Abstract
Breeding
In a sense, the realm of captive breeding is the stage upon which natural methods of parrotkeeping achieve their ultimate success. For to reproduce normally, a pair of psittacines must be healthy, emotionally at ease, and in an environment which allows sexual instincts to dominate behavior.
I reiterate, "to reproduce normally."
This means a hen and cock of the same species which make the choice to bond, enter courtship, copulate, lay fertile eggs, set them to term, hatch and feed chicks until the time when the keeper removes the babies for handfeeding or until the babies fledge and learn to feed themselves.
When a certain behavior interrupts this normal reproductive scheme in a breeding pair, there are two philosophies for problem solving.
The first is to utilize technology and man-made inventions. If Blue-fronted Amazons destroy their wooden nest box, give them an indestructible box made of tin or plastic.
The second approach says that if a wooden nest box is being chewed to uselessness, it is not a strong enough box! Double-thick hardwood, or a hollow log will allow pairs to chew to their heart's content.
Either philosophy solves the immediate problem. But the reasoning behind natural breeding methods implies that the birds are doing what is right in response to the conditions in which they are being kept. To cure a difficulty, change the conditions without modifying the natural behavior.
Aviaries run by natural parrotkeepers have one consummate goal in mind for each breeding pair in their flock: The development of instincts and behaviors necessary to parent-rear to fledging a chick or clutch. This is my own highest endeavor-for the good of my birds, for the good of aviculture, and for my own ease of workload.
Truly, once a pair of parrots is taught to naturally reproduce, we as aviculturists have a relatively simple time of it. At one time the label "proven pair" denoted birds adept at
hatching and feeding their own babies. That is why a "proven pair" was so desirable and expensive. When such a pair went to nest, they knew what they were doing; the aviculturist knew what they were doing; and when the third or fourth week arrived, he only needed to open the nest box and remove the chicks for handfeeding.
Training my breeders to develop the skills to eventually parent rear does not mean I consistently leave clutches with them and ignore the handfed pet trade. What it does mean is that I can leave one chick of the final clutch of the season with the parents to raise to fledging. This is the perfect culmination of a breeding season where I, acting as a natural predator, stole the healthy babies from the one or two previous clutches.
Allowing a parent-raised baby or two with my pairs is a natural completion of the psittacines' nesting cycleand a reward, so to speak, for the parents. It serves to draw out their normal breeding months into a longer period allowing hormones to taper down to a correct off season. It is a natural way to break the cycle of a hen who continuously lays clutches to the detriment of her health. Experienced voices in aviculture are now claiming that constantly depriving a psittacine pair of the chance to hatch, feed, or raise a clutch of babies can adversely affect the bonding of the pair.
From a marketing standpoint, being able to produce parent-reared stock gives breeders an edge in the realm of selling breeding pairs.
Natural methods of parrot breeding start with male/female introductions and bonding. It is essential that such bonding be the CHOICE of the psittacines. This does not imply that we keepers must give our Sun Conure or Sulphur-crested Cockatoo several potential mates to choose from. It means the bonding environment of the two birds we wish to pair is relaxed, with individual space and privacy available to the birds. Psittacines should be given adequate time before being thrust into a hard core breeder facility.
"Pair 'Em and Hope?"
A typical mistake made by aviculturists is what I call the "pair 'em and hope" approach. An unrelated pair of birds is plopped into a neutral cage with a nestbox and very little introductory time. Natural parrotkeepers know that this can result in many negative results:
• Birds bicker and do not get along.
• They are bored with each other.
• The hen disappears immediately into the nestbox and lays infertile eggs.
• Or, as is common in aviculture, sexual urge results in a successful clutch, after which the pair never produces again.
It is unnatural to "pair 'em and hope" in the cases ~here one bird is of breeding age while the other is still a juvenile. This can result in several forms of frustration or mate abuse. There is little reason to give a full, dark nestbox to a juvenile pair of psittacines before they are fully mature. We utilize hollow logs or long boxes open on both ends for training and early bonding activity.
I hear a lot of talk in aviculture about the dramatically young ages at which certain species have produced chicks. We pay little attention to such claims. Instead we study the literature on species in the wild and in captivity, make judgments about the size of the parrots and how many breeding years they have before them, and often wait an extra season before giving a full nestbox.
Natural parrotkeeping is most concerned with the long-term competence of the breeding pair. Urging parrot species to reproduce at marginal ageCockatiels at six months, lorikeets and Sun Conures at 14.months, Eclectus at 26 months, etc.-is asking for problems. Many times young pairs are too impatient to set eggs tightly; or the male will become lonesome for his teenage playmate and enter the box and cause havoc with eggs. Early bad habits can become fixed habits in a young breeding pair-especially when the aviculturist, being most concerned about getting babies, makes the decision to pull eggs from the pair and incubate them. We believe that, just as in Homo sapiens, the ability to sexually reproduce does not always mean the maturity to do so.