Eyes needed to sight parrot

ON THE LOOKOUT ... Mt Nelson birdwatcher Andrew Hingston keeps a watch out for migrating swift parrots. He is encouraging other budding birdwatchers to report sightings of the endangered bird.BUDDING environmentalists and birdwatchers are being urged to report sightings of the endangered swift parrot this breeding season.
Mt Nelson resident Andrew Hingston, who has been involved in monitoring the bird for seven years, has already made a few sightings this month, including six birds last Wednesday.

He hopes this season will match the best season of 150 birds in a flock.

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My Parrot, My Self

Parrots of Ferry Park (also Telegraph Hill). These are the feral parrots documented in the indi movie The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, by Judy Irving. Image by TorroidAccording to Pliny’s “Natural History,” a raven who hailed the emperor Tiberius every morning became such a local hero that he was granted a funeral procession through the streets of Rome. In September 2007, an African gray parrot named Alex went out in even grander style. Obituaries and articles about the bird appeared in publications around the world, including The New York Times. But even before Alex was found dead in his cage at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, he had made his literary mark with a walk-on part in a novel, “Oryx and Crake,” by Margaret Atwood. Alex thereby joined the venerable, bizarre and surprisingly large club of talking parrots in literature.

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L.A. author a strong voice for parrot planning

Mira Tweti has sacrificed much of her two-bedroom apartment on Los Angeles' west side to ZaZu, fashioning a mini-rain-forest-cum-bird-playground on her spacious balcony and draping the living-room sofa in towels, since ZaZu poops as frequently as he flies. Photo: ANNE CUSACK

LOS ANGELES — ZaZu hangs upside down on the curtains of the apartment window, surveying all that is his: the jumble of colorful plastic balls, the climbing ladders, the panoramic view of the ocean. And the woman standing before him, cooing.

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Illegal Mexican Parrot Trade Targeted by New Ban

A newly announced ban on all parrot sales in Mexico may keep the country's rare exotic birds (above, military macaws in Sierra de Tamaulipas, Mexico) from dying during clandestine smuggling operations, conservationists say. Photograph by George Grall/NGS

A new permanent ban on parrot sales in Mexico may protect the country's exotic birds from a thriving illegal wildlife trade, conservationists say.

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Grey-cheeked Parakeets in Guayaquil

The IUCN lists the Grey-cheeked Parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhoptera) as endangered. According to birdlife international their decline was principally caused by the wild bird trade. With 59,320 birds reportedly imported by CITES countries between 1983-1988. In 1995, the wild population was estimated at 15,000 birds, principally in Ecuador. This represents a very crude decline of c.70% in 10 years, although it is still locally common in suitable habitat remnants.

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