FEATURE ARTICLE BY: ADAM MOGG
ou might expect a dramatic title such as ‘Once they’re gone we’ve lost them forever’ to relate to a rare and endangered species of Amazon Parrot, with a limited island range, or one of the Black Cockatoos, with a tiny gene pool within European aviculture. But no, on this occasion I refer to some of the previously commonly bred species of parakeet, which appear now to be rarely appreciated or bred in any numbers. This situation is being made worse by mixed subspecies and even species being paired together, in addition to the proliferation of mutations, not in addition to normal birds, but instead of normal birds. All of this, during a period when the numbers of individuals actually keeping and breeding birds, has decreased sharply. Anyway, before I ramble on with my own views, a little about my own bird keeping experiences and how they relate to my concerns. I’ve kept birds on and off for 34 years, my father and both my grandfathers kept birds, my first being a pair of Budgies when I was aged 6. This
Y
’RE GONE T THEM
I’ve kept birds on and off for 34 years, my father and both my grandfathers kept birds, my first being a pair of Budgies when I was aged 6. This developed through my teens, until I had a mixed show team, with everything from Hummingbirds, Flowerpeckers and Sunbirds, to Waxbills, Mannikins and Whydahs.
developed through my teens, until I had a mixed show team, with everything from Hummingbirds, Flowerpeckers and Sunbirds, to Waxbills, Mannikins and Whydahs. In addition I bred numbers of Australian Finches, mostly Gouldians, and all parent reared. My collection, and in reality other than the Australian Finches, it was just that, a collection in planted aviaries, developed to include some Australian Parakeets. Turquoisines, Bourkes, Elegants,
Redrumps, Manycoloured and Stanleys were all kept and bred reasonably well. A cherished pair of Swifts were eventually received from a Belgian breeder in exchange for 12 pairs of Gouldians. This was 1983, these being the first Swifts I had ever seen, unfortunately they never laid an egg, let alone reared a chick. As I reached my mid teens, the attractions of nightclubs, fashion, music, alcohol and above all girls, led me to moving on from keeping softbills and indeed showing birds, though I still kept a number of small seedeaters. Violet Eared Waxbills, Purple
BIRD SCENE 33
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