(Birds in header image created with microsoft co-pilot)
I wasn’t intending to write about much about my studies as they progress but I thought this experience during a practical lesson on handling birds was worth making an exception!
My first practical lesson handling animals.
We were looking at – kanaries (canaries) and grasparkieten (budgerigars) and had a checklist of items to help us examine them. Could we feel the breast bone (for an indication of muscle mass)? Were the eyes bright and clear? What was the skin colour like? And in the case of the canaries, could we determine the sex from the cloacca?
These, and some other checks of course needed us to hold the bird, and we were shown how to pick one from the many out of the cage. A bird in the hand remains only so if we can secure him; hold him in such a way that it’s comfortable and secure whilst in a position that we could examine him properly.
The teacher made it look easy – but it wasn’t! I had the fortunate luxury of watching some of my class mates try catching a bird before me which meant I had the opportunity to see what could go wrong. By the time my turn came I felt I had a bit of an advantage. Catching the bird was difficult with only a single jointed arm maneuvering inside a small cage with several but once caught, holding the little thing was surprisingly easy!
I examined a canary first, then moved to the budgie afterwards. Apparently these were a little more feisty, and sure enough I earned myself a few good hard bites with his sharp beak on my hand as I took him from the cage! By necessity I needed to hold him an alternative way to the budgie. My fingers were now safe!
“Ah, that’s the one that bites!”
Somehow, one of my classmates recognised him! Yep, thanks for warning me beforehand!
The last thing to check with my bird was his weight. We do this by placing him into a small cardboard box and weighing it, then subtracting the weight of the box. To blow my own trumpet a little here, my time with the animal ambulance has helped me to become quite an expert in moving birds into boxes, so getting his weight was an easy thing for me to do.
Weight read off the scale, all that remained now was placing him back into his cage with his friends. I didn’t see the need to stick my hand into the (tiny) box and risk getting it bitten again, so I moved the whole box into the cage, opened the lid, and let him come out in his own time.
But crucial mistake – I hadn’t written down his weight, and in the excitement I couldn’t remember it! Thankfully I found my classmate who’d examined this budgie earlier and she shared the measurement with me, perhaps as way of apology for not warning me about the biting! Another lesson learned there; I’d missed the weight measurement, but I’d missed a golden opportunity…
How does the story go?
The story goes like this.
A lady drives her car with her parrots ‘sitting’ on the back seat. She checks in at a toll bridge station where the car is weighed. It comes in a few kilos over the payment threshold, so she claps her hands and the parrots take to flight (but remain in the car).
Question: does the weight of the car decrease, thus allowing the lady to pay a cheaper toll fare?
Missed Opportunity
Argh – I could have seen for myself! I had a bird in a box on a weighing scale – all I needed to do was clap my hands and see if the weight measurement changed!!
Maybe I’ll get another chance another time!
