Richard Topper

Abstract

Rchard Topper was born and
raised in southern Wisconsin.
He lived and worked for several years
in ew York. Over the many years he
worked for American Express , he
lived in Hong Kong, Australia and
many locations in Europe.
Richard began his interest in breeding
birds in the mid-1960s. His interest
was piqued by the birds he saw being
bred (or attempted) by many of the
business acquaintances he had in
Europe, Australia and the Orient.
Many of these people were attempting
to breed different species of parrots
and finches. Several were attempting
to breed hummingbirds. This intrigue
over the difficulty and the challenges
it presented caused him to try it for
himself.
Richard and his wife Bonnie began
with finches and canaries. They bred
Gouldians , Cut Throats and many
other species. He soon saw a challenge
in breeding and showing English
Budgies. During this period ,
Richard's job required him to travel
extensively . He found many other
breeders and began to increase his
interest in the parrot family.
In 1971 , they moved to a ranch in
Gilroy, California and began to breed
in earnest. They acquired birds from
around the world and began the
attempt to reproduce each pecies.
They bred many other avian types
such as Ground Fowl (Guinea, Pea
and Specialty Chickens) and Waterfowl
(Ducks, Geese and Swans). They
also raised Koi and Guinea Pigs.
In 1975, Richard had began to rai e
birds as a full-time occupation. His kitchen
always had boxes full of baby
birds that were being handfed. In
these boxes were all types of rosellas,

ringnecks, Amazons, macaws, cockatoos,
eclectus, conures of all types ,
African Greys, grass, racket and broad
tail parakeets as well as many others.
During the first years in Gilroy,
Richard began working with several
nutrition companies to help him
increase the production of his collection.
General knowledge of parrot and
finch nutrition was nonexistent.
Richard , working with the help of
these companies, watched the difference
in the production of the flock
when the birds were provided a balance
of nutritional supplements. Then
he began to modify the grains and
seeds to increase the nutrition provided
and increase production. Thus
the Topper Bird Ranch Diets were
developed.
In 1982, Richard and Bonnie moved
their collection of birds, dogs and cats
to Lexington, Torth Carolina. There
they built a new home and a new feed
mill to continue to produce the Topper
Bird Ranch Diets.
Richard and Bonnie branched out in
their interests. They began to raise
Llamas, Emus and Rheas . An attempt
was made to raise Wallabies, but the
winter proved too cold. Their interest
in orchids also expanded into several
greenhouses.
In 1985, Richard and Bonnie were
divorced. Shortly after the separation,
Richard met a lovely lady named Gail
and married her in 1986. Gail's interests
were not the parrots, but she did
enjoy the rattites. Gail's main interest
.is horses. Richard insisted that it had
to be a small horse, not a standard.
Gail has been doing exceptionally
well in the show ring with her miniature
horses. Their mini horse ranch is
known as GTR Mini Ranch.
Around 1990, Richard decided to
semi-retire and sold all of the orchids
and almost all of his birds. There
remained some eclectus, greys and a
macaw on the ranch.
About two years ago, Richard was
diagnosed with lung cancer. The
growth was slowed and it appeared
that headway was being made. But on
April 30, 1994, at the age of 62,
Richard lost his battle with cancer.
We will miss Richard for the assistance
he has given so many breeders.
The loss of knowledge from any one
individual is hard to measure, but, if
you measure it by the number of bird
breeders and pet owners he helped
over the years, it is a great loss.

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