In June this year, I made my third visit to this fascinating country. I spent one week visiting three of their best zoos, at the invitation of my friends, Roland and Daisy Wirth, from Germany. We traveled by train because this form of transport is incredibly cheap, comfortable and fast. The welcome and hospitality we received at the zoos of Prague, Pilsen, and Ostrava was outstandingly warm and generous.
It was four years since my last visit to Prague Zoo, which is renowned for its curator, Antonin Vail. Under his direction, one of the best bird collections in the world has been assembled. The zoo is of outstanding interest for the range of unusual species, and not only birds, and for the high rate of breeding successes. Antonin’s knowledge of, and intense love, for birds, is extraordinary. It is such a pleasure to be in his company!
The methods he has used to provide a good diet, persuade pairs to produce chicks, then to ensure their survival, impresses me deeply. Some of the species reared have rarely or never been bred previously in Europe. Sustained successes with many difficult species would be impossible without the numerous off-exhibit breeding aviaries, which total well over one hundred.
In this article, I will describe only the parrots, but the extensive bird collection is one for the connoisseur with so many species that are not seen in other zoos! At the time of my visit, there was a limited number of parrots on exhibit, but this changed on 28th September when the new Parrot Pavilion opened. Antonin took us to see it.
In 2015, he had described to me his dream of a new parrot house. Each aviary would represent a certain region, with the appropriate plants, parrot species, and painted backdrop. Now this dream is a reality! Known as Rakos sÌHouse, which was named after the Czech breeder, Stanislav Rakos, who donated funds to Prague Zoo before his death for the construction of a birdhouse.
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Parrots magazine.
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This story is from the November 2019 edition of Parrots magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Parrot language issue
Puerto Rico’s endangered parrots are facing a new threat to their survival – their strange squawks. In a phenomenon never seen before, Puerto Rican parrots bred in captivity, with a view to being released into the wild, were communicating with a different dialect to the wild populations.
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Coronavirus threat to PNG's animal rescue centre
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Cucurbitaceae enrichment for our parrots
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Rare macaw refuge destroyed
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The value of animals
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Complete Psittacine Subtle Secrets for Feeding Psittacines – and Getting them to Eat
I have been daily feeding psittacines for 40 years now and there have been times in the past when I felt that was all I did each day – pets, breeders, babies, the birds at the shoppe in Santa Fe. The good news is this has taught me a whole lot about how to do it. And across all species groups, there are some really good guidelines for what to feed, when to feed, and how to make sure your parrots are actually consuming what you are giving them.
Calabash for parrots
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