Dear Parrots magazine,
Artificial or natural?
In the April issue, I was somewhat intrigued by an article by David Waugh centred around the Red-tailed Amazons, and how artificial nest boxes are being supplied. It is tragic how we are destroying the planet and, of course, parrots are affected as any other animal is, and I applaud the efforts of those groups around the world that spend endless hours trying to redress the havoc mankind has imposed on our natural world. However, I was puzzled as to why pvc nest boxes are supplied, rather than something a lot more natural. There have been a number of projects where nest boxes have been installed because of the lack of natural tree holes and I fully appreciate the ongoing costs and maintenance of wooden nest boxes, as they can degrade and fall to bits if not constantly monitored.
I also appreciate that pvc nest boxes will not face the same problems, for obvious reasons, but are we actually contributing to conservation by installing plastic (artificial) nest boxes that are clearly alien to a natural environment?
Peter Montgomery, by email