Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mitel!sce!warpdrive!stewartw
From: stewartw@warpdrive.UUCP (Stewart Winter)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: most common bird and outdoor birds
Message-ID: <7271@warpdrive.UUCP>
Date: 18 Oct 89 21:49:00 GMT
References: <2084@leah.Albany.Edu>
Reply-To: stewartw@cognos.UUCP (Stewart Winter)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 49

In article <2084@leah.Albany.Edu> gmr044@leah.Albany.Edu (Gregg Recer) writes:
>>I am interested in keeping some pet birds outside. A small
>>flock of budgies, maybe cockatiels. How would one go about
>>acclimating pet-store birds to year-round outside living
>>(in Portland ORE) ?  I figure it must be possible:
>>(1) These birds live outside in the wild.
>>(2) There is a flock of ring-neck parakeets living wild
>>in Hilsboro, OR, presumably offspring of escaped pets.

>I assume that you're considering an outdoor aviary set-up of some
>kind.  Since I don't keep pet birds I don't have any useful advise but
>the idea does concern me somewhat.  As you observed yourself escaped
>cage birds can become established, if only locally, under some
>circumstances.  This kind of exotic introduction is something to be
> ...
>has been fish and bird farms but your aviary could just as easily be a
>source of a new population of budgies, or whatever, in the Portland
>area.  This may seem trivial but the effect on indigenous wildlife can
>be severe in these cases (perhaps more true for introduced fish than
>for birds but I don't know that bird introductions have been studied
>much).  In any event, I hope you take this issue under serious
>consideration as you plan your aviary.

    The colonies of parrots that have managed to set up in colder 
areas (I think Portland fits in that category), never really seem
to grow to any sustantial numbers.  The birds really aren't equipped
for sub-zero fareheit temperatures.  Probably the best documented
such case is a colony of Quaker parakeets in Chicago.  The USDA has
expressed concern about the birds, but they certainly would have to
migrate south for the population to grow to any level.  The reason
for concern is not based on indigenous wildlife (parrots are vegetable
and seed eaters primarily), but rather on damage to AGRICULTURE.
Many parrots do have the potential to be crop pests, again, if they could
grow to sufficient numbers.
   Your government shares your concerns, so I wouldn't say they are
unfounded, but still are unlikely to lead to trouble.  Also, keep in
mind that anyone setting up an outdoor aviary doesn't want to lose the
birds, and if they are lost it is probably due to an act of vandalism.
Typically, birds in an aviary lead a healthy, happy life.

  Stewart



-- 
Stewart Winter                Cognos Incorporated   S-mail: P.O. Box 9707
VOICE: (613) 738-1338 x3830   FAX: (613) 738-0002           3755 Riverside Drive
UUCP: uunet!cognos!stewartw                                 Ottawa, Ontario
"The bird for the day is .... parrotlet."                   CANADA  K1G 3Z4