Abstract
A Definition
I n more than 15 years of advocating natural methods of aviculture, I have yet to be asked what does natural birdkeeping mean? It is nearly self-explanatory. Still, a working definition might be in order.
An ideal arrangement would be keeping a single pair or flock of parrots in a cage the size of their territorial habitat in the wilds-a cage planted in vegetation native to their habitat, which would in turn provide food, shelter, and nesting needs for the birds. The aviculturist would then sit back and observe the psittacines, photograph and study them, harvest the offspring, and try to fit into the environment as unobtrusively as could be. Obviously, this is not a realistic scenario. Therefore, the working definition of natural birdkeeping is to make every effort to closely approach this ideal in whatever ways are feasible.
When duplication of the wilds in our home or aviary is not possible, the natural parrotkeeper still devotes full attention to trying to eliminate the artificial from aviculture-to replace the contrived, the fabricated with the natural.
Why? One Might Ask?
First of all, for the parrots themselves. For their health, their physical conditioning, their contentment and total well-being. Secondly, that we as psittaculturists may see and learn about the thousands of incredibly diverse facets of growth and behavior in the avian species we keep. Anyone who maintains that the only way to gather scientific knowledge about hookbills is by studying them in the wild state has not been reading the
published material. Each one of us has the opportunity to be a scientist, a researcher. By carefully creating natural environments for our birds, we increase the chances that the observations we make, the behavior our flock manifests, is a natural behavior--one that relates directly to the wild state for reasons of evolution and survival.
Indeed, survival of avian species is the ultimate goal-the goal of the birds when they eat, drink and reproduce, and the goal of we aviculturists who have been entrusted with their care. Make no mistake, my friends, the groundwork today being laid by conservationists who join hands with aviculturists and aviculturists who join hands with conservationists is paving the way with concrete techniques for reintroduction and management of avian species in safe habitats in the wilds.
When we practice natural methods of birdkeeping, we create a realm of understanding in our aviaries through which answers to complex questions can be achieved. I believe to keep birds naturally is to keep them in the right way. If difficulties arise, as they do in any aviary, a keeper can simply assess causes. Is the bird getting exercise, companionship, foliage to hide amidst and chew upon? Is the breeding pair stressed, overcrowded, bored with each other or the sameness of aviary routine?
We have found that natural answers to avicultural dilemmas tend to be correct answers. They work! And they keep those survival instincts-that wildness-in the birds, even if we cannot always keep the birds in the wilderness.
Feeding
Okay. Let's talk food. The most natural food for birds is live food. It has within it all the building blocks for proper nutrition existing in the amounts and combinations put there by mother nature. An apple is not just a combination of sugars, carbohydrates, cellulose fiber, vitamins, minerals and amino acids-it's an apple! That's why it tastes so good to humans and to birds. For what reason would a conscientious aviculturist smash, cook, dry and powder a bushel of apples, then re-feed them to his flock? If apples are not available, much better to choose cucumber, or pumpkin, persimmon, grapes or papaya, and feed them fresh and raw. As a friend and avicultural mentor of mine once explained, "The real advantage of feeding raw food is that it carries the message of life itself."
In the wild, our avian species eat only live and raw foods. In captivity, to feed anything less than 40% to 50% unprocessed fresh food is to do our birds a disservice. In our aviaries we offer 35% fresh food, 30% grains and pulses soaked or cooked on alternating days, 20% nuts and seeds, and 10% pellets, vitamins, people food and treats. We all know how quickly a fresh vegetable wilts and loses vitamins after being picked. The same is true when foods are processed. The first nutrients to he lost are the complex and fragile enzymes and fluids. Once gone, these are irreplaceable in the amounts and combination contained within the mother plant.
Now Don't Get Me Wrong! I am not condemning as valueless the sundry cooked and processed bird diets we see today. Even dry seed, if of good quality, is dormant but alive. I am only saying that natural parrotkeeping demands a variety of raw nourishment. Of course the optimum would he duplication of birds' native foods. I have a friend who raises rare black cockatoos and endangered macaws; she actively grows and gathers from local farmers the hard-to-acquire tropical kernels and palm fruits so much a part of these psittacines' natural food regimen.