Abstract
The Avy Awards were established in the early years of the American Federation of A viculture (A.F.A.) to honor individuals, avicultural clubs, zoos, etc. for outstanding work in both avicultural achievements and in the area of service. The president-elect each year gives out several service awards to those individuals within A.F.A. who have given outstanding service to this organization. The Avy Awards Committee was established to set standards and give awards for several distinctive categories. The following gives the background and rules for each category.
U.S. First Breeding AvyAward
This very popular award is given to those individuals who have reproduced an avian species (subspecies) successfully for the first time within the U.S. The title of this article, though written with tongue-in-cheek, is somewhat accurate. As Don Wells, a very knowledgeable and accomplished aviculturist, and I have discussed many times, the pairs of birds which successfully hatched the first occurring offspring within the U.S. should be given the credit. Their owners usually have done very little besides supplying the housing and diet for these birds. When an aviculturist has successfully reproduced offspring consistantly for several generations and has established several distinctive genetic lines, an award should be given to the aviculturist for the dedication they have given to this species. This is a much more prestigious award than the first breeding award. The A vy Awards Committee does give an award for this type of work. It is one of the Silver A vy A wards.
The following are the rules for the U.S. first breeding nominations:
1) The offspring of the species nominated must be self-sufficient (completely weaned and feeding on its own) whether parent-reared or by handfeeding.
2) Include the name, address and telephone of all individuals directly responsible for rearing the species.
3) A well documented avicultural article must be written describing the successful rearing of each nominated species. It must include common and scientific names and the hatch date of the first successful offspring. Guidelines on what to include in the article can be obtained from the A vy Awards Committee through the A.F.A.'s Home Office. This article will be published in the A.F.A.'s Watchbird magazine for publicity and to aid in confirmation.
4) Color photographs (prints or transparencies) of both the parent
birds and the offspring. This is for identification purposes and to be used with the written article.
5) Names, addresses and telephone numbers of at least two outside persons who can confirm the successful breeding.
6) Any subspecies nominated must be clearly identifiable from other subspecies to qualify. These may include defined color and/or size differences. Subspecies of those birds previously reproduced only to the species level will not qualify unless they can be proved.
Silver Avy Awards
The Silver A vy A wards are achievement awards for avicultural successes. These take time and are, in my opinion, well earned awards. There are four categories.
1) Nominations for Silver awards may be initiated by the person or institution achieving the success. But this should not discourage other persons from nominating others who have achieved the success but are unwilling to nominate themselves.
2) Persons nominated for a Silver award must belong to the A.F.A.
3) Achievements must have occurred within the U.S. (50 states).