Cage & Aviary Birds

THE BIRDKEEPING TEAM at Paignton Zoo in Devon are pleased to announce the successful hatching of a Rothschild’s peacockpheasant (Polyplectron inopina-tum), also known as the mountain peacock-pheasant. With fewer than 60 individuals kept in zoos aroun

AN OUTBREAK OF avian influenza (bird flu) on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, has caused the deaths of thousands of seabirds. The National Trust (NT), which manages the Farne Islands in the North Sea, closed the National Nature Res

TWO PAIRS OF kingfishers (Alcedo atthis) have nested at WWT Arundel in West Sussex for the first time thanks to new artificial nest banks that were actually designed for sand martins (Riparia riparia). Both kingfisher pairs have already hatched young

RESEARCHERS IN DENMARK have settled a years-long debate over which bird species deserves the credit for laying the giant prehistoric eggs found in Australia. A team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) and international colleagues f

BIRD CAGE MANUFACTURER BJS of Worcester has been taken over by new management. Originally set up by Gouldian finch breeders Barry and Jessica Staff in 2004, the company will now continue to develop for a new generation with Peter Price. Mr Price, who

COMMERCIAL BIRD COURIER Walkers European Express Services Ltd in the West Midlands has been forced to discontinue its UK mainland bird and animal transport service. Mark Walker, owner of the Dudley-based firm, said: “It is with great regret that Walk

I HAVE written before advising other people about moving home. Should they give up birdkeeping or carry on in their new home, perhaps cut down on the number? It was easy to write about the options when it was not me involved. Now I find myself in tha

IT IS always a joy to hear from fellow fanciers with a tale to tell and in the same week the media was full of the story of a UK racing pigeon that had gone off course and turned up in the USA, I had a message from South Coast canary fancier Mike Sof

ON SATURDAY July 9, I attended and had a great day at the Parrot Society UK’s Summer Show, which took place held at the Staffordshire County Showground, with the bird sale following on Sunday July 10. My main reason for attending was to support other

AS I type this update, we are right in the middle of this year’s breeding season, with probably only six weeks or so left of it, really. Asian birds will drop into the moult in the next few weeks as well. We have just had the Summer Stafford Show run

AN INTERESTING theory that migratory birds have a particular kind of wireless of their own is held by Carl Holzapfel, the German naturalist. He contends that by means of this “radio” system they plan the direction of their long flights. Migrant birds