PEOPLE HELPING PARROTS

No. 12 Joseph Forshaw – Celebrating his 80th birthday

News from Loro Parque

Health Checks at Loro Parque

Hispaniolan blue-print

With the numbers of Hispaniolan Parrots and Parakeets dwindling, Loro Parque Fundación’s Correspondent, David Waugh, writes about how conservation groups are constructing a blue-print for their survival

Complete Psittacine

Psittacine Breeding Tips Volume V

Celebrating 25 years!

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, The Loro Parque Foundation has announced a record allocation of almost US$2 million to its projects for the coming year, making a total of US$21.2 million dedicated to nature protection since its creation in 1994.

Adventures of Spike

Sally Blanchard’s Caique called Spike LeBec is well known in parrot circles and has been a real globetrotter joining in at many conventions and seminars. In her article, Sally recalls some of the adventures she had enjoyed with this bundle of fun.

Parrots As Companion Pets

Elaine Henley is an experienced clinical animal behaviourist and here she provides valuable information about the issues with parrots that we experience as pet caregivers by understanding the behaviour of their relatives in the wild

Wild Birds And The Environment

In this article, Sally Blanchard tells about her enthusiasm for ornithology and how understanding wild birds is important.

The Feral Ringnecks

The Ring-neck Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) has become a common site in the UK, mainly in suburban areas where they have successfully colonised. Their colourful flight and raucous sounds have become commonplace in some of the country’s open spaces and even residential gardens.

Helping The Swift Parrot

David Waugh of Loro Parque Fundación explains how compelling research and hi-tech nest-boxes are helping the wild Swift parrot

Control Of Species And Results

Once most of our species have finished their reproduction stage, we now move forward to preparing our birds for the coming breeding season.

Breeding Performance Of The Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus Leari)

I first visited the natural habitat of the Lear’s Macaw near the town of Canudos in Bahia in March 1998 and was able to observe them in the sandstone cliffs in which they nest and breed.

Conservation, Management And Breeding Of The Yellow-Shouldered Amazon

In this Part One (conservation) of the Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Rafael Zamora Padrón, Scientific director of Loro Parque Fundación sheds some light on the plight of this vulnerable parrot

Profit And Abuse Continues

There have been some excellent conservation projects spanning many years, which I have been involved in with parrots. Especially the World Parrot Trust (WPT), and other organizations have made a tremendous difference to the conservation and preservation of parrots in the wild. There are also many people dedicated to the conservation and welfare of parrots. But there is also a darker and seedier side that must be addressed if we are going to truly conserve and preserve parrots in captivity and, ultimately, in their natural wild state.

Prague Zoo One Of The World's Best

Ask someone what is the best thing about the Czech Republic and it is quite likely they would mention the word ‘beer’! However, I have never sampled the beer, but I do know that the Czech Republic has some of the very best zoos in Europe and that their parrot breeders are numerous and very knowledgeable.

The Tragedy Of Fires In The Amazon

Throughout August and early September 2019, the eyes of the world were focused on Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, which was burning out of control.

My Elmo

It was my 31st Birthday. back in the seventies, when my family clubbed together and bought me a Yellow-fronted Amazon. a parrot I had always wanted from childhood. I remember very well my visits to London Zoo as a child back in the fifties and in particular, the 'Parrot House', which in those days was very different to what we see today.

Bush Budgies

Tariq Abou-Zahr BVSc CertAVP(ZooMed) MRCVS is both a vet and dedicated aviculturist, and in this article he tells us of his fascination for ‘bush budgies’ and how he is keen to see more aviculturists breeding this ‘natural’ type of budgerigar

Complete Psittacine Promoting Our Neighbourhood Bird Store

Big Island Hawaii has lost another long-time local pet shop that catered for parrots and other birds. It seems that so many pet owners are now buying their supplies at the big box and chain stores, and that neighbourhood bird shops can hardly make enough to pay rising building rental costs.

20 Top Tips For Budgie Breeders

Over a period of twenty-five years, as a writer and author, I interviewed many budgerigar owners who were breeding and exhibiting these delightful birds. Everyone I talked to revealed useful tips that they had discovered in the course of their bird-keeping activities. Here are just a few:

On Turning One

As soon as some early morning light shines into my room, I hear “Bonjour!” (“Good morning” in French) perfectly pronounced with a voice identical to mine. I answer and stand up. Broca cannot contain his excitement to start another day, “Yippee! Hello, how are you? Are you all right?” I open his cage and he steps on my shoulder. We are on our way to the fridge so he can choose his morning fruit. After eating, he steps out from my shoulder right on time before pooping. If I take my eyes away from him to prepare my breakfast, he says, “Coucou Broca” to remind me of his presence, as if I could ever forget my little sunshine.

Loro Parque supports Katala

An ‘El Niño’ event causes food shortage and security concerns, and puts an important area off-limits to one of the Philippine Cockatoo project’s co-directors. But in the same area, 220 Cockatoos have been counted and Cockatoos released to the wild at another site, continue to survive.

Mike Reynold's Legacy

If during your lifetime you can succeed in one significant and lasting achievement, you are a person of substance. If you can achieve two, you are truly remarkable. Mike Reynolds was remarkable. On 14 April it was 10 years since he died and this made me reflect on what he had achieved.

What Makes - a Parrot - a Parrot?

Megan Matthews sheds some light.

Review of Behavioural Basics

In this article, Sally Blanchard covers the first 4 of 10 common behavioural symptoms. 

It's Not Always A Bird's Life

Here Tamara Labelle, from Exotic Direct Insurance, reveals the three most common illnesses that they see.

Cyanide And Parrots

This is the third in a three part series about the cyanogenic properties of the members of the Amygdaloieae subfamily of the Rosacea Family. In the first part, I explored the cyanide generating properties of apples and crabapples, members of the Malus genus. In the second, I explored those properties for almonds, peaches, and other stone fruits that are members of the Prunus genus. In this final instalment, I explore the cyanogenicity of some of the fruits in this subfamily that are less frequently mentioned in the literature that you may feed your parrot. These include fruits such as pears, quinces, hawthorn berries and other fruits. These are not discussed much in the avian literature; however, for the most part, there is little reason you should avoid feeding them to your parrot.

News From Loro Parque

Blue-bellied Parrots start breeding season.

Complete Psittacine Avicultural Apathy-The Signs And Effects Of Burn-out

I began keeping parrots in earnest in about 1985. Before that, I had several long term pet birds, but did not really build aviaries and establish a full-on fl ock. I was working at Feathered Friends of Santa Fe from 1987 onwards and spending four months a year planting and building the small farm on the Big Island Hawaii. That is where I planned and began to construct my large planted enclosures.

Breeding The Amazing Parrots

Amazon Parrots are all New World species occurring in Central and South America, Mexico, and many Caribbean Islands. Prior to October 1993, when commercial importation of wild-caught birds into the United States came to a halt, many thousands of hand-fed baby Amazons were imported annually. With this huge influx of imported baby birds to satisfy the pet market, there was very little incentive for USA aviculturists to work with the more common species in an earnest effort to breed them.