UK Career aviculturists: It's time to dream again...

Hey, as ever, it's been a while since I wrote. I've had opportunities to write not only here, but elsewhere, but my desire to only write when I have something worth sharing has stuck fast. This last year I have seen a wild proliferation of the use of artificial intelligence to write not only online posts, but in some cases whole articles on bird keeping. To some degree this seems to cheapen the experience of reading about our craft. In that sense I have found myself reading more from my physical library, which represents the efforts of real humans, with a real passion, put forward in a time when producing such work required genuine effort and love for what we do.

Over this summer, I've tried to step away from the busy world of online society, whilst still staying in touch as best I can, with others in my life. It's been quiet, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on things in-between work, sleep, and all those other human requirements. The reason behind this is that in the last year, I have found myself increasingly worried about the future of zoo aviculture in the UK (Where I'm based), and not in the usual “not enough new bird keepers” way, but a deeper, indescribable feeling that I cant quite put into words. It feels in some strange way, that large scale, nationwide, progressive and cooperative aviculture is on its way out, there is an unusual sense among many (not only myself, this seems to echo in many conversations I have with other UK keepers) that career zoo aviculturists are a dying breed. Reductions in bird holdings and indeed complete eradication of the taxa in some UK institutions, although well intended through bird flu fears, has denied the zoo aviculturist their natural habitat and in turn denied many future keepers the chance to specialise in this diverse and demanding area.

In some ways it feels like the traditional model of a healthy mix of charismatic avian species and as Gerry would say “little brown jobs” in need of our attention has given way to a model where only the highest priority/popular species have any real hope of long term survival and often in only a small handful of collections whom have either the funds or dedication to work fully with these species, even then, not all are secure by any means.

 

Toucans - A challenge, but 100% worth the effort.

A small example group which are prime candidates in this case are the toucans. Toucans have it all, they are the archetype poster child for charismatic birds, yet in the UK, for as long as I can remember, they have struggled to maintain good populations, through a combination of poor husbandry and lack of awareness, indeed right now this is still the case. I could 100% say with confidence that 15 years ago the UK toucan populations in zoos were doomed. More birds died then of haemochromatosis and acute bacterial infections than were ever bred, and both of the UK collections that did manage to regularly breed them in helpful numbers have now either closed, or abandoned toucans altogether. The situation was dire then, and it continues to be dire now.

How then, I hear you ask, do at least a handful of these species remain on display across the UK? It seems such a prophecy has not come to pass? - Until you dig a little deeper... the beauty of our modern records systems allow us to see a huge amount of data at the touch of a button, and sadly in most cases it seems that the current populations that remain are not descended from the original birds bred 15 years back, those birds are gone, this is a second flush, a population composed of a mix of private acquisitions sourced from presumably mainland Europe, import confiscations and the like. Thus, 15 years from now the same will still be true, UK toucans were unsustainable then, and are unsustainable still, without a great amount of action in the coming years. Where that action comes from, who can say.

This tragedy seems even wilder when you consider that this is an S tier group of birds. These are a holy grail of high brow bird keeping, and whilst they lack the direct endangerment based conservation messaging we see with hornbill species, they are still fantastic in terms of engagement as not only a bird icon everyone knows, but also a flagship species for the areas they inhabit. Indeed if they were easier to keep, breed and house, I'd wager that they would have already secured a permanent, unquestionable seat at the zoo table alongside flamingos, penguins and the like.

Anyway, that's enough toucan talk, but there is a theme here. A couple of years back I wrote an article (will add link at end if I remember) that outlined my vision for the future of zoo bird keeping. I won't dive too deep as you can read it in full if you wish, but the crux was this: To improve engagement and move away from traditional stamp collections of birds, we need to switch it up a gear, create large, interactive walk-through aviaries with modern management facilities that can house and display a huge variety of species, also improving their welfare, whilst holding on to some traditional blocks of flights for the more fine tuned species that don't always play well with others, or need some privacy. This is no brand new vision, just an expansion of the traditional model that has loosely existed for a long time, with the reality of increasing costs and increasing need to improve welfare factored in. There is a financial reality to everything done in a zoo, and to those still out there building new, modern and exciting things for birds, I applaud you, it is no easy feat in this age.

Sadly, in the UK at least, there seems to have been several factors that continue to really blood suck bird keeping, and to be clear, I have no real strong feelings on these, but lay them out here as hard facts that shape our reality. These are firstly the ban of imports of wild birds, this on the whole is a good move, as the numbers of wild birds being stripped out of nature to sustain this trade were shocking. Many younger keepers will not be old enough to remember pre ban days, but I vividly remember visiting one importer as a kid, the air stank of what I now recognise as a mix of baytril and metacam, two drugs that back then were the cure for everything. Species brought in there were unimaginable, 4 species of toucan, handfuls of rollers, bee eaters and whole flocks of parrots. One thing that always stays in my head was a flock of easily over 100 red bellied macaws, fresh in from the wild available for £99 each! I can confidently say that all of those birds are dead now, in spite of being a long lived species in the right hands. It was a shameful time and looking back now, also a shameful waste of the birds that did make it here. Regardless of my opinion on it, the ban had a somewhat chilling effect on the diversity of species, genetic diversity and general numbers of birds seen in UK zoos, this also coupled up with a positive move toward phasing out privately purchasing birds. It is ironic that most of the charismatic zoo bird species that have survived up to now in the UK are descended at some point from these private stocks.

The second main obstacle in the last decade has been fear, fear of avian influenza. In the UK we adopted legislation to protect the farming industry fairly early on and still now that seems to be the main focus of avian influenza related activity. Though zoos now have more of a look in when it comes to this, there are still crippling limitations placed on birds in zoos that do not appear in other taxa with anywhere near the regularity we see in bird based situations. Things like closures, foot dips, extra biosecurity, all great measures in controlling a disease, but ironically these same measures are off putting to those with the investing power when it comes to development in zoos. The question is fair, why invest in a brand new state of the art aviary that may need to be closed half of the year when the same money could create a year round, hassle free experience for guests using another taxa. It's everything that bird keepers hate to hear, and I wish I could say that I haven't seen birds phased out of new projects for this very reason, but it is sadly an increasingly common attitude, even amongst those with historically strong avicultural backgrounds. Whilst by comparison, reptile and amphibian keeping seems to have come on leaps and bounds in the UK, bird keeping has in many ways stagnated horribly.

This brings us onto the third factor: decay. As mentioned earlier, there was a great growth in bird collections in the UK in the last century, mainly between the 1960s and 1990s, before the above factors really started to bite in. Ethics aside, this has left many zoos with ageing infrastructure and a few decades worth of depreciation and underinvestment when it comes to aviaries and facilities. Many of the most notable aviaries were built in this time, but are now in need of urgent repair or replacement to secure their future, and some zoos are just opting to not secure that future. The reduction of birds in UK zoos, sometimes given for various reasons, welfare, ethics etc... are often in truth tied directly to this reality, that the last couple of decades of uncertainty have really battered aviculture here in that sense. The more alarming aspect is also the closure of entire bird collections. One would like to think that in times of economic uncertainty these collections would refine, adapt, evolve. But in truth, what happens is that without love and vision from those with influence, they just die. The last 20 years has seen the evaporation of many once very well respected and seemingly immortal bird collections which contributed heavily to filling the gaps between the big zoo bird populations, whilst being able to also focus on more niche work that otherwise would not happen in bigger, more homogenised collections.

 

The entrance of Leeds Castle Aviary, a wonderful, but now lost collection that was one of the few UK zoos to regularly produce toucan chicks.

All this factored in with the lack of investment into the nuts and bolts of aviculture, the holding and support facilities, the kitchens, all that jazz, has in some areas created an odd desert, where a few aviaries exist in a zoo, but not enough to justify a full department, or the connected conservation efforts that would have come with that in the past. Indeed Curators and team leaders of birds, are an increasing rarity these days by comparison, which also has an impact on the ability of collections to focus development on avian projects and develop strong, dedicated avicultural teams.

It is not of course all hopeless, there are still a few very dedicated bird facilities and several big zoo departments who still bat heavily for birds of all types, but with the decreasing network of bird collections and by extension reduction in bird holding and investing capacity, these collections will have to continue to bear the weight of that torch alone for many years to come, and even to them, this may come at a cost to some of the species housed there.

So I've roughed out here why things seem to feel so flat at the moment, and in my usual way, now we need to discuss some of the ways this could be addressed. I'm going to focus more on keepers here as I've previously written on the wider idea of institutional improvement and I'd be hashing old ground.

I would say that as bird keepers in the UK, there is more of an obligation placed on us now to push, grow and dream than there has ever been. In an environment where there is a lack of real excitement, we must be the excitement, we must bring the ideas forth to push our taxa to the forefront where guests can enjoy them in all of the same beauty and glory that we do. We need to get them out there, to everybody, most importantly the people with control over investment in our facilities, invite them for coffee with your team, show them the birds, allow them to see what is often missed in the offices and boardrooms of the world.

On a serious note, we have to be open to evolution also, we cannot afford to sit back and make demands about what we need whilst offering nothing else in return. Wherever you can do so without welfare compromise, think about experiences you can develop and offer, aviaries that you could adapt to create some form of extra income from the space, find ways to help chip into the bills and make birds more viable and attractive, after all, as we know, we already have a fair few hurdles to start with! It is too often that keepers are able to say where money should be spent, but not offer any ideas about where it could come from.

 

A youngster engages directly with a zoo bird, this could be the moment that creates a new bird lover.

 

If you're lost for ideas, think about what you enjoy so much about your birds, could you offer that in some controlled way to a gaggle of birdwatchers willing to pay for that joy too?

It's also really important to mention that we also have a huge responsibility to grow, in an environment that increasingly offers less opportunity than before. I realise how unhelpful this sounds, but if the remaining career aviculturists in the UK do not put their best foot forward and start climbing the ladders and speaking for birds in the higher levels of zoo society in the future, who exactly can we expect to? How can we hope to justify creating new roles and spaces for birds when there is nobody speaking for them at the table? This is a mighty challenge, but not an insurmountable one.

It's true that the UK zoo aviculture community was much more vibrant and abundant 15 years ago, and that we have seen a slow burn decline of sorts, but I genuinely believe that another kind of scene is possible now that was not possible before. In that previous era, enrichment was a buzz word, training and welfare were things circuses did for amusement and animal rights folks talked about a lot, they were not documentable, learned skill sets that existed in many keepers as they do now. We may have a tougher lot in one respect, but my generation, and the one following it will be the best academically educated generations of aviculturists that have ever existed. We have to weaponise this for the benefit of our birds wherever we can, even if that means sometimes putting on the “showman” hat and finding new ways to help fund the aviaries of tomorrow.

 

A lorikeet aviary at the Indianapolis zoo - granted, the interior could be more complex, but this offers multiple choices to view, enter and presumably also feed the birds if guests wish.

Being utterly honest (which is a good or bad habit of mine, depending on who you ask) things seem difficult in the past few years, but there is a great future possible if we reach out and grasp it, but it will not come without dedication beyond that of average keeper work.

Here's a recap of things we can all work on;

• Grow – Climb the ladder, take on new and productive things, embrace the chaos it brings.

• Speak up – Be a voice not only for your own charges, but also the taxa as a whole.

• Get involved – wherever you can have a say on new ideas and projects, get in there and push birds to the forefront, but just remember to come equipped with some new productive and helpful ideas.

• Don't lean into the idea that closing aviaries long term and creating obstacles is always a good thing for the security of our birds, sometimes it can spell doom for an avairy if no sensible plan can be reached.

• Grants – there are grants out there for many things in the zooniverse, many go unclaimed because nobody puts forward ideas. If you have a vision but large funding seems unlikely, create a smaller proto-vision that is fundable through grant money and demonstrates a concept clearly, this will show your idea is sound in principle and help convince others it is seriously worth a shot. If not, you still have a cool feather for your cap and a boost on your CV.

• Dream big – we can't drum up all of our dreams with the magic money tree, but if a dream is only a copy of something that would be cutting edge in 1985, you're not really helping anybody. Make sure what you work towards is meaningful, contemporary and ideally a step forward in what it is you are doing.

• Stay motivated – let's not kid ourselves, being a keeper is tough, and at times can get you down and tired out. None of us make huge money, but what can serve as our motivation can be an internal drive to innovate... let your hopes and dreams for your birds carry you when your body is to tired to. Keep spinning those plates.

I think that's about all I have to say on this at the moment, granted it is bleak in places, but life is sometimes bleak, and I'd be doing a disservice if I tried to sell you otherwise. The takeaway here is that in the absence and decay of the structures that would support us on a bigger scale, the hope lies with keepers to course correct and steer the future back on track. We have more tools to do so now than ever before.

I'll leave you with a simple mantra that does not come from the animal world, but a world which in some ways echoes many of the tough realities of keeping, the world of fast paced kitchens and gourmet food - from the man who trained both Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal.

“We live in a world of refinement, not invention.” - Marco Pierre White

I hope that has been a thought provoking and artificial intelligence free experience for you, and if you have read this in full, thanks, I'm glad to be bringing you something of use. Below is the link for my previous, markedly more peppy article on the future of zoo aviculture if you are still hungry for more.

Till next time (whenever that is!?)

Stay Birdy,

C.

 

Heres the link to my 2018 article on improving the future of zoo aviculture:

The death of the living stamp collection - An immersive and higher welfare future for all birds.  

If you've made it this far and are still excited to learn more, you might be interested to know that we have set up a facebook group to help push forward thinking birdkeeping and discuss challenges and ideas. You can find it by searching Aviology: aviculture 2.0 on facebook or use the link HERE.

Night of the living... husbandry?! - Zombie practice in aviculture

 

It's been a while, and for regulars here, sorry, life has just been a handful of late.

I was thrilled this week to see a published paper beginning to assess the welfare benefits of circular aviaries, a great idea I've promoted for some time to anyone who will listen, and I'm excited to see what evolves from these works.

 

This week, the Aviology blog passed a major milestone (for a niche aviculture blog anyway!) by passing the 20,000 readers mark. It has taken a few years and the odd cage rattling (mind the pun), but in the main, reception to the blog has been wholly positive, with many new friends being made over the years having got in touch to discuss various topics. The idea that people would take time out of their day to read my work is humbling... Aviology:AI free since 2017 - here's to you and the future brave readers! 

On that note, to celebrate in some small way, I thought it worth putting together a post to talk briefly about Zombie practice, a theme I've touched on every so often but never described. That sounds a bit like folklore husbandry I hear you say, and to some extent that is true, but whilst there is some overlap, there is a critical difference between the two.

Folklore husbandry, a term becoming more popular as the years pass, refers to husbandry practices not rooted in scientific evidence when evidence is available. Snake oil remedies for cage birds is one prime example, many magical tonics are available commercially for a wide range of situations, but seldom do they contain any active ingredients or have any quantifiable veterinary effect. Using these is considered folklore husbandry because it is used on faith alone, with no data or case studies to back it up.

Zombie practice is usually what occurs as a result of folklore husbandry over time OR situations where systems are not updated over decades and their original creators no longer give input or context.

 

Gimme blooood!...

 

First let's chat about the first instance, which is usually seen more in private aviculture because in that situation there is less of a drive for formalised systems and actions are often more spontaneous, and I suppose, of less consequence to the wider world, but of significant consequence to the birds kept. Zombie practice occurs here when folklore husbandry is enstated, but then matched up unquantifiably with some level of success. Others, looking for success with their own species often emulate that practice in the hopes that they will have the same success, if they do, it is assumed to be down to the folklore, if they don't, they continue to cling superstitiously to the folklore in the hopes it will work eventually. Because many folks in private aviculture do not come from a science background, they often miss out on the critical thinking skills that would empower them to ditch the zombie practice and work on real success they can understand, and share with others. Let me be clear here, this is not an assumption about all private aviculturists, I am one myself, but there is a fair sized fringe that do work in this way, they will often refer to themselves as “old school” or similar, which doesn't really mean anything because there were superb private bird keepers in the past, as there are now (I've talked briefly about this somewhere, you will find a link at the end if you're interested).

What harm do these snake oil remedies and folklore practices do you might ask? Well, the scope is too wide to say for the birds, but in honestly, it does a whole lot of harm to the private keeper, it wastes their time, it wastes their money, it robs them of the true joy of success, if these resources are rerouted to meaningful welfare improvements that are observably improving the birds quality of life, the keeper too can thrive.

Secondly I'd like to touch on what some have considered the more insidious of the two, because it often manifests in an organised form and can last decades unchallenged. That is the instance of zombie practice in professional aviculture settings.

I myself have learnt via many mentors and backgrounds, but never myself subscribed to any “school” of thought, to me, the welfare of the bird in question is the “school” and I am both the student and the servant of that “school”. That's my view for what its worth, which will hopefully help you see my perspective.

One theme I have seen over a couple of decades in professional aviculture, at least in the UK, and every so often globally, are these “schools” or “lineages” of keepers, that route their training and discipline back to often one single source, many of those sources being now many decades old themselves, with the original minds and situations behind those practices now long gone and to some degree lacking in connection to modern aviculture. Although well intended, this kind of zombie practice has marched on through several generations of keepers, sometimes watered down each time it is passed on, and the original understanding, situation and any science behind it lost to time. In this sense this zombie practice comes not so much from folklore, but more a loss of definition and relevance over time, like an ever fading photocopy, losing parts of the original every time it is copied.

 

There's a theme to these images, but not really sure what, anyway...

 

The saddest part is that many of the original progenitors of these initial ideas were on the cutting edge at the time and today, would likely have changed their opinion and position in light of what we now know, just as we will find ourselves questioning our practice 10 years away. Yet it's still common to see 50 year old practice held up proudly as some sort of badge of honour, even when science now suggests otherwise. This is zombie practice in action.

A nice metaphor for Zombie practice in this setting is a headless cockroach, you can remove the head from the body and it may continue to live for a time, but it's usefulness becomes limited and it can certainly not be considered a cockroach any longer in the functional sense of the term. When honest critical thinking ceases, the cause is doomed. This is also true in many professional instances; when practice is taught as discipline without understanding, a timestamp is placed on the usefulness of that knowledge.

So, that's that; it might be that you have encountered this sort of situation in your work with birds, and its easy to want to buy into, to want to “belong” to something that will give you security, a group, a society, a particular school, but the truth is that great ideas and revelations come from everywhere, as do bad ideas and bad practice. Be fluid and free.

 

The key to selling snake oil (or mystery bird tonics) is usually confidence... the bad kind.

 

What can I do to resist falling prey to zombie practice I hear you cheer!

Thankfully that part is pretty simple, you just need to;

1. Commit to the idea that a majority of what we should know about birds in human care is currently unknown, speculative or unadressed, and that is OK and normal.

2. Know that your obligation to your birds is to reactively research when presented with a problem rather than delve into the security of how little written information is currently available.

3. Be clear in your objective, don't get caught up in aimless or purposeless pursuits. Write down the problem, then establish what you need to answer the question at hand and seek it, if you cannot find anything helpful within known literature, plan how you might obtain your answer practically via observation or data collection.

4. Strip back anything of no use to that cause. Do not yield to what you would like to be the case even if it has been repeated for many years.

5. Not give up, you might be on to something new and better (or not, but let's say you are).

And to be honest, that's about all I'd like to say about Zombie practice for now that I've not already touched on elsewhere and leave you with a quote from a great scientist and philosopher who whilst they were not talking specifically about our field, their thoughts when asked what two things they would say to the people of the future echo wonderfully with what I m trying to convey here.

“I should like to say two things, one intellectual and one moral.

The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this: When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out. Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only, and solely, at what are the facts. That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say.

The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple: I should say, love is wise, hatred is foolish. In this world which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way — and if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”

~ Bertrand Russell

 

Till next time, stay birdy,

C.

 

If you would like to read another post along these lines, this is a good start...

Unexpected musings on the nature of excellence in Aviculture. 

and you are also interested in the quirky world of circular aviaries, here is an older post that is quite hard to access these days due to the way Blogger is set up.

MMM... DONUTS! - Thinking outside the boxes : Have we overlooked a major new aviary design?

If you've made it this far and are still excited to learn more, you might be interested to know that we have set up a facebook group to help push forward thinking birdkeeping and discuss challenges and ideas. You can find it by searching Aviology: aviculture 2.0 on facebook or use the link HERE.

Bird Keeper Green Flags - Good traits in aspiring professional bird keepers

My last post was pretty full on, and I highlighted some of the most problematic attitudes in bird keeping today. Many got in touch to share their thoughts on this and as a result, I thought it would be interesting to write a follow up article aimed at the younger up and coming bird keepers (or maybe some open minded current keepers), that rather than just sharing the negative traits one can develop, throw out some positive ones to look for and aspire to. So here goes...

Being a zoo bird keeper as a profession (and doing it well) is a demanding and sometimes unforgiving career and certainly not for the faint hearted. It requires a level of dedication and interest that would tax even the most enthusiastic of general keepers. The main reason for this is that birds are so fragile, unpredictable and ungiving in their habits that they could easily put off a novice keeper dipping their toes into the world of career aviculture. Couple this with the need for astute and informed, species specific observation skills and a nutritional grasp wider than most other taxa and this route becomes a pretty intimidating prospect.

 

As this post is more about us and less about birds, today I'll just include some cool species. All are connected to the article somehow, 10 points for Ravenclaw if you get it by the end.

 

Professional aviculture at least from my perspective is in a state of flux, a genuine push toward better welfare standards after decades of foot dragging is resulting in a conflicted environment, where often the costs of improving welfare to an acceptable modern standard can be sudden and overwhelming, leading to collections having to prioritise species or in some cases collection plan and reduce bird species so that better welfare can be provided to the remainder of the collection. Graduates either studying to move into industry or ready to work are usually well educated and versed in welfare and behaviour, and have the best intentions, but lack the historical understanding to see where aviculture has been and where it is heading. A level of resilience is required if a student of the avicultural arts is to survive long enough to learn how to function within the modern zoo ecosystem whilst still maintaining their sense of optimism and drive.

It's maybe not a surprise then, that in these challenging times there seem to be fewer young aviculturists stepping up to the plate, and those that do often change direction into different taxa or move out of professional bird keeping altogether. It is sad to say that in my experience more promising young bird keepers have moved away from aviculture than stayed the course.

Over the years I've interviewed, worked with and mentored many aspiring bird keepers and as such seen those that thrive and those that don't and so I thought it may be useful, particularly to students looking seriously towards a career in professional aviculture, to compile a list of my "green flags". These are outlooks, qualities and behaviours that generally indicate that a keeper will develop into a "good egg" (you older readers will know exactly what I mean here).

 

 

Disclaimer: These are just my own thoughts, and don't mean you will always get that job or placement you are aiming for, but they will help you understand what it takes to move forward in an upward direction.

 

Calm

First thing on the list is your demeanour. Being a calm, centred person is very helpful when working around birds day to day. Some bird species may seem very excitable and loud, but that does not mean that they require their keeper to be. For many smaller species if you are loud and boisterous you will at best spook them into avoiding you and at worst cause them to panic and seriously harm themselves. Learning how to remain calm and non reactive will go a long way towards helping you develop understanding with the birds you care for and enable you to observe them easier and recognise any developing issues earlier which they may otherwise mask. When I encounter someone who is not immediately excitable or distracted constantly it assures me that the birds are likely to be safer around them.

Observant

On that note, observation skills are critical in aviculture, more so than any other taxa. Birds get sick fairly often, have complex social needs and plenty of windows for chaos to develop quickly. It is true that birds "die all the time" but I would wager that many of these deaths are avoidable with a good understanding of species specific behaviour and a bit of proactive common sense and observation. There have been times in my early career when I've noted something, thought I'll "keep an eye on it" and found an unsalvagable case develop days later, and the kicker is that almost all situations are different, so being flexible and observant can help you make the right calls and communicate situations effectively to your colleagues each time. It's better to raise a concern that may be fine than overlook one for fear of sounding silly and it turn out fatal. When I encounter keepers who notice small and seemingly insignificant things about a bird it rings bells.

Willing (and able to learn (and research!))

This one is pretty specific. We often say we are willing to learn, but what I mean here is not only to say it and expect to be taught, but be able to self motivate yourself to learn independently and do the research needed to maintain your birds well, and keep doing it, forever. What is key here is not only to research what avicultural literature may be available but also to scour every source you can on the natural habitat, behaviour and needs of that species. Legacy aviculture has its merits and can still offer a lot so should not be ignored, but you should also remain aware that it is a minefield of folklore practice and welfare snake oil and some good people out there still promote very erroneous practice with great confidence. The truth is that whilst you may have mentors who are willing to guide you, the only real way to make productive moves forward is to develop yourself, by yourself, for yourself. Sounds harsh, and certainly not what many young keepers will want to hear, but nobody is coming to save you. You are going to build yourself into a solid keeper or fail. It's something I wish I'd learned way earlier in my career, so here it is, a gift to you in the hopes you make good use of it. If your friends and colleagues tell you otherwise, you need better friends and colleagues. Self motivated, alert and interested keepers are always a green flag, especially those who are aware of innovative and developing areas in modern aviculture.

 

Healthy

Simple really, nobody will say it because it seems a trifle unfair, but you need to stay healthy and aim for what is optimal for your body type. Nobody will judge you for not doing this, but if your physical and mental performance bottoms out because you are not taking proper care of yourself your team will notice when they have to draw up the slack. Drink enough water, eat properly, exercise, simple stuff but not always obvious to younger keepers and it's in your personal interests to be healthy too. If someone comes to an interview and has a healthy home life, enjoys walking, sports or similar, I can infer from that that they are likely disciplined enough to be staying fit and able to carry out their duties well at work.

Honest

This one is easy to say, not always easy to live by. Be honest about what you are doing, what you are seeing and what you are thinking, but try to present this in a diplomatic way wherever you can. Often in this line of work, the phrase “never attribute to malice that which can be easily explained by ignorance” is a reality. Birds are complex, there are thousands of species, all very different and no one of us can ever know all we should know about them, they keep their secrets well even with your best research. Speak up if you are concerned or have useful ideas and be honest about what you are doing and if there are problems make sure to carefully articulate where you may have misunderstood. Don't run to blame someone else, aim to resolve a situation and avoid it again in future with clear, calm communication. Young keepers who are honest about what they do or don't know fill me with confidence, over-hyping yourself in an attempt to impress could result in a colleague overburdening you with a task you are not ready for and this could come at the cost of the birds, an outcome nobody benefits from.

Self Aware

Self awareness is key to good development not only as a keeper but as a person. Knowing your weaknesses and your strengths will help you not only plan better but also assist you in recognising where you fall short. At first our ego thinks “how do I fall short?!” but the truth is that we all do, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways, but it's in your interests to know where you have room to grow rather than crawling blindly (and maybe arrogantly) through life thinking you are already perfect and “enough”. Dedicate yourself to growing so that you can better serve your birds, they deserve it and so do you. Rookies who show clear self awareness, demonstrate a path of self guided growth and a maturity score high for me, these are the foundations of a solid reliable keeper in future.

 

Objective

This one is tough in practice, as no matter how objective we think we are we are often not. Emotion gets caught up in our work (and should, otherwise why are you here?) and we regularly have to make uncomfortable decisions or sit with situations we are not happy with. What is critical to a good keeper is firstly how they view it objectively and ask is this hurting my feelings or ego more than is sensible. Are my views on this causing welfare to be compromised, am I getting in the way of myself here? Euthanasia decisions in particular never feel “right” emotionally, even when you are 100% doing the right thing, and if they still feel wrong ten years down the line, you're doing well. Dulling your senses to important decisions like euthanasia is not only a bit cowardly, but will also impact your ability to make objective welfare decisions in future. Stay sharp, it's not easy or comfortable, but it's correct.

Unentitled

I'm not going to dive deep here, as this attitude is thankfully uncommon, but I'd be lying if I said I had not seen is a few times, particularly in new keepers and work experience.

The truth here is that in spite of what a college or university may have told you, or what you may have told yourself, no one zoo or institution owes you a free education, a free job, a free interview, cripes they don't even owe you a chance at a placement. You have to come ready to go and be willing to get your hands dirty and get tired, it's tough, but it's true. If you want to work with birds (or any taxa to be honest) having an entitled attitude is the quickest way to push away anyone who might have any interest in helping you. Remember, all the keepers you see were in your place once, they may have grown on well, or gone a bit wrong, but what unites them all is the graft it took to get there, nobody handed it out to them (in 99,9% of cases anyway, and you should not pin hopes on being that 0.1%!).

Resilient

Resilience is a bit of a gross word to me, as it's become a bit of a corporate buzzword used to normalise pushing staff beyond reasonable limits, but in this case, it is the right term I'm looking for.

What I'm getting at here is that you need to be able to get back up again when you get knocked down. Birds need you every day for their husbandry needs, so this part of our role is unavoidable. It's why we work weekends, Christmas, Birthdays etc... It's the path we choose, and biology cant change the needs of the birds to suit us.

It's going to be tough, and if you follow the bird keeping route, probably tougher than most keeper roles. You need to learn a huge volume and still be honestly happy with being “a fool” when it really comes down to it. You need to work your damned hardest to breed a species in need of conservation only to have a chick die days before fledging. You need to say goodbye to that bird you spent a year training when their health suddenly goes downhill. The next day you need to get up, get on and care for the other birds as if it never happened.

This is probably one of the toughest parts of not only bird keeping but keeping any animal. In my experience only exposure really builds genuine resilience in a keeper, going through those situations and learning ways to guide yourself through and maintain your core energy day in day out. Focussing on other tasks that can keep things moving forward whilst you process something is key, but like all things, it's likely you will in time, find your own ways to becoming more resilient, whist still maintaining your “fire” for the craft.

 

 

I'll leave it there for now, as that is a lot to take on board and think about if you think about it seriously, and although there are probably more green flags I could share, these core ones should help anyone who is feeling a bit lost and in need of a little encouragement.

My takeaway advice would be to write down these points as bullets and honestly ask yourself where you could improve on those areas. If you are strong in some areas, great, move on to working out how you become even stronger, better still maybe reach out and help others in your life that find this hard, they may too be searching for growth.

The biggest green flag of all is that you are here, you desire to develop enough to have found your way to this article, read through it and are now making a plan, or adding to an existing one. You would be amazed how many keepers are not that proactive when it comes to their career development. If you start off strong now and continue with a good mindset, think of where you could be 10 years from now.

I hope this has been of some help and best of luck out there, it's tough, but birds are awesome.

#staybirdy

C.

 

 

NEWS: If you've made it this far and are still excited to learn more, you might be interested to know that we have a facebook group to help push forward thinking birdkeeping and discuss challenges and ideas. You can find it by searching Aviology: aviculture 2.0 on facebook or use the link HERE.

I may see you there!