The Holistic Parrot by Leslie Moran
Many of us care for our birds as feathered family members. Some clients I’ve worked with have told me about the challenges they face and how they feel they are not coping with these issues in a healthy manner. It is important to understand how our human emotions and stress levels can affect our parrots. If you relate to this, then this month’s column is for you. And if you feel that you’ve already have healthy coping mechanisms in place, stay tuned, something new may jump out at you to try.
In researching published papers on a wide range of nutritional topics there are several general ideas I’d like to share with you. Many of us can have adverse reactions to certain foods, such as those packed with sugar and white flour, and sugary sodas or caffeine laced beverages. If any of you have raised children you may be able to relate to having them return from an afternoon outing as you notice that they are ‘bouncing off the walls’ because of all the sugar and junk foods they ate while out. Or perhaps you yourself can recognise the ‘sugar high’ and then the inevitable ‘crash’ that follows shortly thereafter. For myself that radical up and down is just not worth the ‘fix’ of whatever junk food I ate. So for me, I find it easier to just make healthier food choices and say, “No thank you”, to that plate of cookies, potato chips, chocolate, or whatever other junk or comfort foods that are offered.
Another way to approach unhealthy food temptations is to have more nutritious food choices on hand. For example, when I want something sweet I make up a dish of my Sweet Potato Casserole. This is made from organic sweet potatoes, chopped organic pecans, and is sweetened with organic maple syrup. Healthy real foods all around. This dish also keeps well in the refrigerator. I commonly have some daily for several days. My recipe is here for you to make and enjoy. However, PLEASE DO NOT FEED THIS TO YOUR BIRDS.
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By Bernardo Araujo
A successful programme to reintroduce the Spix’s Macaw, a bird declared extinct in the wild, back into its native habitat has been thrown into uncertainty over a split between the two key institutions behind it. ICMBio, Brazil’s federal agency responsible for managing biodiversity, has refused to renew an agreement with the ACTP, the German organisation running the programme with birds from its captive flock.
ICMBio alleges the ACTP has engaged in commercial transactions of Spix’s macaws by transferring some to a private zoo in India, but the ACTP insists there was no sale and it is merely relocating to better facilities in India. For its part, the ACTP accuses ICMBio of politicking and undermining the reintroduction programme. The split has put the future of the programme into doubt, given there aren’t currently enough captive birds outside the ACTP’s flock to supply the programme over the long term.
In 2022, the Spix’s Macaw, one of the world’s most threatened parrots, started being reintroduced into Brazil’s semiarid Caatinga biome. The species, Cyanopsitta spixii, disappeared from its native habitat in 2000, when the last known wild Spix’s died. The reintroduction project in Curaçá municipality, Bahia state, was coordinated by two institutions: the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP), a German breeding facility that currently houses most of the Spix’s macaws left on Earth, and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the Brazilian government agency responsible for managing protected areas and biodiversity.
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By Rosemary Low
The Asiatic parakeets, all previously in the genus Psittacula, are elegant, long-tailed birds, with very fine feather quality. This gives a very smooth and perfect appearance. Of course, the best known member of the genus is the Indian Ring-necked Parakeet (Psittacula krameri manillensis). The wealth of colour mutations which have been developed have put the other species in the shade. Some are now hard to find in aviculture and others have always been rare.
They are generally kept as aviary birds, not as companions, yet ironically, the species (except the Ringneck) which one might consider the most unsuitable in the home, is the one most often kept as a pet.
Most parakeets of the old world (Australia and Asia) do not have the friendly personality that makes their neotropical counterparts so popular with those who seek an endearing companion. There is one notable exception – the Alexandrine. Although it is seldom kept as a pet in Europe, in Asia and Australia young are hand-reared for this purpose.
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By David Waugh, Correspondent, Loro Parque Fundación
How many variants of the Military Macaw (Ara militaris) are there? Well, across its disjunct geographic distribution in the Neotropics there are three recognised subspecies, with two in South America (A. m. militaris and A. m. bolivianus) and one in Mexico (A. m. mexicanus). These subspecies present only meagre visual differences, leading to debate about their true status. However, recently published results* of a genetic study of this species has shed more light on its variations. The results suggest the existence of two different clades, a clade being a grouping of individuals comprising a common evolutionary ancestor and its descendants.
One of the clades is composed of A. m. militaris and A. m. bolivianus and the other is solely of A. m. mexicanus. The mexicanus clade further divides into two subclades, one of the Military Macaws found in the north-eastern portion of the Sierra Madre Occidental (western mountain range) and the other of those living in the Sierra Madre Oriental (eastern mountain range). Based on their results, the researchers contend that A. m. mexicanus has a divergent evolutionary history and should be considered as a different evolutionarily significant unit. Furthermore, this should be reflected in the priorities for its conservation, especially given that the Military Macaw is a species threatened with extinction (IUCN Red List ‘Vulnerable’).
One project for the conservation of the Military Macaws, which collected feathers shed by wild macaws for their inclusion in the genetic study, is found in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve (SGBR). This reserve is part of the Sierra Madre Oriental ecosystem in Guanajuato, Querétaro and San Luis Potosí States approximately 300 km north of Mexico City. The findings of the genetic research lend more weight to the importance of the project for the Military Macaw because unfortunately, as in many partially protected areas, unsustainable development practices occur in the SGBR, some of which have a negative impact on the macaws, including loss of feeding habitat, especially forests dominated by oaks, capture for domestic trade and disturbance to nest sites. The conservation project offers a creative and participatory solution to the problems, by forging partnerships within the local communities to generate productive outcomes both for macaws and people.
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