|
As you can see, I decided to abandon the Hybrids (Long) thread as it was becoming Hybrids (idiotically long) and, frankly was starting to have very little to do with hybrids. So, I decided to rearrange it a little. I'll try to address most of the points on the prior thread. Ruby macaws in the wild: There is no resolving this argument here. I was there and I didn't see any. There have been many researchers, scientists, conservationists and breeders there, and they didn't see any either. But if Mr. Jordan sees one in a picture that Dr. Munn described as a Scarlet macaw, which was pulled from a nest which was being attended by two adult Scarlet macaws, well, so be it. In fact, there is no reliable account of new world parrots hybridizing in the wild. Not one. There is one reliable account of a cockatoo and one of 2 Poicephalus parrots, but both involved highly extenuating circumstances. The practices of Tambopata Research Center: These people have no intention of harvesting and birds for the pet trade. We won't import them and it's illegal to export them from either Brazil or Peru or Bolivia. Yes, they pull chicks from the nests, but only after it is clear that they are not being fed by the parents. (Wild macaws will usually ony feed one chick so as to guarantee one fledgling. In some years there is only enough food for one chick and without this adaptation, they would attempt to split a short supply of food between 2 or 3 chicks and they would all die.) Yes, the birds that remain do attract tourists, who pump money into the research center so that they can continue their work on the breeding habits and other aspects of wild macaw behavior and conservation. However, none of the hand raised birds are clipped or otherwise encouraged to remain, and about half do not, with this number increasing as the birds become older. Statements of Dr. Munn on TV: Laurella Desborough told me that she was equally appauled by these statements, as was I. She stated that she wrote to him and he responded, explaining that this statement was surrounded by others that were not aired, which placed it into context a bit better. We were interrupted at this point and I didn't find out precisely what he told her, but I'll find out. As for Dr. Munn stating that the harvesting of Hyacinth macaws was imminent due to their amazing recovery in the wild, I have scoured the AAV literature from the 1996 conference and I just haven't found it. I did find statements of Dr. Munn that not a single new world parrot currently occupies it's entire available range. I did find a few things that stated that Brazil won't export Hyacinth Macaws. Tracey Aviaries: If this is the origin of the Tracie macaw, and I have heard from more than one person that it is, then they got over it. They are engaged in the breeding of threatened species only (Cuban amazon, Vasa parrots, A. festiva bodini) and do not hybridize. If I didn't think anyone would ever see a different point of view or re-think their position, I wouldn't be here, and they are to be praised for doing so. Who screws up birds: Breeders, owners, pet stores, owners dogs, vets, behaviorists and, just to stay hip, lawyers and the tobacco companies. Basically, anyone associated with a bird who screws up the bird, screws up the bird. I never gave breeders an exclusive on this. BUT, every bit of knowledge we've gained in the last 20 years indicates that birds experience several, distinct, critical developmental stages during which the acts of whomever is currently caring for the bird WILL have a strong effect on the temperment of the bird. This is what gives us good breeders, and bad breeders. Not all breeders are bad and not all are good. In fact, not all good breeders are all good and not all bad breeders are all bad. Like anything else, it is a sliding scale. The same holds true for owners, vets, behaviorists, dogs, lawyers (Yeah, right!) or tobacco companies. (There are a couple in Cuba that're okay with me.) I love a good breeder more than anything in aviculture. Period. One of the smartest, most progressive and caring people, and one from whom I learn every time I see or speak to her is a breeder. She breeds, sells and makes money from birds. Gavage feeding: Whether by tube, gavage needle or plain syringe (I call it Zap feeding where the entire syringe of food is shot down the esophagus when the feeding response begins.), depositing food directly into the crop is both physically dangerous and behaviorally crippling. Food should be deposited in a birds mouth so that they can eat it. This is how they learn how to eat, which is a handy thing to learn. And I'm not being glib here either. Many gavage fed birds don't learn how to eat. Aside from this, gavage needles frequently cause injuries, as do gavage tubes even if they are warmed properly. It is infinitely easier to aspirate a bird that is being gavege fed and, if you do, the amount of food deposited (versus the smaller amount taken in a mouthful) will almost certainly be fatal. Crop burn is also more likely as proper syringe feeding or spoon feeding allows the food to hit the air for a second. Gavage feeding is infinitely faster and requires a fraction of the clean-up, which is why many breeders do it. Otherwise, the dangers would be unjustifiable. The same holds true for selling unweaned birds. This is done for no other reason than to get the birds out of inventory at substantial peril to the birds themselves. Anyone want an earful on the selling of unweaned birds, call 1-900-AVVIANS and have a chat with Cr. Ritchie. There is absolutely no truth to the belief that finishing hand feeding creates a better bond. If this were the case, it would be called a Psitticine complex instead of an Oedipal complex. Behaviorally, well, if a breeder doesn't have time to feed in the safest method available, how much time does he/she have to socialize the chicks? But this is but the beginning. Parrots are born blind, deaf, naked and helpless. All the know of security is contact and this warm gooey stuff that gets put in their mouth (and not shot directly into their crop). These interactions are all they have and it is what keeps an instinctively fearful, predated animal feeling protected. If deprived of this, many things can result because, basically, this bird will have a great deal of difficulty feeling relaxed. I see overdependence and the inability to bond depending mainly on the species. Both can result in just about every parrot problem on earth; screaming, plucking, inability to be alone, failure to use toys, and so on. Some birds become developmentally retarded, remaining babies for too long, begging to be fed, bring obsessively clingy, not playing by himself, lacking self-confidence and even some physical retardation as far as not gaining balance skills as quickly as they should. Now, I'm the first one to say that a 2yo B&G is still a baby, but he should not still be gronking (making a food begging noise accompanied by a wing flip) several times a day. It is not possible to care about the psychological development of your chicks and still routinely gavage feed. This is one of the things that ALWAYS mark a bad breeder. Yes, some birds have difficulty eating, cockatoos are notorious for this, and limited gavage feeding is necessary to save their life. But every effort should be made to get these birds to eat normally, which can virtually always be accomplished. These birds don't want tubes shoved down their throats, they'll eat if properly and dilligently presented. But, if you're raising 90 chicks at one time........ Don't take my word on this gavage thing just because I see 25 birds a week with one problem or another. Do some reading. Money: Mr. Jordan stated: The source of my hostility is a so called professional that makes his living from birds but puts others down to get to the top of the pile of greedy money making breeders. and Are you telling me that you do behavoir modification, speaking, and teaching for no financial gain? That you receive no money's for what you do with the birds? If not, the money you make on birds is no worse than the money breeders make on birds. Although people are probably sick of hearing this: -I do not make my living from birds. I make my living as a writer and, before that, as an attorney. -As for birds, I write, photograph, lecture and do behavior work. I am paid money for these things, but; -Every cent that I am paid is donated to avian causes (WPT, RARE, Ritchie, etc.). Every cent. I mentioned this before, but some people seem to have trouble grasping the concept. Nonetheless, I do not begrudge peole who do make money with birds, just as long as their conscience is calling the shots, and not their wallet. Sub-species: All parrots should be bred true. Period. I make no distinction between species hybridization and sub-species hybridization (although not a technically accurate term). Where mr Jordan got the idea that mixing sub-species was ...fully sanctioned by all anti-hybrid supporters,... or Yet, this is perfectly OK. is beyond me. I neither stated nor implied it. Is there some organized group of hybrid opponents out there that I don't know about? Why haven't they asked me to join? I'm hurt. Aviculture: 25 years ago we had wild caught Scarlet macaws sitting in 18 round cages which they never left, getting no toys, eating seeds, screaming and biting. People paid $10,000 for these short lived decorations. Mercifully, things have changed. Credit for this change can be given to so many groups, most notably, commercial breeders. They took us from thinking that the male Ecclectus and the female Ecclectus were two different species to where we were about 5 years ago. Which is to say that we now breed a huge and varied number of parrots, with lower mortality and infinitely better companion qualitites. We are seeing lifespans of Cockatiels reach 25 years or
... read more »
|
Favoured: 0
