Abstract
The subject of surgery seems, at first glance, to be strongly out of context with the directives of domestic propagation and endangered species survival. The purpose of this presentation is to accurately identify the inter-dependency of these two
subjects, as well as to promote the concepts of conservation for avian species which are in danger of, or being added to, the list of endangered birds already documented at this time. The idea of surgical sexing clinics came about as a result of several concepts that came together coincidentally several years ago. The foremost influence came about in the form of Dr. Scott McDonald , who is well-known for his efforts to promote avicultural medicine and domestic propagation.
Dr. McDonald was concluding his residency at the University of California at Davis at the time I was beginning my own, and his approach to the problems of aviculture as a veterinarian was both unique and effective in northern California at the time. The other major factors that presented themselves in the 1980s were the reality that foreign bird importation had begun to show signs of decreasing. Aviculturists were beginning to realize that domestic propagation could be simultaneously environmentally important and financially rewarding, and that surgical sexing offered some di stinct advantages over the techniques of fecal...