Survival unlikely for freed birds

FREEING caged birds into the wild is condemning most of them to a quick death, says Kowhai Park Aviary Keeper, Brian Day, after the recent loss of five rosellas.

Mr Day said non-native species such as rosellas and cockatiels would not be able to adapt to the outside environment and soon die of starvation or be killed by wild birds like the sparrow hawk.

“They are fed every day and know where the feed bowl is,” he said, “but where in the wild are they going to get sunflower and canary seed?”

Mr Day was commenting after another attack on the cages at the popular Feilding aviary left gaping holes to two of the enclosures. The colourful Australian parrots and some java sparrows went missing and have not seen sighted.

“A kaka was let out a few years ago and it took five days to catch it in the nearby bush. A few birds do come back to the enclosure, but this latest lot haven’t. None of them hung around.”

Mr Day, a noted breeder of Bengalese and zebra finches, said he can’t understand the thinking of people who showed no care towards animals.

“It devastates me, actually. We’ve tried hard to get some of the breeds established at the aviary so we can build up the stock, especially the rosellas, which are not easy to get. And when birds are let out during the nesting season, we not only lose the parents, but the chicks as well.”
Mr Day has replaced the missing parrots with two rosellas from his own stock and they now accompany the one bird that remained behind.

He was most appreciative of the person who contacted authorities immediately after discovering the damaged cages during an early-evening visit and asked that any callers to the park to always report any suspicious activity. The park is closed to the public at night.

Parks and Reserves Manager, Albert James, also expressed his dismay at the attack and at another, possibly unrelated, incident in which a Muscovy duck was killed and its eggs broken.
“Some people think the park is just there for them to drink in and destroy things,” he said.