Abstract
Recently when the noted English authoress and aviculturalist Mrs. Rosemary Low Grantham was visting with me she was asked by a newcomer to aviculture why she didn't start a school on how to be an aviculturist. Her sensible reply was basically this: you learn to be an aviculturist from experience, it is something that cannot be taught. I heartily agree with her statement. One can be schooled to be an ornithologist or a veterinarian but to be a true aviculturist one must first be endowed with sensitivity and a deep love for birds, and secondly be prepared to spend years of patient or impatient endeavor in order to achieve results. The true aviculturist will listen to his peers and gain from their experiences but in the end he must be willing to not only make use of what he has been taught, but to rely on that sixth sense every individual acquires who has ever excelled in a given field. This inward feeling which yesterday's aviculturists refered to as "that gut feeling" will often save the day when problems are confronted. Some people are born naturals and exhibit this sixth sense naturally but most have to develop it through experience. To those who have it, some of the things we are about to write will come as no great revelation. Others won't believe it and still others will cry "crazy". Nevertheless, an aviculturist can become so in rapport with his birds that he instinctively knows when something is amiss with one of the specimens by simply looking at it.
Therefore, this article is not intended to convey the idea, as so many of late have tried to do, that we are putting forth the ultimate in avicultural husbandry. That would be too great a claim for even the best to make because each genus of psittacines would require a life time of study and experience even to begin to understand the parrots particular wants and needs. Because of our success in breeding amazons and due to the many requests we annually receive for information on this subject we of the New Age Ranch (Life Fellowship) wish to share some facts and theories that may prove beneficial to the beginner.
Selecting The Amazons You Wish To Breed
Today's aspiring aviculturist is fortunate in having a large stock of imports to choose from for potential breeders. A few years ago we would pick up a lone, long term cage pet and hope to find another of the opposite sex and then spend two to three years getting them into breeding condition. When the birds were introduced to each other we were faced with the problem of whether they would be compatible or not. Just throwing two amazons of the opposite sex together does not always result in a breeding. There were no surgical or the other means of sexing available. The would-be breeder had to trust in his ability to sight sex. When one considers such impossible barriers confronted even fifteen years ago we can well be amazed by the breeding successes accomplished.
Many people today have beginner's luck and breed right from the start a species that yesterday was considered difficult or impossible. Because of these initial achievements some individuals become overnight authorities. After some bitter disappointments however they will usually go on to become seasoned aviculturists and appreciate just how difficult and touchy the art is really is.
Years ago it was argued that a tame amazon did not make a good breeder. This is not always true. I have only known of one such pet that has been so people imprinted that it refused to pair off. Most of our breeders were long term caged pets usually past twenty years of age when we received them. They were often feather pickers which is usually a good indication they are sexually frustrated and ready to breed. Sometimes they required two to four seasons to get the hang of parenthood. Having been used to people they didn't exhibit the skittishness so common among wild adult imports. It must be remembered that amazons, unlike other psittacines are generally a one clutch a season breeders. If the eggs prove infertile the aviculturist is faced with waiting until next year for the pair to try again. This may discourage some who are used to psittacines that produce three or more clutches a year. Parakeets, Conures, Cockatiels, Cockatoos, African Grays, Macaws, Eclectus and Hawkheads breed the year round if conditions are right. Our pair of Hawkheads gave us nine chicks in one year. When you consider their average clutch to be only two eggs and at the most three you can well appreciate their effort. Our Pair of Eclectus breed every two months and give us two eggs each time; both are always fertile. Our breeding Jendays average five to six clutches a year. Such birds more than earn their keep and help pay for the time and effort we must spend on the more unpredictable amazons.
In the wild juvenile amazons go through the mating ritual each season just as the adults do. In this way "pair bonds" are accomplished. We have had one year old amazons copulate and go through all the stages adult breeders display. Some hens will even lay when as young as two years of age. The eggs are always small reminding one of the undeveloped eggs produced by pullets in chickens. We have never had or known of successful fertilization of eggs until the hen was four years of age and this has always been with an older cock. I think it would be safe to say that in amazons both hen and cock should be at least five years of age before actual breeding is accomplished. I am perfectly aware there are always exceptions to any rule but we are going on the basis of where true facts of the parrots concerned were known i.e., the birds were hatched in captivity or were imports still being hand fed and their exact ages could not be questioned. Often those who hint at an earlier age of breeding in reality do not know the true age of the amazons involved and have merely taken someones word for it. Because of this initial five year requirement it is always best to start out with adult birds if possible.
Like people, certain amazons are quite fussy about their partners. Putting two adult parrots of the opposite sex together doesn't always result in a breeding. On the other hand we must debunk some of the false ideas that have been forstered regarding pair bonds. Where one is faced with the problem of having one hen and three males of a particular rare species it is adviseable to mate her with a different cock each year to insure a better blood stock. We have accomplished this with certain leucocephala and never had a problem. One season after removing a fresh laid clutch from one hen we removed the cock and introduced another which the breeding hen immediately took up with and went back to nest producing fertile eggs. This was accomplished partly because the hen in question nested early in April. Her first eggs were taken as soon as the full clutch was laid. She settled down with the new cock which was already proven from last year with another hen. Her second clutch was deposited in the middle of June. By such a procedure new blood lines can be built up even when a shortage of a certain sex is prevelant in a collection. We have overtwelve Cayman Island Amazons (A./. cyamanensis) which have the same mother but three unrelated fathers. By keeping track of the birds each year we can offer relatively unrelated birds to other offspring from other breeding pairs we have.
We are all too otten amused when reading many of the ads that appear in various avicultural journals which give a long list of "breeding pairs··. "Mated pairs" or "proven Pairs". Such ads are calculated to sell birds. that are often not even true pairs. In reality very few proven breeders are ever advertised. They are, generally too well known and when offered for sale will be quickly snatched up by those knowing their value. Any aviculturist with even a little knowledge is aware of the fact that many birds appear to pair off but will never breed. Nest mates often prove to be of the same sex. These facts are expecially true of amazons. Even copulation or attempts at copulation may be observed among such birds. giving the novice the impression he has a true pair. Therefore, ascertaining the exact sex of the specimens being introduced will be helpful. It is suggested that at least two pairs (sexed) be placed together in a large aviary thereby allowing the parrots...