The Hagen name has been widely known as a manufacturer and supplier of pet products throughout most of Canada. Rolf Hagen was the founder of this company, and his son, Mark Hagen, carried on with this interest in pets while specializing in birds. Mark Hagen has become a name that is well known to most ‘bird people’ for many reasons apart from the pet industry.

Mark Hagen is the Research Director of the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute (HARI). He received a Master of Agriculture degree from the University of Guelph, and specialized in Psittacine Aviculture. Mark concentrated on nutrition and zoology for his Bachelor of Science degree, and attended a semester at the University of California, taking courses in cage bird medicine, nutrition and avian science. He wrote his first paper on parrot breeding in 1983, and established HARI in 1985.

After five years of housing birds indoors in a converted warehouse, Mark designed the new HARI facility in Rigaud, Quebec in 1989, which incorporated the latest techniques in environmental control. His research presently includes nutrition, and the influence of temperature, humidity and light cycles on breeding.

Mark also speaks French and German, and is making connections with European aviculturists in order to trade captive bred birds for a wider gene pool.

Conservation is one of his most important concerns. He gives talks to school children on the importance of rainforests, and has bought over 100 acres of rainforest through the World Wildlife Fund of Canada.

Mark attended the 1987, 1989 and 1994 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meetings in Ottawa, Canada, Lausanne, Switzerland and Fort Lauderdale, USA. CITES is trying to ensure that sustainable levels of trade in wild-caught parrots are achieved. This should give an incentive to Tropical Countries to preserve the habitat that supports this natural resource. A firm believer in this philosophy, Mark would like to assist these countries in captive breeding their own species of tropical birds.

Mark believes in sharing his experiences and knowledge. He’s published dozens of papers relating to the work at HARI and several of these have been presented at many of the avicultural conferences held every year throughout Canada and the United States.

Research Papers can be seen at:

http://www.hagen.com/hari/docu/papers.html

Some of them are:

Comparing Two Feeding Methods in an Outdoor Aviary

Avian Nutrition: Trends and Philosophies

Identification Methods in Parrots

The Acquisition, Husbandry and Breeding of Common Amazons

Artificial Incubation Applied to Bird Eggs

Nutritional Observations, Hand Feeding Formulas and Digestion in Exotic Birds

Psittacine Pediatrics: Housing and Feeding of Baby Parrots

Disease Prevention Through Proper Sanitation and Disinfection in an Indoor Psittacine Breeding Facility

Ventilation Systems for Indoor Breeding Facilities

Recommended Feeding Methods for Companion Birds

Mark has been generous in his donations to avian clubs and organizations. Having spent over 10 years looking after the Durham Avicultural Society’s raffle at their Annual Caged Bird Show until about 2001, I can personally attest to Mark Hagen’s generosity. Bird clubs have traditionally been sent Starter Kits for birds, as well as bags of food and pellets for a variety of species when they have been having their annual bird shows. These donations have been used by the clubs as fundraisers, with the profit helping to pay for their shows, or aiding in the expenses that any club has. Mark has also donated silver coins, generally with bird themes, as well as bird figurines.

Bird breeders have been able to accept Mark’s help as well because of the breeder accounts that he allowed to be set up. This allowed breeders, whose expenses are huge, to take advantage of lower prices for the supplies that they required regularly.

And Mark’s generosity hasn’t stopped there. He is well known for his donations of seed and pellets to parrot rescue organizations, two of which are Parrot Adopt of Southern Ontario PASO) and Second Flight Parrot Sanctuary.

Mark has worked hard to better the life of birds, and their keepers. Although he has a well-known and respected company behind him, he has definitely made his mark as much more than a pet supplier. He has done so much for aviculture… by helping the pet keeper, assisting the breeder, donating to the bird club members, giving a hand to students studying aviculture, working to preserve the wild birds’ natural habitat, and sharing his knowledge with others.

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