Part One
WHILE possible shortage on chicken- meat production first comes to mind whenever an outbreak of avian influenza is detected, the effect is also felt by a little known but equally lucrative industry—breeding of African lovebirds.
Owing to its tropical climate, the Philippines is an ideal breeding ground for the world’s smallest parrot, locally known as African lovebird, belonging to the genus Agapornis. Unfortunately, the country, being in Asia, is also susceptible to bird flu that is now wrecking havoc in Asia.
Being a parrot, the intelligence and playfulness of its bigger talking cousins is also evident to the African lovebird, traits that make it different from the more popularly known lovebird in the country but of different family, the parakeet.
While a parakeet can fetch between P300 and P500 a pair, a single African lovebird can cost from P500 up to P100,000, depending on the mutation or color and pattern of the feathers.
The country’s acknowledged top breeder, known as the Badilla brothers, is currently breeding the newest mutation with an asking price from foreign buyers of P400,000 per bird.
Price spike
EARLY this year the Department of Agriculture (DA) has declared a temporary ban on all poultry products, except from three countries and recently, has intensified its monitoring of the spread of the avian influenza virus after it reached the US. This could exert pressure on global poultry supply, resulting in stiffer competition and a price spike of processed goods.
The ban also covers other avian species, including parrots, for fear of contamination. A few years ago the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) had to destroy hundreds of African lovebirds, originating from the Netherlands. Although the European country was unaffected at that time, the airplane transporting it made a stopover in Thailand, a known avian-infested country.
According to the DA, the agency is working hard to maintain the bird-flu free status of the country.
And the the spread of bird flu is pushing the demand for African lovebirds bred in the Philippines.
“Concern over the spread of bird flu has led to several countries placing an order for this year for 1 million birds,” said Rogelio L. Sicat Jr., an African lovebird breeder from Cainta, Rizal. “But the Philippines has a difficulty in complying because the birds tend not to mate during the summer season.”
Usually the breeding season is from June up to December, the colder months, Sicat said adding that the demand has already improved the prices of several mutations.
Mutations, species
THE African lovebird is a small stocky parrot mostly between 5.1 inches and 6.7 inches, with a large bill and a tail that is either round or square. Their average life span is between 10 and 12 years, with some living longer.
There are nine known species, with the eight originating from Africa and the remaining from Madagascar. Four of these are white-eye-ringed species: Masked or personata, Fischer, Lilian and the blacked-cheek.
The latter species have white marking around their eyes, earning them the name “eye-ring”. Others, such as Rosy-faced or Peach-faced lovebirds, have none.
The more popular in the market today that command higher prices are the Fischer and Masked, followed by the Rosy-faced.
In the wild, the common colors of these birds are dominated by green with red beaks with few specks of yellow around their neck area. Captive and selective breeding started in Europe and the US a hundred years earlier have produced diverse shades of blue and violet; the red beaks have mutated into white and orange. It is from these stocks that the breeding pairs in the Philippines have originated, bought by bird enthusiasts, such as Badilla.
In many cases, specific color mutations are characteristics to a specie, for instance, the noneyering Rosy-checked knownto be more colorful than the other species; and foreign breeders, equipped with more advanced technology and genetic capabilities, were quick to transfer these colors into eyerings, such as Fischer and personata.
In the process, certain patterns and color placement in the birds’ feathers also occurred. Euwing, for instance, have v-pattern in their backs, and come with different colors, from green to violet and blue. Current trading price for euwing fischer is P28,000 to 35,000 per bird.
Other mutations
ANOTHER mutation is the yellow-feathered, a mutation of soft-yellow feathers in the neck and, depending on the colors of the mate or breeding partners, can produce birds with yellow feathers in their whole bodies.
Parent birds mated with albino—pure white birds that lost their feather color pigments with red eyes—can produce yellow birds with red wine-colored eyes.
The yellow-feathered, known in the country as parblue, has a current buying price of P5,000 to P7,000 from traders, an improvement from last year’s P2,500 to P3,700. Five years ago the buying price for yellow-faced mutation was as high as P45,000.
Because the mutation is dominant, the breeder only needs one from the pair to be yellow-faced to produce the desired color, although in most cases, the pair can still produce nonyellow-faced, known as split or throwback.
According to Sicat, three years ago, foreign and local breeders have produced large number of yellow-faced that helped in the drop of its selling price to P3,000, but this year, because of the avian flu and summer heat, coupled with the breeders not producing enough number of yellow-faced birds, its buying price has been improving, Sicat added. There is also the matter of pied, the inheritable mottled or map-like markings in the feathers, which further improves the selling price of any given mutation. To be continued
Image credits: Nonie Reyes