AY Honors/Bird Pets/Answer Key

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1. Keep one or a pair of birds for at least six months.

Consider what you are doing carefully before becoming a pet bird keeper. Most of the birds commonly kept as pets live for decades. Parrots have the potential to outlive their keepers, with a lifespan that routinely reaches 50 years. Think about what you will be doing for the next 50 years and whether you expect you can care for another creature for that length of time. Pet birds that are given a lot of attention early in life get used to it. When the family situation changes and the bird no longer receives that amount of attention, it may begin to engage in self-mutilation.

Birds are incredibly intelligent and have a deep capacity for love. They also have a deep capacity for sorrow. You need to be mindful of this before you take on the responsibility of bird ownership.

2. Show you have completed one of the following:

a. If you have a cage bird, keep a record of its care for at least one month. Include food habits, water needs, cage cleaning, etc.

b. If you do not have a cage bird now but completed requirement #1 in the past, take care of some one else's bird for at least one week while they are on vacation, etc., and maintain a record of the required care.

3. Canaries

a. Give the names of four varieties of canaries.

Canaries are generally divided into three main groups, with each group having several varieties:

Colorbred Canaries (bred for their many color mutations - Ino, Eumo, Satinette, Bronze, Ivory, Onyx, Mosaic, Brown, etc.)
Type Canaries (bred for their shape and conformation - Border, Fife, Gloster, Gibber Italicus, Raza Española, Berner, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Norwich, etc.)
Song Canaries (bred for their unique and specific song patterns - Spanish Timbrado, Roller, Waterslager (also known as "Malinois"), American Singer, Russian Singer, Persian Singer).

b. Give a brief history of the origin and development of canaries.

The canary is a domesticated form of the Wild Canary, (Serinus canaria) a small songbird in the finch family originating from Madeira and the Canary Islands.

Canaries were first bred in captivity in the 1600s. They were brought over by Spanish sailors to Europe. Monks started breeding them and only sold the males (which sing). This kept the birds in short supply and drove the price up. Eventually Italians obtained hens and were able to breed the birds themselves. This made them very popular and resulted in many breeds arising and the birds being bred all over Europe.

The same occurred in England. First the birds were only owned by the rich but eventually the local citizens started to breed them and, again, they became very popular. Many breeds arose through selective breeding.

c. Name and distinguish five seeds used in canary feeding.

1. Canary Seed
2. Oats
3. Rape Seed
4. Linseed
5. Poppy Seed

d. Describe briefly the general care of canaries.

4. Parakeets or love birds

a. To what country are parakeets or love birds native?

Parakeets originally come from Africa and Australia. Love birds originally come from Africa.

b. Describe briefly their habits of feeding, nesting, and general behavior.

Parakeets: They don’t like to live together in colonies. The most that a large cage should accommodate is 2. They can however be kept with pigeons, pheasants or finches. They eat mixed varieties of seed such as budgie seed and oats. They also like their green feed such as spinach, cabbage and lettuce. Boiled egg can be added during the breeding season. They also need grass and palm leaves to build their nests.

Love Birds: They sleep in nests throughout the year and therefore should be provided with such or should be provided with the materials to weave their own. This includes palm leaves, papyrus, reeds, and grass. They eat a variety of seed such as sunflower seed, oats, canary seed and whit- yellow- or red millet. They can also have boiled eggduring the breeding season and are also very fond of green feed. (spinach lettuce etc)