Records Committees and Exotic Birds: Interview with Phil Davis

I've been interested recently in the subject of "exotic" birds and the difficulty birders have in determining their status as wild or escapees.  I've spoken to several breeders of exotic birds about their practices and how frequently birds escape, but now I wanted to talk to someone on a records committee.

Records committees are the ones who have to make the "official" decision on whether or not an exotic bird seen in the field got there on its own or with some kind of human assistance.  I have never sat on a records committee, and I wanted to know how such a body reviews birds like Smew or Greenfinches or Bar-headed Geese - birds that could theoretically be migrants. 

It interests me because all it takes it one.  Nine hundred and ninety-nine Bar-headed Geese seen in North America could be escapees, but that last one just could have been blown astray during a high-altitude migration over Asia.  Would we know?  Does anyone care to check?

After this brief chat with Phil Davis, a long-time members of the Maryland/DC Birds Records Committee, I feel confident that the answer is Yes.  I have known a few members of records committees over the years, and I haven't met a single one who doesn't take their job very seriously.  Phil continues that tradition, and his answers reveal the inherent difficulties in dealing with these types of records, as well as the common-sense approaches the MD/DCRC uses in an attempt to find an answer.  Although it still may be impossible to completely determine the origin on a bird seen in the field, there are birders out there doing their best to figure it out.

Birdist: What is your position on the MD/DC Records Committee?  How long have you been a part of that group? 

Phil Davis: I am the Secretary of the committee. I took over this position in Sept. 1993.

Read more »

Interview with Waterfowl Breeder Rosemary Miner aka Hey, Is That Your Smew?

Escaped waterfowl might be an even more difficult ID challenge for birders than cage birds.  Strong fliers and long-distance migrants, it can be easy to imagine one being blown off course over an ocean onto a far shore.  Indeed, many types of waterfowl have strong patterns of vagrancy to both U.S. coasts: including geese (barnacle, pink-footed, emperor) and ducks (Eurasian wigeon, tufted).

At the same time, raising exotic wildfowl is a common practice.  I got in touch with Rosemary Miner from the Gooseneck Hill Waterfowl Sanctuary in upstate NY - home of the the two largest covered aviaries in the world - and asked her about some of the issues she deals with raising waterfowl.

I found Rosemary through her website, which I noticed lists 'Smew' among the ducks she keeps at her sanctuary.  This caught my eye because in December a young smew spent several days in Whitby Harbor, Ontario, not too far (as the smew flies) from the Gooseneck Hill Sanctuary in Deleven, NY.  I asked Rosemary several questions about this bird, not because I wanted to be a spoiler for anyone's bird, but because I'm not sure how much direct inquiry of breeders goes on when a record committee makes a decision on the provenance of a bird.  It turns out that the smew is not likely hers, and those lists are safe.  Here's the interview, thanks so much to Rosemary for agreeing to answer my questions!

Smew at Gooseneck Hill Waterfowl Sanctuary, photo Rosemary Miner

Read more »

Interview with Tiffany Park, Gouldian Finch Breeder

--> Still stewing thinking about my recent Common Chaffinch dip, I'm looking to learn more about birds that we might see as "escapees."  I got in touch with Tiffany Park, a private breeder of Gouldian Finches and owner of Gouldians Galore.
For those who - like me - had never heard of Gouldian Finches, they're gorgeous finches native to north Australia.  They're listed by the IUCN as "Endangered in the Wild," but are extremely popular throughout the world as a pet.  Tiffany specializes in Gouldian genetics, and is a member of the National Finch & Softbill Society and other regional show organizations.

Tiffany was gracious enough to talk to me a little bit about raising finches, and also about the likelihood that birds escaping.  The picture she painted was at points comforting and more complicated: competent breeders hardly ever have birds escape, but the lack of enforcement of exotic bird registration laws and the potential number of bird-owners outside the show circuit world means that an escaped bird could really come from anywhere.

Birdist: How did you get into finch breeding? 

Tiffany Park: I have always had birds but almost always had companion birds...Cockatiels, a conure at some point, etc. When I was in college, my cockatiel of 12 years passed away and because I was a Bio major my coursework occupied most of my time but I still wanted birds in my home. So, I went to a pet store and they had a single pair of Gouldian Finches and I saw the male doing his courtship dance and I literally burst out laughing in the store because it is such a ridiculous display. So, I bought the pair with no real intention of breeding, but just so I had birds in my home and they wouldn't require my attention in terms of companionship.

Well, I started reading and reading and reading and I joined a few forums on them, and I started learning that there were mutations, and I became obsessed. I am a bit of a genetics dork and when it comes to the Gouldian genetics I'm sort of a sick savant at it. That's what got me breeding them. I was absolutely hooked on the way the genetics worked and I spent the next 4-5 years breeding and photographing and noting visual cues in the hatchlings/nestlings to aid people in early mutation identification, which is what I am probably best known for (besides the whole genetic savant bit. :) )

Birdist: How often are birds banded and are there requirements to do so? 

Tiffany Park: I can't really answer the question of how often birds are banded - it depends on the individual. I find value in banding a bird because it proves age and that band is also tied to me, as the breeder, which means that if I sell the bird and then it is sold two or three other times the owner can always track me down if they have questions. I belong to National Finch & Softbill Society and they are one of the few (maybe only?) in the US that provides traceable aluminum closed bands for captive finch and softbill breeding.  [American Federation of Aviculture, Inc.] might, but I'm not entirely sure?  [Note: They do.] With NFSS, you have to be a member to get the closed bands, but anyone can join.

Certain states have pretty strict regulations (NJ being one) about keeping exotics and banding them, the problem is, they're not enforced at all. I lived there for a year, and they consider Gouldians (or anything other than pretty much Zebra & Society finches, Canaries and Parakeets) to be "exotics" which means that if you are breeding and selling you have to have a "Pet Shop Permit" which is $100 a year, and you have to provide them a list of all of your birds, their band information, blahblahblah. But they never sent any inspector to my home and they never questioned anything sent in so it's sort of a, "Hey, give us your money but we don't really care what you're doing" situation.

Birdist: How widely do you think state laws like those in NJ are being abused? 

Tiffany Park: I can't comment on the whole abuse situation either because I am not quite sure what the other laws are or how strictly they're adhered to. In MD, an exotic permit is optional, not required, and I got one and in order to have it issued they actually sent an inspector to my place.

It was a little depressing to hear him comment on how clean my breeding room was, as in obviously most of the other places were just total dumps or something but yet they almost always get approved for a permit if the birds at least appear to be healthy.

Birdist: How often to birds escape?

Tiffany Park: I think most escapees probably happen when transporting birds or birds that are kept in outdoor enclosures that somehow become compromised - either broken into by people or animals, or maybe because the enclosure doesn't have a safety door like the bigger aviaries do to try to prevent escapees.

A breeder I know was attending a show and was carrying cages from her car to the facility when she lost her grip and dropped some of the cages and the doors flew open and she lost quite a few of her birds that way. Most recently a guy in CA apparently didn't latch the door completely closed on an outdoor aviary and he had a bunch of society finches escape and he got all of them back except one I believe.

Birdist: It sounds like from your information that if I am going to find Chaffinches it is going to be outside the traditional "breeders and show birds" system that you are a part of (for example, I was in Miami one time and I saw a Yellow-faced Grassquit in a rickety cage on the side of a house - a bird that if it were to escape and show up at a feeder would be a real quandary for birders like me). 

Tiffany Park: The problem is importation - it's expensive and time consuming. You can't just bring birds over from Europe, there is a huge protocol involving quarantine and it's pricey. Unless you have a big broker bringing in hundreds of birds at a time who is in cohorts with the quarantine facility and has the wholesale and retail buyers to back it, the investment is simply too high. I know a breeder who imported birds recently and there was a minimum order associated, so a group of local breeders got together in order to get the shipment in from Canada.

Like I said though, it's expensive, so if you're only getting one pair, it's simply not worth the financial risk as a private breeder. Also, most people who are importing from Canada or Europe are importing birds that are currently not in high circulation (or potentially new mutations). I.e.,: White Hooded Nuns, or any of the munias really (Tri-Color, Black head Nuns, etc), Strawberry Finches, and some of the other asian species like Pekin robins that are virtually impossible to locate any more because of the ban on Asian imports due to Bird Fluu. So - long story short, MOST of the big importers are bringing in more of the African species which are probably less expensive at a higher number. The more expensive species probably find themselves spending much more time "on the shelf" so-to-speak, which is money out of the importers/brokers pocket(s).

I've seen Bananaquits and Blue Black Grassquits offered on an almost weekly basis by both Singing Wings and two of the brokers in CA. I think the coolest birds I have ever seen at a show were Red Legged Honeycreepers that were being shown in NJ. She also had a few Tanagers and some other really cool softbills.

Birdist: Can you tell me more about the quarantine facility you mentioned?

Tiffany Park: I can't really say anything about the quarantine facilities because I've never used them myself. I've never imported any birds or purchased birds that were imported, I've only purchased domestic bred birds.