Building a Parrot Collection, Aestiva Xanthropteryx, Living With a Green-winged Macaw

Issue 91 - August 2005

The Aestiva Xanthropteryx - Pam Fryer reports on this sub-species of the Blue-fronted Amazon, and urges its captive breeding and parent-rearing for the future of aviculture. The Complete Psittacine with EB Cravens - The dilemma with white Cockatoo pets ' In the past few years, several of my friends who were serious and devoted breeders of white cockatoos made the decision to stop letting their flock reproduce young. This is sad since one of the most natural and rewarding aspects of a mature psittacine's life in captivity is the experience of raising a family. Also the ceased breeding of these birds by highly responsible and compassionate aviculturists only leaves the pet market wider open for substandard and 'puppy farm' type parrots to fill demands. Such a predicament will surely be difficult and slow to resolve. Living with a Green-winged Macaw ' Macaws are intelligent and long-lived parrots that require a lot of stimulation, so if you work nine-to-five they may not be for you. But, says Sam Williams, if you do have the time and devotion, a Green-winged Macaw will make a great companion parrot. Building a collection ' Kate Gammond and her husband have been living and working in Bahrain for the last ten years. During that time they have helped to build up an impressive private collection of parrots located in 15,000 square metres of gardens. Kate describes the evolution of the breeding facility. Aviary-building ' from footings to flights. Aviaries are great places to permanently house bird collections or to occasionally exercise companion parrots, especially in good weather. Rosemary Low advises on the best construction materials and techniques. In search of the Tepui Parrotlet ' Having spent seven years in Guyana, the mountain-dwelling Tepui Parrotlet was to remain elusive to Eddie McLoughlin - but not to two mountaineers. Eddie describes the information that he gathered from their expeditions. Parrots in Focus by Cyril Laubscher ' Vernal Hanging Parrots ' a small Asiatic parrot that needs establishing by breeders worldwide. Sulphur-crest and Finschâ€'s face extinction ' A cockatoo and Amazon have recently been moved to ' CITES Appendix 1 ' the highest level of endangered species. Rosemary Low reports on how such popular captivity parrots became so rare in the wild. Our exploits as parrot sitters - After seeing a small ad in Parrots magazine, Christine Wainwright and her husband offered to parrot-sit for a couple'€™s 15 birds. Since that day they have become regular sitters- and firm friends. Christine recounts her experiences. Parrots and people - Gail Harland tells us about some famous people who have kept parrots 'She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot'€.

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