rather less often than many think.

Another important factor involved in breeding canaries is the amount of light they receive. Canaries are known as 'photosensitive', which means they evolved so the increasing light of spring days would trigger a desire to breed.

This also means that lighting that simulates longer days can trigger breeding activity outside of the normal breeding season. Unfortunately, unless all the other conditions necessary to breeding are also simulated, this can mean too many problems such as egg-binding, infertile eggs, mate agression, irregular egg-laying, or more.

For an idea of the kind of days that canaries evolved seeing, check the chart posted at robirda.com/sunset.html

Diet plays an important role, too. For example, Vitamin E can provide a powerful breeding stimulus. It is found in quite high concentrations in fresh wheat germ oil, wheat sprouts, and some vitamin supplements - and I have rarely seen good results from including more than a very tiny amount in a canary's diet.

Too much dietary E tends to make the hens want to try to breed too soon and too often, favouring egg production over care of the chicks. A hen who has been receiving large doses of E in her diet will rarely care well for any young she produces.

Often not only will the quantity of eggs laid rise, but often, so will the occurrance of infertile eggs. Worse, too much dietary E tends to make the mates more aggressive towards both each other, and the chicks. This can cause other problems - say, the babies not being fed well, or one parent or another beating on the babies and/or each other, or some such.

But perhaps the most common cause of infertile eggs is due to improper pairing; either pairing too early, or pairing too late.

It is generally not a great idea to allow an intended breeding pair of canaries to share a cage until they are both in full breeding condition - the exception being if they are in a large cage with at least two visually separated areas, with food and water available in each area. Such a set-up will allow each bird to claim one area for themselves, and in turn provide somewhere safe to go if a cagemate should get testy.

Some hens may try to dominate the males, and have been known to get fairly abusive if a male in the same cage wants to mate. The reverse can be true as well, of course, and either way, problems are almost certain if both birds are not at the same level of breeding condition.

Aggression from one will in turn cause the other to retailiate - NOT a situation conducive to eventual successful breeding!

Especially if they have been kept together all along, it is quite rare for two canaries sharing a cage to both achieve full breeding condition at the same time. Usually one will come into condition first, and proceed to harrass the other. This can quite effectively prevent the other from achieving breeding condition at all, or may mean only partial condition is achieved, resulting in - among other things - infertile eggs.

So if you want successful mating, it is important not to attempt to pair the birds too soon. Instead, you want both birds to be in full breeding condition before being introduced to each other. This will greatly help to reduce aggressive tendancies and personality squabbles.

How can you tell when your birds are in full breeding condition? You will know they are ready by the way they are acting, and you can also examine their vents.

When adult canaries are in breeding condition, their vents and lower abdomen will become a little more red, and will swell a little. The vents themselves will be raised, and the area around them slightly swollen in appearance. The male's will be sharper, having almost a point at the end, while the hen's will be flatter but broader. They are surrounded by a ring of small feathers that will be standing almost erect - at other times of the year these tiny feathers lay a bit flatter to the skin.

The male will be singing strongly, and when she hears his song, the hen will crouch and twitter, calling to him. She will be actively building a nest (not just scattering nesting material all over the cage), and often there will be a lot of mutual feeding going on through the bars of their cages (assuming they can reach each other through the bars, even though they are still separate, that is...)

Having this period of 'introduction' and 'courtship' where they can feed each other but not pursue or harrass each other, is quite important - and it's why divideable breeding cages are so popular, for canaries.

If you don't have a dividable cage to introduce them to each other, you can try setting two separate cages together with a 'pop-hole' between them. Depending on the cage design, sometimes you can just set the cages together door-to-door, with one door closed and a perch on either side so they can sit and get acquainted through the bars. Then, when they are getting along, you can leave both doors open and let them choose which cage they prefer, eventually removing the other cage.

Others simply cut their own pop-holes - you can easily cut a piece of wire slightly larger than the hole you've cut (or had cut) into the cage, and make a flap to cover it when the pop-hole is not in use. Some cages even come with their own built-in 'pop-holes'... extra doors that can be used like this, or to hold a nest, or some other such arrangement.

Another method for introducing different birds to the same cage is to take both birds and put them together into a cage new to them both, so that neither bird 'owns' the space. (If you plan to breed, it's important that they both be in full breeding condition before you try this, though.)

You will sometimes find that one bird in a pair will be a little more aggressive, and in these cases it may help to take some of the 'starch' out if you introduce it into a cage already familiar to the intended mate.

Hens in particular benefit from having a large cage with lots of flying room, as it helps to keep them fit enough to be able to more easily lay their eggs, but breeder males can benefit from extra flying room as well.

A hen's eggs are very large in relation to the size of her body, with each egg totalling as much as 25% of her body mass. Laying such an egg requires strength, which she gains from flying; but consider also that the male is required to hover almost motionless over her during mating - even if only for a split second - and you will realize that successful mating requires strength, skill, and coordination from him as well as her.

Finally, a certain familiarity with the surrounding environment and care system is necessary, in order for a canary to be able to successfully come into - and remain in - breeding condition.

Moving a canary who is already in breeding condition to a new situation will often result in a set-back, where some time must pass before the bird is able to return to full breeding condition. In the males, this period can vary from a few hours to a few weeks, but for the hens, the more usual period ranges from a few weeks to a few months.

This is why most breeders will recommend that if you plan to buy new hens for your next breeding season, you make your purchases several months before breeding season is actually due. You can plan on a new hen taking from at least six weeks to three months to adapt to her new environment and become comfortable and familiar enough with it to be willing and able to breed, even with all other conditions optimal.

This is especially true if her new home is quite different from the environment she came from. Allowing your hens plenty of time to adapt to your home and system of care can make a world of difference, when it comes time to breed. It also means that you can ensure that your canaries are properly prepared to meet breeding season, through attention to a proper lighting schedule, diet, and housing.

If you do it right, you just may find your pairs have become so fertile that you're having difficulty keeping up with caring for all the babies they have given you!

How do you go about doing that? Well, that's another story...

by R C McDonald
www.robirda.com
Copyright © 2004

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.

Our next issue is due March 28th. We hope you and your birds stay safe, well and happy in the meantime, and we look forward to seeing you all then! 

Robirda
Mar 14, 2004