| Hi Donna,
I heard some good advice this past weekend from the cockatiel judge
that our bird club brought in for the annual show--Jaynee Salan by
name. She is a 'panel judge' for the National Cockatiel Society,
which I guess is important, at least in some quarters. More interesting,
though, were some of the tips she gave about how to get ready for show
competition. Jaynee has been doing this stuff for about twenty years.
I don't know if these pointers from Jaynee apply to birds other than
cockatiels, but maybe some other noters can comment on the following:
o Jaynee stressed getting the bird used to the cage. Her suggestions
included:
1) have the bird live in the show cage for about five days
just before the show; start out with shorter times before that --
a few hours a day -- to get the bird used to the cage.
2) because of cockatiels' curiosity, drape a cloth across the
bottom half of the cage-front during the cage 'training'
days to encourage them to jump up on the perches and not stay
on the bottom of the cage (guess this is a common problem that,
again, will drastically reduce the bird's chances for a
ribbon).
3) if the bird is still having trouble perching, turn the show
cage upside down...the roof is set in at an angle; the bird
will prefer the level perch to the slanted floor (former
ceiling).
o Poking and prodding....looks like this from the observer's
perspective, but actually the judges are very careful just to
nudge the bird, probably not even touching it, to get it to
perch so it has a fair chance to be judged in its best posture.
You might want to get your birds used to this part of what is in
store for them, too. Jaynee used a wooden snare drum stick when
she worked with the birds as she judged them--she said it
was as close the the perch as she could get, yet had a smaller
end on it so was easier to use and less frightening to the birds.
o Most shows require you to line the bottom of the show cage with
clean corn cob litter, bird seed, or clean paper. Check your
show's rules to be sure...it's usually too late once you get to the
show to change your show cage around. It might mean moving the bird,
for one thing, which risks ruffled feathers, tiring the bird, or
heaven forbid, the bird has a chance to get loose. Since the
bird will be confined to the show cage from the time you leave
the house to when you return...maybe as long as 12 hours...
be sure they are well fed the night before and morning of the
show. Even using bird seed on the bottom of the cage may not
guarantee they will eat it!
o You'll probably also find that you will need to attach a small water
dish to the side of the show cage. Jaynee had what I thought was
a rather creative idea about this, too. She uses a water bottle with
a spout on it, like runners and bicyclists use. She lets the birds
have water the morning of the show, watches them drink, then extracts
the extra from the dish. She repeats this during the show day,
always extracting the extra water after the bird is finished
drinking. She does this because cockatiels are apparenty notorious
for dragging their tails through the water dish and thus ruining
their chances on the show bench.
o She finished by saying that the crest is very important for a
cockatiel to win on the show bench -- also uniformity of color.
This is in addition to what all of the judges seem to look for:
feather condition, comformation compared to the ideal for the
type of bird, and calmness in the show cage (one exception might
be Amazon parrots, where the judges seem to want to see some
territorial display when they wave their wands around the bird).
o Paperwork - as the bird's owner, you will have to fill out some
forms and decide which class of competition you are entering.
You'll typically pay a small fee to the club to register each
bird you show. (Most shows are for single birds, not pairs,
although there is a finch pair class and an open pairs class
at some shows. So each bird must be in its own show cage.)
The subdivisions for the judging classes in the cockatiel division
are many -- you have to indicate as the owner whether the bird is
an old or young, male or female; whether it has won a top ribbon
before (advanced) or has not yet won a ribbon (novice...means the
bird, not you!). Then the bird has to be classified into one of
twelve categories depending on color type, and further subdivisions
inside that.
An alternative for your first show would be to enter the pet division,
which will put your bird up against any number of types of birds
besides cockatiels. The judges are just as thorough and careful.
There may or may not be a separate children's competition (the majority
of the competitors in the pet class are youngsters, but not all of them
are). As a sidenote: at Saturday's show, one 13 year-old walked away
with a top cockatiel division prize, so it really is the bird that is
being judged.
Donna, all the people helping with the show are also there to help YOU, so
don't be afraid to say this is the first time you have shown the birds.
Have a great time and let us know how you do!
Linda
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