parrotLife_Printers-3 (Page 1) - Rolf C. Hagen Inc.

34
Ramphastos sulfuratus, Keel billed toucan
Their octagonal
flight is gigantic
with all perches
radiating from a
central pole.
even cleaning can be a puzzle. What shall
you do when your macaws have eggs, but
their flight needs to be cleaned? What is
better: risking to loose your eggs for cleanliness
sake or being a little ‘messy’ and not
disturbing the brooding pair? It is not always
a clean cut choice. Back up heating & generators,
insulation & ample reserves of
perches (natural branches) and feed is
essential to any breeding operation in northern
climates.
Our incubators and brooders for neonates
are not kept in the aviary. They are kept in
my house, as they have to be monitored
very closely: Incubator babies needs constant
care even at midnight at -30˚C.
We do try to do as little as possible of
incubator hatched babies, but we can’t
completely avoid it. At certain period of the
year, it is hard to ignore that there is quite a
few baby parrots in our house! My husband
is thinking about building a new wing to our
house to put the nursery and a small
laboratory because our equipment is growing
bigger every year, and also a small bedroom…
We do at the moment use the
house located on our Maple Grove, when
we need a room for an employee, consultant
or visiting friends. Even if it is only a few
minutes walk from the aviary, it is not something
that you like to do during a winter
night.
P.L: You have over the past years
restructured and undertaken the construction
of larger flights and outdoor aviaries in
particular a new toucan flight.
M.A. At the end of our first zoo season, my
husband bought me a pair of young keelbill
Toucans. These fantastic birds justified a trip
to California. At the Emerald Forest Bird
Gardens, directed by Jerry Jennings, we
learnt first hand about toucan husbandry.
The next spring was spent building an outdoor
flight that would be worthy of them.
Because of their unique needs, special
housing was required. The conception of
this flight had to take into account many
factors such as adequate wire gage, exercise
space, minimal interference during
feeding and cleaning, safety from predators
and a winter resistant structure.
Their octagonal flight is gigantic with all
perches radiating from a central pole. Due
to the way the flight is built they cannot
perch close to the wiring. This prevents
them from accepting food from visitors. This
precaution is driven by the fact that seeds
could cause death. The flight also contains
a closed shelter where they can eat and
sleep. Toucans love to bathe so we installed
a big bath. Unfortunately they often drink in
the bath and bathe in the water bowl!
We are now in the process of building new
flights enclosed in greenhouses where
people will walk through and interact with
the parrots. There will also be a lory flight
where the birds can be fed. These will be
completed and landscaped by the summer
of 2005. We intend to rebuild all flights in
the course of the next 2 years. We want to
incorporate heated shelters into these new
flights. These shelters would solve our worries
over uncertain temperature in early
June and allow us to open earlier and close
later in the year. We are not rebuilding only
for better temperature and commodities, we
also have a desire to create a more aesthetically
pleasing park. We realize that in
our climate a beautifully planted aviary is an
impossibility, as trees and shrubs don’t grow
fast enough to outlive an active parrot, but
with a lot of planning and imagination, we
think that we can create an interesting surrounding.
P.L: Considering the variety of species that
you care for, the knowledge necessary to
provide for their care must be overwhelming.
I understand that you and other keepers
thrive for continuing education by
attending conferences, visiting other breeding
centres, consulting books, magazines
and the Internet.
M.A. Yes, our staff continues to acquire
knowledge through all possible resources.
We have all developed affinities for various
species. We have also learnt innovative first