Timbrados

In Spain, the overall organization in the north and southeast, in such important breeding centres as Barcelona and Valencia, is almost on a par with the British clubs. However, in the south, in the region of Andalucia, where most breeders concentrate their efforts on rearing song birds in a modest way, a great deal of work remains to be done before we reach an acceptable working standard of club organization.

What really claims the admiration and respect of many southern Spanish fanciers (myself included) are the functional, decorative and most of all, practical British bird rooms which are depicted from time to time in the articles published in this journal. Most of us who live in the cities have to make do with apartment terraces or balconies to house or birds.

I shall now proceed to describe my methods of housing and breeding the local variety of song Canary - or the Spanish Timbrado as it is officially known.

BALCONY SPACE:

I am left with approximately five square metres of working space devoted to my birds. Along one wall, there are four breeding cages on hooks. There is a projection down the middle of this wall to cover drainage pipes which just out 4 in. The wall is therefore divided into two parts, having a partition and flowers in pots to add a decorative touch. On the other side of the flower pots, there are three additional breeding cages, making a total of seven in all.

Being a bachelor who works and studies simultaneously, my kitchen is basically a utility room where, on one unused wall, I have hung two 90cm flight cages. Our cages in Andalucia are not the usual British-type boxes. We use mainly all-wire cages with sliding aluminium trays to catch the husks and droppings.

NOT ORTHODOX:

Moreover, winter temperatures rarely,if ever, fall below O.deg C. Consequently, the birds suffer no harm from exposure to the elements. My particular balcony is covered on three sides, and overhead by wall and a ceiling. There is an aluminium and glass door leading directly into the living room which affords me the pleasure of observing my birds from my sofa. In order to protect the birds from inclement weather, the open side of the balcony is hung with two slat draw blinds, one of which - the one immediately beside the wall with the breeding cages - is never raised. This keeps out the wind and rain, The other blind is raised and lowered at will according to the prevailing weather conditions.
This system provides adequate protection and ventilation, plus natural enough surroundings to keep the occupants healthy and alert. As can be readily deduced from the above description, there is no coddling as far as my birds are concerned. No artificial heat is used and there is a small 25 watt bulb in a fixture in the ceiling which produces sufficient light for the hens and cocks to roost at night.
Now a word about the birds themselves. To most fanciers overseas, the name Spanish Timbrado is unknown. Its history dates back to the late 15th Century when the Canary Islands were conquered my Spain, and the birds were first imported in large numbers into the Peninsula.
There have always been fanciers who appreciate the wild call notes and metallic tours of the original Wild Canary. As time went by, these fanciers imported more and more wild birds from the Islands to cross with domestic stock.

Within the years 1940-50, these dedicated breeders formed the Association de Canaricultores Espanoles (Association of Spanish Canary Fanciers) in order to further the conservation and breeding in confinement of this domestic variety.
Soon after, a song standard was drawn up, which is still in use to this day. The song consists of mainly Bell Tours, connective Tours and passages, "Castanet" notes (typically, like the clicking of this most popular instrument with accompanies most folk dances here in the south) and metallic notes (hence the name "Timbrado", derived from "timbre or metallic ringing of a telephone or doorbell).
There are also embellishments, cloqueos, or notes similar to the Glucke Roll in Roller Canaries in which the syllable "gluk-gluk-gluk"is clearly discernible,and a host of combinations of the above,called "duos" because they sound as if two birds are singing instead of one.
To look at, the bird does not have much in its favour from British fanciers' points of view. It is a greenish grey bird, in the main, from five or five and a quarter inches long, very tight in feather, and consequently, showing perhaps a little too much thigh.

Believe it or not, a "pipe stem" tail is not asset on the show bench, as with Border Gloster and Norwich for example. The standard specifically states that the bird should possess a "fish tale". This only proves the old axiom that "one man's woes are another man's joys".

However, we are not concerned here with a "beauty contest". Think of some of our most famous opera signers: they would never have received a consolation prize in a Miss America Pageant. It is the voice that counts; and so it is with the Timbrado.

The song of the Timbrado is medium to loud but never strident (depending, of course, on the strain), rapidly delivered, with a great number of Tours and passages sung in quick succession.

SINGING ON CUE:

Selection must be ruthless and only those birds which incorporate in their song as many of the recognized Tours as possible -- but no rasping or nasal passages - are considered as those with show potential.

As with all varieties of cage birds, good feeding and regular, meticulous care and management are essential to the health of the birds and the success of the breeder.
My basic diet is simple but balanced. I use throughout the year mixture of three parts of canary seed and two parts of rape. In a separate feeder I give the birds three times a week a mixture of one part each of thistle seed, hemp, linseed and niger. This is fed in a ginger drawer, a half a teaspoonful per bird.
Grit and cuttlefish bone are always in the cages, the grit in receptacles.
Living in the city, I am totally dependent on the greengrocer for fresh green food. However, there is always a variety of greens available,such as lettuce, spinach, endive chicory, radish and/or carrot tops. These are rinsed under the tap and soaked overnight in a bucket of cold water. In the morning, the greens are rinsed thoroughly again, patted dry in an old thick towel, and fed to the birds.
The water is changed daily and the drinkers thoroughly rinsed and brushed clean with a special brush designed for "top hat" drinkers. Three times a week a multiple vitamin supplement is administered in the drinking water.
Baths are offered daily, weather permitting.

TWICE WEEKLY:

Drinkers are soaked once a week in hot water to which a little detergent has been added. They are brushed and rinsed thoroughly. A major advantage in using the cages described above is that they can be soaked in boiling water with disinfectant added, at the end of each breeding season. The removable trays permit access to the wire grid at the bottom of the cage. The grid can then be brushed with a stiff bristle brush, thereby eliminating all droppings which may have adhered to the grid.

From Cage & Aviary Birds -- March 29, 1979