City Parrots

DNA ‘featherprinting’ may help scientists to thwart the illegal trade of a threatened species of parrot

Two football-shaped bunches of feathers nap peacefully on a branch inside a low, gray building at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. These St. Vincent Amazon parrots, miles from their natural habitat and oblivious to the plight of their relatives on an island in the Caribbean Sea, live a protected life at the World of Birds exhibit. But private collectors prize such animals each might command over $10,000 helping to create a demand that often outstrips the supply of legally available birds and fuels illegal trafficking. This demand, on top of natural hazards and the St. Vincent Amazon parrot’s small range, has put the species at risk for extinction.

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BirdLife International

A second population of the Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchos icterotis) has been discovered in Colombia.

The new population of this Critically Endangered species numbers around 40-50 birds. Meanwhile, the original population has increased by 25% to 110 birds since its discovery and implementation of conservation measures in March 1999 (see World Birdwatch March 2000 22(1): p. 17).

Cyanospitta March 2001: p. 8

BirdLife International

Researchers from Loro Parque Fundacion have located a population of the endangered Imperial Parrot Amazona imperialis at Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica - an area from which the species was extirpated by Hurricane David in 1979.

Cyanospitta, 59: pp. 15-17

Science News, by S. Milius

The largest report yet on wild-parrot nests has found poaching to be alarmingly common. The report also argues, however, that at least one protection measure has chilled illegal trade in the birds.

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the conviction of those involved in the break-in at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aviary located at the Caribbean National Forest.

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BirdLife International

A review by Leo Joseph (published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences) of patterns of geographical variation in Neotropical parakeets has recognised three endemic parakeets from north-western South America and nearby Panama as distinctive species. All three have recently been considered subspecies of the Painted Parakeet Pyrrhura picta, but Joseph shows that they bear little resemblance to that species.

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BirdLife International

An event in honour of the endemic and critically endangered Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis) was held in November 2000 in Beni, northern Bolivia. Among those attending were the Bolivian Government’s Biodiversity Director, the President of the Cattle Ranchers Federation, the Wildlife Chief of Beni, and a local government representative.

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By Abrar Ahmed

More than a million birds are released each year in India by people who have deep religious beliefs or who simply want to show kindness. But these “humane” individuals do not realize that, far from helping the cause of wildlife, they are supporting a cruel and often deadly trade in birds.

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