news@helens.Stanford.EDU (news) (09/22/90)
This is a response to Fred Sieg's query "Where have all the pet bird-owned
people gone?" Well, here I am (and I'm sure I'm not the only one)
You ARE right, I think the demands for separation and reprimands for
the neglect of INDOOR / OUTDOOR headers seems to have scared the pet
birders away. I'm a proud cockatiel owner, but also a wild bird watcher
and read this group for both. Frankly, I'd love to be able to relate
silly pet stories on the net (prefaced by an INDOOR header, of course)
while still keeping up on the stories of Andean/California condor release,
etc. Heck, Chi (my cock.) loves outdoor birds too - he has his very
own wild-bird feeder hung outside the window near his cage and gets
submitted to the antics of house finches and scrub jays all day long.
I must admit, too, that I've never bothered with rec.pets because it
really doesn't address bird problems/stories at all. Frankly, I dislike
the concept of splitting this group (though it would certainly be nice
to avoid all the animousity!), and just think that the pet birders should
just continue to post here and let the die-hard-wild-bird-people-"how-
could-anyone-even-THINK-of-keeping-pet-birds" just learn to be a little
more lenient and put up with us.
I seriously hope that in saying this I haven't offended anyone. Just MHO.
--
Bonnie Said the kid waiting in line to get a baseball signed by the
famous pitcher, when his dad told him to buy another ball:
"What do you need two balls for?! One is more than enough!"
Ah, youth....AChamove@massey.ac.nz (A.S. Chamove) (09/25/90)
In the UK it is called Liberty Birds. I am interested in having a group of birds which can be kept in an open avairy, at liberty but given food so as to encourage them to remain nearby and to get them through food-scarce times. Can I get some information on this practice. The birds I am thinking of getting are budgies and/or canaries. How long do I have to house them together or feed them from an aviary before I can open the doors and have them return regularly for food? Do I have to have a large meshed aviary so that they can see the surround before they are released, or can I house them in an attic loft? If I use an attic loft, can I just have a small (1 m. sq.) outside area for them to see out? Is there a preferable time of year to release? The bird-news articles I have read on the subject only use the technique on a pair of birds, and they release them with chicks in the nest; is this necessary? Any other advice? I would like to have some pet birds but dont like the idea of keeping them in cages for all or even most of the time, and a "good" aviary seems an expensive thing judging by what I have seen in zoos and in magazines, that is they deterioriate quickly and dont challenge the birds. arnold
dkletter@adobe.COM (It's all fun and games until someone PUTS AN EYE OUT) (09/26/90)
In article <1052@helens.Stanford.EDU> news@helens.Stanford.EDU (news) writes: >This is a response to Fred Sieg's query "Where have all the pet bird-owned >people gone?" Well, here I am (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) >You ARE right, I think the demands for separation and reprimands for >the neglect of INDOOR / OUTDOOR headers seems to have scared the pet >birders away. i haven't been scared away... i'm just teetering on the edge of deciding whether i should unsubscribe or not. i personally think the holier than thou attitude of the bird'ers is something i have not the time nor the interest in dealing with. i have enough problems at home, much less deal with whiners i've never even met. -- "Ein zwei drei vier... Steve oh yeah."
susans@cfi.COM (susans) (09/26/90)
In article <1007@massey.ac.nz> AChamove@massey.ac.nz (A.S. Chamove) writes: >In the UK it is called Liberty Birds. I am interested in having a group >of birds which can be kept in an open avairy, at liberty but given food >so as to encourage them to remain nearby and to get them through >food-scarce times. Can I get some information on this practice. >The birds I am thinking of getting are budgies and/or canaries. Let me get this straight: are YOU in the UK?? If so, budgies and/or canaries are not going to survive your winters out of doors. If I'm wrong, excuse me, and do please tell us where you are. Both birds come from very warm climates and will not live through winters (I'm sure there are exceptions, but must we quibble?). >How long do I have to house them together or feed them from an aviary >before I can open the doors and have them return regularly for food? I can't believe either species could be relied upon to regularly return. Both species are flock-oriented as opposed to simply pair-oriented, so they'd doubtless join up with other birds and follow where they led. >Do I have to have a large meshed aviary so that they can see the surround >before they are released, or can I house them in an attic loft? How would you keep an attic loft clean? You turn a flock of budgies loose in your attic, and your going to have a hell of a mess that will be darned difficult to clean up: feathers, droppings, seed, which attacts rodents... With an aviary, if outdoors, you can hose down the floor if it's concrete, sweep/rake if it's dirt. >If I use an attic loft, can I just have a small (1 m. sq.) outside area >for them to see out? You mean a window? You'd better, of have lots of artificial lighting, or get bats, because birds like brightly lit areas and plenty of sunshine. >Is there a preferable time of year to release? Sorry, don't know where you are. Couldn't say. I sure wouldn't buy a bunch of canaries and budgies to let them go! Wouldn't it be easier to just start feeding the wild birds and encouraging nesting by providing platforms, etc.? At approx. $15.00 per budgie and $50 per canary, you're looking at an expensive experiment. >The bird-news articles I have read on the subject only use the technique >on a pair of birds, and they release them with chicks in the nest; is >this necessary? I've never read about this "techinique." >I would like to have some pet birds but dont like the idea of keeping They won't be pet birds if you turn them loose. Most likely they'll be gone birds! I don't want to debate the moral issues of caging birds, but you shouldn't release birds into the wild unless they are taught to cope with freedom and are in the appropriate environment (Australia for budgies, ???? for canaries). -- Susan S. (susans@cfi.com) Another Friend of Bill's