Entries in Amazona l. hesterna - Cayman Brac Parrot (5)
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Cayman parrot facing extinction
The Cayman parrot is facing a combination of threats which an international expert says could see the bird extinct within forty years if action is not taken to preserve the habitat the parrots need. Frank Rivera-Milán from the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been counting parrots in the Cayman Islands since Hurricane Ivan in 2004. During a presentation of his work here over the last eight years, Rivera-Milán issued a stark warning about the national birds and the threats they face which could in the face of another catastrophic event see them disappear.
Brac parrot survey under way
Parrot deterrent device a success
Cayman Wildlife Rescue, a programme of the National Trust, has been testing a Cayman parrot deterrent device with great success.
A Florida–based company, called Bird Busters, has created a custom device which is programmed specifically to ward off Cayman parrots from crops. The device, called a Bird Squawker, plays back distress calls and alarm calls from Cayman parrots, cries of predatory hawks, gunshot noises and digital sound effects in a random pattern to confuse and scare offending birds.
The custom device has now been tested in local farmland, worked by Franklyn Smith. Mr. Smith’s worker Eval Davis reported: “When the device is running we have no new damage to the crop. If the device is off the parrots return to the area within a day.”