Innholdsfortegnelse for May 28, 2025 i Cage & Aviary Birds

THE PAST FEW weeks have certainly been warm, with temperatures here reaching the high twenties just as our snowy owls (Bubo scandiacus) decided to dig out a scrape and start laying eggs. For some bizarre reason, as soon as the female lays an egg, she rolls it out of her nest scrape. We are hoping that she settles down and decides to incubate some eventually. Our burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) are incubating six eggs, so we are also hopeful these hatch and the parents rear them. It's noteworthy that both species have laid about two weeks earlier than they have over the past few years. The walled garden birds have also been enjoying the weather and have gone full speed into breeding, with five pairs of scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber)…

THE article about the grebe family was a good read last week. “A***foot” – honestly! If I had my own birdpark complete with private lake, the grebe I'd like to give a home to is the little grebe. They aren't as spectacular as their fancyplumed relatives, but they've got something. I think I like them because their rightful name is not the boring “little grebe” but “dabchick”. It's a name that sums up the perky diminutive character of its owner. Years ago, I read a story about rich young twerps, in which a bunch of them were playing a word game for high stakes. You challenged your opponents to come up with a word that included various unlikely sequences of letters. One twerp offered “abc” as a sequence not to…

COMMENT RECENTLY, I attended the AGM of a national birdkeeping organisation. It was a worthwhile trip, as it's always good to meet up with fellow birdkeepers and keep up to date with the business and administration side of the hobby. As is usual, the meeting included reports from the main officers and two of the most noticeable points came from the membership secretary and the treasurer. The membership secretary produced details of the membership totals each year for about the last decade. It was a clear pattern: membership numbers decrease every year. Unsurprisingly, then, the treasurer's report highlighted a simple equation: fewer members = less income. Worrying statistics, perhaps. But in reality most of us will be aware that life is evolving and that traditional pastimes are often replaced with…

POULTRY THE Serama bantam is a relatively new and increasingly popular addition to the UK's birdkeeping scene. Originating in the warm and humid climate of Malaysia, the breed made its first appearance on British shores in about 2004. In its native country, the Serama has earned iconic status, outnumbering cats and dogs as the most popular pet. And with its unique look and engaging personality, it's not hard to see why. Seramas are widely recognised as the smallest breed of chicken in the world, with birds weighing no more than 500g. However, their appeal is about more than just size. The shape of a Serama is distinctive, with a high-held tail, low-slung wings, and an exaggerated, prominent chest that gives them a confident, upright stance. Their jaunty, proud character adds…

SHOW DATES BRISTOL BS will hold its annual gold championship open show on August 3 at Saltford Hall, Wedmore Rd, Saltford, Bristol BS31 3BY. Judges will be Richard Bowker, Keith Leedham and Dom & Vince Avo. There will be a brand-new award for dark factor birds. Raffle with prizes including bags of seed. Refreshments will be available All enquires to the show secretary Ron Ramplin on 07748 740 794 or email: ronnie.ramplin@btinternet.com SPECIALIST & RARE VARIETY OPEN SHOW this show, along with the 4th National Colour Budgerigar, will be held June 21 & 22 at Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire NN7 3RW. Entry £1, juniors 50p per cage, sales £1 (15% commission). Entries to be sent to: Sue & Rod Clarke, 45 Northampton Road, Broughton, Kettering, Northants NN14 1NR. Phone entries: 07922 047…

CARSHALTON, WALLINGTON & MORDEN CBS – June 3, Pavilion, Rosehill Community Centre, Rosehill Park, Sutton, Surrey SM1 3HH, 7-9pm. Meeting. Enquiries: Norman on 0208 644 9363 or Paul on 07815 021 583. CARSHALTON, WALLINGTON & MORDEN CBS – June 1, Pavilion, Rosehill Community Centre, Rosehill Park, Sutton, Surrey SM1 3HH, 5-6.30pm. Club sales day. Open 4.30pm for sellers. Enquiries: Norman on 0208 644 9363 or Paul on 07815 021 583. CITY OF BATH BIRD BREEDERS SOCIETY – June 3, Claverton Down Community Hall, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 6DT, 7.45pm. Geoff Taylor and Barry Russell talk on their bantams. Members reminded to bring raffle prizes. Enquiries: 07504 993 583 or email: titchguppy@gmail.com CREWE CBS – June 3, Coppenhall Working Mens’ Club, 103 North Street, Crewe, Cheshire CW1 4NJ, 8pm. Baby budgerigar…

ZOOS & BIRDPARKS THIS SUMMER, MARWELL Zoo in Winchester is launching a new event showcasing extinct birds and animals made from more than 2 million toy bricks. ‘Extinction’ will shine a spotlight on more than 20 species including dodos, dinosaurs, a woolly mammoth and a ground sloth. Visitors can collect a map and walk around the zoo's 140 acres of parkland to meet the life-sized recreations. Nicky Cole, senior events manager at Marwell Zoo, said: “We're incredibly excited to launch Extinction at Marwell this summer, a world-first collection of spectacular toy brick sculptures… With more than 20 stunning models to discover, fun activities and surprises along the way, there's something to amaze adventurers of all ages. “Extinction will be on display alongside our hundreds of rare and endangered animals, making…

THE FIRST CRACK in the ice? This week, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, announced a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement between the UK and the EU. That's bureaucratic gobbledegook for magicking away some of the trade barriers “which have built up postBrexit”, as one paper put it, as if those barriers had arrived by their own steam instead of being an implicit condition of the no-deal that our previous Government decided would be best for us. It's all about big agribusiness at this point, of course. The Labour Government says it's important to do something because our exports to the EU declined by 21 per cent during 2018-24. “Many businesses have scaled back or stopped trading altogether,” they tut. So they're going to drop Export Health Certificates, forget about…

COVER STORY: FINCH COMMENT I HAVE been reading Cage Birds, as it was originally, and Cage & Aviary Birds for more than 60 years, and my father and grandfather did so before me. Very rarely have I read an article that stops me in my tracks so that I need to read it again in disbelief, amazement and admiration. Such an article appeared in the January 29 issue, written by Dan Taylor and entitled “How to succeed with hawfinches”. The reason why I was taken aback was that when I attempted to breed hawfinches 40 years ago, I came to the conclusion, after three breeding seasons of trying, that they were impossible to breed in captivity. Fanciers would casually mention in articles and books their breeding of the birds and…

THE May issue of the Parrot Society magazine includes a review of the start of the 2025 breeding season by Les Rance, a piece from Dr David Waugh on the sustainable harvesting of eggs and nestlings of Carnaby's cockatoos, and part two of Pionus parrots by the late John Stoodley. Other features include Rafael Zamora Padron's “Foraging is important for breeding parrots”, as well as a preview of the Parrot Society summer show in July. The June issue of the Parrot Society magazine will be posted on May 28.…

EGG DROP CHALLENGE NEW RESEARCH HAS found that eggs are less likely to crack when dropped on their side than when dropped vertically. A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA undertook trials simulating the “egg drop challenge”, a classroom science experiment where students aim to prevent an egg from cracking when dropped from a set height. They found that eggs are more flexible around their equator and can absorb more energy in this orientation before breaking. DARWIN ARCHIVE AWARD ITEMS RELATING TO Charles Darwin have been recognised on the UNESCO International Memory of the World Register, highlighting their importance to science and the necessity of their long-term preservation. The collection comprises more than 20,000 items across six institutions: Cambridge University Library, Natural History Museum, Linnean Society…

Passing the torch WESTERN COUNTIES B&FBS THE Society's 2025 AGM took place at 11am on March 23 at The Kenn Centre, Kennford near Exeter. Retiring president Dave Guppy opened the meeting expressing his pleasure at serving the society over the previous two years, and thanked all members who attended events. He then handed over the president's chain of office and the accompanying president's water colour painting to incoming president Richard Hooper. Chairman Andrew Pitcher thanked members for their support to him and the society in general and suggested that a letter of thanks be sent to Ron Payne who was the secretary and who unfortunately had to stand down before the AGM. Andrew then asked for anyone to take the secretary's place when it came to “officer nominations”. Steve West…