" Are you talking to me?" Communicating with Birds.

LEFT, Tommy Boy does an impression of Robert de Niro, "Are you talking to me?"


The joy in raising canaries is in hearing them sing. Basically, they are song birds.

But surprisingly, only male canaries sing. The females only make an "eeek, eeek" sound, especially when they need something - more seed, water, or if they want attention from the male bird.

I've discovered that female canaries can be very territorial when it comes to their partner, much like humans.

The very first of the canaries, Lucky and her rival Corky, were fighting from start to finish. Once the male bird, Max mated with both, the rivalry got so intense that the two females would be constantly attacking each other, literally like a cockfight. I had to separate them.

But this dislike for each other persisted. As the two cages abutted each other, the two female birds would still fly up and down, perch to perch, wire to wire - in search of the best position to see the other - and be in an attack position, bodies tensed and heads forward.

It was amazing how they remembered each other and the intense dislike they had for each other, in spite of the fact that the entire canary family grew so quickly.

But on the whole, canaries don't want to be touched. When you stick your finger inside the cage, they would all fly to the farthest, the lowest, the highest part of the cage.

This anti-social-ness they compensate by singing. And how they can sing.

If only one canary would be singing, you'd thought there were several. The one who is singing can create several, as if simultaneous sounds. The reason for this, is the male canary has several throats - so he can create different sounds and pitch.

It's like you're listening to a choir - there would be a first, a second and a third voice.

But come summertime, the singing canaries would stop singing. They would regain their singing modes in mid September or for some, even later.

Now, budgies are quite different. If properly trained, these birds can become very sociable, can even talk.

Tommy Boy, for instance is very friendly. When you poke your finger at the slot of the cage, he'd immediately acknowledge you by touching his beak to your finger. Or he would bite it lightly.

He would follow your hand, he would whistle. When the music stops playing, he would call attention by whistling (he has a distinct sound).

When Tommy was alone in his cage, and he got bored, he would be running sideways, left to right, as if getting loco.

Now, that he's with the female budgie, Ugly Betty, Tommy waits for Ugly Betty to become playful with him; Ugly Betty still goes underneath the paper lining, into the bedding.

While the female budgie is snoozing, Tommy Boy would be amusing himself - looking at the mirror as if looking for another female bird, ringing the toy bell (it's his therapy) and doing his side-to-side moves.

Now, if Tommy Boy were able to use a cellphone and knew a number of a possible mate, he'd be racking up bills that would be pages-long.