Abstract
I have travelled extensively in pursuit of rare and mutation-colored birds since my teens and have with great pleasure met many extraordinary men and woman all over the world-men and women who have contributed substantially to aviculture in their own unique ways. Having visited many of the private and public psittacine collections on four continents, it takes something really special to overwhelm me.
Overwhelmed I was, though, when I first saw the magnificently beautiful American cobalt Indian Ring-necked Parakeet. But, perhaps more extraordinary than the bird itself, is the man
whom this article is focused on - Mr. Gordon Hayes. In the specialized mutation-colored parrot world, he truly is a man among men.
Born April 13, 1918 in Los Angeles, California young Gordon was special even at birth as he was born a twin. Having three brothers and one sister, he grew up during the great depression enjoying the simple pleasures of what his father's modest income provided during such difficult times.
At the age of eight, Gordon Hayes took an interest in racing pigeons, built a loft in the backyard, and started flying his own birds. His enthusiasm carried over to his older brother and even
to his father as they both joined in his racing pigeon hobby.
By the time Hayes was 15 he had started his own pigeon club, and two years later he started yet a second larger club called the Lincoln Racing Pigeon Club. Racing pigeons had become an important interest in his life but little did he know how they would indirectly influence his destiny and the paths he was to take in the future.
Gordon's grandfather maintained a gentleman's ranch in a suburb of Los Angeles called Montebello. The property next to his grandfather's had several large aviaries with hundreds of budgies, demonstrating fabulous colors. This menagerie of color greatly impressed Hayes and ignited his interest in foreign birds. His family physician, knowing that he was keen on all species of birds, gave him a few pairs of Zebra Finches and thus Hayes was on his way to breeding aviary birds, a hobby he would maintain over a life-
time. ·
Hayes attended Cal Poly University where he earned a bachelors degree in entomology. After graduation, he joined the county of Los Angeles and worked as a junior entomologist until he was drafted into the army in 1941. Hayes had nearly served all of his one year obligatory service when his military career was extended because of the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor.
Initially he served under General George Patton, training in the deserts
of California. Once the war was underway he was transferred to the "pigeon corps" where his expertise with racing pigeons was recognized and he was placed in charge of a "combat mobile pigeon loft."
His duties took him to the front lines of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, and France where he worked closely with the U.S. and British intelligence services. Oftentimes Hayes found himself on covert missions working side by side with spies and espionage specialists. The famous racing pigeon "G.I. Joe" was in Hayes' same outfit. While in North Africa, Hayes noticed that many local people kept a variety of song birds, Canaries, Budgies, and Ring-necked Parakeets. His powers of persuasion were successful enough to get him a few pairs of Budgies which he kept and bred in the Army pigeon lofts. After leaving Tunisia, the invasion of Italy took place. The pigeon corps was growing, but so was the level of danger.
When the war in Europe ended, Hayes finished his duty in the service as a Master Sergeant. He arrived home safely to Los Angeles in 1946 with his lovely Italian bride Sylvia whom he met while on duty in Northern Italy.
He was hired by the city of Los Angeles and went to work as a public health inspector. On a picturesque site overlooking the Pacific Ocean Hayes and his wife established their residence and built his pigeon lofts and
aviaries.
In the late 1940s, David West sold Hayes his first hookbilled birds (aside from Budgies)---one pair of Princess of Wales and one pair of Elegant Parakeets. Hayes followed up on his interest with Budgies and soon became a regular on the English Budgie show circuit exhibiting his own fine champions. About this same time he acquired one pair of green Indian Ring-necked Parakeets which went on to produce the first sex-linked cinnamon Ringnecks in the United States. Oddly enough, there was no appreciation for that particular color mutation at that time, forcing Hayes to wholesale more than 20 cinnamons to a dealer to unload his excess stock.
Fortunately, the lack of interest in cinnamon Ringnecks did not dissuade Hayes from working with other colored mutations of that species. His affiliation and friendship with Ray Thomas (a wealthy businessman with a private zoo permit), Dave West (a pioneer in mutation birds), Max Sanders (a sharp bird dealer), and Mr. & Mrs. Poi (friends who had excess aviary space) allowed him a network from which he could pool resources and maximize his breeding efforts.
Ray Thomas once mentioned to Hayes that he personally knew the Minister of Agriculture in Fiji. When Hayes became interested in importing parrots, he and Thomas asked the Minister for help with permits.