Forest Dept. and volunteers rescue 28 parakeets in Coimbatore, Erode

Saved from captivity:Rose-ringed Parakeets (Psittacula krameri) being kept either as pets or to be sold, were rescued in Coimbatore, on Thursday.- Photo: M.Periasamy The birds are protected under Schedule IV of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

The Forest Department and Animal Rescuers, a voluntary animal welfare organisation, have rescued 28 parakeets and a Black Headed Munia from Coimbatore and Erode in the past few days.

According to a press release that was issued here, the birds were rescued from as many as 19 different locations where they were in illegal captivity.

They were being kept either as pets, or to be sold to customers in various places.

The feathered creatures rescued included four (three female and one male) Alexandrine Parakeets, and 24 (nine male and 15 female) Rose Ringed Parakeets.

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Count your chicks! Endemic Seychelles Black Parrot hatchlings bring hope for vulnerable species

A succesful breeding season for a vulnerable species? The Seychelles Island Foundation says they have to wait until the season ends in March. Until now, 12 of 39 black parrot eggs have hatched in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vallee de Mai on Praslin but already, two of the chicks have died. SIF is now waiting for the 17 remaining eggs to hatch. Image by Seychelles Island Foundation

“It is too early to say how successful this breeding season will be,” Walton told SNA. “At the end of the last breeding season, the team recorded 12 fledglings out of 32 eggs that were laid. However, this is not an indication of a successful season as other factors such as survival rate and mortality needs to be taken into consideration.”

It is no wonder therefore that in spite of being somewhat erroneously named the black parrot, the tiny population of dark brownish-grey birds are fiercely protected by SIF.

Protection at all costs

Slowly, the chicks’ dark brown plumage will grow in, and after 45 days, they will make their first heart-stopping attempts at flight. Approximately two years later, they will reach reproductive maturity to begin the breeding cycle all over again.

Throughout their lives, the species is faced with several threats, mainly from the human development issues posed by the 6,000 inhabitants of Praslin.

“Invasive alien species such as rats and cats predate on the eggs and chicks and... have the potential to transfer diseases and are in direct competition with the parrots for nesting sites,” stated Walton, adding that forest fires, loss of habitat due to development and agriculture also destroys important feeding and breeding habitat for the parrots.

Among the introduced species on the islands, the Indian Mynah bird, an invasive and aggressive species, poses a real threat to conservation of the endemic birds and several countries have had to introduce eradication measures to control the bird.

- See more at: http://www.seychellesnewsagency.com/articles/2134/Count+your+chicks+Endemic+Seychelles+Black+Parrot+hatchlings+bring+hope+for+vulnerable+species#sthash.3Udh3ztB.dpuf

As the northwest monsoon in the Indian Ocean Island of the Seychelles enters its third month, a handful of fluffy white-feathered chicks will start their ever-continuing battle for survival in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Vallée de Mai, located on the second most populated island, Praslin.

Conservationists hope that these little white balls of fluff with bulging eyes will one day soon mature into a rare endemic bird: the Seychelles Black Parrot (Coracopsis barklyi), which lives in the similarly vulnerable endemic coco-de-mer palm forest of the Vallée de Mai,home to the largest nut in the plant kingdom.

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Forest Department, NGO rescue parakeets

The rose ringed parakeets rescued from Idayarpalayam, near Vadavalli, in Coimbatore on Wednesday. A team of non-governmental organisation activists and Forest Department officials on Wednesday rescued rose ringed parakeets that were being kept for sale here.

The bird is listed under Schedule IV of Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Keeping or selling these birds would attract either or both a prison term of two-and-a-half years and a fine of Rs. 25,000.

A team of four activists from Environment Conservation Group led by its president R. Mohammed Saleem accompanied a Forest Department team led by Coimbatore Range Officer R.G. Sekar and Forester Govindaraj when they inspected eight houses at Idayarpalayam, near Vadavalli.

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The unheard cry of the parakeet

Researchers say parakeets are easily available in many places in the city despite their sale being illegalTheir loud and relentless screeching is a sure-shot way of identifying a pet shop from quite a distance away. As you enter, the first thing you notice is their frantic and futile attempts to escape their cramped cages.

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Protective nets prove fatal for birds

Parrots die after getting entangled in the nets erected around a jowar field at Lingatla in Neredigonda mandal of Adilabad distrct. Photo: S. Harpal Singh Tackling the ever growing monkey menace in Adilabad, the district to which Forest and Environment Minister Jogu Ramanna belongs, has strangely turned calamitous for birds which essentially depend upon food crops for survival. Stranger still is the fact that neither the Forest nor the Panchayat Raj department have woken up to this issue which can eventually spell disaster for the avian world.

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