By Sarah Brown
The Golden Parakeet (Guaruba guarouba) also known as the Golden Conure or Queen of Bavaria Conure, highly sought after in the illegal pet trade for its striking yellow plumage, is at risk of extinction in the Brazilian Amazon. After being locally extinct for a century in Belém, the host city of next year’s COP30 climate summit, it’s being reintroduced by conservationists who have so far released 50 individuals into the wild since 2018.
It plays an important role in ecosystem services, especially in seed dispersal of the popular açaí berry and up to 22 other plant species native to the Amazon. Conservationists say the project is an ongoing success, as the released Golden Parakeets have adapted well to life outside captivity and have even reproduced in the wild. The goal is to reintroduce another 50 birds over the next two years.
The Golden Parakeet is as noisy as it is brightly coloured. Hanging from the branches above, three of these medium-sized parrots screech and squawk as they peer down to get a better look at biologist Marcelo Vilarta as he observes them. They’re striking birds with their vibrant yellow plumage and green wingtips distinct against the Amazonian vegetation. Yet it’s these colours that have put their population at risk of extinction.
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By David Waugh, Correspondent, Loro Parque Fundación
The Tanimbar Islands are situated approximately half-way between the north coast of Australia and the far west of New Guinea. The 65 islands cover an area of 10,103 km2, the largest and most central being Yamdena which is 2,981 km2 with hills along its east coast and a lower-lying west coast. Nowadays the last natural seasonal forests of Indonesia are only found in the Tanimbar Archipelago, and about 70 per cent of Yamdena Island is covered by seasonal evergreen forest, and dry and wet deciduous forest. The climate of the Tanimbar Islands is tropical wet and dry, determined by seasonal monsoons. Inter-annual rainfall variability is high, but temperatures are stable and there is high humidity throughout the year. These Islands host many unique species, including the endemic Goffin’s Cockatoo, or Tanimbar Corella (Cacatua goffiniana) and the Blue-streaked Lory (Eos reticulata).
Starting in 2003, the Loro Parque Fundación has financially supported a project for the conservation of Goffin’s Cockatoo, in collaboration with BirdLife (Buring) Indonesia and the Indonesian Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation. The project’s aim was for local government and people in Tanimbar to understand the importance of their forests, biodiversity, endemic parrots and take action to conserve them. Awareness and education activities focused on school children, as future decision makers, and the public in general as the key source of support and social pressure on the government, and as a source of information.
The project encouraged an approach of warning and educating trappers and traders, followed by monitoring their activities. The project also worked to influence local government decision-makers who could determine the actions needed for endemic parrot conservation. The current IUCN Red List status of the Goffin’s Cockatoo is ‘Near Threatened’ and has not worsened since 2004, which offers some reassurance of the positive impact of the project.
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By Rosemary Low
Are human foods harmful to parrots in the home? This is a bit like asking: are human foods harmful to humans? Many foods and even milk consumed in excess (three or more glasses a day, according to research) are harmful to people. Likewise, food high in salt should be limited. The current medical advice is that humans are healthier and live longer if they avoid too many processed foods.
I think we should be encouraging parrots to eat foods that are not highly processed. If they can be encouraged to do this by eating human foods, even directly from the dinner plate! I think this can be beneficial in improving a parrot’s diet.
We know that some parrots are extremely reluctant to try new foods. This is partly because they were not introduced to a wide variety of foods soon after the weaning stage, and partly because of the natural caution of some individuals that view all strange objects with suspicion. This often applies to Grey Parrots. Just as aviary birds are more interested in trying new foods if they see the parrots in the aviary next door eating them, so will companion birds try new foods if they see them being consumed by their human companions, especially if they are allowed on the table at meal times. The latter practice will be frowned upon by many people, of course, but to actually share their carer’s meal is an extremely enjoyable experience for many parrots. It makes them feel that they are a member of his or her flock. If this really is going too far, let the parrot explore the plates when the meal is over, with some parrot-healthy items purposely left there.
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The Holistic Parrot by Leslie Moran
Parrots are thinking, feeling intelligent beings. They can be psychologically sensitive and emotionally complicated animals. The type of experiences your bird had before coming to you will have a huge impact on how easily they can learn to cope with stress and change.
Over the past three months we’ve explored topics related to behaviours. In the April issue 316, the link between unwanted behaviours and unbalanced nutrition was examined with factual evidence from Greg Harrison, DVM and Debra McDonald, PhD. In the May issue 317, we did a deep dive into how stressful and anxious behaviours are impacted by unbalanced nutrition. That article detailed the top nutrients most often missing in an unbalanced homemade diet and offered an easy to implement clinically proven solution. And in the June issue 318, we provided a variety of ideas for enrichment including self-directed play, teaching a parrot to actively select and play with toys on their own.
One technique I teach all my clients is to talk with their parrots, in advance, about the changes that they want to make, or the new toy, person, or other animal, they want to introduce before actually doing it. For some people this comes very naturally while for others it takes a bit more effort.
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