The Canary Nest Pan The Autumn Issue – SHOWTIME! Volume 1 Issue 2 March 2006

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The Canary Nest Pan The Canary Nest Pan is a free quarterly newsletter, aimed at

the promotion of the Canary Fancy. The articles are researched and drawn from various sources, and do not necessarily depict the Editor’s views. This is an independent newsletter and is not affiliated to any bird organisation or club. Rather, it is my intention to create a culture of sharing and friendship in the fancy and to encourage those as passionate about the hobby as I am to keep on keeping on! – Despite the curve balls!!!

Editor: Shawn Bartlett Novice : Border Canaries. Tel: 083 657 4061 shawnbartlett@ananzi.co.za All articles, letters and trivia are welcome!

Inside the Summer Issue: • This season :

There’s no time like SHOWTIME!!!

• Special Feature:

Brown London Fancy?

• Species of this

issue – A Kaleidoscope of colour.

• Show Season :

The fancy Canaries of 2005!

• Advertisements

The Canary Nest Pan is dedicated to God from whom all good things come, my family and mentors who help satisfy my passion!

With acknowledgement to Coloured, Type and Song Canaries by: GBR WALKER and Dennis

THERE’S NO TIME LIKE…. SHOWTIME!!! THERE’S NO TIME LIKE…. SHOWTIME!!! THERE’S NO TIME LIKE…. SHOWTIME!!! THERE’S NO TIME LIKE…. SHOWTIME!!! By: Shawn Bartlett

Mind’s Eye. It makes no sense to enter birds into a show, to compete, when the entrants do not even closely resemble that which we interpret to be what is described in its “Standards of Excellence.” Sure it is important to use entrants as a boost for increasing prize money and to cover the massive costs involved in actually running a show, but entering below average birds, will in all probability, not increase such income substantially. A better approach if this is the aim, is to rather offer assistance or donations. Sponsor your species and add something to its promotion. If you can, try to assist in donating trophy’s etc. Getting an idea of what the characteristics of the show standard are, can be accomplished, by studying that standard and then ruthlessly, measuring your stock against it. If you are anything like me, you will certainly feel that the birds you have produced, are all smashing. However, when you actually put their strengths and weaknesses to paper, the fairytale changes somewhat. I have found that even when the bird has been bred well, it may have a flaw, which we tend to overlook, since it comes from such good stock, in this lies the challenge and the difference between the progressing breeder and the one who maintains the status quo. Be ruthless! Overcrowding: I have previously spoken of overcrowding, and now this becomes of even greater importance. At this time if you have not already done it, make sure that you have cocks and hens housed in separate cages, three to a double breeder, would be first prize, but four will also do. Watch for bickering and feather plucking, if any potential show bird has been blood soiled – clean it up immediately. Dried blood will stain.

Feeding: Be aware of your feeding regime as it is easy for a bird which has nearly completed its moult to add a couple of grams! This will lead to a beer bellied, out of proportion bird. Moulting time calls for plenty of amino’s and proteins, but once done, the need reduces. Also be careful not to overstimulate with carb’s ie (greens), a little is good to get the moult done with, but too much will push breeding condition! You don’t want you’re prize cock to start pulling feathers tight to the body and taking on that elongated shape… Take a look at your seed mix, it does not need to be too rich in oil at this stage, the feather luster will now already be there, if not, you’re next opportunity is at the following moult. Infact, one month before I intend on showing, I change my staple diet to plain canary seed only. I reduce my extra’s to one item once a week, twice, at most. Feeding high protein seeds like linseed, rape, niger and hemp, results in energy intake. With the birds being in show cages or limited breeder cages, they don’t have space enough to spend the additional energy by way of flight. The result, a jumpy and over active bird in a show cage. Bathing and showers: Provide your birds with plenty of bathing facilities and shower them with a spray bottle. I do not ever shower a bird who does not want to be. I allow my birds to choose this, so I only shower at the show cage. Those who feel like it, will happily hop into the show cage and have the freedom to decide how wet they want to get. Forcing the birds wet with a spray bottle in my experience can add to their instinctive nervous nature. When the bird has made a firm association with a spray bottle and a fear, it’s terribly difficult to retrain.

Showtime, for me is probably the single most challenging and hopefully most rewarding time of the year… Many fanciers believe that their success is determined by the quantity of birds bred, but wise is the fancier who recognises that this, Showtime, is actually the time when we learn how good or bad a canary year we’ve had. This time also marks the beginning of the new cycle in my opinion, because following on it, we come to yet another difficult time - selecting our birds that hopefully will take us even further.

Showing your birds is a wonderful way of bringing together a full year of bird-keeping! It has a certain prestigious feel to it that no one except maybe a previous winner will ever be able to fully comprehend! In this vein, it is something I hope that will bring each exhibitor joy and reward!!! All for the love of it!!!.... ed.

Intensive Clear Gold

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Show training: It is best to start getting your young birds acquainted with the show cage from an early age. I hang my show cages to the door of their cage from 4 weeks, a week after weaning. I also add a piece of string to the middle most bar, relatively high, thereby teaching my birds to stand erect, and to reinforce in them what I feel all birds have – show off ability. Ensure that your bird know’s where to find its water! From about two weeks after they have had the show cage hung permanently, I start to introduce them to a pointer stick, similar to that used by the judge. I also like to use my hands and point at birds, and do sweeping movements so that they do not associate these movements with fear. It is pointless to show a wonderful bird, and when it gets stressed, squats on a perch at its very first confrontation. Later, it would be advisable to cage them individually and then leave them be for a couple of minutes at first and later for longer periods of time. Finally the bird should show no signs of nervousness no matter how long it is left in a show cage. When you start doing this, invite as many different featured people into their space - go into their room with spectacles, a cap, or jacket with a hood. Get the birds trained by running them into and out of the show cage from time to time. When the pointer stick is pointed at the bird, and the show cage hung, it should instinctively know to go into the cage. Take the show cage in your hands and observe the bird from all angles, especially from the top, as sometimes a judge will find it necessary to do this. Finally it is a good idea to conduct a mock judging exercise, use a bench if you have one, or simply install some shelving, place the birds on it and work them according to their specific standards of excellence. Allocate your points very sparingly and never give a bird the benefit of the doubt, if it does not have that characteristic now, it probably will not show it when it is formally judged. Get your birds used to the idea of the show cage carrier box. At first place the cages in it with the lid open. As they become accustomed to it and realize there’s nothing to fear, ensure that all birds are on the perch and then close it. Leave it for a couple of minutes and later for longer periods. Once the birds are completely comfortable with the new surroundings irrespective of how long they are left in it, start to gently move the box about, carry it into the garden and around the birdroom. Lastly take them on a drive, they need to get used to the sound of the car’s engine and the car radio. When they are used to all of this, and show no signs of panic or distress, then and only then are the birds ready for showing! The cages: Now that the birds are trained and ready, a further task remains, the show cages, have not been used now in over a year! Spider webs and dust galore! Set aside a day for this and clean the cages thoroughly with soap and water, paying special attention to the perches. Some cages may need some paint touch up’s here and there. Make sure that you find a good supply of sawdust, which is neither too coarse with jagged edges nor so soft and light, that the sheer movement of the bird, will cause it to be blown all over including the seed corner. Your bird does not know to scratch for its food, as well as a chicken will. Try to find sawdust that will be similar to the kinds that all of the other exhibitor’s will use, so that no identification can be linked to your cages. The Show’s: What’s what. Read up on and get an understanding of the different classes within the competition, eg. what is meant by lightly variegated etc. Get an understanding of the judging process, ie. how the winner is decided upon, what is meant by best in class and best in show, what is a colour special, and what is the meant by best opposite sex. Familiarise yourself with the winning rewards, when will your bird earn a rosette and when a trophy, when will it win a cash prize and or why it has not.

Planning: Get a list of all the shows. Make an informed decision on which show’s to attend, baring in mind the distances to travel and accessibility. Take heed of the fact that you may need to make arrangements for afternoon off privileges or days of leave, if you are in full time employment. Take every opportunity to attend the show’s, why else have we bred these fantastic birds, if not to show them off? Share your stuff and strut your stuff! Once you have made a plan of which show’s you will be attending, look at how long between each other they have been spaced. Showing the same birds on a weekly basis, will lead to stress and tire your birds unnecessarily. If you can, make up teams of birds, which can be alternated, thereby allowing each team recovery or rest phases. Obtain as much information about the show as you can, offer your assistance where it may be needed, if you are a novice, try to get involved in the stewardship of your specie(s). This I believe is a good opportunity to see exactly what the judges look for in the winning birds! Speak to them and request their advice, when the judging process is over. Use the show experience to form new friendships and take time speaking to fellow breeders, especially veterans - they have a wealth of knowledge, which we can only gain from. Good sportsmanship: The most important thing about our hobby is realizing that it is just that!! A hobby! As much as I am guilty of not doing it, try to find a good balance in your life, the birds need time, that’s a given, but so does your family and friends. Furthermore, never be boastful or inflate you own ego. You too once were a novice trying to get a foothold! When you have done well, the glory should be all yours, but this is also the time when one can use such opportunity to put something back into the fancy. Offer advice to the newcomer, show some interest, and at all times try to help them along. Too many newcomers are disillusioned with failure and finally just throw in the towel. If on the other hand you have not done well, don’t be disheartened, the winner’s of the show, have not become winners by chance. Their’s has been a long and hard journey, with disappointment a plenty along the way. They are now reaping the harvest of years and years of hard work, ruthless selection, trial and error and refining their lines. Their accomplishments are to be recognized and congratulated. Don’t be a sore loser and after the judges decision has been made, then challenge it with whomever will entertain it! A judge’s task is no easy one, and it is the honour of this prestigious ability, that is being questioned. The judge has gone through all kinds of assessment to ensure these abilities, and it is not fair to second guess him or her without definite reason. Let your true character come shining through, go and offer the winners your sincere congratulations and acknowledgement, without having a hidden agenda! Who know’s next year it may be you, and wouldn’t you want everyone to share in your happiness then? When it’s over: Don’t run away if you are member of the club hosting the show, there is plenty of work yet to be done. I know we’re all tired afterwards, but it is not fair for the responsibility of cleaning up to be left only up to the show committee. If this is the intention, bring it up in advance at a club meeting and make another arrangement, or offer a donation for cleaning staff to be employed on your behalf. A couple a bob amoung many, make a few rand later and this can be used for this tiresome task, while maintaining your good name in the club circles! Aftercare for youngsters: After showing the birds, we need to take into consideration the amount of stress we’ve placed on the birds. It may well be appropriate to offer the birds a nice bath, and a treat after such hard work. At show’s, especially if birds are benched a night before actual judging, they will have had some light exposure, and this, coupled with stress, and heat could force your birds into an abnormal moult. Cont…

Aftercare for youngsters cont… In precaution of this, I like to offer my birds a bit of carb’s once or twice immediately after showing in the form of dry crackers or jungle oats. For the next two weeks, I will also give them plenty of B vits in the water, to eliminate the possibility of abnormal moult. I treat all birds that come from a show for mite or external parasites, quarantine, and add probiotic to the water to make sure no internal parasites have been acquired. Whether I achieved anything at all, I immediately start to analyse everything, with the hope of making progress next year! Best of luck and a rewarding SHOW SEASON to you.

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Brown Brown Brown Brown

London London London London

Fancy? Fancy? Fancy? Fancy? By Roy Stringer. (Breeder: Tommy Dennett) Tommy Dennett began keeping birds while he was still at school and his first collection consisted of Canaries, Pheasants and Bantams. He moved onto Norwich Canaries and then added Coloured Canaries about 20 years ago. He exhibits sparingly, though he

regularly puts out a team at the Scottish National. At the last Red Canary Association’s show he entered eight birds and came home with four firsts, two seconds

and two third prizes. Five years ago Tommy added Satinettes to his Coloured Canary stud and since then he has been regularly producing chicks from four or five pairs. Until 1998, all the results complied with the theoretical expectations. Then he paired an Intensive Gold Isabel Satinette Cock with an Ivory Brown hen. By today’s standards it was a late pairing, in May, but Tommy saw it as just two spare birds that might come in useful later as feeders for his Norwich. He allowed the pair just one breeding round and the hen laid five eggs, all fertile, which produced one Gold Isabel Satinette hen and four

Gold Brown cocks. When they went into the moult, one of the young cocks began to show bright-yellow speckles in its body plumage. This was so unusual that when the bird was halfway through the moult, Tommy showed it to Charlie Woolley, chairman of the Canary Colour Breeders’ Association judges panel. Charlie had seen nothing like it in his many years’ experience, though he was interested to hear that both parents could be traced back to the stock of Richard Mc Clure of Derbyshire. It has been rumoured that another Canary with similar markings has been bred in the east of England and that its parents came from the same bloodline. On completing its moult the unusual young cock’s colouration was brilliant yellow with brown wing flights and tail. The other three young cocks moulted to normal Gold Brown plumage. Tommy has discussed his breeding plans for next year with top Coloured Canary breeders, such as Peter Finn.

The consensus is that he should re-pair the original Gold Isabel Satinette cock and the Ivory Gold Brown hen that produced the unusually marked youngster in 1998, for just one round. Then for the second round it is planned to pair the unusual young cock –

Manchester Fancy? – back to its mother. Its Gold Isabel Satinette sister would be paired back to their father. The logic behind these pairings is that should the youngster be the result of a mutation, which is by no means certain at this stage, there is a chance that a similar bird will be produced with the possibility of a line being established. Coloured Canary expert, Mick Watton, was one of the few people to see the unusual bird in its moulted state, before its debut at the National Exhibition. He specialised in Satinettes for eight years, but has never bred any Canary that moulted in this way. Neither has he heard of anyone else breeding such a bird. He said, “ My first reaction was that it is a strikingly attractive bird.” I was very impressed by its rich lipochrome (yellow) coloration, which was beautifully set off by its mid-brown outer wing flights and tail flights. It also displays good shape. “I was keen to see the colour of its underflue, but was not able to handle the bird as it was about to be photographed. I was told that the underflue is light, unlike the dark underflue, which the London Fancy was said to have had. This will be a disappointment to those who are seeking to recreate the London Fancy, because no matter how much its markings might resemble those of this extinct Canary, in my opinion it is not related to the London Fancy.” An article extracted from: “CAGE & AVIARY BIRDS” – December 12 1998 Photo’s by Dennis Avon

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Colour- Bred Judging – from “A Collection of Canary Tales” By: Linda S Hogan. Reference & Acknowledgement to Coloured, Type and Song Canaries by G.B.R Walker. Colour- bred canaries are judged using either a comparison method where the birds are compared to each other or with a 100 point system which compares each bird to the standard. In the point system, points are independently assigned for each area of the standard. A bird’s score is determined by the sum total of the sub-scores achieved. JUDGING TABLE Excellent Good Average Colour (50 points) Lipochrome or

-3 -5 -7

Melanin Ground Colour (20 points)

-1 -2 -3

Pigment (30 points) -2 -3 -4 Position (10 points) -1 -2 -3 Conformation (10 points) -1 -2 -3 Size (10 points) -1 -2 -3 Feathering (15 points) -1 -2 -3 Condition (5 points) -1 -2 -3 Total (100 points) 92 85 78

Colour: Lipchrome: Possess a factor which totally inhibits the production of melanin pigment. Melanin pigment should be absent from feathers, beak, legs and nails. The presence of melanin is penalised up to 2 points. The six varieties of lipochrome canaries vary in the amount of ground colour expressed.

Correct feather type: Feather type will effect the depth of colour.

i) Intensive – No trace of frosting and no horns, -1 point. Slight amount of frosting on rump or neck, -2, frosting evident -3points.

ii) Non Intensive – Frosting fine and evenly distributed. No concentration of frosting on back of neck and frosting evident in breast, -1 point. Less fine frosting, mild concentration on back or neck, -2 points. Heavy frosting, -3 points.

Species of this Issue: A Kaleidoscope of Colour....

Full expression of colour: Red – orange – Maximum intensity, bright and even throughout. Yellow – Maximum intensity, bright and even throughout. Green series citron yellow. Brown series golden yellow. Shape should be like a colour bred and not a border. Intensive Red

Mutation resulting in a dilution of ground colour: Rose Ivory – Deep rose not a salmon colour Yellow Ivory – Lighter colour than gold, but not pale

Intensive Clear Gold Ivory Satinette

Partial inhibition of colour: Dominant White – pure, luminous white with a trace of yellow colour limited to the wing. No yellow or orange on plumage. Should not be dull or dirty. Dirty is penalised 1 point.

Complete inhibition of colour: Recessive White – Complete absence of colour, luminous and pure white. No yellow colour on any feathers.

Colour in Dimorphics:

Male – Small distinct mask, colour limited to eyebrows, wing butts and rump. No frosting on lipochrome colour. Female – Colour restricted to the wing butts, rump and a small extension of the eye. The remainder of the bird should be snowy white, breast may show distinct small colour spots. Faults: Intensity of colour, colour in the chest, flanks around the eyes and into the flight feathers. Frosting on lipochrome, especially evident on the rump.

Clear Red Dimorphic Male

Clear Recessive White Satinette

Dominant White

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Colour: Melanin: Ground colour – Intense and rich like lipochromes. Pigment – Striations appropriate to kind in colour, width and presence through the flanks. If brown pigment is desired, show females, if an absence of brown is desired, show males. Self birds with no foul white feathers are a must. Melanin dimorphics should have striations on the head, absence of lipochrome between striations and wider striations than intensive of non intensive examples.

Green (Bronze or Blue): Maximum ebony – black colour. Feathers of the wing and tail should be black. Striations should be an intense black colour and should be present on back, head and flanks. Preference is given to birds showing less phaeomelanin brown colour. Since females show more brown, the ideal show specimen will be male. Legs, beak and claws should be black. Bad birds show brown colour, have light coloured horned areas (nails, beak and legs), light feathers especially on wing, tail or under beak or vent.

Brown: Should appear chocolate brown. Females are better show specimens because they show more brown. Horny areas will be clear. Deep coloured well defined striations are present throughout back, flanks and head. Striations should extend around the chest as far as possible. Bad birds have absence of chocolate brown colour especially in the chest area and lack striations on one or both flanks.

Silver Agate

Intensive Rose Isabel

Agate: Dilution of both eumelanin black and phaeomelanin brown. Edges of flight and tail feathers should be charcoal grey. No trace of brown should be seen, show males… Moustache should be very evident. Horny areas should be skin coloured. Striations should have evident lipochrome since brown is absent except in dimorphics.

Isabel: Should have chocolate brown pigmentation reduced in width, show females. Moustache must be absent. Striations should be distinct and evident even in flanks.

Silver Brown

Non Intensive Blue

Opal: Inhibited brown pigment with black eumelanin concentrated on the underside of the central stem of the feather, giving the optical illusion of blue/ grey. Opals are easy to be identified, because the underside of the tail is dark and the topside lighter. Green (Bronze or blue) Opal – Striations like normal classic green except blue / grey colour. Bad birds have light horny areas and show brown colour. Brown Opal – Eumelanin brown striations evident but heavily diluted and suffused across plumage. Agate Opal – Disappearance of brown with grey striations. Opal – No trace of striations.Resembles clear lipochrome bird.

Recessive White Brown Opal

Topez: No written standards.

Silver Blue Topaz

Pastel: i) Green (Bronze or blue) – Charcoal grey striations following pattern of classic bronze. Greywing

is best with symmetrical paler area on both flight and tail. Horny areas black. ii) Brown Pastel – Striations visible but heavily diluted. Beige/ brown appearance. Striations should

be absent on flanks. Horny areas clear. iii) Agate Pastel – Distinct pearl grey striations on head, back and flanks. No brown colour.

Moustache evident. Horny areas clear. iv) Isabel Pastel – All striations should totally disappear. Extremely diluted brown suffusion.

Silver Brown Pastel

Recessive White Brown Ino

Ino – Red eyes Brown or green Ino – Maximum chocolate brown pigmentation with spangles. Chest and flanks have broad brown stripes. Bad examples have indistinct spangles and lack chocolate brown pigment. Males show better spangles, females show better chocolate brown pigment.

Satinette Inhibits eumelanin black, leaves diluted brown striations. Also inhibits phaeomelanin brown. Satinettes also have red eyes. Agate Satinette – No dark pigment. The bird is typical lipochrome. Isabel Satinette – Total inhibition of eumelanin black and phaeomelanin brown. Striations clear and distinct, lipochrome evident.

Silver Isabel Satinette

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Month Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

April 2006 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 April RCB & HB Open Young Bird

23

24 25 26 27 28 29 April Klerksdorp Open

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May 2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 May HB & RCB Breeders Rung

14

15 16 17 18 19 & 20 May Potchefstroom Open

21

22 23 24 25 26 & 27 May Randfontein Open

28

June 2006 29 30 31 1 2 & 3 June Suikerbosrand Open

4

5 6 7 8 9 & 10 June All Border Bloemfontein

11

12 13 14 15 16 17 & 18 June Vryheid Provincial

19 20 21 22 23 & 24 June Boksburg Provincial

25

July 2006 26 27 28 29 30 & 1 July Pretoria Open

2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 ,14 & 15 July Pietermaritzburg National Championships.

16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Position: The way the bird presents itself in the show cage. Should be alert and active but not flighty, and stand properly at 45 degree angle with head slightly raised. Nervous birds or untrained birds are either overactive or inactive squatting or crouching on the perch. Nervous birds also can either drop or cross their wings. No fault -1, one fault, -2, two or more faults, -3 points,

Conformation: Well balanced body matching colour bred standard. No flat head or snaky appearance. Beak should be short and broad at the base. Chest should not be heavy or thin. Good conformation -1, one fault -2 more than 2 faults -3 points.

Size: Overall length 5 ½ inches including 1 3/8 inch tail. Correct size -1, too large or too small – 2 points.

Feathering: Smooth, soft and glossy with a tight appearance. Complete set of 12 tail feathers and 18 wing feathers. Points are deducted when:

1. Feathers too long or thin, dry or dull. 2. Incomplete plumage (a moulting bird) 3. Broken feathers

Excellent: A bird with uniform tight, silk plumage. All tail and flight feathers intact. No fault = 1 point. Good: A bird with one small fault = Deduct 2 points. Average: A bird with two small faults = Deduct 3 points. Bad: A bird with three or more faults = Deduct 4 or more points.

Condition: Good health, general condition and appearance. No scales on the legs or claws. No tasselfoot. Clean show cage. No missing toes or nails. Nails trim. Excellent -1 point, Good -2 points, or poor -3 points. Ends….

Advertisements: This space is reserved for any one who wishes to advertise free of charge in the Canary Nest Pan. Goods For Sale: Perspex bird baths R15 & Border Show Cages R30 each. Contact: Hennie van Wyk 082 414 5435. Services: Hand made double, treble or flight cages. Good Prices and made to your specifications Contact: Lal Choonara 073 944 0078 Birds for Sale: Red Factors and Dutch Frills “Make an Offer” Contact: John van den Bos 082 897 8757 Supplements for sale: Essentials 4 Birds - Wide and comprehensive range of avian specific vitamins and softfoods by “The Birdcare Company” Contact the SA agent: Pat 084 507 6648 / patnadauld@telkomsa.net Social Auction: Reef Cage Bird Society, have pleasure in presenting their annual breeders rung auction, and would like to extend an invitation to you. The auction is scheduled for 11 am at 64 Alexandra Street Florida on 01 April 2006. For more information please contact Reef Cage Bird Society or Shawn 083 657 4061.

Show Season – The Fancy Canaries of 2005

Thank you to all readers for so warmly receiving The Canary Nest Pan. Here’s wishing you a happy and blessed Easter!!! ……..ed