A Hard Lesson to Learn

Have you heard the story about the coal miners that sent canaries into the mines? If the canaries died the miners knew not to go in. No, it's not a joke. Birds' respiratory systems are much more sensitive than humans are. I learned this the hard way with our first two peach-faced lovebirds, Romeo and Juliet.

We were living in government quarters, a house built in the 1920s in Fort Lewis, Washington, where my husband, Marty, who is in the Army was stationed. We purchased Romeo and Juliet in August 1996 and they lived quite happily in our dining room that was on the other side of the wall from the kitchen. Two years later we moved to an Army post in Pennsylvania where we lived in a 1950s home. This time the birds' cage was set in the hallway around the corner from the kitchen. Both houses had self-cleaning ovens and since I am such a messy cook I used the feature often. We never had a problem.

A year later we were reassigned to southeastern Virginia and moved into our new home, the first one we ever owned. It was a newly built house with all brand new appliances. Romeo and Juliet moved into the far end of the den next door to the kitchen. But at Christmas time, to make room for our tree, they were temporarily re-located to the living room. One night in January 2000 after all the holiday cooking and baking was done, I decided to try out the self-cleaning feature on our six-month old oven. I read the instructions manual, including the warning about dangers to some birds. But the birds were in the front of the house opposite from the kitchen. Besides I had been using self-cleaning ovens for 3 years, they'd be fine.

After about an hour the house smelled smoky and the kitchen was very warm. Marty ran downstairs thinking the house was on fire. We opened some windows to air the place out and went to bed. The next day was Saturday and we had kids to take to gymnastics and basketball. We didn't get home until after noon. When the birds didn't greet us as soon as we walked in the door I knew something was wrong. They looked very peaceful lying on the bottom of their cage. I have since learned that Romeo and Juliet's deaths were anything but. What happened to their internal organs wasn't pretty and was very painful. Most new models of appliances like ovens, toasters and hairdryers have some form of non-stick under coating. When this coating is heated it can give off noxious fumes that are hazardous to birds. And in a six-month old house in the middle of winter with tightly sealed windows … well Romeo and Juliet never had a chance.

I'm still a messy cook and have cleaned the oven a couple of times since then. But only in the spring or fall and I set it for the shortest cycle time. All the birds we have since acquired (and there have been quite a few!) have moved upstairs to their own room. The aviary windows are wide open and the door is shut with a towel rolled up and placed along the bottom of the door. The windows in the kitchen and den are also open and the exhaust fan is blowing. A tough lesson but one I now hope you and your birds won't have to learn the hard way.

Written by Kathy Vozzo of KLM Aviary