Solo Birds

[Tintola]

Great post nrg, I love the story about the condors. Many birds have evolved the ability to recognise the alarm call of other species. If a hawk flies over my place and only the bulbuls see it they give a certain call which not only alerts me but all the other species go quiet and look up or about and fly frantically into the shelters.Same if the noisy miners give their alarm call. Hence why many small, wild birds (finches, silvereyes, wrens and other small softbills) hang around together. The many eyes theory. I'd better hit the pillow now, but I think this topic is going to go on for a while yet.

[jusdeb]

Its not just the birds that warn each other .
Its usually the wild birds which are always hanging around that sound the alarm first , then all goes very quiet and still in the aviaries followed by the dogs with ears pricked looking into the trees .
Then lastly I am aware that there is something not right . Amazing how instinct kicks in hey .

[Diane]

Regarding alarms calls, Ive seen documentaries where a bird would give an alarm call and ground feeding and burrowing mammals would go into flight mode too, and vice versa.

This brings up, is this language learned or a learned response to a particular sound?

Another thing I saw was concerning zebra finches and the learned language passed from parents to young. Young zebras were hand raised and kept separate in sound proof rooms so that they couldn't hear any other zebra calls. These zebras went on to develop their own series of calls, totally different to normal zebras. After introducing these birds to other, more conventionally raised zebras, the original birds developed an amalgamation of the calls, any young from this bird also had this "language" to a degree, but it was found within a couple of generations the call had reverted back to the norm.

[gouldianpaul]

My position is each to their own...unless it is a species that needs a boost in numbers. My brother has a Nanda Conure (I hope I spelt that right) who is 8 years old...in a large avairy by himself...for 2 years he had a hen companion...during that time they did nothing but fight...unfortunately the hen died, but the cock has been very happy ever since.

Most of us have a dog (or 2)...and most of us keep them as pets....I'm sure the dog breeders would like to see the puppies they work so hard to develop being used as productive specimens for the blood lines they breed....however the fact is most puppies end up as pets...how is this any different ?

Cheers,
Paul

[Tintola]

Paul, here is part of a post from yesterday regarding the dog comparison, and why we started a new topic of solo birds.

The analogy of the dog, and yes I have had many dogs, I can't see your point, as dogs are a completely domestic species and are partially malimprinted as being human (you can't argue with that one) even so, what is the reaction of most dogs when they meet another dog? Some are aggressive but most wag and sniff and want some contact with a familiar being that understands their language, verbal or body.
We keep birds, bred in captivity and provide them with a good life with no predators, in a safe environment and everything that they need. Anyway my question is. Do we also have the right to deprive them of the company of their own kind for our own needs? Our enjoyment of them is surely enhanced by watching their interactions whether it be mixed sexes or just males.
EDIT. Oh, Gourd, another essay! Last edited by Tintola on 27 Jul 2011, 21:42, edited 1 time

[gouldianpaul]

Hi Tintola,
I agree with your analogy of why we breed birds....I don't have any companion birds...but on your comment regarding dogs i think we are going to have to agree to disagree mate....everyone's opinion is different....as an example i often have friends question why I have gouldians captive in my avairies....some of my friends comment that it is not natural...my response is i have never seen an unhappy bird breed...and my birds breed (most of the time)...but this is their opinion even though i don't agree with it....I have 2 American Bulldog males....most of the people in the AB club i was involved in couldn't understand why I had two males as pets....but that was their opinion...the fact is everyone has an opinion...even if it is different to our own...cheers, Paul

[Tintola]

Totally agree with what you are saying, and my point exactly, with the birds, is that unhappy birds don't breed, especially the ones that are kept as a single bird.Not a lot af success at all.

This bit below is referring to birds..... Not the dogs, as I believe you may have thought.


We keep birds, bred in captivity and provide them with a good life with no predators, in a safe environment and everything that they need. Anyway my question is. Do we also have the right to deprive them of the company of their own kind for our own needs? Our enjoyment of them is surely enhanced by watching their interactions whether it be mixed sexes or just males.
Jeff

[mattymeischke]

I think that most people who keep birds would aim to keep their birds happy and healthy, and most would consider an active social life to be a part of that. When I was growing up, my Dad maintained that each of our animals should be able to have a life, by which he meant an opportunity to breed and relax and just be. For example, bitches were preferred as working dogs, but each was allowed to have a litter of pups before she was speyed. Similarly, chooks should have a run with a rooster sometime, and so on.

However, life is not perfect and for many reasons this is not always possible with birds we keep. It may be that a geriatric captive cockatoo who was widowed at 40yo would prefer their familiar environment (physical and social) to having a lively young potential partner introduced. Equally, it would seem to me unkind to have a young singleton bird without it having any opportunity to meet its conspecifics and exercise its reproductive apparatus. The 'right' way to do it depends inevitably on the individual bird and circumstances, as well as the person keeping it.

The situation of a person keeping birds is inherently unnatural, and this problem of solo birds is jarring for a birdkeeping animal lover.

My old mate Thomas talks about animal contracts. The dog contract, for example, says something like: I will feed you, keep you warm at night, play with you and help you when you are sick or old. In exchange, you'll do your work (farm dogs in the example) and when the bad man comes to the door, you'll raise the alarm and try to see him off.
Or the cow contract: we will maintain predator-free pastures for you, with guaranteed water and if the food runs out we'll get you some more, in exchange for which we will take your milk and may kill and eat some or all of your sons.

We hand-reared a magpie a couple of years ago, and he became a problematic adolescent (as they so often do). I told my wife that he might have to go to the place where 90% of wild maggies go, and she thought that was lovely, no doubt imagining some kind of magpieville of happy birdies. Of course, I meant he might need necking. Fortunately, a friend 20km up the road had an empty aviary which we used to initially restrain and then gradually release him, and he is now a free-living bird on my friend's block. My point here is that most wild birds die, often violently or painfully, and often before they have any chance at reproduction.

Perhaps we could consider the bird contract thus: you will have food, water, shelter, and a predator-free environment, you will be looked after in sickness and old age, and will likely double the likespan of your wild conspecifics, but your freedom of movement and ability to choose mates will be severely curtailed. Not a bad deal, I reckon............

[Tintola]

Perhaps we could consider the bird contract thus: you will have food, water, shelter, and a predator-free environment, you will be looked after in sickness and old age, and will likely double the lifespan of your wild conspecifics, but your freedom of movement and ability to choose mates will be severely curtailed. Not a bad deal, I reckon............

Your whole post is very well written and entertaining. I love the "contract" analogy, but i don't see their signature on the dotted line! I have a bit of a problem with "severely curtailed" as it conjures up visions of a cockatoo in a small cage for fifty years or so. Maybe "somewhat or a little curtailed" might be a better choice of words. There I go being pedantic over one word again. The bird might prefer to be here for a good time , not a long time. Other than that, I will sign 'the contract' and might even apply to the guardianship board for "Power of Attorney" to sign on the birds' behalf.

[mattymeischke]

As a notorious pedant myself, I wouldn't ever object to other people's pedantry - we members of the anally retentive society prefer to call it "uncommon attention to detail".
I would argue, however, that if you compare the life of an aviary zeb to a wild one, it is severely curtailed. The whole arid interior versus an aviary of any size, no or limited choice of mate versus free choice of a partner and extrapair coupling as desired.
Very happy to agree to disagree, however.
A very stimulating thread.
Thank you, Tintola.