This is a wonderful and emotional thread. Hopefully it will encourage those who have not considered the ills of human vanity to think twice before buying a bird as an ornament. Become a guardian instead.
Let them go
Not let them go
This is a wonderful and emotional thread. Hopefully it will encourage those who have not considered the ills of human vanity to think twice before buying a bird as an ornament. Become a guardian instead.
"A busy beak is a happy beak" - David Strom
Mare (07-22-2015), PlaxMacaws (07-21-2015), spiritbird (07-21-2015)
Most likely. I really cannot stand any sport that uses animals for human pleasure purposes like horse racing or any other kind of animal racing.
Mare (07-22-2015), PlaxMacaws (07-21-2015)
He wanted to live. He was my Heaven... He's gone!
Mare (07-22-2015), spiritbird (07-21-2015)
Man used falcons to hunt back as far as 2000 BC.
Before the Spanish ever crossed the Atlantic, an ancient people were breeding scarlet macaws. Paquime Indians of this Pre-Columbian, Puebloan community built and occupied an elaborate settlement made from adobe from about 900 to 1340 A.D. What was found there by archeologists was astounding: Approximately 56 macaw pens made of adobe. This site is more than 500 kilometers north of a macaw’s indigenous home.
These pens were made of adobe clay, shaped and smoothed by hand. Made of the same material that was used for housing people, they resemble a rectangular flower pot with a round plug at the end. The adobe kept the birds cooler than if they were housed in any other manner, and the pens contained stone doors and plugs. Research suggests that large-scale breeding of scarlet macaws occurred there long before the industrial age.
If they found Macaws housed as far back as 900 A.D. I'm sure smaller and other types of birds were housed in cages all over the world either before this time or afterwards. So caged birds have been around a long long time ago.
Way before the time of Kings apparently.
I recall reading that 100's of years back when the Chinese people started keeping canary's the Asians would walk to a local tea cafe with a favorite single singer canary in a tiny cage so they may sit and play cards/tile games drinking tea. During the afternoon games the many canary's would fill the cafe with amazing song which would advertise their worth by song, the owners would then make deals to either sell or loan the top singers to another breeder so they may breed some expert singers.
Recently I watched a show called the Outlander which was portrayed in the mid 1700's, one of the kings of Scotland had starlings housed in cages in his room. It was odd to see this filmed with the birds hopping around in wooden oddly make shift cages. I recall seeing a starling with a sisal rope attached to its foot and I wondered why they filmed this and wondered if anyone complained about the bird with the sisal rope on its feet/leg.
It seemed abusive to me to have the bird in this environment while they were shooting scenes with the birds in the background. Shooting film is never easy as they often have to shoot over and over again to get things perfectly set up. The room was dark almost smokey with a fire roaring in an open fireplace 6 feet away from the cages, I can image the atmosphere was horrible for the birds in that room for however long they were there.
Mare (07-22-2015), spiritbird (07-21-2015)
Nick you must be a history buff. Good information thanks
Perhaps this will give some food for thought.
As I send off an Asian Fairy Bluebird I rescued.
Those parting moments.
Oberon - Ending this chapter
Oberon -Returning him to the realm of Fairy Queens
Back into the realm of fairy queens.
And fairy kings.
And pythons.
And raptors.
And lots of food. Or maybe no food.
Might be a paradise. Or might be a hell.
Oberon was going to find out, for better or worse. No more wonderful Oberon Mash, and no more being frightened by my presence either.
spiritbird (10-16-2015)