March 2010 WVBS Newsletter Part 1

A Bird’s Eye View
Page 1
March 2010
Volume 28
Issue 3
Farwell, Minnesota. – There’s a chicken in Farwell that is barking up the
wrong tree. She’s madly in love with a dog. It’s a devoted love rarely seen
in the animal kingdom, especially between two different species. Because
of it, the chicken is now in the doghouse.
IN THIS ISSUE
Another Love Story
1
Mark Stafford
2
March Meeting
3
Lesbian Albstrosses
6
Escaped Parrot Reimoted
7
Weatherman Attached
7
Dove Banding
9
Scarlet Macaws
10
Parrots International Symposium
11
Calendar of Events
12
Dinosaur Colors
13
Interview
16
California Condor Eggs
17
Rare Melanistic Penguin
20
Finch Fighting
22
Saving Rockhopper Penguins
23
EB Cravens
24
Help the Club
25
Photos
25
Photos
29
Membership Application
31
Bird Clubs Around Town
32
Club Officers and Directors
35
On a chilly evening in November, Wayne and Lorna Anderson, avid bird
watchers, observed as a confused chicken flew into their yard and landed in
a pine tree. The couple thought it was odd, as none of their neighbors
within a two-mile radius were chicken owners.
“That’s where she hung out, up in them pine trees,” Wayne said. Soon the
errant fowl grew tired of scratchy branches and made herself a new home
in the retired couple’s garage. The Andersons provided a comfortable
roosting place for their new tenant, whom they dubbed “Chicky.” They
even cut a hole in the garage door to accommodate her every roosting
whim. But the garage paled in comparison to what was to come.
As Chicky clucked her way
around her new surroundings, she
came across Sam, the Andersons’
black Lab. And it was love at first
peck. But not only was Sam of the
canine persuasion, at 12 years of
age, he was a much older man.
Would their love take flight, or
would their differences doggedly
defeat their chances at living
happily ever after?
Chicky immediately moved out of the
garage and waddled not only into Sam’s
heart, but his home – a palace fit for a
pampered pullet. “She said nuts to this
sleeping alone,” Lorna said. “The first
time I walked by that doghouse and saw
her sleeping with him, I couldn’t believe
it.” She’s been there ever since.
The Andersons began to suspect that
Chicky was just a grain-digger looking
(Continued on page 29)
Page 2
A Bird’s Eye View
Dr. Mark Stafford is the founding director and president of Parrots International. Parrots
International is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and fostering international
cooperation in the conservation of endangered parrot species. Parrots International works in
cooperation with other conservation organizations, donors, field research teams, responsible
aviculturists, and parrot clubs to assist, propose, develop, and fund conservation projects
throughout the world. The basic premise of Parrots International is that "Conservation Happens
in the Wild."
Mark and his wife, Marie, have traveled extensively throughout Central and South America, and
the Caribbean to view, photograph, and film wild parrots. The goal of these trips has been to gain
an understanding of the natural history of endangered parrot species, the environmental and
human derived pressures relating to their endangered status, and to understand the possible steps that can be taken to
bring these beautiful parrots back from the brink of extinction.
Dr. Stafford has directed Parrots International to help fund research and conservation projects for the Hyacinth Macaws in Brazil;
the Great Green Macaw in Costa Rica; the Lear’s Macaw in Bahia, Brazil; the Yellow-shouldered Amazon in Bonaire; the
Bahama Amazon in Abaco; the Blue-fronted Amazon in the Chaco of Argentina; the Military Macaw in the Oaxaca State of
Mexico; the Yellow-eared Parrot Project in Colombia; and the Puerto Rican Parrot, one of the ten rarest birds in the world. In
addition, Parrots International is involved in the land purchase, habitat restoration, and the future release of the Spix’s Macaw
back into the wild. In 2006, Mark and Marie received recognition at the U.S. Capital LBJ Room by the head of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service for their assistance with the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Project. Dr. Stafford, and Parrots International, is a
member of the Committee for the Management and Conservation of the Hyacinth Macaw, as well as a consultant for the
Committee for the Management and Conservation of the Lear’s Macaw and the Spix’s Macaw Working Group.
Mark has not been to West Valley for a few years, so everyone will want attend the March 19th meeting and become
reacquainted. He always has beautiful photos in his presentation, so mark your calendar and be sure to attend this
meeting.
Bell Plastics of the Sierras
Bell plastic toys can be found at your
local bird store, bird marts, and can be
ordered from the company.
ALL ANIMALS MEDICAL CENTER
DR. ATTILA MOLNAR
18649 Pine Avenue
Tuolumne, CA 95379
Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary
Practitioners, Certified in Avian Practice
KERRY MILLIKEN, DVM
Phone: 209-928-5676 FAX: 209-928-5903
Caps
Jackets
Aprons & Bags
Patches
Personalized Gifts
Custom Logos
Team Uniforms
Tackle Twill
Shirts
23815 Ventura Blvd.
Calabasas, CA 91302-1443
Telephone: (818) 591-2773
www.AllAnimalsVets.com
FAX: (818) 591-2815
FOR THAT OE OF A KID
GIFT
O M I IM UM O R D E R S
661-297-5074
fax: 661-297-8141
Bob & Linda Buesching
23023 Ash Glen Circle
Valencia, California 91354
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 3
Friday, March 19, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Mark Stafford, D.D.S.
President, Parrots International
“What’s So G'Damn Special About Parrots Anyway?"
Granada Pavilion, Auxiliary Hall
11128 Balboa Boulevard
Granada Hills, CA 91344
For more information, call 661-803-1416
www.thewestvalleybirdsociety.com
Page 4
A Bird’s Eye View
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 5
Fenix Crocks and Feeders, Inc.
Crocks, Cages & Birds
Ron & Cyndie Norcutt
Representatives
Corporate Office and
Warehouse
32685 Briggs Road
Menifee, CA 92584
Tel: (951) 679-8412
Fax: (951) 679-7972
Cell: (951) 453-5193
E-mail: [email protected]
Worldwide Website: http://fenixresearch.com
Page 6
A Bird’s Eye View
A Royal Albatross and a chick at
the Taiaroa Breeding Centre in
New Zealand. The colony has had
two prior instances of females
establishing a nest together
When two female Royal Albatrosses at
a New Zealand breeding colony
embarked on a lesbian relationship,
there were some raised eyebrows. But
when the pair successfully incubated a
chick, wildlife experts were delighted
– and surprised.
The father – one of scores of males at
the Taiaroa Head Royal Albatross
Centre on the South Island's windswept Otago Peninsula – appears to
have disappeared. He will play no role
in the upbringing of his week-old chick
and, just like an increasing number of
children, this bird will grow up with
two mothers.
"It's quite unusual in the Albatross
population here at Taiaroa Head to
have two females mating together,"
Lyndon Perriman, the colony's head
ranger, told Television New Zealand.
"Even more unusual than that is that
the egg is actually fertile this season."
W hil e homos e xua li t y i s we ll
documented in the animal kingdom,
including among seabirds, Taiaroa
Head – the only mainland Albatross
breeding colony in the world – has
recorded only two previous instances
of females setting up a nest together in
the past 70 years. Neither resulted in a
happy ending.
The latest pair had tried nesting with a
male Albatross during two previous
breeding seasons, but the threesome
did not work out. This time, the two
females took turns sitting on the egg.
Sam Inder, the manager of the Centre,
said, "It's an unusual situation because
we've had a triangle with one male and
two females for the past couple of
years, and obviously that hasn't been
terribly conducive to getting on with a
breeding programme. This year the
male left the trio, but obviously not
before he had mated with one of the
females."
The male has not been seen since, and
Mr Inder told the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, "My
personal view would be having to live
with two women might be just a bit
demanding."
Initially, rangers at the centre were not
sure whether the female pair would
stay together, so they tried them out
with a dummy egg. When they proved
to be good parents, the original egg
was returned to the nest. Now the
ladies are taking turns to guard the
chick and fly out to sea to fetch food.
There are about 140 Royal Albatrosses
on the colony with wingspans of nearly
10 feet. This season 17 chicks have
hatched from 17 fertile eggs, a rare 100
per cent success rate.
Following widespread coverage of the
newborn Albatross with two mothers,
including in the gay press, Tourism
Dunedin is now canvassing
suggestions for a name for the chick.
It is not the only same-sex pairing
within the animal world on the Otago
Peninsula, just south of Dunedin.
Currently, two male Yellow-eyed
Penguins – an endangered species like
the royal Albatross– are incubating an
egg.
Kathy Marks, Asia-Pacific Correspondent
http://www.independent.co.uk/
environment/nature/lesbian-albatrosses
-to-raise-their-chick-1887658.html
A Bird’s Eye View
GLENDORA -- A parrot named "Milo" is safe and sound
back in his cage after spending 24 hours on the lam. The 4year-old Senegal Parrot, worth about $4,000, flew out of
his house on St. Vladimir Street Thursday about 9 a.m.
when someone accidentally left the front door open. Milo
was spotted flying around the neighborhood, stopping to
rest on several trees.
Neighbors tried to coax Milo out of one of the trees, but
then he disappeared. His owner, Sara Johnson, feared that
maybe her prized green and yellow parrot had been eaten
by a Hawk or some other predator until they spotted him
around 6 a.m. Friday morning sitting on a tree branch
about 30 feet above the ground.
Page 7
The Glendora police department, firefighters and animal
control officers got into the act -- all trying to get the
wayward bird to come down off of his perch. But, Milo
wasn't ready to come home just yet -- the call of the wild
was just too great.
Finally, with the lure of some orange peels and nuts, Milo
finally decided it was time to end his aerial adventure.
Johnson's friends used a ladder to reach Milo and brought
him down.
"He looks pretty tired and is ready for some rest and
relaxation," Johnson said.
"We're so happy to have him back."
"We heard him singing 'Row, row, row your boat' and we
knew Milo was back," Johnson told KTLA. "We were
relieved, but he still wouldn't come down."
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-parrotescapes,0,788918.story
An Australian weatherman may have learned to keep his eyes off the
skies and on the large birds near him. Steve Jacobs of the 9 Network
was about to give a weather report earlier this month at the Taronga
Zoo in Sydney when a bird got a little frisky with him.
Jacobs was pinned against the wall by the Pelican. He got a pecking
in his backside before the bird began to nibble on his jacket.
The bird's handler eventually got it to back off, and Jacobs was
unharmed in the avian assault.
The broadcaster joked he will now be "emotionally scarred" by the
attack.
http://www.whiotv.com/news/22578796/detail.html
Page 8
A Bird’s Eye View
As you know each member is to bring something for the
Refreshment Table when it is your month. This month
people whose last names begin with R-Z are to bring
food. Sign up on the sheet on the Food Table and go
to Dawn and she will give you TWO raffle tickets. In
order to get two raffle tickets, you must bring food or
contribute at least $5 in the donation jar. Even if your
name does not begin with those letters, please feel free to bring
food anyway and get two free raffle tickets!
The crew that sets up the food table requests that members please keep out of that area. If
you need to wash your hands or get water for your bird, please use the rest room. It is just across the
hall and should not be a problem.
We thank the following people who brought food last month. We hope you won something nice with your free tickets!!!
Thank you to: Ruth and Jennifer Kain, Dj Blanchette, Jacqui Baric, Vaughan Rider, Samantha Wendell, Hazel Lampe, M.E.
Morikawa, Porter Family, Kathleen Miller, CJ Forray, Teresa Rees, Dawn Camacho, Evi Binder, Cheryn Roff, Christine
Kranzler, Marshall Winer, Trish Pettinelli, and Ed Abrams.
See everyone on March 19. Remember the speaker will be Mark Stafford from Parrots International. This should be a
terrific meeting. Be sure and plan to attend. Remember to bring something to the snack table and get your name listed
above next month—AND GET TWO RAFFLE TICKETS!!!
Phone: 818-883-3007
FAX: 818-883-4177
21731 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
Handfed Babies Cages Toys Food Boarding Grooming
E V E RY T H I N G Y O U R B I R D C O U L D WAN T !
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 9
State of California –Natural Resources Agency
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
Upland Game Branch
1812 Ninth Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.dfg.ca.gov
2/18/2010
The California Department of Fish & Game is conducting a Mourning Dove Banding Program this summer, requesting
public assistance in evaluating California’s Mourning Dove population as part of a National Study.
Volunteers for this project will pay no fee to participate and can do so from the comfort of their own homes between the
months of June and August, 2010. All supplies will be issued to participating individuals by CDFG after certification. Our
volunteers range from all types of people; those who work from home, retired, mechanics who have shop with a viewable
open lot, and even families who do this together on their weekends and spare time. This is a fun and easy helpful activity
for all.
Volunteers must first complete a two-hour training course led by CDFG Biologists. Program participants should be over
18, have good organizational skills, and a commitment to wildlife preservation. The trapping and banding work is
typically done in the early morning (dawn-10am) and late evening (5pm-dusk), volunteers who can only work limited
hours or on certain days can still be utilized and are welcome.
Training meetings will be to teach how to identify, age, sex, and band this specie. Meetings will take place in April and
May of 2010. I am requesting, if interested, a location of where volunteers can meet for an orientation, and possible dates
to schedule and advertise to the general public.
You must attend at least one meeting to attain a Legal Certified Bird Handling Permit for 2010.
Volunteers can place traps almost anywhere, even in their own yards, to be checked on within every hour it is set. When a
Mourning Dove is trapped, you will band its right leg, record the band number data, and release it back into the wild.
Trapping season ends on August 20th. All traps must be pulled and CDFG will need all materials shipped back to the
Sacramento Office for database entry ASAP.
All band recovery data is reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Bird Banding Laboratory, where it is added to the national
database. Wildlife managers use this information to keep track of the species’ survival and harvest rates.
For more detailed information about the program or to reserve a space at a training session, please contact Heather Hlusak
by e-mail at [email protected] or (916) 445-3445.
Conserving California’s Wildlife Since 1870
Page 10
A Bird’s Eye View
Written by Giovanni Lauricella
Endangered Scarlet Macaws born in captivity are
reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica’s
southern Pacific Coast.
The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered
Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the
last decade. But biologists didn’t spot offspring until last
year, biologist Laura Fournier said.
Since then, they have recorded 22 chicks born in the wild,
and four more Scarlet Macaw couples have laid eggs,
Fournier said.
The parrots once occupied all of Costa Rica. But hunting
and poaching dramatically cut their population, and they
now are found only in two national parks along the coast.
The biologists’ goal is for 200 birds to populate an
isolated coastal area.
Chicks are hatched at the ZooAve center in La Garita
northwest of the capital, San Jose. At six months, they
take a 200-mile trip to the southern city of Golfito, then
travel by boat to a beach and finally the isolated San
Josecito conservation center far from human settlements.
There they spend up to three more months in captivity
before being released.
The parrots, which live up to 80 years, can start
reproducing at age 7. Of ZooAve’s 86 Scarlet Macaws,
54 are in the reproduction program.
Many parrots in the breeding program were confiscated
by environmental authorities or turned in by their former
owners. Some can’t leave the sanctuary because they
don’t know how to survive in the wild.
“Many don’t even know how to feed themselves,”
Fournier said.
Eco Preservation Society
http://www.ecointeractivevacations.com/index.php/travel
-blog/174-costa-ricas-endangered-scarlet-macaws-born-in
-captivity-are-reproducing-in-the-wild
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 11
May 13-16, 2010
US Grant Hotel
326 Broadway
San Diego, California
• Room Rate Reduced to $149 (You can have
that rate for 3 days before & 3 days after. Go
see Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Sea World, etc.
• Premium Pass Includes everything (except Zoo
Day) - $395
• Thursday Evening Speakers’ Reception - $40
• Friday Breakfast, Symposium, Lunch, Dinner
Party - $260
• Dinner Party Only - $85
• Saturday Breakfast, Symposium, Lunch - $175
• Sunday, May 16 - Optional VIP San Diego Zoo
Day & Catered Dinner - $100
This is a wonderful opportunity to meet avian
enthusiasts from around the globe!
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: parrotsinternational.org
Speakers From Around the World
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Mariangela Allgayer, D.V.M. (Brazil - Conservation of the
Green-winged Macaw and Toco Toucan)
Dr. Nigel Collar (UK - The African Grey Parrot &
Conservation)
Olivier Chassot (Costa Rica - Conservation of the Greatgreen Macaw in Costa Rica & Nicaragua)
Jaime Jimenez, Ph.D. (The Slender-billed Conure Research & Conservation Strategies)
LoraKim Joyner, D.V.M. (Gainesville, Florida Compassionate Conservation)
Rosemary Low (UK - Parrot Author & Avicultural Expert)
Steve Martin (Florida – Natural Encounters - Parrot Behavior)
Mike Perrin, Ph.D. (South Africa - South African Parrots)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Paul Salaman, Ph.D. (Washington, D.C. - World Land
Trust - Saving Habitat of Endangered Parrots Via Land
Acquisition)
Sara Lara Salaman (International Director for American
Bird Conservancy - Endangered Parrots of Colombia and
ProAves Colombia)
Pedro Scherer Neto, Ph.D. (Brazil - Amazona
braziliensis, Hyacinth Macaw, Green-winged Macaw)
Mark Stafford, D.D.S. (Parrots International - Parrots
International Projects)
Dr. Darrel Styles, D.V.M., Ph.D. (USA - Avian Flu Task Force Updates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Ryan Watson (Qatar – Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation the Blue Macaws in Aviculture)
The Parrots International Symposium is now the largest annual parrot conservation conference, and this year it has qualified for
continuing education credit, co-sponsored by the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. We also enjoy co-sponsorship by
the UCLA Institute of the Environment and the UCLA Center for Tropical Research. All proceeds from the Symposium go directly to the
field to parrot conservation projects. We are 501(c)(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization with the goal of benefiting parrots everywhere
by promoting and fostering international cooperation.
Go to website to register, make hotel reservations, or print out a form to mail in.
http://www.pisymposium.org
Page 12
A Bird’s Eye View
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
March 7 - Everybody’s Bird Mart, Pomona
March 19 - Mark Stafford, Parrots International
April 16 - Jamie McLeod - Birdie Feng Shui
April 16 - 18 - America’s Family Pet Expo, Orange County
Fairgrounds
May 21 - Patricia Volger - “Photos of Trip to Brazil”
June 18 - Dave Weeshoff, Antarctica - “Birds,
Beasts, and Bergs - A Southern Ocean Experience”
July 16 - Rebecca O’Connor
August 20 - Annual Picnic
September 17 - Attila Molnar, DVM - “Why I Became a
Vet and Interesting Cases”
October - 15 - Alan Pollack, Audubon - Gardening to
Attract Birds
November 19 - Bonnie Jay - The Magic is in the Moment
December 17 - Christmas Potluck
January 21—Lorrie Mitchell - Australia & New Zealand
Please take an active role with the club. It's great fun. If you would like to help
at any of the events, contact M.E. at 818-766-6425.
Bring “poop paper” for your bird’s use.
Clean up after your parrot (poop and
food).
Do not allow your bird to roam around at
will (on chairs, etc.) or get close to other
birds.
Clip those wings! Meeting hall doors may
be open.
Bio-security may be in place at the meeting
entrance.
Use antiseptic hand wipes before touching
other birds—respect other parrots’ health.
Birds brought to meeting must be healthy
and not have been treated for illness for 30
days.
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 13
Yale graduate student Jakob Vinther
and colleagues, using a scanning
electron microscope, discovered
melanosomes in the dark bands of a
hundred-million-year-old feather. In
2009 Vinther's group went on to show
that another fossilized feather would
have been iridescent in a living bird,
due to microscopic light-refracting
surfaces created by stacked
melanosomes.
These earlier findings proved it was
possible for melanosomes from
dinosaur times to survive in fossils. But
until now no one had found the
pigments in dinosaurs—other than
birds, which many paleontologists
consider to be dinosaurs. And no one
had used melanosome shape and
Sinosauropteryx is the first fossil density to infer color.
dinosaur to have its color scientifically
established.
Illustration courtesy James Robins
Pigments have been found in fossil
dinosaurs for the first time, a new
study says.
The discovery may prove once and for
all that dinosaurs' hairlike filaments—
sometimes called dino fuzz—are
related to bird feathers, paleontologists
announced today. The finding may also
open up a new world of prehistoric
color, illuminating the role of color in
dinosaur behavior and allowing the
first accurately colored dinosaur recreations, according to the study team,
led by Fucheng Zhang of China's
Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology.
The team identified fossilized
me l a n o s o me s — p i gme n t -b e a r i n g
organelles—in the feathers and
filament-like "protofeathers" of fossil
birds and dinosaurs from northeastern
China.
Found in the feathers of living birds,
the nano-size packets of pigment—a
hundred melanosomes can fit across a
human hair—were first reported in
fossil bird feathers in 2008. That year,
End of Dinosaur-Bird Debate?
Even as the hundred-million-year-old
bird melanosomes were being
announced in 2008, the team behind
the January 2010 report was using a
scanning electron microscope to study
minute details of feathered birds and
dinosaurs found in Liaoning Province,
China, a region famous for yielding
thousands of exquisitely preserved
animals that lived between 131 and 120
million years ago (prehistoric time
line).
The Liaoning Project put the team in a
unique position to attempt the first
melanosome discovery in dinosaurs.
"When we saw the Vinther paper, we
said, Hey, look at this, and we found
melanosomes immediately," said study
co-author Mike Benton, a
paleontologist at the University of
Bristol in England.
The new study, published online today
by the journal $ature, is "scientifically
sound," said Hans Dieter-Sues, a
paleontologist at the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum of
Natural History in Washington, D.C.,
who was not involved in the research.
"I think the researchers really are
looking at the fossilized remnants of
melanosomes," he added in his email.
Among the fossil dinosaurs studied
were several that were preserved with
dino fuzz, such as the turkey-size
carnivore Sinosauropteryx. Some
researchers argue that these
controversial hairlike filaments, each
about the width of a human hair, are
fossilized internal collagen and not
related to feathers.
The results reported today show that
the filaments are packed with
melanosomes in the same way as
modern feathers. "These filaments are
probably the evolutionary precursors of
true feathers," Benton said.
The Smithsonian's Sues added, "I think
that one can safely say that this find
invalidates some recent attempts to
deny the existence of protofeathers in
birdlike dinosaurs by claiming (without
compelling evidence) that they are
degraded collagen fibers."
University of Maryland paleontologist
Thomas Holtz agreed, saying it's now
up to skeptics "to either prove that
internal collagen structures have
melanosomes or melanosome-like
elements—or to accept that dinosaurs
had protofeathers."
Will this end the controversy about
dino fuzz?
"It will definitely help end the debate,"
said Zhonghe Zhou, director of the
Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology
and a participant in the study. "But
there are still many issues that need to
be further investigated," Zhou said.
"What we've done here is to provide
another line of evidence that the
fiberlike filaments found in some
dinosaurs are indeed protofeathers."
As for whether the discovery more
securely establishes the evolutionary
(Continued on page 21)
Page 14
A Bird’s Eye View
Takes a moment to figure it out.
From 210 Freeway Exit San Dimas Avenue. Go South to Bonita & turn Right. Enter driveway next to San Dimas Grain and
park behind SDG. From the 57 Freeway take the Arrow Highway exit and go straight ahead. You will be on Bonita. Enter
driveway next to San Dimas Grain and park behind SDG. Meeting starts at 2, but come early for lunch!
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 15
Frank W. Lavac, MS/DVM, DABVP - Avian Medicine (Board Certified)
Pernilla Edstrom, DVM Michelle Jack, DVM, Anne Dueppen, DVM Jim Schulke, DVM, DABVP Maryam Alemzadeh, DVM
Remember—please send photos of your bird to
the editor at [email protected]. Do you have a
nice story about your bird? Please send those in
also.
The club collects old magazines which we sell
at the Bird Mart. Please bring anything you are
done with to the next meeting. Just give them to
a Board Member.
This is your newsletter. If you have any articles
to share, please send them to me at
[email protected]. Why not just write a little
something about one of your birds - something
cute it does, etc.
Ruth
Page 16
A Bird’s Eye View
West Valley Bird Society interviewed this very silly
“upside-down bird” and these were her replies:
Name: Ms. Phoenix Sophie House
Age: How rude! You should never ask a lady to
disclose her age. Where are your manners?
Marital status: Married to Mr. Pepper House (Okay,
it’s a loveless marriage – more like a roommate
situation)
Memberships: WVBS, WLABC, SBBS, and we
love Bird Talk magazine, especially the centerfold.
Favorite foods: Green veggies, yellow veggies,
orange veggies, yams, bananas, brown rice, pasta.
Spinach pasta. Whole grain pasta. Just gimme
pasta! I like it cooked. I like it dry. I like it tri-color
and I like it while hanging upside down! Am I
starting to sound like Dr. Seuss? I don’t eat green
eggs and ham though and my name isn’t Sam I Am.
Favorite past time: Ordering the dogs around &
cuddling with PapaBird (Chris House)
Favorite human: MamaBird (April House) because
she comes home from work and lets me out of the
cage! I love to be held. She loves to photograph me
and make me feel like I have my very own
paparazzo.
Favorite bird: Hmmm. Well, Pepper is starting to
grow on me.
Places you’ve been: I’ve been told I was an egg and
a hatchling in Arizona before I lived at a pet store in
Long Beach. I then lived with an interior designer
and I got to travel with him to Palm Springs and all
over the place for about six months. I then moved in
with a great family in the Palisades and I had a
roommate they called “Maui.” He was an Umbrella
Cockatoo. He would look at me and say “Hi
Maui.” What a bozo. My other roommates were
Great Danes! I loved to call out their names and
mess with them. About ten years later (maybe
2006?) I moved in with MamaBird and PapaBird
(House) in Playa del Rey. We’re one big happy
flock!
A Bird’s Eye View
Page 17
Paul Wellman
With two California Condor eggs already found in the
Sespe Wilderness and another six pairs of birds acting
like they’re ready to nest, experts say that it could be a
“very busy year” for the endangered species’ Southern
California population.
“It’s about the time we expect them to start having eggs
and get their nests going,” explained Fish & Wildlife
spokesperson Michael Woodbridge on Friday. “And it
looks like we could have the potential for as many as
seven or eight nests total.” There are usually only about
four to six nests per season.
The expected bump is because a number of pairs that had
successfully fledged two years ago are again looking for
nests and at least one pair that fledged a chick last year is
looking to do it again in 2010. In 2009, there were six
total nests in the southern Los Padres National Forest,
said Woodbridge, but only two chicks successfully
fledged. Of the four lost eggs, one was eaten by a bear,
one chick died en route to the veterinarian after ingesting
microtrash, and a third egg simply disappeared overnight.
The two current eggs are located near the Hopper Mountain
Wildlife Refuge, and both are in caves that sit on the side of
sheer cliffs. One was laid on February 10, and while biologists
are still attempting to reach the second egg to confirm its
fertility, it’s estimated to have been laid on February 14.
Researcher Estelle Sandhaus with the Santa Barbara Zoo,
which recently welcomed the arrival of an adult bird to be
part of its condor exhibit, is especially excited about the
pair of birds numbered 111 and 125. That pair had
trouble nesting in the wild before, so they were captured,
learned how to breed successfully in captivity, and then
released. “That season they bred successfully in the
wild,” said Sandhaus, and they’re back at it. “Once pairs
succeed once in fledging a chick, they’re more likely to
succeed again.”
The increasing success of the Southern California
population is attributed to the nest-guarding techniques
being pioneered by Sandhaus and Fish & Wildlife biologist
Joseph Brandt. “It’s really dramatically increased the
success of chicks fledging,” said Woodbridge, explaining
that now an average of 70 percent of chicks fledge per
season compared to old rates as low as 15 percent. “That’s
a pretty big improvement there.”
The Condor program is still seeking more volunteers to
take part in the nest-guarding program, and those who are
interested should email [email protected].
http://www.independent.com/news/2010/feb/28/twocalifornia-condor-eggs-already-found/