Mar-Apr 2011, Volume 21 Issue 2

In the first breeding season (2006) I had mature pairs that did nothing, mature pairs that had clear eggs, mature pairs that had dead in shell and of the few that did hatch a number were lost in the first week. Out of nine pairs I ended up with four birds from one pair for the season. I had bred one pied, two split pieds and a normal. A couple of the pairs had three clutches and didn’t fledge a chick. It was a very frustrating time. The obvious issues were that the chicks weren’t coping with the cold, the hens were regularly leaving the eggs and young chicks and some of the pairs were simply not compatible. There was a lot of work to do in the few months before the next breeding season beginning March 2007.

For the second edition of BBP I went back to the complex of Ian Brown whose aviaries I had visited on my very first aviary tour with the PSOA. I was relatively new to Australian aviculture with its acreage block lifestyle and when I left on that occasion I had a much better idea of how I wanted to approach things for my own aviaries. The different sorts of aviaries, situated in different parts of the garden, combined with the luscious vegetation, give a very natural feel to the place and I find this very appealing. This is in no small way enhanced by several large, beautifully planted walk in aviaries. I figured that if I would have to come up with an ideal design, this would be pretty close to what it would be like.

The Nov-Dec issue of Parrot News featured my take on the Varied Lorikeet, a sub-species that is not all that commonly kept. This time around I’m putting finger to keyboard, two fingers at a time (and aided by “spell check”), to espouse my views on a more commonly kept Aussie Lorikeet, Glossopsitta concinna the Musk Lorikeet. The Musk Lorikeet got its name because early sightings and/or “close encounters” of the species, were apparently associated with a musky odour that was attributed to the birds. I have several sniffs over the years that I have kept the Musks – Summer, Winter and even in wet and humid weather – and couldn’t detect even the faintest of musky odours. If the “plain English” name (Musk) got it wrong, the Latin name concinna, meaning elegant/beautiful” certainly got it right.