Plantain Eaters, Touracos and Jays.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

Continuing from the Hello Folks thread, I thought it was time to move it over here.:-D

To be honest I just have a bombardment of questions for you,:wink: so I will apologise to you in advance.:lol:

The first is what size and design are the aviaries for your birds, you mentioned the birds have shelters and heat, but do these shelters also have artificial and any natural light?

Do you have natural cover in the main aviaries for the Touracos, Plantain Eaters and Jays, or do you provide platforms for nestings sites?

What diet do you feed to all of the above?

And lastly (for now anyway) are you a member of the Avicultural Society and/or Touraco Society?

I think that should do for now.

Paul.:-D

[Alasdair Ingram]

Paul , it's nice to hear from someone thats interested in the birds , i am a member of the Touraco Society but up here in Scotland finding any other keepers of Touracos or Jays etc is near impossible. I have met one or two but purely by chance.
Moving back into suburbia i had to certainly shrink my aviaries both in size and number from what they were on the farm.
My current aviaries all vary in size from 15 foot to 18 foot long and are from 3 to 6 feet wide the flights are attached onto a custom built shed which stetches the length of the flights. My neighbours must love me:rolleyes:
The shed just looks like a big shed ( surprisingly) and has 6 windows providing natural light . I do have 2 x 6 foot tubular heaters ( on for most of the winter) installed as well as a light which is only used rarely.
The flights, as they are fairly new are still being planted and filled out as i go on. I did buy Bamboo and plant it in a few of the flights and these have only really taken this year. Other plants within the flights are only there because they were there when the flights were built on top of them . I do however have plans , eventually for a more organised planting scheme . If i use any more bamboo i fear that i may end up with Panda problem.
Each cage is provided with a nest tray , the height of which is about 5 inches the base of which is made using a mesh designed for strengthening bankings and verges etc.
The jays have been provided also with a nest box however hopefully i will pick up one of a better size and shape at Carlisle. My self builds usually end up weighing quarter of a ton.
As for food the birds daily get chopped apples, pears , small amount of banana , grapes and whatever else that is in the salad bowl/fridge as well as the low iron softbill food.
My local Morrisons Supermarket does a fine line in meat pieces/offcuts which are dirt cheap and are the jays favourite food , the jays also get the usual livefood and enjoy hammering at peanuts in their shells and green beans - ah the old behavioral enrichment...

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

Thanks for answering my barrage of questions.

I love the Touraco family, most of them are showy, confident, colourful (with the exception of the Plantain Eaters and Go Aways) and very inteligent birds showing individual characters.
Unfortunately I don't have the room for even a single pair, I'll keep on paying my lottery each week though, with the hope of buying the huge plot of land needed to house all of the birds on my wish list, the plot I want to buy is called Jersey.:lol:

As a member of the Touraco Society you already have a great bunch of people as contacts for birds and information, but the Aviculural Society is another incredible society regarding contacts and information.

The reason for my questions regarding aviary size, whether the shelters were lit and whether the aviaries are planted, was because on the Introductions forum you mentioned how incredibly shy the Plantain Eaters are and that they haven't attempted breeding yet.

Some years ago Birdworld in Farnham took on a huge private collection of Touracos etc, some of the Touracos chose not to nest in the outside aviaries, but to nest on platforms provided inside their shelters which if I remember correctly were painted white inside and were very well lit.
Another point I had in mind, was while working for a large private collection (again some years ago) a pair of Livingstones Touracos attempted nesting in a huge thorny Tree which I believe to have been an Acacia?
When I say the Livingstones attempted nesting, you know very well the nest building skills of Touracos, their attempt ended is Touraco eggs on cocktail sticks,:roll: but perhaps your Plantain Eaters would make use of dense natural cover as a nesting site in the aviary?

Another point is that the diet of Go Away Birds differs from that of Touracos, I wondered whether Plantain Eaters were named so because of their prefered diet?

A Zoo reccommended the feeding of Plantain and greenfoods as the staple diet for the Go Aways instead of fruit, also stating clearly that Bananas were not a suitable substitute for Plantain!

You mention a nest box for your White tailed Jays, is this for them to build a cup nest, or are they cavity nesters in the same way as Jackdaws, because I thought all Jay species were cup nesters?:-?

Diet wise, I thank you for the tip regarding Morrisons,;-) I will check out our local Supermarket in the hope of finding a supply of cheap off cuts for our own larger Softbills.

Going back to the White Tailed Jays, have you considered breeding your own supply of Pinkie Mice? It is far cheaper for you to breed your own rather than buy them and of course you will know what the adult Mice have been fed on.

Paul.

[Alasdair Ingram]

I like your lottery plans , i must admit mine run along similar lines.
The Plantain Eaters (and the rest of the birds) all have the nesting platforms inside the shed as since the aviaries are only just two years old plant cover has yet to really take over where i need it to so i have not put any platforms outside , the only exception being for the Plush crested Jays who have a Parrot sized nest box outside should any inckling take them.
I installed a nest box mainly to give the Jays an option for where to nest , not wanting to deviate from this website , but on the Birdtrek one , the White Tails are pictured beside/ infront of a box presumably intended for themselves.
As for feeding the Plantain Eaters , I originally started feeding them a very leafy diet and luckily enough a local Tesco also sold Plantain , so it got visited on a regular basis but for some reason it stopped selling it and i wasn't really fussed by this as the birds for some reason didn't really always finish their daily portion of the stuff.
I tried feeding them from separate dishes of varying consistencies and the dish that was the emptiest was the dish containing the same feed as the other Touracos were fed. I wouldn't suggest that they are over fond of bananas either , they tend to be the last bits left in the dishes.
To date , this is what they are still fed although they do tend to get the "leafier" dish of feed in the morning.
I recently found a lovely mouse skin in the jay aviary, the jays must have enjoyed their fast food as the pelt was clean as a whistle.
Your comments regarding pinkies are noted , the hornbills certainly enjoyed them and would take them eagerly from my hand .
Should you visit Morrisons keep an eye out for the Bamboo in the plants section , their plants are cheaper( £7:99) than the garden centres up here and their plants when they come in to the stores are fairly healthy and green.
PS - no luck at Carlisle , managed to avoid impulse buying however ... bring on Stafford!

[chris]

Hi Paul and Alasdair,

last time i checked there was a hen touraco for sale at woodlea birds, i think it was £200 can't remeber the species. there is a photo of it on their website, might be of interest to one or both of you assuming you don't already know about it

Chris;)

[Alasdair Ingram]

Just checked it out , the bird is a hen Schalows Touraco . A nice bird but wrong type! , thanks anyway.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Alasdair,

If you win the lottery before I do, could you buy Guernsey please and leave the option of Jersey open for me?:lol:

Well my ideas of nesting platforms in the inside quarters, feeding Plantain and greenfoods etc weren't exactly new then.:roll:

I was wrong to assume that all Jays are cup nesters too, but then again it was only a couple of years ago that I discovered there was a Dove species that is in fact a box nester in captivity, using hollows in trees in the wild, and for many years I assumed that Saffron Finches were cup nesters, but they too are box/tree hollow nesters.

Good luck in breeding your own Pinkie Mice.

I'm always on the look out for cheap Bamboo plants, so thanks again.;-)

Sorry you had no luck at Carlisle, but I hope we can meet up at Stafford, a handful of other members will be there too.

All the best, Paul.

[Alasdair Ingram]

You may very well be right regarding the nesting facilities for the Jays , i have yet to (breed any or) meet any breeders of Jays although i am sure that the must be a few breeders out there.
I will try nesting platforms/nest boxes both open fronted and with the traditional hole in the forthcoming breeding season in a bid to ascertain the preferred choice of the birds. I feel that the best "teachers" in this circumstance will be the birds themselves so i will allow them to dictate their own needs for nesting and i will do my best to encourage them in the meantime. I will however gratefully accept any pointers from anyone who knows about the genre.
Regarding the pinkies , whilst outside tonight drilling numerous holes in a log (ahhh the old behavioural enrichment crops up again!) i saw the lone White Tailed Jay holding a freshly killed adult mouse in it's beak . This was quickly devoured in the space of ten minutes with the mouse's head being left , resting in the middle of one of the perches(must be a snack for later ;-) ).
I am luckily enough to back on to a forest so i had reasonable belief that the mouse was at least clean of any poisons/toxicity so the bird really did get live food today!
Aye , unless some good person advertises a Jay or suitable Touraco for sale , Stafford it is then!

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

I'm fully aware of the hen White Tailed Jay you are looking for, but please remind us of the Touraco species and sexes you are looking for?

Paul.:wink:

[Alasdair Ingram]

I'm currently after a female White Cheeked Touraco , i have been watching the Touraco society website but the suitable birds on it are all "very" down south!
I don't routinely mind travelling for birds but i like to think of the birds' welfare on long journies . I saw a while ago that Select Exotics down in Essex had the Jays for sale but i was hoping that some closer to home ( Stafford or above) would come up for sale.

[Waxbillman]

if i remember correctly Graham Ashworth was selling a few white cheeked Touraco

failing that i do odd jobs for someone who has a pair that should soon have white cheeked chicks, if they become available i'll let you know

Matthew

[Alasdair Ingram]

Any help would be great , thanks - i would also be willing to sell my Touraco should anyone be looking for a proven male.

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Alasdair,

If you post your wants in the wanted forum you may recieve the reply you are waiting for, and the same for birds for sale.:wink:

I wish you all the best regarding the birds you are looking for.

Paul.:grin:

[cooltom28]

www.touracos.co.uk (http://www.touracos.co.uk) :lol:

[Waxbillman]

thats an interesting link Tom, don't see what you find so funny though

i know where there is 2 western grey plantain eaters avaiable

Matthew

[cooltom28]

i thought it was just a cheesy grin:?

[Alasdair Ingram]

Hmmm... Plantain Eaters...interesting.

Couple of questions however. I am not really in the market for Plantain Eaters at the moment due to lack of room in the garden department , :wink: but ,
i could possibly be swayed (frequently done by pretty ladies or fast cars:rolleyes: ) depending on the answer to the following questions...

1) Dealer or private sale?
2) Are they 'oop north or down south?
3) Price?
4) Eastern or Western Greys' ?
5) A pair as in a "pair" or a pair as in a "pair"? - know what i mean!

What ever the answers will be , Ta much for keeping an eye open for me. Much appreciated.

[Waxbillman]

they are at a dealers in Doncaster, South Yorkshire

i don't know the price, or whether they are true pair, but they are the ones on the touraco website

i have pm'd you regarding the touraco hen

Matthew