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Photo Credits: Blake Ma - Pied
and Violet Lovebirds
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Exhibiting Lovebirds: A Novice
Perspective - by Blake Ma
Where do I begin? My first lovebird that owned me was a
SplitCinnamino. I think I first heard of shows while searching for bird
fairs in my area. I went to my first show in 2003 in Chicago. I woke up
at what I thought was the crack of dawn at 6AM and dragged myself and
my favorite lovebird, a Splitcinnamino, in his white cage to the
Chicago show. I think mine was the only bird in a non-show cage, so he
did stand out just a little bit. The little N on the top left corner of
my tag was probably not necesssary. Little would I know that in my
future expeditions to shows that 6AM was wonderful and much better than
the midnight drives or the 3AM inter and intra-state speeding sessions.
My Splitcinnamino was the only Australian Cinnamon variation I had ever
seen, and I was amazed by the number of lovebirds there. Never before
had I seen so many. I had no idea what to do or how to fill out the
tag, but I asked around and my bird got put into the Australian
Cinnamon Green class. It probably could have gotten put into the AOC
class, but I didn’t know what AOC was then. It was then that I
realized that my Sunny(yes, very original) looked very bright and
yellowish compared to the other Australian Cinnamons that had a
beautiful green cast to their yellow feathers. And so began the
learning… The first person that befriended me at that show was
Linda Brandt and then Doree Bedwell. It was wonderful of them to do
that, because from then on when I went to shows, I would see familiar
faces. There was also 1 exhibitor who told me, “You came all this
way and only brought 1 bird?”. My advice is not to let people
like this intimidate you. Also, the comment wasn’t necessarily
meant in a negative way, they probably had to drive a couple of hours,
whereas it only took me an hour. We’re all at different stages of
showing and for me that was my first encounter with showing lovebirds.
Sunny did not win any awards that day but did get a 3 rd in class
sticker. I however took home a lot of information and knew that I HAD
to go to another show. Why? I wasn’t too sure.
Before that show season was over, I had acquired 11 show
cages at a discounted price that I took home, and with great Monet
precision and patience, rehabilitated with bird toxic-free black and
white spray paint. I now had more show cages than I had birds to put in
them. There are definately very nice new cages with lock and key that
could be bought, but for Novices looking for some older cages the best
thing to do is to ask other ALBS members if they know of any for sell.
I’ve done this twice, and both times they were able to direct me
to someone who had old show cages for sell that just needed a little
work. Buying old show cages, I got to meet some of the exhibitors from
previous Nationals that had won Higgins Awards such as Bob Ziegler and
the Almy’s. It’s good to know exhibitor history, because
they have a lot of knowledge to offer. One exhibitor even made the
comment to me “There have been a lot of Champions created in
those cages”.
At the GLAS show in Michigan, I met Doug Bedwell. When I
heard his name, I thought to myself, “Wow, this is the guy who
wrote the lovebird genetics calculator I’ve been using!”.
One thing Doug told me that day was “Find a mutation that you
really like and work with it”. Also he said to me, “Think
of breeding for what you want in 2 generations or more. First breed for
size then color”. I learned quickly that it was very hard to find
2 perfect birds that have absolutely everything you want. I had already
picked my favorite a long time ago, and it was the Whiteface Violet
Pied. And oh it was very hard to find. I had looked for it already for
almost a year already and finally found a beautiful bird from Barb
Theeke. I told myself that since I cannot find these, I’m just
going to make my own from now on. And I did exactly that. Every
Whiteface Violet Pied is a mirage of colors, some in patches, while
others are a blend of yellow, purple, and white where you cannot tell
where one color ends and one begins. I love pieds because no two birds
are alike, and then when you couple in violet and whiteface, their
beauty becomes that much more intricate and elegant. Then you throw in
a dark factor, or a double violet, and the beauty of the bird changes
ever so slightly and deepens to another hue. Soon after, I learned that
the words pied and symmetry needed to go hand-in-hand but often did
not. But that’s another story and another challenge. I also
learned that both violet and pied could potentially decrease the size
of a bird, so size became an even bigger issue.
Before I knew it, my first show season was over, and yes
I was a little bit disappointed, because I had not won anything, not
even one of the small section ribbons, but I was hungry for more.
Unfortunately, I had to wait about 7 months for another show. The 7
month wait was ominous as it maybe for many people. The thrill of the
show, the excitement of seeing your birds on the stand. The 7 month
break was good, because it did give me time to work with my new birds.
My 2 nd show season started at the Illini Bird Fanciers,
and I was pumped up with my new Whiteface Medium Double Violet and
Whiteface Violet Pied offsprings among others. My young Whiteface
Medium Violet lovebird that I had raised and banded won “Best
Unflighted”. This one ribbon meant so much to me, because it was
confirmation that maybe, just maybe, I was on the right track. Best
Novice though was still out of my grasp. In SPBE, they give 5 novice
awards, but in ALBS there is only 1. I think more Novice awards are
important because when a Novice wins, it encourages them to come back
again next time and to bring more birds. But when Novices go to shows a
couple of times and come home with no ribbons and no confirmation of
what they’re doing, it becomes very discouraging. For exhibitors
who have been showing for many years, the ribbons themselves
don’t mean much, it’s knowing that they are doing something
right in their breeding program by breeding to a standard and seeing
the results of their hard work and proliferating the specifies. For
Novices, that understanding is something that is learned and acquired
with time and not something that is known immediately. Also
confirmation from other exhibitors is always a good thing. The purple
Best Unflighted award was the only ribbon that I won from ALBS that 2
nd show season.
The 2 nd show season passed, and I knew I had to bring
some new stock into my aviary. One thing I learned was to acquire birds
from other exhibitors who have done well. Work off of their bloodlines
that they’ve worked from. Don’t buy a bird from the pet
store and the local breeder/non-exhibitor and expect it to fit the
standard. Of course, once in a while there will be an awesome bird in a
pet store, but as a novice, you may not necessarily be able to
recognize them for their potential.
Also another problem that I had was that, because of my
work schedule, I was not able to hand feed my lovebirds. From
everything I had read and all the people I had talked to, handfed
lovebirds overall percentage-wise were a little bit larger, calmer, and
made for better show birds. So to resolve this problem, I found a
friend in the local bird club that hand fed birds. Darla Dandre then
became the hand feeder of all of my lovebirds. And with the 1 st bird
she gave back to me, I could tell the size difference between the
little Dutch Blue and his previous parent-raised siblings. Even my wife
whose only interest in lovebirds is due to her marriage to me could
tell. (I’ve been working on her, she’s better now) Of
course there are always those lovebird parents who are great feeders
and will stuff their babies better than or just as well as any human
could and then others who do not.
Another thing that I learned is that it’s
important to see what types of birds each exhibitor brings to the show
table. Some specialize in Rares and Eyerings, others American
Cinnamons, Whiteface Violets, or Opalines. At one show I went to, there
were no American Cinnamons, and I actually had a Whiteface American
Cinnamon at home whose wings were clipped that I could not bring. At
another, only 3 rares and eyerings, and at 1 show only 2 Longfeathers
which were mine. Many exhibitors have specific mutations that have
their strongest show birds. This is important because these are the
people you want to buy that particular mutation from. When you look at
seasoned exhibitors that have been showing for a long time, they
strategize what they bring. They bring birds that that they think the
judges will like. They bring young unflighted birds or new birds to see
what their potential is. They often bring more birds that they have
strong bloodlines in. They may bring less birds in one section that
they know they can’t compete in especially when they know another
exhibitor almost always wins in that section.
Also, when you’re at the shows, take note of the
birds that won. I’ve seen certain combinations that I would have
never thought to even try to produce. There are over 5000 variations,
it’s hard to think of all of them. But once you see it, you can
visualize it and work off of that. Then when you go home, write down
all the potential pairings that you would like to try and then modify
your breeding program to fit what you would like to produce and see in
your offspring. It can be very exciting coming up with your next
possible pairing and future offspring
There definitely have been times that I have been
discouraged at shows, because I felt like I was not improving the show
quality of my stock. This was not true, because I had been
incorporating new blood into my aviary and expanding and working with
better birds. All of this takes time and doesn’t happen over
night. There were definitely times that I asked myself, why did I come
today? There were a couple of shows I went to that would not have been
major shows without my birds. Thinking of this actually made me feel
better, because my birds did serve a purpose. My birds were able to
help push other birds to champion status and bring other exhibitors
closer to their own goals. One thing I learned was that ALBS can only
succeed as a whole. Novices are important, because they can bring new
ideas and new birds into the organization. Also, they can continue the
work that other people have put into their birds and bloodlines.
Another thing is that some novices feel bad sometimes
about showing other people’s birds. Do not feel bad!! Everbody I
know of started off showing a bird with someone else’s band. Even
with a good bird, you still need to put in the work to train and
condition the bird. Also, when your bird wins, it’s not just you
winning, but it’s also the breeder who you acquired the bird from
that wins. It tells everyone that they have very good bloodlines and
are doing the right thing.
Right after the 2 nd show season, my wife and I moved
due to changing jobs. One of my main requirements for a house was that
I have a place that I could keep an aviary. Even my real estate agent
new this. At what point, lovebirds became such an important part of my
life, I do not know. My wife(God Bless Her), against probably her
better judgment, supported me in all of this. We were able to finally
find such a place.
Before my 1 st show of my 3 rd year showing(2005), I
took my birds out a week beforehand, and I used a technique that I
learned from one of the judges. I covered up the bottom part of the
cage with paper, and in order for them to see outside the cage, they
had to be perched. (This can also be done with ping-pong balls or
turning the cage upside down) I did this and also practiced getting
them to perch with the chopstick(the judge’s special tool). For
those of you who know me, we have many of these at home. I think I had
1 on every corner of the table. At the show, the judge gave my
Unflighted Green Violet a nice comment saying that it’s a good
bird and would perch whenever he wanted him too. That actually meant a
lot to me, because it was confirmation for me that I was doing the
right type of training for my birds and that the effort I put in the
week before was worth it. My Green Pied Violet won Best Novice and my
American Cinnamon Opaline won Best Unflighted. My Green Pied Violet was
bred from one of my Whiteface Pied Violet offspring that I had worked
on breeding to larger birds and into other classes. This was the first
time I had won Best Novice. It wasn’t the ribbons so much anymore
as the satisfaction from being able to breed and train 2 quality birds
and be able to contribute to something greater. I hope that I can
continue onwards in the right direction.
For a Novice, initially the focus should not be on
winning a ribbon so much as learning. This is much harder said than
done of course. Some of the things to learn are, which one of your
birds have the potential to do well. Also just because a bird does not
show well, does not mean that it will not be able to produce birds that
show well, especially if the bird comes from strong bloodlines. And if
there is ever any question about a bird, after the show, you can always
ask the judge. They have always been more than willing to answer any
questions I might have had. Also you need to learn what is the standard
for the mutation that you’re showing. For example, the whiter the
face on a Whiteface Violet, the better. The more symmetrical a pied the
better. How far down show the red hood of an Opaline go? Or what makes
a Longfeather an Intermediate vs a regular. You can also ask the judge
if your bird will ever have a chance of placing on the top bench. If
they tell you yes, then you need to find out what you need to do to get
this bird there. It could be conditioning and training. It could be not
pulling the bird out while it’s about to lay an egg. And if none
of your birds ever have a chance, then you may need to acquire some new
birds to show. This probably means acquiring new stock and bloodlines
from other exhibitors. If you go to show after show and you bring the
same birds that end up placing at the end of their class and section
every time, you need to find out why, and do something about it, else
you will become discouraged. It could be size, conformation, or many
things. Look at what the winning birds are, and why they win. Also,
it’s good to know what each judges’ likes and dislikes are.
There’s at least 1 judge who doesn’t take off as many
points for unsymmetrical pieds(which is usually a must), there are
judges who favor certain mutations, and there are other judges who do
not like messy show boxes and unclean perches. Sometimes other
exhibitors will tell you these things and other times you just have to
attend the shows and watch.
One thing that I still struggle with(among the many) is
which birds do I sell and which do I keep? I do have next generation
birds that I’m now breeding out to other birds for size and other
color variations, but I wish I had kept more. I always had a fear that
I would end up with too many birds, and now I wish I had kept more. My
advice for novices is to keep more of them and weigh them and bring
them to shows. I know that for some breeders, the bare minimum
requirement for them to even keep a peachfaced bird(unless it’s a
rare mutation or color variation) is 60-70g. And then on top of that,
they will look at the other show attributes. Whereas there are other
breeders, who may only keep 1 out of every 50 birds, because that is
the only 1 they think is worthy of the top bench. As a Novice, I
don’t have as many birds or as many young as many of the more
experienced breeders. That’s why it’s even more important
that the birds I do sell are not the ones that I really should be
keeping. A good thing to do is to keep them and bring them to a show
and have the judge tell you.
My experience showing as a new exhibitor has been fun,
discouraging at times, and also quite exciting. At the end of the day,
I have learned more about lovebirds than I could ever have hoped for. I
have made friends and have begun to feel that I’m contributing to
an organization that promotes something larger than I could ever do by
myself. I know now why I go back again and again and will probably for
a long time. I would like to thank Linda Brandt and Doree Bedwell for
their help, encouragement, and support. I know that without them
encouraging me onwards, I would have stumbled and never gotten up. They
were my Ribbons and my Novice awards.
Blake Ma
lovebirds@gmail.com
www.babylovebird.com
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Photo Credits: Blake Ma -
American Cinnamon Opaline and Green Pied Violet
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(If only they could pose as nicely as
they did at the show!!!)
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