Australian Birdkeeper – June-July 2018

HOOKBILL HOBBYIST

AUTHOR AND IMAGES EB CRAVENS

MANGO BRANCHES IN MY BATHTUB
Rainy season in our part of Hawaii has
been going on for months. And today is
another quite cold, dreary day here on the
farm. It’s one of those days when I might
prefer to come inside, brew a cup of tea,
run a hot bath, and soak the afternoon
away with a friendly book. Aaah!
The problem is...I have mango branches
in my bathtub!
The thick clusters of leafy boughs are
part of a fresh-cut consignment that needs
trimming and hanging up for the new
soaring Amazon fl edglings in and about
the house. Some limbs go out on the deck,
some in the kitchen garden window, and
some drape above the tub itself from a
ceiling hook placed there for just this
purpose. Each branch will represent a
different landing perch for the fl ying chicks
and, since they are as far apart in different
rooms as possible, and all are similarly
recognisable by the babies, branches make
perfect fl ight training spots. Hence, once
again, my human desires—in this case for
a warm winter-time tub—are surpassed by
my psittacines’ needs.
It happens a lot around here, and it
always gets me thinking about what we
parrot owners are willing to give up for our
avian charges.

SACRIFICES
How many of us give up spit-spot
cleanliness in our homes, noting that there
always seem to be renegade seed hulls,
dried fruit stick-em, or crusty white poop
markings in one corner or the other? What
about the inability to sleep in of a morning
due to sunrise squawks, and the necessity
of turning off the stereo or television a
bit early each evening to allow our tired
parrots a full night of sleep in silence? Are
we willing to change our daily patterns,

Keeping Psittacines:

the Sacrifi ces and Benefi ts

for myself and my own home. I kind of

fi gured there are two contrasting ends to

the avicultural spectrum amongst fl ock

keepers—those with a fi ne house and less-

than-ideal aviaries which never change,

and those with a modest dwelling and

spacious, imaginative bird environments

which are regularly being improved. Of

course there are those that can afford

state-of-the-art facilities and dozens of

other in-betweens. Nevertheless, bird

keeping is an ongoing and very expensive

pastime, especially when it comes to

necessary veterinarian care.

Sometimes one of the best things a

hobbyist can give up for his or her birds

is the buying of more birds. Choosing to

max out your time and home space simply

because birds seem at fi rst to take up little

It takes time and imagination to provide interesting play areas for our pet birds

our weekend freedom as bird chores have

piled up and need doing, and curb our

annual vacation trips when lack of parrot

babysitters or arrival of a new handfeeding

pet takes all our focus?

Is it any wonder that bird species in

general, and medium to large pet parrots

especially, are one of the companion

animal groups most often ‘rehomed’ by

owners who simply tire of all the sacrifi ces

it takes to keep their birds properly for

such a long period of time?

And then there is the expense. I may be

peculiar, but for my fi rst 20-some years I

consistently chose to acquire added more

cage material for larger habitats, and

optimum human-grade foods and such

for my birds, rather than acquiring some

of that extra-neat stuff I might have had

Implementing these lights into your

bird’s daily life aids in improving

feeding and breeding behaviour

UVA & UVB

Bird Lamp and Tubes

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