Terms Every Breeder Should Know - Bird Breeding – Glossary – Basic – Part 1

Bird Breeding – Glossary – Basic – Part 1

This glossary is compiled for beginners that are getting confused and that are not sure what these terms exactly mean.

Why it is important that a breeder knows the terms listed here? As a breeder, you will coming across these terms in various situations. For example, when the bird seller says that it is a closed ring bird or closed band birds, you should know what it means, when the seller says that it is adult pair you should know what he or she means by that and whether the pair that is being sold is really an adult pair or a semi adult pair so that you pay the right price for your birds. Therefore the terms that I have listed here are very significant for bird breeders or someone interested in aviculture. I have tried to include as many terms that I have come across in my personal experience and I don’t claim this list to be an exhaustive one. I have tried to explain each of these terms in simple, lay-person’s language so that someone that is new to breeding birds is not simply intimidated by the jargon used in this field. Some of the terms here are not necessarily limited to Aviculture or just to birds but in this glossary, I have limited the scope of the explanation only to aviculture.

Breeding – Refers to the process of producing offspring or the reproduction process of birds that are considered true pairs. The breeding process involves six important stages namely courtship, laying of eggs, incubating, hatching of eggs, feeding and dispersal.

Mating – Coming together of birds that are of opposite sex for copulation or sexual reproduction.

Courtship or Courtship Rituals or Courtship Dance – The set of acts done by birds to impress its partner before mating. Each bird will have its own set of behaviors including special calls, display of plumage, postures and special movements. To our knowledge it is believed that courtship rituals are performed by the males to impress the females that it is considering as its mate.

Adult Pair – A pair of birds that are considered to be of age for breeding. Or pair of birds that are in their breeding age. The breeding age varies from one species to the other.

Semi Adult Pair – The stage before the breeding age. Pairs that are not yet ready for breeding, but will come to breeding age in a few months time. This again varies from one species to the other.

True Pair – A true pair refers to a set of birds that are actually a male and a female proven either through DNA testing or natural dimorphism or in experience whereby it has been seen to have successfully produced fertilized eggs. 

Compatible Pair – To successfully breed it is not enough to have just a true pair i.e. that is just a male and a female but the male and female that you have should be a compatible pair. In other words, compatible pair refers to birds that accept each other as their mate so as to involve in breeding behavior and eventually breed successfully.

Clutch or Clutch Of Eggs – Refers to the set of eggs produced by a particular pair at a single time. The clutch size or the number of eggs laid by each species and each pair varies. Sometimes the same pair may lay different number of eggs each time or each season depending on its health conditions, general well being and numerous other factors that control the clutch size.

Hatching – The process of the young ones coming out of the eggs, breaking the shells is called hatching.

Brooding – Birds sitting on the eggs for a specified period of time to hatch the eggs. This process is also called incubation and the act, incubating.

Incubator – An electric device that is used to artificially hatch the fertilized eggs. An incubator simulates the brooding conditions.

Nesting – Refers to the set of behaviors exhibited by birds that are in breeding process which includes preparing of the nest box, spending time in the nest box even before the eggs are laid (not referring to birds that have the habit of spending their nights in the nest box) and incubation of the eggs.

Nest Box – A box or other set up that is provided for the caged birds as a special place where the birds can lay their eggs, incubate and take care of the young ones until the young ones are ready to be on their own. 

Incubating / Incubation – The process of the parent birds sitting on the egg to hatch the eggs. This process is also called brooding. The incubation can also be handled artificially using incubators.

Crop Milk – When a parent bird regurgitates the food it eats to feed the young ones the food, the lining of the crop secretes a highly nutritious substance which is important for the hatchlings’ growth and immunity. The secretion from the crop lining of the parent birds is called crop milk.

Bird Leg Rings or leg bands – Metal Rings or plastic rings in general are used to identify one bird from the other in the breeding farms which helps them keep the birds segregated during the breeding season. Leg rings or bands are also important while sexing birds because the DNA results are matched with the numbers or the codes in the leg rings or bands of the birds.

Closed Ring Birds / Closed Band Birds – Birds that wear metal or plastic rings that are of closed nature as opposed to rings that are with cuts or slits. Closed ring or closed band shows that the birds are bred in farms or raised in farms because closed rings can be put on to the birds legs only when they are very young, just about 15 days old.

Cut Ring Birds / Cut Band / Open Band - Cut rings refer to rings that have a slit which can be expanded while putting on the rings to adult birds and squeezed back to ensure that it does not slip out of the bird’s leg. Also check Bird Leg Rings and Closed Ring Birds.

Mutation – Refers to the variations from the original bird traits in terms of physical appearance, for our purposes mainly referring to the color of the plumage. For example, the original color of Indian Ring Neck parrots is Green but through mutation we have Indian Ring Necks in various colors including blue, grey, white, yellow, violet and many more.

Incubation Period – The number of days it takes for a fertilized egg to hatch after the parent birds start sitting on the eggs or incubating. The incubation period varies from species to species.

Gestation Time / Gestation Period – See Incubation Period

Are You Making These 2 Dozen Deadly Bird Keeping Mistakes

Are You Making These 2 Dozen Deadly Bird Keeping Mistakes?

Aviculture is a wonderful hobby; it is both relaxing and lucrative but only when you are doing things correctly. For someone that is just beginning, it might be bit unrealistic to expect to do everything correctly and to be error free right from day one. We are prone to making mistakes and learning through trial and error. The learning curve can be a frustrating if not a depressing process demanding lot of patience at least for some of us. Successful and the most experienced breeders in the country know that one has to be prepared for lifelong learning process. Another factor to be taken into cognizance here is that there are certain information that breeders do not readily share and are kept as trade secrets. I know of a breeder that was not ready to share how to sex African Lovebirds when I was purchasing a pair of Lutino African Lovebirds from him. Cannot blame him or any of the breeders for withholding the hard-learned lessons in breeding birds. Everyone has to go through this school of learning. Having said this, I cannot generalize the above statement because there are good number of breeders that encourage beginners by sharing all the valuable information and I have come across several helpful breeders too. The bottom line however is that correct information on breeding birds and complete hands on guides on breeding birds is rare to find, there are books you will say but those literary sources can prove to be way too expensive for many of us so we navigate through the challenging path. Even for those that can afford expensive books on aviculture, one should know that birds do not go by the books. What is found in the books could be based on one or few people’s experience, which cannot be made universal. Moreover, to my knowledge most of the books are written by non-Indian authors meaning from a totally different geographic setup, which is a key factor in bird traits, food habits and behavior. I do not mean to say that book are totally futile but there is nothing like hearing from an experienced local breeder.

When it comes to breeding birds more than doing things correctly, not doing things wrongly is more important because some of the mistakes can be greatly damaging and some of the damages could be irreversible if not lethal for the birds. It is for that reason, I decided to write about the seven important areas where the most mistakes are committed by the beginners in my first post so that we can first stay away from these mistakes that affect the well being of our birds before we start looking at other healthy procedures that increases the rate of success in breeding and rearing birds. I have intentionally stayed away from discussing the right thing to do while pointing out the mistakes that we commit. Some of the mistakes committed might sound too basic for someone to commit but believe me, people do make these mistakes. The list of mistakes listed below is not an exhaustive one, these are some of the most basic ones and we will cover other advanced areas in the future posts, do keep coming for fresh information.

Area 1 – Food And Supplement Management Mistakes

1. Giving just one type of food and not bringing in variations to ensure a balanced diet.
2. Giving food that are not compatible with bird’s digestive system.
3. Giving vegetables, fruits, greens without carefully washing whereby there is a danger of contamination with pesticides and fertilizers.
4. Giving too many supplements at the same time without any discretion.
5. Not removing the old / stale food from the cage / aviary.
6. Giving wrong dosage of antibiotics and de-worming medication.
7. Going on a trip for several days without leaving enough food supply in the cage

Area 2 - Water Management Mistakes

8. Not providing adequate water to drink as well as to bathe.
9. Not changing the water daily.
10. Leaving residual food and bird feces in the water bowl.

Area 3 - Cage and nest box management Mistakes

11. Keeping the birds in cages without any shady roof where the birds are continually exposed to direct sunlight, rain and the other elements of nature without any protection.
12. Leaving the birds in a very small cage thinking that it will improve intimacy between birds and improve the chances of breeding.
13. Changing the cage location too frequently not allowing the bird to settle.
14. Changing the nest box location within the cage frequently out of impatience to see the birds get into the nest box and exhibit signs of courtship and breeding.

Area 4 - Light Management Mistakes

15. Keeping the cage in a room or location where there is no provision for natural light to enter.
16. Keeping the cage in a place where the lights are switched on round the clock with no dark hours for the birds.
17. Switching on the lights erratically not allowing the birds to settle with any pattern of rest.

Area 5 - Ventilation Management Mistakes

18. Keeping the birds in a room with poor or no ventilation.
19. Keeping the cage in the path of the draught.
20. Keeping the birds in a place where the air conditioner is turned on.
21. Keeping the birds in a room that gets extremely hot during summer.

Area 6 - Noise Management Mistakes

22. Leaving the birds in an overly noisy environment, it could be noise from heavy traffic, machinery, music system, TV, etc.

Area 7 - Privacy Management Mistakes

23. Leaving the cage in a room or path where people walk in and out too frequently, whereby the birds get startled several times during the entire course of the day.
24. Leaving the cage where other pets like dogs, cats and reptiles are housed to which the birds are not used to.