Reality

For years now I have said I was going to downsize my outside birds. As I get older, the chores of hauling water, checking food levels, and shoveling out aviaries have become harder and harder to do. I have a mass of zebra finches that I should never have let get so large. I have button quail in every possible cage and coturnix quail with them. My cape doves are in limbo, my ringneck doves are doing nothing but eating, and my rodent problem is getting worse all the time. The only joy out there is the gouldian finches: they are happy, healthy, and breeding, if slowly.

Keep Birds Safe through Halloween

Everyone and their web page has suggestions on how to keep your parrots safe on a night when humans tend to get a little crazy, and as Halloween falls on a Monday this year, you might get some noise and goings-on from Friday through the actual day. Be prepared, keep your avian vet’s phone number handy, as well as a 24-hour emergency clinic. Chances are you won’t need either, but taking chances with our birds is never wise.

Changes to Someone Else’s Aviaries

I love to look at my small yard and cages for the birds and think about how I would change it if money were not an object. I would improve my aviary, add a few more, install water systems, and have room for lots of juveniles separate from the breeders. It’s a lot of fun, and once upon a time I would make sketches of the new look during boring meetings.

Remembering the Rainbow Spirits

I feel that when I casually mention in a post that a certain member of my flock has passed away, it’s not the best way to share the sorrow and loss that we feel, so I am going to post perhaps once a quarter a special blog about the wonderful birds I have known and lost. And when no birds cross the Rainbow Bridge between these blogs, I will reflect on those who went before I had this idea.

And Baby Makes 56

Wow. I remember when I had only a few zebra finch hens and my population wasn’t growing at all, then some good friends gave me a couple hens, I got a few more from the bird club, and I started having nests full of eggs which usually hatched into sweet babies. Right now, the zebras are in overdrive: clutch after clutch has been fledging, and I’m hearing chicks begging for food from parents who chased them out of the nest to lay more eggs.

Potpourri for Summer 2022

Just a few random notes that won’t make a complete post, so I’m going to throw them all together. Hope you enjoy this; let me know in the comments if you do.

Wish List

It’s common for rescues and shelters to have an Amazon “Wish List” where people who can’t adopt an animal can still help out. I’m not expecting anyone to actually buy these items for Windrose Aviaries; that would be way too silly. But I do have a bunch of things I know I can’t afford right now. Let me know in the comments if you would like these items as well.

The Cost of Aviculture

Many decades ago, I bought a simple yellow canary for $25 and spent another $10 on seed for a month. I had a cage, dishes, and everything I needed to keep that little bird alive and singing. I was not interested in breeding at the time, simply in having a pet bird. I think I lined the cage bottom with paper on which gravel was already attached.

Equipment Failure

Birds of any sort which live in aviaries or cages are reliant on their caretakers for all their needs. Likewise, caretakers are dependent on cages, water systems, food hoppers, and all manner of items related to the care of avians. When one or more of these items doesn’t do its job, the result is usually bad for the birds and stressful for the caretaker.

Quails, Expected and Unexpected

Often I am surprised at how much I like my quail: both the tiny button quail and the decent size coturnix quail are fun to be around, easy to care for, and have such cute personalities if you get to know them. There are two points that are not fun with these birds, however. One, they often do not like to incubate their eggs, and if the eggs hatch they are horrible parents; the dads especially will often kill the chicks. The other point is how violent their mating can be, especially if you are introducing new hens to the mix.