Hybrids and the future of Aviculture

Hotly debated, hybrid parrots might be the future for aviculture. Few issues are more hotly debated in modern-day aviculture than crossbreeding or hybridisation of different parrot species. Whenever someone brings up hybrids immediately people stand up to solemnly declare they are against it. It is the avicultural form of political correctness. A responsible parrot breeder is against hybridisation and that’s the end of it. Recent debates on facebook and grim burns of people giving an inkling of taking an interest in hybrids encouraged me to have a closer look at this issue.

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Dutch Garden Count confirms Ring-necked parakeets are urban

In temperate zones Ring-necked parakeets re mostly resricted to cities. The Society for the protection of birds (Vogelbescherming) in The Netherlands today published some results of their decade of annual garden counts. It confirms that Ring-necked parakeets are true inner-city birds.

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COAMA finds Golden Conures in south-east Brazil

One of eight Golden conures found recently close to Joinville Brazil. Image by Edson DresselA surprise from nature says COAMA (The Atlantic forest birdwatcher club). The discovery of 8 Golden conures (Guaruba guarouba) close to Joinville Brazil. This endangered species is usually only found in Brazils Maranhãom, Amazonas and Pará states. Joinville is miles away from their natural range.

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Introduction, Breeding and Poaching of Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao L.) in a Temperate Country:

A Case Study from The Netherlands

Scarlet Macaw Parrots in The NetherlandsAbstract: Poaching for the pet bird trade is one of the main threats to wild parrots. Parrots in urban areas might be exempt from poaching because nests are likely inaccessible in the urban mosaic of public and private lands where the public and authorities keep more effective vigilance than in natural habitats. We report on the demographics and fate of a small population of exotic Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) introduced into the urban area of Haarlem in The Netherlands in the 1970’s, which has a temperate, maritime climate, quite unlike the natural breeding area of the species. One breeding pair was reported, with successful breeding attempts in at least eight years between 1980 and 2009. A series of poaching events between 2005 and 2009 likely lead to the demise of the local nesting population of Scarlet Macaws.

Keywords: Poaching, Exotic species, Establishment, Breeding success, Ara macao, Parrot.

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Bleaching and Painting of Parrots

A cruel practice that kills thousands of parrots every year.

Every so often we get an e-mail of somebody claiming to have found a new species of parrot on a bird market somewhere in South or Central America. Usually these are experienced birders that are unable to identify a parrot species found for sale.

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