Listener Questions 2022

Summary: In this episode we tackle some listener questions at the end of 2022.

 

For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes:

Liberty Wildlife: https://libertywildlife.org

Wild at Heart: https://wildatheartraptors.org

Parrots as pets: https://naturalencounters.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/companion-parrots-final.pdf

https://avalonaviary.com/is-a-parrot-right-for-you.aspx

High Quality Bird Food: www.wbu.com/mesa

 

New Podcast: tenthingsilikeabout.podbean.com; or search Apple podcast and Spotify for Ten Things I Like About...

 

Background bird song:  Naturescapes Backyard Birds www.naturescapes.com

 

Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com

 

Transcript

Host Voice: Welcome to The Feathered Desert’s What’s That Bird? A three-minute glimpse into the birds we share this amazing desert landscape with.

 

Kiersten - Hello everyone! We thought we’d end the year with a listener questions episode. These are some questions we’ve heard several times from different listeners. We’re going to jump in feet first with Cheryl and our first question.

 

Cheryl – Can I buy an owl as a pet here in Phoenix?

 

            We know it sounds crazy but we have had more than one person ask us this. You cannot legally buy any bird protected under the Migratory Bird Act as a pet in the United States. That includes Barn Owls, Screech Owls, Great Horned Owls, or any other owls naturally found here in Arizona. It is a federal offensive to own the birds or house them in your home without proper permits from Arizona Game and Fish and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. If you are seeing advertisements or have heard from people that it’s legal, you are being misinformed. People who are trying to sell them to you are breaking the law and have most likely taken them out of the wild illegally, as well. Besides being illegal, it’s also a great disservice to these beautiful animals to take them away from their homes.

 

            Beyond this being illegal, we don’t really know why someone wants an owl in their house as a pet. You have to feed them mice, baby chicks, and ground up horse meat to provide them a well balanced diet. If you do not, they can develop metabolic bone disease which makes their bones brittle and is a terrible way to slowly die. We know this is a harsh topic but we want to make it very clear why having an owl as a pet is a bad idea.

 

            Remember these birds are also called raptors for a reason. They have large, sharp talons on their feet that they use to catch prey. Those don’t stop being sharp or dangerous just because you decided to keep them as a pet.

 

            There are so many other reasons why they make bad pets. Basically, we wanted to let you know that owls as pets are illegal and are an extremely bad idea, as well as unfair to the bird. If you see advertisements for owls for sale here in the Phoenix Valley, please report it to Arizona Game and Fish so they can get these birds back to where they need to be. If you are interested in working as a rehabilitator for owls you can help at organizations such as Liberty Wildlife and Wild at Heart and become a licensed rehabber. We will list contact information in our show notes.

 

Kiersten – Do the wild lovebirds found in the Phoenix Valley make good pets?

 

            The answer to this is definitely no. Our resident lovebirds do descend from pet birds but they have lived in the wild for many generations and have re-wilded themselves. They are now wild birds that have no interest in living in our homes nor do they need our help to survive. They know just how to make it on their own out there in the desert. It is completely okay to offer supplementary bird feeding stations in your yard as many WBU customers do.

 

            We have had some reports that people may be capturing wild lovebirds and selling them as pet birds. There is no law against this as there is with the owls because these lovebirds are not native to North America. They are native parrots of Africa that were released in small numbers about 35 years ago here in the Valley. But they are still wild animals that do not deserve to be taken out of the wild and forced to live out the rest of their lives in a cage in someone’s house.

 

            If you are interested in lovebirds as pets, please seek out a reputable breeder who breeds captive born lovebirds responsibly. These will make better pets because they are used to people interacting with them closely and have never experienced life in the wild. Capturing wild individuals will stress them to the point that it can impact their health, leaving them open to disease and shortening their lives. To make sure you are purchasing from a breeder on the up and up, ask to see their breeding setup and the parents of the birds you will be purchasing. You should see obvious signs of the birds pairing with each other such as living in a cage together, making their own nests, and even raising the young themselves. If the person you are buying from refuses this request move on to someone else. Also, if the price of the birds is too good to be true, it probably is someone who is capturing them from the wild and wants to sell the birds as soon as possible.

 

            Choosing to have a bird for a pet is something that is not for every household. I know there are a ton of social media videos that make it seem like it’s easy and super fun to have birds living in your house, but it’s not for everyone. Please do your homework before you chose this animal as a pet. We will post some links in our show notes to a few insightful websites that can help you make an informed decision.

 

Cheryl – What should I do about my bird feeders when it rains?

 

            This is a great question but not often one we have to think about outside of monsoon season here in the Phoenix Valley. If the day calls for light, passing showers you don’t have to do much of anything. Both tube feeders that hold loose seed and cylinders that are exposed to the rain will be fine, if it is only light rain. After the weather has settled, go out and shake your tube feeders with the loose seed. If the seed shakes and does not clump, no moisture has gotten inside and the seed will be fine for the birds to continue to eat. If you have clumping seeds, you need to throw those seeds out, clean your feeder and put fresh seed in. This will help prevent the growth of mold that can be detrimental to the bird’s health and yours.  

 

            If we have a heavy rain or rain that lasts all day, cylinders made with seeds and gelatin will dissolve. Plan ahead and take those feeders in or you will have a messy, goopy clump of food on the ground the next day that no one wants to eat. For tube feeders, it depends on where you have them hanging. If they are under a tree or awning that gives them some shelter from the weather, they will probably be fine. Just check them once the weather calms down as we discussed before. The same advice goes for your suet feeders. If they are in an area where the rain will get to it, the suet will crumble out of the feeder. Purchasing a weather guard for use during monsoon season can also be a great way to shelter food if you have a pole system in the middle of your yard.

 

            Do not worry about the birds during the rain. Most often they are hunkering down in a tree somewhere waiting out the rain themselves.

 

            While we are on the subject of cleaning, after a rain you should also clean out and refill your bird baths. In case something has washed off a roof or trees that might have chemicals in them that are bad for the birds, you don’t want them drinking that or bathing in it.

 

Kiersten – What is the difference between Wild Birds Unlimited seed and seed I find at the grocery store or hardware stores?

 

            Cheryl and I have gotten this question a lot over the years. We both use seed from Wild Birds Unlimited and as many of our longtime listeners know we are both currently employees of a WBU store. Having said that, we both used seed from WBU before we began working at a store because they have a no-waste guarantee and use human grade seed in their mixes.

 

            So, the difference is that WBU does not allow any seed that will not readily be eaten by songbirds in the seed they sell. Other stores, and by other stores I mean stores that do not focus on outdoor bird feeding, because there are other specialty stores out there besides WBU that carry excellent seed as well, other stores do not care how much inedible seed is in their mixes. Seeds such as milo, cracked corn, wheat, and canary seed are all items that the songbirds we want to attract will not eat. They will just sit at the feeder and toss it to the ground digging through the mix for the handful of seeds they will eat.

 

            Then this attracts doves and pigeons which most of us do not want flocks of in our yards.

 

            The seed at WBU will be more expensive but you are paying for seed that they birds will eat and not filler they will not eat.

 

            Let’s talk specifically about Nyjer seed, now. This is the small black seeds that fit in finch feeders and are often sold inside socks already at other stores. Is WBU Nyjer better than other stores? Without any bias on my part, the answer is yes. WBU imports Nyjer from India which is where this aster plant grows natively. The plants are healthy there and abundant which makes their seeds robust and full of nutrients. Some farmers have figured out how to grow this seed in NA in large enough fields to make it worth their while and birds will eat these seeds but the aster plant does not grow as well here, so the seeds lack some of the nutrients of the India seeds. If you give the finches a choice between the India seeds and the NA seeds they will pick the India seeds. I’ve seen this in my own backyard!

 

Cheryl – Why do the birds in the city eat French fries and potato chips but the ones in my yard leave that stuff alone and only eat the seeds I offer in my feeder?

 

            This was a question from one of our co-workers and such an insightful one we thought it demanded a bit of discussion. We believe there are two reasons for this difference. One is that many of the birds that have adapted to living in the city are grain eating birds such as House Sparrows, Grackles, and Starlings. In the wild, these birds will eat different types of grains as well as seeds. French fries and potato chips are only a hop, skip, and jump away from a grain.

 

            Many of us do have house sparrows at our backyard feeders but why would they eat poor quality food, like French fries, when they have the high-quality stuff, like black oil sunflowers seeds, that is in the feeder.

 

            A second reason is probably cultural. The city birds learn to eat French fries and potato chips from their parents, while the backyard birds learn to eat from our native plants and our bird feeders.

 

Kiersten – Closing – We hope this episode has answered a few questions for all our listeners and as we say goodbye to 2022, we hope you’ll keep enjoying the birds in 2023 by getting outdoors to watch our feathered friends, maybe join a citizen scientist group or two, and keep listening to The Feathered Desert.

 

            Before we sign off Cheryl, do you mind if I make a shameless plug for the other podcast I started at the end of this year?

 

            For those of you who like learning new things about all types of nature, I’ve started a podcast called Ten Things I Like About…and it’s all about unknown or misunderstood wildlife. I’ll be talking about the pangolin, the vaquita, and many other animals you’ve probably never heard of. Each topic consists of ten-episodes that are ten-minutes a piece and Cheryl occasionally co-hosts with me! So, check it out in 2023.