March 2013
Dear Humans, Birds and Elephants,
It is raining; it is dreary, muddy and yuccky outside and I am putting off trudging out to the coop to feed the chickens as I watch the season change from Winter to Spring. Sometimes, when I sit here at this window, I see a bald eagle fly over my woods, looking for a pond where he can fish for his breakfast. I hope my parrots do not see this because I feel that they would envy his freedom. Emma just threw a dish across the room and it reminds me that I always have to watch Emma all the time so that he doesn't do too much damage. Zeke, Aristophanes and Emma just had their early morning repast and I am anticipating another day of doing what they want, when they want, how they want and hopefully meeting their needs. I wish they were free like the eagle, both for their sakes and mine.
SEXING CLINIC! Do you want to know the sex of your parrot? Most breeds of parrots are sexually monomorphic and the way to find out if your bird is a male or female is to have him/her sexed. This is done by taking a drop of blood from a toenail and then sending that drop of blood off to a specialized laboratory to have the chromosomes analyzed. We have 3 veterinarians who will do this for us, Dr. Stein, Dr. Jaramillo and Dr. D'Abbraccio. If we have enough birds to have sexed, the bird club can make this sexing clinic our May meeting and we can have it done for a nominal fee for each bird. Please let me know if you are interested in having this procedure done so this can be properly organized.
Next month, Zena, the eagle owl,l and her owner (mother, sister), Lisa Acton, will be our guest speakers. I think it might be a good idea to leave your parrots home for that meeting. Tonight, Jan Erlin from Everything Animals Resource Center will present a program for us. She is bringing white doves with her. I expect this to be very interesting and educational.
I am still working on a trip to the Bronx Zoo. Our trip to the American Museum of Natural History was truly excellent and I imagine that a, long awaited, trip to the inner workings of the bird exhibits at the Bronx Zoo would be just as exciting. Our club was invited there every year when Dr. Bruning was curator of ornithology, but things have changed at the zoo and I am doing everything I can to get an invitation for the club. By the way, if any club member wants to arrange a trip to a bird facility, please do it and I am sure the club membership will go along and be very appreciative. Just let us know where and when and we will be there.
This newsletter should be especially interesting as, club member, Mary Laudin, has responded to our constant pleas and haranguing and provided us with two beautifully written articles. One of them is on our trip to the museum with pictures from that day. That was our first club trip in a long time and I am glad that it turned out as well as it did.
Have a great month........Kiss your birds and elephants. Don't forget to let me know if you want your bird sexed; I believe we need a certain number to get the lowest rate.......................
Love,
Richie
It is raining; it is dreary, muddy and yuccky outside and I am putting off trudging out to the coop to feed the chickens as I watch the season change from Winter to Spring. Sometimes, when I sit here at this window, I see a bald eagle fly over my woods, looking for a pond where he can fish for his breakfast. I hope my parrots do not see this because I feel that they would envy his freedom. Emma just threw a dish across the room and it reminds me that I always have to watch Emma all the time so that he doesn't do too much damage. Zeke, Aristophanes and Emma just had their early morning repast and I am anticipating another day of doing what they want, when they want, how they want and hopefully meeting their needs. I wish they were free like the eagle, both for their sakes and mine.
SEXING CLINIC! Do you want to know the sex of your parrot? Most breeds of parrots are sexually monomorphic and the way to find out if your bird is a male or female is to have him/her sexed. This is done by taking a drop of blood from a toenail and then sending that drop of blood off to a specialized laboratory to have the chromosomes analyzed. We have 3 veterinarians who will do this for us, Dr. Stein, Dr. Jaramillo and Dr. D'Abbraccio. If we have enough birds to have sexed, the bird club can make this sexing clinic our May meeting and we can have it done for a nominal fee for each bird. Please let me know if you are interested in having this procedure done so this can be properly organized.
Next month, Zena, the eagle owl,l and her owner (mother, sister), Lisa Acton, will be our guest speakers. I think it might be a good idea to leave your parrots home for that meeting. Tonight, Jan Erlin from Everything Animals Resource Center will present a program for us. She is bringing white doves with her. I expect this to be very interesting and educational.
I am still working on a trip to the Bronx Zoo. Our trip to the American Museum of Natural History was truly excellent and I imagine that a, long awaited, trip to the inner workings of the bird exhibits at the Bronx Zoo would be just as exciting. Our club was invited there every year when Dr. Bruning was curator of ornithology, but things have changed at the zoo and I am doing everything I can to get an invitation for the club. By the way, if any club member wants to arrange a trip to a bird facility, please do it and I am sure the club membership will go along and be very appreciative. Just let us know where and when and we will be there.
This newsletter should be especially interesting as, club member, Mary Laudin, has responded to our constant pleas and haranguing and provided us with two beautifully written articles. One of them is on our trip to the museum with pictures from that day. That was our first club trip in a long time and I am glad that it turned out as well as it did.
Have a great month........Kiss your birds and elephants. Don't forget to let me know if you want your bird sexed; I believe we need a certain number to get the lowest rate.......................
Love,
Richie