WIU Anthropology Professor Studying Human-Avian Bond

WIU Associate Professor Patricia Anderson is pictured with one of her five pet parrots. MACOMB, IL – Her fascination with a pet parrot and her academic study of anthropology have inspired Western Illinois University Associate Professor Patricia Anderson to study the human-avian bond.

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Wildlife Trafficking

In the Ecuador wilderness (guides Nelson, at the helm, and Paa), Charles Bergman sought the roots of the illegal animal trade (a blue-headed parrot chick). Photo: Charles BergmanTwo fire-red birds swooped screeching through the forest, flared their yellow and blue wings and alighted on the upright trunk of a dead palm tree. In the green shadows, the scarlet macaws were dazzling; they might as well have been shot from flamethrowers. One slipped into a hole in the tree, then popped its head out and touched beaks with its mate, whose long red tail pressed against the trunk. The birds eyed us suspiciously.

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