Nov-Dec 2014, Volume 24 Issue 6

Why are birds cool? We have more bird species than each of reptile, mammal and amphibian species – 9000 species that range dramatically in size from tiny hummingbirds to ostriches that are over 150kgs. Birds have taken over the world. Some stay on the wing all their lives and others are completely flightless. They are found in all habitats from alpine mountain ranges to the vast deserts of every continent – an amazing radiation across all environments.

As our collection size grew the need for an automated watering system to minimise work load increased. Like many aviculturists we had done our fair share of lugging around 2 litre cordial bottles filled from one inconveniently placed tap and it was time to upgrade. Whilst visiting a fellow aviculturist and friend I inspected their watering systems and was impressed with the simplicity of the concept. Having a background in aquarium set-up, it was only a matter of time before I used these skills to implement an automated system of our own.

Weaning a parrot is not just getting a parrot to eat food and not formula, it is much more complex and the most important and stressful time in a parrot’s life! There are so many things that can go wrong, for example, if the temperature is too low the baby gets cold, the crop slows and you may end up with sour crop, not to mention damage to vital organs that may show up later in life. The same will happen if the food you feed is too cold.There are so many things that can go wrong, for example, if the temperature is too low the baby gets cold, the crop slows and you may end up with sour crop, not to mention damage to vital organs that may show up later in life. The same will happen if the food you feed is too cold.