Starting out with British Birds

This article is an overview on how to get started in the British Bird hobby.

What I am writing is of course my opinion, based on my own experiences & will be fairly general in describing the hobby, there are much more in depth details for each individual species, but we feel these articles will cover all aspects in getting started!

General

We all start somewhere within the bird hobby, some follow experience passed down from their parents or grandparents, some are complete newcomers and maybe start with some canaries or zebra finches bought from a pet shop.

But we all find that the hobby evolves until we find our own particular niche where we want to be.

To many, the privilege to be able to keep and breed captive examples of our own native bird species is a very delightful and rewarding side of the bird hobby.

These British birds are of course far removed from their wild cousins – as we are only permitted keep and breed captive bred strains and in some species such as Greenfinches that have been line bred for many years they are vastly different in size to the original wild ones!

So where do we begin if we decide we want to keep British Birds?

You do firstly need to know what you plan to do by keeping them, is it purely for a hobby to have a few birds in an aviary or is it to line breed a stud of one particular species or even show your birds.

British birds are split into two main groups; Hardbills which are the finches & eat mainly seeds or shoots / buds and then Softbills – these are the songbirds & they eat mainly insects or fruits and berries.

I will only cover the keeping of Hardbills in these articles, as Softbills are more for advanced bird keepers.

As a beginner I would only recommend that people keep the Hardbills such Greenfinches, Redpolls, Siskins and perhaps Goldfinches. These you will find relatively simple to cater for and will all breed readily when given a suitable environment and feeding.

Only ever start with say just a couple of pairs and see how you get on with them, once you get some experience then you can move on to other species.

In this article, it is intended to cover the Law, Purchasing, Housing, Feeding, Breeding and Showing of our birds.

Housing of British Birds

The housing you choose for your British birds does depend a lot on what you set out to achieve or want from your birds.

If it is purely as a few birds in an aviary to be able to watch when in the garden or whether it is to breed the birds and show them, all makes a difference to the housing.

My advice is to firstly consider the future when starting out, and if you can, build in possible expansion into your plans to “future proof” your set up.

British birds fair better when housed as separate pairs to encourage breeding without interference from other birds.

British can be kept in aviaries all year round or there are many that are very successfully kept and bred in cages in a bird room.

Many start with an aviary and add a pair of British birds, then add another pair and as long as compatible they are fine, but when it comes to breeding season – perhaps territories are set up and then problems can start.

Yes you can breed a couple of pairs sharing an aviary but it is far better to keep them in smaller individual flights.

So perhaps build a big aviary that can be split into smaller ones over the breeding season with partitions for instance.

Many serious breeders house their British in blocks of small flights of 6x3 or even smaller.

Space can of course be a constraint in your garden so blocks of outside flights may be not possible – but this does not stop the successful keeping and breeding of British birds.

The captive strains of our native birds are generally very domesticated these days and they do quite readily breed in a bird room with “flight cages” or even canary type breeding cages in it.

Many start with a bird room – this can literally be as simple as a good quality wooden shed, even one of 8x6 would be a good start.

It is important to get the right shed though, personally I like to use a pent type shed and one with extra headroom, as the eaves height at the back of the shed, basically dictates the height of your cages within. A shed with a good sized window & door all in the front panel, then leaves you the 3 remaining sides for cages and makes maximum use of space!

It is also important to consider the position of your shed, morning sun is ideal, but exposed to all day sun will give you problems with overheating in the summer, so bear this in mind when siting your bird room.

Spend some time and plan the inside of your bird room, the size and location of cages can make it a very efficient and flexible layout.

Personally for my type of layout I have used larger built in flight cages such as 3 or 4 ft long and up to 24” tall x 18” deep built in a block along the entire back wall of your bird room, using movable dividers you can end up with a very flexible set of cages for keeping and breeding and housing your British Birds all year round.

Then on either end of the bird room, maybe some smaller “stock” cages.

As said, canary type breeding cages can also suffice for some of the birds as well, and certainly for starting out a couple of 4ft double breeding cages with a divider would house 2 pairs of birds and give you the experience and hopefully success you require to start with British.

Feeding of British Birds

These days we are spoilt for choice with seed mixes for our British Birds, nearly every species has its own specialist seed mix, such as greenfinch, bullfinch, siskin etc. most have been developed by successful breeders on the continent.

There are some who rely on a good all-round basic British seed mix, there are others who insist on using the specialist species mixes.

Personally I am a believer that if a seed mix has been developed to suit a particular bird, then ideally that should of course be a more suited and a better diet with greater variety.

What is important is that your birds get a good balanced diet, no matter what seed you choose, it should suit the birds requirements in terms of energy use, whether a bird is in a cage or in a large flight, it makes a difference – exercise versus diet effects birds just like it does us, so we must bear this in mind and not overfeed birds in cages.

Ensure the birds eat all of the seeds offered, not just allowing them to eat their favourites every day and leaving the others untouched.

Ensure you buy a good quality clean seed and not old, dusty seed. Buying good quality means that the birds eat all of the seed and do not waste so much, so it works out good value.

Of course seed is not all of the bird’s diet, it is a good basis, but we should always supplement it.

In the wild birds eat all sorts of buds, shoots, weeds, fruits, berries, in fact natures larder offers birds food all year round. It’s not easy for all of us to go out gathering and you cannot be sure food has not been contaminated, but as a minimum the birds should occasionally be offered substitute things such as broccoli or spinach and then dandelions or chickweed can probably be found in your gardens so can be fed.

A good egg food should be offered occasionally, even through the winter this can have a few defrosted peas mixed in with it (peas are a very high protein food and ideal for rearing chicks) and also germination seed should be offered occasionally, this can again be mixed with the eggfood or fed separately. By feeding these all year round, the birds are accustomed to the food and as breeding approaches all of these are increased to condition your birds and of course then it becomes the rearing food for the chicks!

All birds should of course always have a supply of clean water & of course our finches should also have a supply of fine grit, oyster shell and even cuttlefish bone to aid with digestion and mineral intake.

Breeding of British

Like the majority of captive strains of any birds, British will readily attempt to breed given the opportunity!

The Increasing daylight as we reach spring or even summer, the increasing of the protein in the birds diet by more frequent feeding of eggfoods, germinated seeds & greens so that when the breeding time is reached the birds are being fed daily with these foods all brings the birds into breeding condition.

These foods then become the rearing foods for the birds to feed the chicks & this is important, as a good diet can make all the difference to raising strong healthy chicks & parents feeding their offspring well.

If possible the birds should be offered some live food – this can be mini mealworms, just 3 or 4 daily – some birds will take to them, others not – but if they do, they will be used to them and these will also be an invaluable high protein rearing food.

Another “livefood” is the frozen pinkies (small maggots) that are available these days, a few of these mixed with the eggfood again if the birds take to them – will be an excellent addition to the rearing diet.

Whether housed in aviaries or cages, suitable nest sites should be offered.

The most popular at present is the use of wicker type nest baskets with some fir or even artificial Christmas tree fastened around them to give a secure and reasonably secluded nest site. In an aviary these can be placed at varying heights and at the back, sides and even the front of the aviary – just make sure they are not subject to the elements.

 In a cage, the nest sites can be placed in a rear corner, or quite often birds readily take to a nest site fastened actually to the cage front. A lot of birds also take to the external

canary nest pans that hang on the cage front in a wire of plastic box.

Always give a few options to choose from and never go overboard with the evergreen, birds need to feel safe but not completely hidden in a thicket!

You need to be positive and order some closed rings in anticipation of your birds producing chicks, it is much better to have the rings in readiness rather than have a panic when you birds hatch chicks! The rings as stated earlier can only be obtained from the British Bird Council or the International Ornithological Association.

Now we wait for the birds to fully reach breeding condition, at this time we need to be vigilant, as sometimes a cock bird may become too fit and the hen not be ready and then bullying can sometimes occur.

This is more of a problem in a cage as the cock bird has little else to keep him occupied and always use cages where a divider can be used to split the cock from hen should the need arise. This can be wire so the pair can still see each other.

You will soon see the hen carrying nest material and then you know she is also ready and the birds should be fine together as they get down to nesting.

Once nest building has been finished there quite often is a delay of a couple of days before the first of 4 to 6 eggs are laid.

The hen will then commence incubation, which is on average 12 to 14 days.

Again mainly when breeding in cages and on rare occasions, the cock bird can be a nuisance when the hen is trying to sit the eggs, or even when the hen is laying, destroying eggs to make her nest again, so the use of the cage divider can separate them if required and she will sit the eggs and even feed them quite happily without him, should the need arise.

When the time of hatching approaches the rearing foods that the birds are now used to should of course be offered, obviously with newly hatched chicks the food requirement is much less than chicks a week old and the amount of food must be increased as the chicks grow.

You may or may not see eggshells appear as some hens will eat the eggshell, whereas others will not, so be vigilant as you may have chicks without knowing it.

Ideally with foods such as eggfood and germinated seeds, these need to be offered fresh several times daily as they can sour in warm weather.

If your birds have taken to the livefoods to rear, all well and good – if not many chicks are raised without, it’s just that we always try and give the chicks the best start possible.

Sometimes it does not go to plan, maybe the birds do not feed for some reason and chicks are lost, or chicks thrown out. Experienced breeders, may hand rear birds or even use foster parents such as canaries. My advice for beginners is to put the disappointment behind you and let the birds nest again, hopefully the birds will get it right second time around!

As the chicks grow, we now need to consider the ringing, this may seem daunting but it is not that difficult with experience. It is all about timing and fitting the ring at the point where it will still go on and yet be a snug fit, so it does not fall off easily. This leaves it as late as possible and the parents are much less likely to reject the ring or even the chick.

Ringing age does vary with species and how well the chicks grow, so it is not an exact number of days but Redpolls can be as early as 4 to 5 days whereas Greenfinches can be as late as 7 or 8 days.

A lot of people put a piece of Elastoplast or float tube over the rings to disguise them and help reduce the risk of rejection.

If possible find a local bird keeper and they will help you with the first ringing and you will soon realise it is not too bad!

Soon the chicks will be leaving the nest, the parents will continue to feed, maybe the hen will start thinking about going to nest again straight away, but the cock will continue feeding the chicks as required.

Watch the chicks and you will soon see them feeding themselves. At this time whether cage bred or aviary bred, it is best to move the chicks to their own cage where you can continue to watch and ensure they feed. Also it helps get the chicks used to you & steady them down

Their diet should only consist of the germinated seed and eggfood mix – do not feed the hard seeds to the chicks.

Once the chicks are independent they have to go through the moult and change from their nest feather into adult feather and this can be a stressful time. Continue with the germination seed, eggfood and greens until fully moulted, only after that gradually offer the birds hard seed diet.

There is a lot of discussion about some British species needing medication whilst going through this moult period, as the birds “go light”; bacteria in their guts can cause coccidiosis and birds can be lost.

Some use Sulpha drugs such as Intradine or ESB3 as a preventative measure, whilst many follow the feeding above and never lose a bird. Keeping your birds cages clean is also a must at this time, as this reduces the risk of unwanted bacteria also!

My advice as a beginner is to keep it simple, keep it clean and you should be ok.

That’s the season now winding down, all birds are placed on the hard seed maintenance diet with just the occasional extras and lighting is now reducing back down to short days whilst we plan and wait for the next breeding season.

I shall start with the current law on keeping British Birds.

It does put a lot of people off as it can be confusing, however, it does not need to be and if we follow a few simple guidelines it should not be a problem.

Firstly – we are only permitted to keep captive bred birds and that is defined in the law as “A bird that is bred in captivity from parents who were also legally in captivity when the egg was laid!”

We do not in most circumstances need any licence or need to notify anyone, but we do need to make sure we stay within the law!

The legislation that allows us to keep our captive bred native species is contained within the Wildlife and Countryside Act which was written in 1981 – there have been changes over the years, but it all currently still sits under this.

The legislation has basically been split into several schedules (lists of birds) that affect us and each list is treated slightly differently:

Schedule 3:

This is all the common birds, such as Greenfinches, Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Redpolls, Siskin etc – in fact the vast majority of the finch species and some common softbills are on here:-

Species listed on Schedule 3 part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act are permitted under legislation to be offered for sale or competitively shown if ringed in accordance with ringing regulations. This means that the bird is Captive Bred and ringed with the correct size ring issued by the B.B.C. or I.O.A.

The ring has to be a metal band that can only be fitted when the chick is a few days old and cannot be fitted or removed when the bird is an adult. It has to be purchased from an approved supplier and these are the British Bird Council or International Ornithological Association. If you visit either of these organisations websites, you will see how to purchase rings and also a list of all the birds and required ring sizes.

Under the law, to keep a bird we do not have to ring it, but to sell or show then it must be rung. What we do however need to do if challenged – is prove a bird is captive bred.

The legislation is one of very few that has a “reverse burden of proof” – which means we are presumed guilty of an offence if we cannot prove a bird is legally captive bred!

So there are a few simple guidelines to follow:

• Do ring your birds; it is a means of identification.
• Do keep breeding records – i.e. parent ring numbers of birds, or where you obtained birds.
• Do obtain some form of paperwork when you purchase a bird, a receipt or note of the ring number and the seller’s details.
• Do purchase birds from known sources (I will cover more on purchasing birds later)

A lot of people keep colour variants of the birds these days and also the larger Northern species of birds like Goldfinches & Bullfinches – they do all still come under the legislation and require to be rung – however they are highly unlikely to be anything other than captive bred!

One additional point on schedule 3 birds:

Birds that are not UK bred and are imported from Europe are not considered rung in accordance with “ringing regulations”, so require an individual licence issued by Natural England to be offered for sale or to be shown!

These application forms WML A20 & WML A21 can be found on the Natural England website.

In theory the application should be straightforward and NE cannot expect any paperwork to prove the bird is captive bred, as it is not necessarily required on the continent, but of course some form of receipt or record of who you purchased the bird from would always be useful!

Schedule 4:

This is for much more protected species and for these birds you need a licence from

DEFRA and the birds have to be registered and rung with DEFRA Rings - fortunately for us, most birds were removed from this a few years ago (for instance Bearded Reedlings were once on schedule 4) - so now it is only the very specialist and rare birds that appear on it and certainly not beginner birds.

Non Schedule:

This is where the majority of our softbills and birds like Hawfinches and Crossbills fall - so again not really beginner birds.

The birds were either not actually listed on a DEFRA schedule, as they were not included when it was collated or they sat on Schedule 4 previously - but due to further legislation changes we are now allowed to keep them and can be shown / sold under certain General Licences

General Licence WML/GEN L14 permits the competitive showing of species not listed on Schedule 3 part 1 subject to conditions of this licence.

General Licence WML/GEN L18 permits sale of species not listed on Schedule 3 part 1 provided conditions of the licence are met.

The main requirements / conditions of these licences are the necessity for each bird you possess to have a "proof of captive breeding" document.

This documentation should be a signed declaration by the breeder that states the bird is captive bred, lists the parents ring numbers, when it was bred and his contact details.

In addition to this, the bird should of course be closed rung with the "recommended" ring size as per BBC or IOA ring lists.

The law all sounds complicated, but to be honest, if we all just ensure we have some paperwork with each bird we have as proof of captive breeding and keep some records, Then we are meeting the requirements and should have no issues proving a bird is legally captive bred.

Purchasing Of Stock

This in itself can seem a bit daunting when you are staring out, but there are a few pointers to buying birds.

The most essential thing for any new bird keeper is to start with the right birds!

Firstly before buying any birds, join up with your local cage bird society, perhaps attend a few meetings or shows - as there will be members amongst them who will keep British birds, and hopefully they will be able to help with some stock and also plenty of advice.

Join up with an internet bird forum, there are several who specialise in British birds (such as BBIA)

On the forums, you will be able to get to know likeminded bird keepers, who will be quite happy to help you out with advice and tips, plus again there are birds that come up for sale.

Read the Cage and Aviary, as there are always articles on British birds, it lists the bird shows and yes there are also birds for sale.

The first two of the above sources of birds in theory are people that you will have got to know, or at least know of, so it is safer to purchase birds from these.

If answering an advert, at least you have a phone number, but you will probably find the seller will not want you to visit their home - not because they have anything to hide necessarily – but because this day and age you just cannot have “strangers” around your bird rooms – people cannot be trusted, until they are known. So you may well meet up somewhere local.

Take someone with you who knows British birds if you can, so at least you can make sure the birds are ok.

Try to avoid bird auctions – I am not saying they aren’t genuine well run auctions, but you do not know who you are buying from and do not know anything about the birds, so as a beginner – stick to known sources.

The large sales such as Stafford should be ok, as you meet the seller at their tables and can get their details and have a good look at the birds – but again it is best to take someone with you to advise if possible.

A lot of people meet at the likes of Stafford for pre-arranged bird trades, you may agree to buy birds from a breeder in Scotland and you travel up from the South coast – so it’s a good meeting point.

So what do we look for in a British Bird you are buying?

Of course the same applies as per any bird you buy; make sure the bird is fit & healthy!

• Watch the bird from a distance, see what it is like when settled – is it looking soft or fluffed up, is it sat in the food bowl continuously.
• Look for a bird that has bright eyes, appears alert and settled in the cage.
• Look for a bird that has good “type” size & feather
• Look for birds that are in clean cages & appear in a good clean condition themselves, it is an indicator of how well they have been looked after.

Then specifically for British birds we need to make sure the bird is genuine captive bred, check that the bird is not showing any signs of crashing into the cage or hanging from the cage front.

Even an aviary bred bird should be reasonably steady in a sales cage, some species can be a bit flightier than others, but they still should not be mad!

Ask to see the ring when the bird is caught up by the seller, firstly check that it is an IOA or BBC ring, and then inspect it for any obvious signs of tampering, being out of shape, lettering missing or sharp edges.

Also check the age of the bird from the ring and that the ring is the correct size.

It is not common, but there are unfortunately a very small minority of unscrupulous people who will go and catch wild birds, fit dodgy rings on them and then try to sell them on to unsuspecting fanciers. They are not bird keepers, but like any other walk of life there are crooks!

Just ensure wherever you obtain your birds, that you have the ring numbers and also the contact details of the person you purchased the bird from. If the seller does not want to give this, then walk away from the purchase.

If it is a non-schedule bird you buy, then by law you must be given a “declaration of captive breeding” form with the bird.

Follow what I have said and you will be fine as the vast majority of British bird sellers are genuine people selling their surplus breeding stock and more than happy to help people starting out in the hobby, as we should always encourage newcomers!

Showing British Birds

For some fanciers, after the breeding season & moult has passed it is the beginning of another part of the hobby, the show season!

To me the shows are an important part of the bird calendar; it’s a chance to compare you birds with others and a social event where you meet fellow bird keepers.

It does appear quite a daunting prospect wondering where and how to start, but it really is very simple.

Firstly go to your local CBS show, there will be British there; you will see how they are staged, and the standard of the birds.

The hardbill cages are all of the same appearance, green inside, green front and black outside - there are different sizes, for different birds but visiting the British Bird Council website will tell you which birds go in which cages. We can use either English OR Scottish Pattern Cages & although listed on the BBC Website, the No.1 cage is no longer used, as it does not meet current cage standards!

Buy some second hand “training” cages – always plenty for sale on E bay or similar. You can then try your birds in these cages, get them used to them and see which birds show themselves & look at ease – these will be your show birds!

You are permitted by law, only to have your birds in the cages for 1 hour in any 24 hour period unless actually at a show. Natural England actually issues a General Licence to cover this; http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/wml-gl16_tcm6-24164.pdf.

Next you are ready to enter your local CBS show, contact them and they send you a schedule / entry form – it lists the birds and the class numbers for these birds plus whether they are adult or current year bred birds.

You will be in the novice classes until you have shown for 5 years then you become a champion (irrespective of whether you have ever won anything!)

If you are not sure about anything, give the show secretary a call he will help you and be all to glad to see you at the show!

Make sure your birds are clean and bathed a couple of days before the show and also make sure your cages are clean and neat. They need a seed covering over the floor & a green D cup drinker on the front.

You will receive your cage labels, ensure you place these on the cages / birds that they correspond to and you then take your birds in their cages to the show. Some people have specialist carry boxes to place all their cages in, but a decent sized holdall or similar will securely hold a few cages & keep the birds quiet.

Ensure the drinkers get some water when you arrive & unpack your birds onto the Stewards bench (some clubs you fill them as you bring the birds in or some clubs the stewards will do it) but there will be a small watering can or similar available.

They then check your birds in against your entry form and the stewards will place your cages on the staging.

If you can, offer to help or steward at the show, this is excellent to help you learn about what a judge looks for, if not you leave your birds and return in the afternoon when the judging has finished and show open to see how your birds have fared!

That’s it – the year round cycle of the British Bird Hobby!