Abstract
Picturesque Santa Barbara, nestled against mountains overlooking the blue Pacific one hundred miles north of Los Angeles, is the home of the nationally renowned Spanish Days Fiesta, U.C.S.B. campus, historic mission (still in use), and the aviaries of A.F.A. member Harry Linden.
Harry is relatively new to aviculture compared to some of the other members featured in this column. Nevertheless, he has quickly learned to apply the combination. of ingredients required to become a successful breeder, i.e. spacious housing, well-rounded diet, clean facilities, etc. He shows a facility for adapting the ideas of other successful aviculturists and has demonstrated that one does not have to have raised birds for years and years in order to consistently do well.
Although he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, Harry is practically a native of California, where he moved at the age of two. His family settled in Malibu and he has lived near the beach ever since. After high school Harry moved to Santa Barbara to attend college at U.C.S.B., where he obtained both his B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Mechanical Engineering.
While attending U.C.S.B. Harry met his lovely wife, Jeanette, who enthusiastically shares his interest in birds. In fact, Jeanette has been responsible for training their three pet Amazon Parrots, one of which (their favorite - a rare Blue-crowned) has learned to sing "You Are My Sunshine". Jeanette accomplished most of this simply by talking to the birds in the morning while preparing breakfast.
The Linden aviaries, locally known as the Santa Barbara Bird Farm, are well planned and sturdily constructed. They are made of wood and welded wire set on a concrete slab foundation. Harry feels the cement slab is easier to clean and facilitaites the prevention of internal parasites in his stock. The slab floor of his aviaries is sloped to allow water to run off. The drinking water system is automatic and under pressure. Each drinker is of the poultry type and is set in the flight partitions so that each waterer serves two flights. Below each waterer is a drain, which caries off water used to flush the drinkers during cleaning.
The most recently constructed group of aviaries uniquely features flight partitions constructed of W' x ~,. Nylon netting - unique since Psittacine birds are housed in these flights. The Nylon netting, obtained from Marsh Farms of Garden Grove, CA, has been in place for nearly two months and shows no signs of chewing damage from the Cockatiels and Grassparakeets inside. The outer perimeter is constructed of welded wire, so there is little chance of any escapes. These partitions are constructed in a manner that permits them to be rolled up or down at will. Consequently, one large flight or many smaller ones can be set-up in this unit in a matter of minutes (Harry plans an article on the construction details in a forthcoming issue).
Harry's first bird was a Maximillian Parrot. which he obtained with the proceeds from the sale of some tropical fish he had kept for many years. Harry had always wanted a pet parrot. however. when the bird refused to learn to talk it was replaced with another. It wasn't long before a pair of Cockatiels was acquired. A breed mg cage followed and, well, the bug had hit. The building of aviaries and the expansion of his collection have been an ongoing process - familiar to so many aviculturists.