Bird lovers flock together in club

SPRINGFIELD — When Annette Hunsaker was a child, she enjoyed listening to the canary that her grandmother kept in the kitchen.

“I loved to hear that canary sing,” the Springfield woman recalled.

About 10 years ago, the retired library assistant decided she wanted to hear canaries again. So she bought a male and female, and now she is a canary breeder who has converted a bedroom in her home into a bird room for the eight breeding pairs she owns.

“The house is full of canaries singing,” she said. “It’s melodious and cheerful.”

The joy of keeping birds is shared by a host of central Illinoisans, some of whom, including Hunsaker, get to know each other through the Illini Bird Fanciers Club. Members meet monthly for a program and a meal.

Club members say their devotion to African grey parrots, parakeets, budgies, macaws, Amazon parrots, conures, cockatiels, lovebirds, parrotlets, finches, canaries and other caged birds stems from the creatures’ loving nature, trainability, playfulness, intelligence, beauty and ability to vocalize and sing.

“I’m fascinated by birds,” said club member Stacey Bacon of Springfield, who owns a Quaker parrot named BB and a conure called Tippi (after actress Tippi Hedren, star of the movie “The Birds”).

“When I’m playing video games, Tippi will go from my shoulder to my arm and then push buttons on the controller. Some people think birds are stupid, but they’re not. They can have big personalities,” she said, noting how her birds hang upside down, talk and cuddle.

According to the American Pet Products Association, 6 million U.S. households have a pet bird, compared to 39 million with a cat and 46 million with a dog. The Greenwich, Conn.-based trade group says Americans own 16 million birds, 86 million cats and 78 million dogs. Bird owners have an average of 2.6 birds.

Don’t think birds are low-maintenance pets.

“It’s a lot of work. The larger the family, the more work is involved,” said Bob Hofstetter of Springfield, owner of two Amazons, two parrotlets, a conure and several English parakeets.

Bird care can be trickier than that of other domestic pets, because each type of bird has unique needs. Care needs to be tailored to each one.

Hofstetter’s birds all get fresh water and food every day, and he prepares the food to suit their species.

He cooks pasta, vegetables, quinoa and rice daily, which he adds to the birds’ basic diet of seed-and-grain pellets. Depending on the bird, he also mixes in organic legumes, millet, fresh kale, carrots and apples.

“They eat better than I do,” said Hofstetter, a Dal Acres dog groomer who shows Afghans and whippets.

Each bird has eating preferences, which he tries to satisfy with different brands of food supplemented with produce.

“I’ll lightly steam vegetables like broccoli, sweet potatoes, potatoes and brussels sprouts because it releases vitamins. And I’ll put in a hard-boiled egg, shell and all. It sounds cannibalistic, but they eat it.”

Hunsaker grows the kale, carrots and beets she puts into her canary food so she knows it’s fresh and uncontaminated.

In addition to food, birds need social time.

Steve Miller of Virginia has two Amazons, a macaw and an African grey.

“If you don’t spend time with them every day, they won’t be friendly,” said Miller, who has a degree in animal science and works as a power meter technician at Ameren. “Parrots have the intelligence of 5-year-olds and the emotional equivalent of 2-year-olds, and can live 50 to 75 years.”

Bacon, assistant manager at a GameStop store, agrees.

“Birds are a lot more work than a dog,” she said. “It’s not just putting them in the cage. You have to talk to them. They have to have toys to play with. My birds love to be petted. Tippi puts her head in my neck and cuddles.”

A pet bird also needs a cage that is regularly cleaned, perches to rest on, grooming (toenail and beak trimming, wing clipping) and medical care.

Carie Nixon of Tolono, president of the Illini Bird Fanciers Club, thinks birds naturally appeal to human senses.

“The same senses that are important to us — our vision likes color, and our hearing likes sweet sounds — are provided by birds. I’m obsessed with birds,” said Nixon, an ornithologist who works for the Illinois Natural History Survey.

She runs Snowbird Aviary and breeds parakeets, parrotlets and finches. When it comes time to sell them, she admits it’s difficult.

“I get so emotional. It’s hard to part with them.”

She said most bird owners have a distinct preference for either big birds or small ones.

“We timid people go for the little birds. I don’t have birds I have to put a bird glove on for. If it’s got a beak that can hurt me, I’m afraid of it.”

For those considering getting a bird, Nixon suggests talking to bird owners.

“So many birds end up locked in a cage in a basement because it wasn’t what the owner expected,” she said. In addition to finding out what’s required of a good bird owner, talking to bird people can help a prospective owner decide which type of bird to get.

Would-be owners should know that birds can be a lifelong commitment.

“If you have a big bird like an Amazon, you have to think about what will happen to it when you die,” Nixon said. “I know of a family that has passed down an Amazon for three generations.”