At the Victoria Crown Affair on May 6, Pandemonium Aviaries will auction a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in the Peruvian Amazon! Winners of this live auction item will get 5 days and 6 nights courtesy of Rainforest Expeditions which donated these trips. You may be going to a remote area, but you’ll travel in “rustic luxury,” with …
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A Word from Michele 1
Dear Friends, Birds are not the only things flying at Pandemonium Aviaries. Time also has wings. It seems as if one moment I am worrying about winter rains and the next I’m turning on cooling sprinklers. Summer is truly a wonderful time to live with birds. Many of them are busy building nests. Thanks to …
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Two Names for One Bird 0
According to the dictionary, a dove is a gentle person, or one who prefers peace to war or conflict. It is a term of endearment and care, used to express a certain delicacy, as in Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “Great Chinese Dragon”, with his “womankind milkwhite and dove-breasted”. We love doves. Even Urban Dictionary, whose definitions of …
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Meet the Flock of Interns 0
Sharon Beltracchi is a senior at Stanford University where she is majoring in Environmental Science. She hopes to work at a zoo or an aquarium where she can help wildlife and educate the public about conservation. This summer at Pandemonium, Sharon is spending most of her time on behavior and enrichment training. She is working on …
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Are You Drinking Shady Coffee? 0
At one time, almost all coffee was grown in the shade of a forest canopy. This shade grown coffee supported an eco-system that helped conserve water sheds, did not require pesticides (birds provided natural pest control), helped control soil quality and provided habitat for many animals, including birds. Now, most coffee is sun-grown in deforested …
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Catalina Macaw or African Grey? 3
Would I rather be a plucked, neurotic African Grey or a rainbow colored, shiny feathered Catalina Macaw? In other words, given the choice, would I rather be smart or would I choose to be beautiful? First a disclaimer. I know that its possible to be both smart and beautiful. I will also be generalizing, stereotyping, …
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Are males always right? 0
When pointing out monomorphic birds (species in which the males and female look exactly alike) I call out their names without hesistation: ‘That’s Ferguson. Say hi to Olivia, his mate.” I’ll point to a pair of birds that are indistinguishable to most people, and know instantly which are male and which are female. Sometimes, I …
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Meet the Scarlet Chested Grass Parakeet 0
Scarlet Chested Grass Parakeets come from Australia. They once were considered “pest” by farmers since they eat grain.
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Looks Rank High in Finch Mate Selection 0
There are very few Lady Gouldian finches left in the wild. This species that once numbered in the millions is now down to approximately 2500. The reduced number of finches means that there are fewer choices for mates and in Lady Gouldian finches, choice of mate is very important. When LG finches pair up with …
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Victoria Crown Pigeon Pair Seeks Carpenter 0
Weekends are building and repair days at Pandemonium. I am hopeless when it comes to installing or repairing anything. I do, however, have a wonderful handyman. I initially hired him for one weekend. That was three years ago and while I keep promising that “I need just one/max two” more weekends of help, I am as addicted as any substance abuser to having my fix. In my case, it’s fixing all of the zillion of things that break down/need changing/ don’t work right/ have been destroyed by rodents/simply too ugly or too unsafe for the birds.
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