"If I Were Allowed To Keep Only One Species"

This column is dedicated to those admirable birdkeepers who only have one bird, who do not sell birds or reproduce birds or collect birds; those who acquired a cage bird out of fascination for avian creatures and are satisfied to lavish all care and daily attentions upon that one.

I remember a few years ago at a national convention, playing a game in the hospitality rooms at the end of the day. "If you could only keep one species of bird, which one would it be?" was asked of differing aviculturists.

"Um, well, uh, gee, I could never decide.." was the most common reply. And after the convention, I continued to think about this one species question. What a wonderful way to focus birdkeeping energies--choosing a single avian species and committing to building up a stable avicultural flock. Or choosing one species and keeping a single, unrelated pair in the home as reproducing pets. Or selecting one special bird of that one species and limiting yourself to that one...Given that the opposite of this attitude is the habitually spontaneous, often thoughtless "collecting" of one bird after another with little real time to closely observe the instinctual attributes of each bird, I can see where this might become exciting; but truly it does little to further the wisdoms of captive birdkeeping, nor to enhance an atmosphere of conservation in the wilds.

When asked which of his birds was the favorite, someone once said, "My newest!" As consumerism and acquisitiveness exist in America today, so they also exist in aviculture. But I must admit that the joys of quiet observation and "connecting" with my birds have come to far outweigh the joy of buying a new one. And birdkeeping with a smaller flock certainly saves on work.

If I were allowed to keep only one bird-species... Much has been said these days about government regulation of the huge avicultural industry. I can understand official willingness to collect tax-type licensing fees as is done with dogs and cats; but I am hardly in favor of restrictive regulations. More animal laws with lackluster and uneven enforcement is NOT what the government needs. Still, I must admit to having seen some despicably filthy and overcrowded bird breeder facilities down through the years. Too many species...too little individual attention. If huge commercial "puppy farm" type breeding places insist on acquiring enough animals to fill a small zoo; it might be appropriate to subject them to some additional zoo-like regulations.

Over the past several years, I have made the decision to pass on from my aviaries all the non-Yellow-crown amazon species. I have specialized in keeping Yellow-crowns for a decade, but also had Blue fronts, Red-loreds, etc. When holding back my third and fourth generation Yellow-crown chicks for future pairing and breeding purposes, I began to notice a peculiar occurrence with the youngsters. The fledglings, especially the males, took to imitating the raucous vocalizations of the Blue fronts and Red-loreds--much to my chagrin! Yellow-crown amazons, you see, are not a particularly loud parrot. They have more of a natural "shout" or "call" than a piercing shriek or screech of many other amazons. So here I was keeping several types of amazons in close proximity with the result that my favorite talking species was as young birds learning to loudly scream. Furthermore, strong conservation feelings about domestic aviculture led me to conclude that the purity of the Yellow-crown chicks hatched here was seriously compromised if they grew up confusing their parents' and grandparents' calls with other amazon calls. Decision: To limit myself to one species of amazon and try producing offspring with the most unadulterated vocalizations.

If I could only keep one species... During the year I was working on the special issue on Lories and Lorikeets for AFA's WATCHBIRD Magazine, I became acquainted with and much admired an aviculturist named Carl McCullough, who was devoting his birdkeeping energies to a single species--the marvelous Stella's Lorikeet. Think what kind of contribution one can make to captive (and wild) avian knowledge, when all one's flights are occupied by varying members of a single species. Truly, one of the faults of many avicultural writings--my own sometimes included--are that they are forced to draw conclusions from the keeping of few individual personalities of a single bird type. Close observation of a flock of 25 parakeets, sons, daughters, uncles, great-grandparents, wild-trapped, handfeds, etc., etc. is certain to glean more substantial, and less aberrant information than observations made of two or three of these same birds, no matter how closely they are kept in a home. I believe, if world captive aviculture is going to rise above its current levels of scientific acceptance, its practitioners must begin to emphasize more such single-species facilities.

When choosing a single species upon which to focus, the best way is to proceed VERY slowly. Spontaneous buying is one of the major banes to the birdkeeper's long-term contentment. As is limiting the factors you consider. A client recently called me about getting an African Grey. When I extolled the attractive properties of the Timneh subspecies, she dismissed these likable psittacines with a, "Oh, I don't much like the looks of them." Appearance is, to me, strictly superficial, and makes one of the poorer justifications for deciding or not deciding to choose a bird species. Characteristic behavior, climate considerations, noise, breeding habits, care, space requirements, flight needs, and the like are much more important. Tis good to remember that, in choosing one species of bird, you are not acquiring individual birds as much as selecting a family--a flock whose discreet differences and, of course, similarities--will both educate and delight.

If I could only keep one species... well, were I not a Hawaii resident where they are banned, it would have to be one of the lories; otherwise I guess the Yellow-crowns, or my original Sun conures, or the kings, or... oh, heck ... after all, it's just a game. Aloha nui loa, EB