Meet Wilbur, The Magnificent Hand Tamed Canary Extraordinaire!
Ray: "Wilbur On My Shoulder Makes Me Happy!"
"A Bird in the Hand" ........................................................Priceless! (photo Tom Hixson)
Wilbur Likes to Talk to Me! (photo Tom Hixson)
After Some Play Time, Ray Puts Wilbur Back in His Travel Cage for a Short Rest and a Snack. (photo Tom Hixson)
In His Travel Cage, Wilbur Takes A Drink of Water In Between Bites of Seed, Cantaloupe, and Broccoli! Wilbur Likes a Big Variety of Fruits and Vegetables.
After a Short While, Wilbur Began Begging Ty to Take Him Out Again.
From Here, Wilbur Likes to Nibble on Ty's Ear and Play With His Hair.
Ty Asks Wilbur For A Kiss.
Sweet Kisses, Wilbur Prefers Ty to Pucker Up While He Does All the Kissing!Wilbur with his owners, Ray Terrazas and Ty Moorman, were a big hit at the Houston Canary and Finch Bird Show! Wilbur, a Spanish Timbrado Canary, was hatched in their aviary in the Spring of 08. Unfortunately, he was the runt of the clutch and not growing. Because of his smaller size, he was in danger of being trampled by his larger siblings.
Ray and Ty decided that if this disadvantaged canary was going to live, it would have to be hand fed. so at only two days old, it was removed from its nest, keep warm with a heat lamp, and totally hand fed with Kaytee Exact Baby Formula. Under their vigilant care, the canary thrived and became their special pet!
Ty decided to name him Wilbur, after another famous Wilbur, a pig, who also started out as a runt but who became a wonderful pet! Do you suppose this Wilbur can talk to spiders too?
Wilbur is an highly unusual canary! He is this tame only because he was totally hand fed from shortly after birth! Rare hand tamed canaries like Wilbur are much loved pets and priceless! In all my years in canaries, I have never seen a canary as tame as Wilbur!
A special thanks to Ray and Ty for sharing Wilbur with us and to Tom Hixson who sent me his pictures of Wilbur to dub in with my mine for this blog posting!
Wonderful Pics thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNow a Question?
During the show season; Do you have any suggestions on how exhibtors can protect their birds from bringing home any unwanted pests such as mites etc?
What can clubs do to help protect the birds?
Ty here.... I wanted to share a sweet but sad story about Wilbur! Last Christmas Ray got me a Red Flank Lory that we named Lolly! We placed her cage in the living room with Wilbur where over the following 9 months they became buddies! Lolly taught Wilbur how to cat call, and Wilbur taught Lolly how to sing a bit! A month ago Lolly died suddenly! I hurt so deeply that my sweet baby was gone, but even more so I hurt for Wilbur who kept singing and talking to her, wondering where she had gone! Life goes on but I willnever forget sitting in the living room and listening to those sweet conversations from an unlikely friendship!
ReplyDeleteBirds that go to shows should be quarantined when they get home four to six weeks and given a preventative mite treatment after the last show.
ReplyDeleteAt the shows, any bird that appears ill is immediately removed from the show bench regardless of how contagious the infection might be. For example, I have removed birds with eye problems which is not very contagious.
One time I was judging a show where mites were observed on the white table cloth's and the show official removed all of that exhibitor's birds. The white cloth is a good idea as the mites were easy to spot crawling on the white cloth and the exhibitors birds were out of the show hall before the show even started!
I have been showing at least 25 years and have not had my birds bring anything home but I do quarantine and treat just like I would do if I had purchased a bird.
Would you recommend using a preventative spray on the birds BEFORE taking them to a show?
ReplyDeleteWilbur is an amazing bird. Ray and Ty have much to be proud of in that little guy. Their dedication to Wilbur shows, and Wilbur shows it right back. It is great to see such interaction. Great job guys. Rich
ReplyDeleteI wait till after the shows because my birds are healthy before I take them to a show. When I say preventative, I mean preventing them from bring a mite to my aviary. So I treating just to kill any mite in the unlikely event that they have picked one up at the show.
ReplyDeleteI spray the bottom of the show cages with AIL (Avian Insect Liquidator) to repel any bugs that might be in the holding/show room.
ReplyDelete