Innholdsfortegnelse for December 24, 2025 i Cage & Aviary Birds

VIEW FROM THE NORTH DOWNS THINGS have gone very quiet in my birdroom. Not literally – they have gone quiet because my canaries have largely gone! Selling my surplus canaries, which were most of the birds I bred this year, has not been seamless. I am reluctant to use couriers to send birds. I have happily received birds that way, though with mixed results. The reason is that I want any potential purchaser to see my birds in advance. Having witnessed how healthy they look, they should have no comeback should things go wrong. Many years ago, I sold six canaries to someone. They were perfectly healthy and the buyer seemed very happy with them. Then next day I received a phone call to say that all the birds had…

COCKATIELS IORIGINALLY set up the group on Facebook in 2022 under the name Cockatiel Breeders UK, with the aim of bringing fellow breeders together. The response was better than I could have imagined, and by 2023 the interest had grown so much that I decided to rename the group the National Cockatiel Association. Towards the end of that year, after speaking with several people who shared my enthusiasm for cockatiels and showing, I entered the association into the 2024 National Exhibition at Stafford. That moment marked the beginning of something truly special. Committee The association now has a dedicated committee. Chairman, Daniel Lane; secretary, Jake Whittington; treasurer, Addie Thomson; vice chairman, Simon Wehrl; co-treasurer, Kim Thomson; show secretary, Daniel Lane; show manager, Allan Johnston. Main shows Our principal shows include…

COVER STORY: BOOKS I HAVE never read such a comprehensive and detailed book on a single parrot genus as this new and impressive volume from Australia. It is also impressive physically, with 740 pages of incredibly detailed, often very scientific, but nevertheless interesting and easily read text. It is lavishly illustrated throughout, with high-quality colour photographs, and excellent charts and tables. Weighing in at 2.8kg, it is definitely not a pocket reference book! Written by avian veterinarian Dr Rob Marshall and animal behaviourist and photographer Tailai O'Brien, together with several secondary contributors, it was understandably 20 years in its conception, and 10 years in actual incubation, before finally hatching earlier this year. The book is divided into nine sections, with the first seven dealing with the natural history, habitat and…

CANARIES DECEMBER signals the final part of the canary show season in the UK. Most birdrooms have seen an exodus of surplus stock leaving for new homes, which is certainly the case in my room, but as always I've a few birds I'm still considering at the time of writing. The advantage of fewer birds in your room means you can place potential partners side by side to consider these pairings at your leisure. Plenty of time to change a few around, of course, and even to discuss pairings with your friends and peers, which is just how it should be. In truth, my thoughts are never far from the breeding season, and even when I assess my new crop of young birds every year, I find myself judging them…

Strong colour support at specialist show LINCOLNSHIRE & EAST ANGLIA BS IPSWICH BS hosted the Lincolnshire & East Anglia BS specialist & rare variety show in early October for the third year running at Risby, near Bury St. Edmunds, reports Ghalib Al-Nasser. Ron Pearce and Adrian Terheege judged the show, assisted by Jon Ashby as a trainee judge, which received a lower total entry from last year of 198 from 15 exhibitors of which 170 birds were benched. The best of the 16 colour awards listed below were shared by many exhibitors who supported the show (* indicates that they won best variety overall). The show also received the Budgerigar Society Eastern colour budgerigar patronage with 10 challenge certificates allocated to the colour budgerigars rather than the usual one certificate…

NATIONAL EXHIBITION, STAFFORD 2025 THIS week it's the turn of the London Fancy Canary Club, Irish Fancy International, North Staffs & South Cheshire FFCC and the Lizard Canary Association to share their event reports. ■ London Fancy Canary Club – show report by Andy Early, club secretary. Gary Cook took top honours, winning best London fancy, with probably one of the best London fancies seen in recent years. Even more impressive given that it was an unflighted bird. Gary's entry brought the total number of birds entered to 29 (25 benched). More importantly, the overall quality of the London fancies was probably one of the best I have seen at the National. I was judging the Irish fancy section, and left David Sheppard and Gary Cook to assist this year's…

HAVANT CBS – January 7, Bedhampton Social Hall, Bedhampton Road, Bedhampton, Havant, Hampshire PO9 3ES, 7.30pm. Bird vs. bird competition. Everyone is more than welcome to attend. Enquiries: 07854 286 025 or email: havantcbs@gmail.com SOLWAY PARROT & FBC – December 28, Village Hall, Waverton, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 0AE, opens 10am. Table-top sale. Any questions and to pre order your seed, please contact Robbie or Pauline below. Everyone is welcome to come along for the sale. Enquiries: 01900 822 136 or search “Solway Parrot and Foreign Bird Club” on Facebook.…

WITH reference to the sudden changes to the licences for bird gatherings (News, page 2): in brief, the way for clubs to conform with the new regs is to add another sentence to the declaration on rear of their entry form (as recommended by NCA earlier this year), using some such wording as: “None of the birds entered has attended a bird gathering in the previous 14 days.” That's the easy bit! The implications represent a serious threat to the show scene and for no good reason. A couple of questions for DEFRA/APHA: ■ Where is the evidence that avian flu and its ilk have been identified at a captive bird show? (NOT a poultry show.) ■ Where is the evidence that a bird returning from such a show has…

NATIVE HARDBILLS ON NOVEMBER 16, I visited the 39th Lancashire BB&HC show. It's a show that I have attended and exhibited at on many occasions over the years. It does clash with Arklow CBS in Eire, which normally explains the occasions when I have been absent. My previous attendance at Lancashire was a couple of years ago when, before judging, I noticed a very striking flighted cock bramblefinch. It had very good colour, an expansive apron and strong flank markings. If I had judged that day, it might not have received best but would have either had best or been very close to it. I didn't know who owned the bird, though I guessed it might be a big fella standing a few yards away down the aisle. I hadn't…

CANARIES IT IS late November. The cold creeps in, the daylight slips away early, and the shed grows quiet after the bustle of the show season. Somewhere on the middle row, a single Border cock sits in the box he calls home and mutters to himself. “Well, here I am – made the cut again. Could be worse. Lost a few good mates this time, mind. Tough old world out there.” He isn't alone for long. From the next section, another Border shuffles forward, feathers neat but expression weary. “How was your show season then?” he asks. “Oh, don't get me started,” the first one sighs. “Dragged out when I was still moulting. Half-naked I was! Up against birds that looked like they'd stepped out of a salon. Had no…

CLUB NOTICES JAVA SPARROW ASSOCIATION annual membership for 2026 will be £5, with shows planned at the National, Scottish National, Walsall CBS and more to be announced. For further information, email javasparrowuk@gmail.com or call secretary Daniel Lane on 07484 801 193. SHOW REPORTS NORTH OF SCOTLAND GLOSTER CLUB The Scottish Tiviera wasn't going to play ball for the 2025 show, with howling gales and biting cold, reports Sandy Hay. Saturday morning, we had very difficult conditions for getting the staging into the McBoyle Hall. George Dawson, our transport manager, had to reverse the van right up to the hall doors giving us a bit of protection from the bitter north winds. The staging was up in the usual efficient manner and class numbers on, easily done in just an hour.…

‘NEST CUPS’ OFFERED TO SAVE HOUSE MARTINS THE HAMPSHIRE HOUSE Martins Project is offering free artificial nests to help reverse the decline in house martin numbers. Homeowners, schools and businesses are being offered the so-called “nest cups”, to save the birds time and energy compared to building their own mud nests. Nigel Matthews from the project said that the birds like to get “right up into tall gables”. A new survey with volunteers counting nest sites around the county is planned for 2026. DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S WILD LONDON OUT ON JANUARY 1 IN THIS NEW film, David Attenborough explores the wildlife of London, his home for 75 years, including pigeons, parakeets, seagulls and peregrines. The BBC says that London is considered the greenest major city in the world. Mr Attenborough delves…

WITH THE PARK now looking to the New Year, we are starting to draw up plans for our bird collection for the forthcoming breeding season. This is usually done after the fun and exciting – but of course necessary – job of the annual head count (or stock check). As many readers are aware, Cotswold Wildlife Park is heavily involved in the rewilding white stork project at the Knepp Estate. This year has marked another extraordinary breeding season, with 45 chicks successfully hatched in the wild at Knepp, and 48 juveniles, reared at Cotswold Wildlife Park, released to a site in East Sussex, boosting the growing population. By late summer, Sussex skies were filled with the sight of nearly one hundred storks soaring overhead, gathering in preparation for their long…

SOME GOOD NEWS for the final Cage & Aviary Birds of the year? Bird-flu outbreaks have declined (see page 3.) That is probably due in part to the fact that flu-bearing wild birds, having arrived in the UK last autumn, have settled into their wintering areas, so populations are now relatively static. We aren't out of the woods, because things could change if there are freeze-ups, which cause wintering birds to shift around. But if bird flu continues to retreat, fingers crossed, the government may revert to the general licence for bird gatherings. That would certainly make things simpler for sales and any shows that are still to be held in the New Year. And that New Year is just round the corner! As usual, Cage & Aviary Birds will…

SOUTH-EAST IPSWICH CBS THE recent annual show was a great success with entries totalling 534, the same as the previous year, but this year was definitely a year for the novices, reports Andy Calvesbert. Top novice was David Gallimore with his white new colour canary, winner of best canary and best bird in show. The foreign section was won with a beautifully presented chlorphonia belonging to the Karen and Alistair Phillips Hill partnership. Next was the British with novice Jordan Finch winning best with his well coloured lesser redpoll. The Norwich canaries were won by Cathy Warren with a flighted clear buff cock. The Fife section was the second largest with local breeder Kevin Peck dominating with his variegated yellow hen for best; he also won best green. Graham Gallimore…

JOHN BUCKLEY RECENT news of the death of British Roller Canary Association chairman John Buckley, after a year's period of illness, was received with great sadness by all fellow members of the BRCA. Members of the Allied National Roller Canary Society and the British Roller Canary Judges Association, who John had worked closely with to support the roller song contests, also expressed their condolences. John was for many years a vital element in the continuance of this well-over-a-hundred-year-old tradition. He attended every show in each long-combined UK winter show season of some fourteen contests from November to March, often taking other members’ birds to boost entry numbers and ensure greater competition. Until Brexit and Covid effectively severed the link, he travelled each year to one of the NRCS Irish clubs…