Cage & Aviary Birds Magazine No.5776 Busting the Owl Myths Back Issue

THANKS TO READERS Simon Porritt and his
father Richard, I won’t be moving into a tent.
Let me explain. A few weeks ago, a lady from
the BBC rang. Did I know that Waddesdon
Manor had just bred the Javan banded pitta? I
did. Could I confirm that it was a first UK breeding?
Well, now. I couldn’t off the top of my head, so I checked
the Dave Coles UK First Breeding Register. That told me
that Blackpool Zoo had bred banded pittas in 1973. But I
knew that, since then, banded pitta had been “split” into
three species: the Javan, Malayan and Bornean. The
register didn’t say which of those had been bred at
Blackpool. Still, I reckoned those expert birdkeepers at
Waddesdon would know, so I said, half-joking, that I’d bet
my mortgage on it. And so it came to pass that the BBC
story included
the quote: “The
C&AB editor
said: ‘I’ll bet my
mortgage it is a
UK first.’”
Thanks,
Aunty! Ever had
the feeling that
something’s going to come back and bite you in the nether
regions? I waited for the rival breeding claims to pour in.
Instead, I got a helpful email from Mr Porritt, directing me
to the Avicultural Society magazine’s species index.
That excellent reference revealed that it was the
Malayan (not Javan) banded pitta that was bred at
Blackpool. It also listed a 2001 UK breeding of the Bornean
banded pitta – but makes no mention of the Javan. So it
looks to me as though the Javan banded pitta (now plain
old Pitta guajana) was indeed a first UK breeding at
Waddesdon this year. Unless anyone knows otherwise. In
which case I suppose I could possibly afford a caravan.
■ On page 2 we report how the well-known budgerigar
breeder Mick Freeborn has had almost
his whole stud stolen. We’d all like to
offer sincere commiserations. Please,
everyone, safeguard your own birds.