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BREEDING ECOLOGYOF UYACINTU MACAWSby Celestino Prudencio da Silva, Charles A. Munn, Renato Cintra, Katherine Renton, Mariana Valqui, Carlos Yamashita.

The Hyacinth Macaw(Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), theworld's largest and mostspectacular parrot, is endangeredwith extinction due largely tocapture over the past twenty yearsfor the insatiable international tradein live parrots (Ridgely 1981, Munnet al. 1987, 1989). Also contributingto the decline of this species,especially in the Amazonian portionof its range, has been meat andfeather hunting and habitatdestruction (Munn et a11987, 1989).Throughout the moist or dry forestsand forest-savannah mosaicsinhabited by this species, it subsistsalmost entirely on the endospermfrom the hard nuts of only one ortwo local palm species (Munn et al.1987,1989,Roth 1989).

In most parts of its range, thismacaw appears not to be sufferingfrom shortages of palm nuts. Even inthe southern part of its range in thealternately flooded then parchedsavannah-forest mosaic of Brazil's

Pantanal, many extensive cattleranches have been in place for overa hundred years, yet we report herethat this land use so far seems not

"psittacine( sini sin) Belongingor allied to the "parrots: parrot-like

to have endangered the macaw'stwo species of food plants: thepalmsAcrocomia aculeataandAttalea phalerata.

The macaw's food supply seemsintact in the Pantanal, hunters in thePantanal do not shoot them formeat or feathers, and the birds have

adapted very successfully to life inclose proximity to ranch personnel,livestock, machinery, and buildings(Muml et al. 1987, 1989). Thereforethe only challenges to the shortterm survival of this species in thePant anal seems to be capture forthe illegal bird trade and potential

shortages of large tree cavities fornesting.

In the Pant anal, trees with largecavities sometimes are cut toeliminate potential roosts forvampire bats, which pose a threat tocattle. Also, many or most largetrees in the never-flooded, high

Hyacinth Macaws in flight. New painting, 13"x 11': by Ma/co/m El/is. First donation of £750secures.

2

Hyacinth Macaws mating. The front view is quite charming.

The rear view is not so elegant.

ground forests at the borders of thePant anal are destroyed whenranchers replace natural forest withartificial pastures. Over the pastseveral decades ranchersprogressively have cleared morehigh ground forest to plant pasturesfor their herds, which cannot grazesafely in the lower, naturalgrass lands during the annualDecember-May flood season.

Conveniently for the HyacinthMacaw, neither of its food palmssuffers when ranchers clear the highground forest for pasture. TheAcrocomia palm is common in highground forest, but when clearingthis forest, ranchers leave standingmost or all large Acrocomia andapproximately 5% of the other,non palm species of large trees. Theother species of food palm of themacaw, Attalea phalerata, which israre in high ground forest, butcommon in monospecific patcheson the edge of lower, seasonallyflooded terrain, is not affected bythe deforestation of higher groundforest.

Possibly, however, the cutting

of most large trees in larger andlarger patches of high ground forestand selective cutting of trees withlarge cavities in the lowerlying,forested islands of trees or"capaois" might be eliminating manyof the cavities large enough toprovide nest sites for the HyacinthMacaw in the Pantanal.Simultaneously, the cutting of treeson these capaois reduces thequality of these islands of forest aswet season refuges for many otherterrestrial vertebrates in thePantanal.performed on a 52,000ha. cattleranch in the Pantanal of Brazil, herewe report on the density anddimensions of nest sites of HyacinthMacaws and present someobservations on breeding behaviorof the species. We also present dataon the density and fruitingphenology of its two key food palms,Acrocomia aculeata (knownlocallyas "bocaiuva") and Attalea phalerata(known locally as "acuri"). Inconclusion, we discuss theconservation of the Hyacinth Macawand present recommendations forguaranteeing its survival andrecovery in the Pantanal.

DISCUSSIONOn the Estancia Caiman ranch thelow density of large cavities suitablefor Hyacinth Macaw nests resultedfrom two natural factors: 1) forestwas naturally scarce and patchy inpantanal savannah; and 2) large treespecies that develop cavities wererare within those forest patches.Trees large enough and alsonaturally prone to developing theroomy cavities required by thesehuge parrots appeared to beuncommon to rare in the upland

forests as well. Thus, these naturalfactors combined with the cutting oftrees with large cavities to controlvampire bats and clearing of uplandforest for cattle pasture is leavingprogressively fewer large trees withcavities in which the macaws cannest. The destruction of the rare,large tree cavities may soon reducethe reproductive rate of thepopulation of Hyacinth Macaws onthe ranch and on other ranches

throughout the southern part of therange of the species. Such ashortage of nest sites would leave asenescent population of mated pairswith few cavities in which to nest. Atthe same time, the crucial foodpalms on the ranch appear to beproducing adequate nut crops atpresent to support a substantialpopulation of macaws.

Consequently, if ranchers whoare clearing upland forest orlowland pantanal tree islands wouldleave standing all largeSterculia,Enterolobium, Vitex,Acrocomia, andAttalea and could eliminate allcapture of macaws on theirproperties, the Hyacinth Macawwould survive in substantialnumbers on their ranches for manydecades. If ranchers where then togo one step further and erectartificial nest boxes, use protectivefencing around existing small treesof these four species, and to plantadditional trees of these species,then Hyacinth Macaw populationsnot only would survive well butprobably even would increasesubstantially on these ranches.

In 1984the weights obtained byR. Cintra of the larger, survivingnestling in the wild nest at theestimated ages of 10, 19, and 30days compared well with the

..

weights of two known-aged, parent-fed nestlings from a captive nest(Low 1991; 125g vs. 122and 130g,350 g vs. 320 and 358 g, and 513 vs.570 and 598 g, respectively). Thelast measurement, however,suggests that the growth rate of thewild nestling may have been fallingbehind that of the captive-brednestlings, but more data from wildand captive nestlings are requiredbefore different patterns in growthrates may emerge.

Saunders (1982) suggested thatwild nestlings of White-tailed BlackCockatoos may have grown atsignificantly lower rates when veryhigh daytime temperatures hinderedforaging by the parents. Similarly,the extremely high temperatures,high humidity, and intense isolationof the Pantanal during the nestingseason might hinder the foraging ofnestling-feeding Hyacinth Macaws,which would slow nestling growth.This possibility should be examinedmore carefully.

Finally, the possible effects ofectoparasites on the growth rateand survival of nestlings HyacinthMacaws must be examined.

If after more study of nestlinggrowth one can predict when anestling, especially the secondnestling, is falling off of a normal,healthy growth curve, then onecould intervene with additional

feedings or parasite control toinsure its survival and fledging.Probably, however, the most cost-effective methods to augmentpopulations of macaw would be toprotect nest trees and food palmsand to mount extra nest cavities to

increase the percentage of nestingpairs in the adult population.

The use of a break-away orremovable radio collar on parentbirds or fledglings would permitstudy of the ranging behavior andhabitat use of the species, which

would help us to determine if foodshortage or difficulties with foragingoccur during the breeding season.Yamashita (in review) believes thatthe Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus

glaucus, an extinct sibling species ofthe Hyacinth Macaw formerly foundin the lower Uruguay and ParanaRivers near the Uruguay-Paraguay-Argentina border, disappeared earlyin this century because domesticcattle ate and trampled all youngspecimens of the bird's unique, localfood palm, Butia yatai.

Alarmingly, Brandt andMachado (1990) recently reportedthat scarcity of the food palms ofthe Indigo Macaw (A. lean) ofnortheastern Brazil (the only othersibling species of the HyacinthMacaw) forced all of the 60remaining wild birds to fly greatdistances daily to forage over 140square km of dry thorn scrub. Thatextremely endangered species(Yamashita 1987) even resorted tothe dangerous option of feeding oncorn crops in that impoverished,overpopulated portion of Brazil(Brandt and Machado 1990).

The extinction of the one andthe virtual extinction of the other

congener of the Hyacinth Macawapparently due in part to the lack offood makes it critical to understand

the biology of the key palms whosenuts are virtually the species's only

A rare sighting of Charles Munn in the Peruvian rain forest.Picture: Katherine Renton.

food (but see Roth 1989, whoreports seeing the species eat snailson one occasion, and Schubart et al.1965, who report the speciesoccasionally eating figs and thefruits of a species of myrtac). Thegrowth, fruiting, and regeneration ofthe key palms should be studiedthroughout the different seasons innatural and logged upland forest, innew and old upland pastures withand without some remaining largetrees, and in natural and modified

pant anal grass lands and woodlands.

Extinct megafauna (Leme 1911,Almeida 1945, both referenced inRADAMBRASlL 1982) probablyswallowed the fruits of both

Acrocomia and Attalea palms of thePantanal, digested off the swe~t,sticky mesocarp, and passed intactthrough their systems orregurgitated intact the hard, innernuts, which later germinated andgrew in the grasslands of thePantanal (Janzen and Martin 1981).These same huge grazing andbrowsing animals probably helpedmaintain the Pantanal in its openand semi-open condition much asintroduced cows and horses dotoday and elephants do in theforests and savannahs of Africa (M.Faypers. comm.). Large herbivoresand the palms that evolved fruits toexploit these herbivores as seeddispersers thus probably are anancient evolutionary tradition in thePantanal.With careful managementof cattle, horses, and palms inpantanal habitats, once again itshould be possible for largeherbivores, this time domestic, tothrive sustainably in the Pantanalwhile not just allowing but alsogenerating ecological space forhealthy populations of HyacinthMacaws.

Not only should HyacinthMacaws be able to thrive on

properly-managed cattle ranches,but they now also may be able togenerate substantial incomes for theranches as tourist attractions. With

the explosive world-wide growth innature-based tourism or

"ecotourism" over the past tenyears (Boo 1989, Lindberg 1991)Hyacinth Macaws themselvesalready are generating substantialecotourism income on leadingPantanal ranches. For example, afteronly four seasons of operating a 22-bed ecotourism hotel at EstanciaCaiman, the ranch's annual tourismincome now approximately matchesthat of the decades-old cattleoperation (R. Klabin and R. Jaccard,pers. comm.). The logo of theecotourism hotel at the ranch is the

head of a Hyacinth Macaw staringrakishly out of a golden porthole.Increasingly, ranchers still fortunateenough to boast healthy.populations of Hyacinth Macawsnow proudly view their birds asexternal badges of conservationsophistication, ecologicalenlightenment, and ecotourismpotential. With the new wave of

ecologicalawareness that has sweptmuch of middle-and upper-classBrazil since 1987, and in 1990theenormous success in Brazil of the

nightly, 60-minute TV drama entitled"Pantanal" (which regularlycutaway to actual clips of Pantanalwildlife, including wild HyacinthMacaws), the future survival of themacaw on the ranches of thePantanal seems more and morelikely. The measures outlined hereand increased efforts to eliminate

illegal trade in live macaws shouldguarantee the survival of thisspecies in the Pantanal wellinto themiddle of the next century.

The future of the HyacinthMacaw in the forests of the EasternAmazonand the drier forests ofnortheastern Brazil may not be asguaranteed, however, for unlike thePantanal, where most peoplecurrently have enough animalprotein and other food, in theAmazon and in northeastern Brazilanimal protein is scarce, and theHyacinth Macawis large enough tobe worth shooting for meat (Munnet al. 1989).Add to this threat avigorous illegal parrot trade in partsof northeastern Braziland an almostcomplete lack of information on thebiology of the species in thoseregions and it is clear that thesurvival of thespecies seems muchmore problematical in the northernparts of its range.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank Roberto Klabin, the ownerof Estancia Caimanranch and itsnature tourism hotel, PousadaCaiman, for inviting us. to mapmacaw nests on his property andfor helping us enormously withlogistical assistance aswell as roomand board. We also appreciate thehospitality extended to us by thegeneral manager of the ranch andhotel, Robert Jaccard, and by themanager of the hotel, SilviaGervasio. Marcia Suzuki Reed, thedirector of scientific interpretation,and the scientificguides of thehotel, P. Amaral, E. Amil, A. Dutra, B.Pimentel, and S. Salazar allcontributed time andeffort to theresearch, for which we are grateful.Wildlife Conservation International

(WC!), a division of New YorkZoological Society, generouslyfinanced most aspects of the 19.90research season. Additionally,through WCI, the World Parrot Trustof the United Kingdomsupportedthe 1991fieldwork. RCwould liketothank IBDF(now IBAMA)forsupporting his work while heworked out of the IBDFPantanalResearch Station. RC also thanks Iv.Dorileo for permission to conductresearch on his ranch, and to O.Falcao,T.C.de Arruda, and E.Carvalho for excellent assistance in

the field. Finally, we are grateful toM.Helsapleand N.WilliamsofSuperflow Corporation VideoProductions for videodocumentation of this research.

3

TUE CO-OPERATIVE BREEDINGPROGRAMME FOR SCARLET MACAWSby David Woolcock (Curator, Paradise Park and Studbook Holderfor the ScarletMacaw),andDr. Peter Bennett (Research Fellowat the ZoologicalSocietyof London).

IntroductionIn a previous article in Psittascene(VoI2, No.!, January 1990) wediscussed some of the biologicalprinciples that necessitate a co-operative:approach to breeding rareparrots in captivity. We emphasisedthat co-ordinated breedingprogrammes based on co-operationbetween aviculturists can help toreduce problems such as loss ofgenetic diversity, inbreeding,hybridisation, and other factors thatthreaten the survival of small

captive populations of rare parrots.Aviculturists can no longer rely

on the importation of wild caughtbirds to bolster captive populations.There is no doubt thatindiscriminate collection of wild-

caught birds to supply the demandfor captive specimens has led to thenear extinction of a number ofparrot species in the wild. Theemphasis must now be on managingcaptive parrot stocks to ensure thatthey are self sustaining.Furthermore, for extremely rare

species that have declined to verylow numbers in the wild, the aim ofthese breeding programmes shouldbe to supply a surplus of birds forreintroduction to the wild if this isnecessary and feasible. Every effortmust be made to ensure that

holders of parrots becomeproducers of captive bredspecimens rather than consumers ofwild birds.

For many species of rare parrotsthere are already enough wildcaught birds in captivity to developviable self sustaining populations.However, in very few cases are theseimportant birds being recruited intoco-ordinated breeding programmesbased on co-operation betweenholders. For some of these speciesbreeding success is Iow and there isa need to share information on

successful husbandry practices. Inthis article we describe how the co-

operative breeding programme forScarlet Macaws in the British Isles

was established and how it is beingmanaged.

The Scarlet MacawRegional Studbook

The first step in any coordinatedbreeding programme that is basedon population management is tolocate and gather vital informationon individual birds. In 1987 a surveywas sent to zoos in the UnitedKingdom requesting information onindividual Scarlet Macaws in their

collections. The information wasthen collated and entered onto acomputer programme that aidsmanagement of studbooks (the'Omaha' studbook programme). Inany studbook the following minimalinformation must be recorded foreach individual:

Studbook Number Uniqueand lifetime number assignedbystudbook keepername, breedernumber, ring number,microchip number ete.

Means of identification

SexDate of birth

Capture locationStudbook number of sireStudbook number of damDate of deathLocation of birthDate of arrival

approximateif wild bornif wild bornandknown'wild' if wild born'wild' if wild born

and local identity number,nameand details of any subsequentlocationincluding their identity number orname for individual

Free flying Scarlet Macaw at Paradise Park, UK.

4

The Scarlet Macaw:Distribution and Status inthe Wild

Despite being one of the best knownof all the parrots very few peopleseem to appreciate the status of theScarlet Macaw in the wild.

Destruction of the forests, hunting,trapping and collection of nestlingsfor the pet market have allIed to itsrarity, especially in Central America:"this species has sufferedcatastrophic declines in MiddleAmerica, and it's survival in severalcountries is seriously threatened"(Ridgely 1981). The pattern of localextinctions has accelerated over

recent years and no species can beexpected to survive such anonslaught indefinitely.

With its situation in the wild andits relatively large captivepopulation the Scarlet Macaw waschosen as an ideal species tointroduce the concept of co-operative management within"psittaculture". After all, if it could

not be done with the Scarlet Macaw

then the chances of establishing co-ordinated programmes for other,even rarer, parrots were grim!

Other information may beincluded when relevant such as sub-

species, whether surgically sexed orkaryotyped etc.

Regional Studbooks should bepublished annually and circulated toall holders that have submittedinformation about the animals intheir care. The Scarlet MacawRegional Studbook has beenpublished twice. The 2nd editionhas information current to 31stDecember 1989.The 3rd edition is inpreparation.

Private keepers weresubsequently contacted and askedto submit data to the studbook.When first approached some hadgrave reservations about divulgingdetails of their stock. Most had thevery real fear of potential birdthieves in mind. This has beenovercome by keeping the holders'details anonymous and assigning

code numbers to their data. Strictconfidentiality is observed. It mustbe said however that someindividuals were not so concerned

about losing their birds as receivinga tax demand for undeclaredearnings - this of course i$>completely absurd! Neverthelesssome people still refuse toparticipate in the programme,including one or two eminentaviculturists who lay claim toconcern about 'Conservation' but

fail to take this clear opportunity todo something practical to helpconserve this species. We will haveto hope for a change of heart.

Population Status in the BritishIsles

The Scarlet Macaw RegionalStudbook contains information on219 birds in zoos and privatecollections in the British Isles. Thereare more birds known to be in

private hands and we encourageholders to register birds in thestudbook.

5

Of the 219 birds 119 arepotential founders - birds which arewild caught or of unknown descent.Of these potential founders only 42have produced descendants. Whenthe performance of eachreproductively active founder isanalysed it becomes obvious thattheir individual geneticrepresentation is far from equal. Themain task has been to establish newpairs where before singletonsexisted and to encourage theunproductive birds to breed,particularly those of wild origin. Inseveral instances this has beenachieved, but there is still anenormous amount of work to be

done. Although there is currently asevere shortage of females anumber of birds remain unsexed.

Once their gender is established we

should be able to move forward

more quickly. Many more people arepermanently marking their birdswith microchips, tattoos or closedrings and this is greatly helping theaccuracy and efficiency of trackingthe birds between locations.

Factors in our favour.

1) Scarlet Macaws are long livedbirds.

2) There are a large number ofpotential founders.

However, we cannot becomplacent. Unless we recruit more.founders into the breedingpopulation genetic problemsassociated with the populations ofcertain species that have beenestablished in captivity for a longtime through many generations will

occur. Take the White-Eared

Pheasant for example, where highlevels of inbreeding, Iow numbersand unequal representation offounders are all leading to losses ofgenetic diversity.

Analysis of the studbook showsthat certain pairs have left adisproportionate number ofdescendants. While this breedingsuccess is laudable, there is a needto get more pairs breeding in orderto increase the numbers of founders

(and thus the gene pool) and toequalise founder representation. Itis probable that many parrotspecies have been established incaptivity through a small number ofhighly successful pairs whosedescendants now dominate the

populations. In these cases, unlessgood studbook records have been

kept, the opportunity to minimiseinbreeding and loss of geneticdiversity are lost.

In the case of the Scarlet Macawwe have the potential to ensurethrough good record keeping andsound population management, agenetically diverse anddemographically stable populationover the long term. However, thisrequires co-operation andcommitment on the part of allaviculturists holding this species.N.B. - Number of Scarlet Macaws

registered by ISIS (i.e. data from 381zoos internationally) at 31stDecember 1990 was 161.139.87-

only 33% of these birds were captivebred. Of course, no central figures forthe large numbers that must be inprivate hands exist - so who knowsthe real situation?

No. 3 IN OUR SERIES

IllfI could keep onlyone pair of parrots. .by John StoodleyBroadhalfpenny Down ConservationSanctuary, Portsmouth, UK

When invited to contribute a few

words to this journal covering asingle parrot in my sanctuary Iwould retain above all others, Ithought it an impossible task.

In a non commercial facility thekeeper becomes much attached tothe birds in his care, to choose justone and turn away all others wouldbe hard to do. I considered there

were other ways of approaching thequestion, for example many yearsago I decided that if the sanctuarywas to be of any worth to aviculturethere must be stricter discipline inmy overall direction.

With this in mind the sanctuary

John Stood/er

6

was restructured to contain justthree groups of parrots, all from thenew world: Macaws, Pianus andAmazons. There was so much todiscover, so much to learn, little wasknown at that time of dietaryrequirements, or of breedingpatterns, but over the yearsprogress has advanced, today manymore parrots are being bred inaviculture.

I have been privileged in havinghad some influence in advancingparrot husbandry, therefore mydecision to concentrate all myefforts on so narrow a field, to studyin depth both in the field and inaviculture to learn their needs

especially dietary requirements, towork closely with foremostVeterinary Surgeons on psittacinehealth care, has been the rightdecision for me. Perhaps thequestion of which single species towork with could be looked at from

the angle, which of all the parrots atthe sanctuary most needed help?

Macaws are breeding well inmany other collections, their futuresecure, Pion us are less threatened intheir natural habitat than are manyAmazon parrots, therefore theparrot with the greatest need mustcome from the Genus Amazona. At

the sanctuary we breed twenty sixspecies and sub-species of amazonparrots, some common to avicultureothers less well known, all haveunique personalities, and whilst notascribing human attributes toparrots I have worked with themlong enough to appreciate and valuethe merits of each individual bird.

II

.

Hispanio/an Amazon, A. ventralis.

Those that are less well known

including Amazona leucocephala,xantholora, ventralis, dufresniana,rhodocorytha, xanthops, barbadensis,f guatemalae and vinacea I wouldfind hard to abandon as there is stillmuch work to be done to securethem in aviculture. From this shortlist I would choose to work withventralis, common name SallesAmazon.

This small amazon, indigenousto the Island of Hispaniola, is under

pressure in its habitat as are manyIsland parrots.

Since it cannot be collected,aviculture must do what it can with

those available to us. Its aggressivenature presents a stumbling block,)thas taken me more than a decade to

breed to fourth generation stockthat are tolerant of their fellows.

I have enjoyed the challengeand it would give me enormouspleasure to one day write Amazonaventralis is secure in aviculture.

RECENT OBSERVATIONS ONKUYNCUOPSITTA TEKKISI

My observations of the Maroon-fronted Parrot Rhynchopsitta terrisibegan in 1982,and from that timeonward, I have witnessed thecontinuous pressure that man isputting on the vegetation and thewilderness of the Sierra MadreOriental.

It is increasingly difficult to findlarge trees in these areas and,unfortunately, the young trees arealso being cut in order to make"palapas", small rustic houses.

I know of two places where thisbird reproduces: "The Highrise"which was studied during the I970sby Lanning and Lawson, and "LosCuevas" (the caves). Both locationsare distinctive in having at theirbase extensive forests of mixed

conifers that are inhabited by thesebirds all year around. The Highriseis the largest breeding area; it hasabout 25 nests per year. The widevarietyof species of trees at thebase of this cliff area means that onecan see the parrots there in searchof food all year around.

Unfortunately, there areapproximately 200 persons who livevery near this same forest, and theydepend upon it for their existence.All the firewood they need to cooktheir food and build their dwellingscomes from this area. They also usethis area as pasture for their goatsand cows,although it is ill-adaptedas pasture land. In this forest it isnot unusual to find the remains of R.

terrisi that were brought downwithslingshots by idle herders, orfledglings who, in their first flights,fell to the ground and were eaten bythe herders' dogs.

"Las Cuevas" is a place that Ihave known since 1983and that Ihave visited regularly since thenduring every breeding season. Thenumber of nests in this cliff area hasvaried over the years between ninein the best year and three in theworst. Unfortunately, during 1989,a

road was built at the base of the cliffin order to givethe woodsmenbetter access to the trees that makeup the mixed forest at the base ofthe cliffs. The parrots did not nestthere that year. The road goesthrough a zone that can be verydangerous and, after the rainyseason, there was so much damagedone that it was rendered useless.Nonetheless, in 1990,the cliffat "LasCuevas" was used again by twopairs.

"Las Cuevas" is very near atown which has a significantpopulation. The changes wrought inthe habitat are much worse in thiszone. The presence of mixed forestsat the base of the cliffswhere thesebirds make their nests is proof that

it is very important to save thesezones. The overgrazingby goats andcows in these locales prevents theregeneration of the trees and couldhave a profound effect on theirannual nesting as the parrots needto have food available near theirnests. Some birds use the holes in

the most distant cliffs all along theSierra in order to sleep, and theysometimes rest in the holes duringthe day throughout the year,perhaps to escape the heat or thecold (the temperature is more stablein the holes) due to the extremeclimate of the Sierra throughout theyear. The simple fact that they gointo the holes of a cliff does notmean that locale is a nesting area, asis commonlythought. The nestingplaces have certain specialcharacteristics that the parrotsknow and that obviously not all thecliffs have. One of thesecharacteristics is precisely thepresence of a great diversity ofkinds of conifers at their base.Furthermore, the two locales that Iknow to be areas of nesting havebeen used over the years withoutinterruption (except "Las Cuevas" in1989, as I have said previously), atleast since the beginning of the1960s, according to what the oldestresidents of these places say.

I have observed an additionalfact with respect to the parrots'

By Dr. MA Gomez-Garza

food-that the parrots also eat theseeds of the Agave macroculnis, notjust the nectar.

I have had the opportunity towatch the bird in its natural habitatthroughout the years and I havenever seen a bird with a scarlet

forehead. On May 2, 1991, I saw atypical adult specimen of R. terrisi

with just one red feather of a veryintense color at the end of the

superciliary line on the right side,but I could never believe that it was

an individual that was a hybrid of R.terrisi and R. pachyrhyncha. In myopinion, the presumed R.pachyrhyncha seen during the winterin San Antonio de las Alazanas wereno doubt confused with R. terrisi.

Beyond a doubt, the numbers ofR. terrisi have decreased

significantly during recent years.The great flocks of several hundredindividuals reported during the1970s are a thing of the past. Thechanges that man has made in theSierra Madre Oriental by cuttingdown thousands of trees each yearis decreasing significantly thenumber of R. terrisi. Over the recentyears we have had in Nuevo Leonand Coahuila several seasons of

drought. Surely1he capacity ofgrowth of the pine trees in the Sierrahas something to do with theabundance or scarcity of the rains.Probably the lack of rains is due in

Miguel Gomez Garza stands by pine trunks removed from the Sierra Madre.

7

part also to the effect man'sactivities have had on the Sierra.Although there are almost alwaysclouds and rain in September(whenthe R. terrisi are born), during therest of the year it does not rain, theweather is very dry and, as a result,forest fires spread rapidly.

A count to determine approx-imately the current numbers ofbirds was carried out on April 21,1991in the Sierra Madre Oriental inNuevoLeon and Coahuila.The six

zones that are most frequented bythese birds were chosen, and noteswere taken from sunrise to sunsetthat day at all the localessimultaneously. The places were "ElJonuco," "The Highrise," and "Cerrodel Potosi" in Nuevo Leon; "ElCanonde SanLorenzo," SanAntoniode las Alazanas,"and "LasVigas" inCoahuila. Wecounted only a fewless than 300birds in the six places.It is possible, of course, that thenumber is greater, but also at least

This dynamic bird dealer in Monterrey market had 12 baby parrots in acardboard box.

BOOKREVIEWS

8

Many people build homes illegally in the Sierra Madre National Park.The deforested slopes in the background are just one result.

one flock of 28 individuals wasprobably seen and counted twice (in"The Highrise," and, 20 minutesafterward, in "SanAntonio de lasAlazanas).At any rate, there is goodreason to be worried.

Another count is planned forSeptember 1,1991.These countsshould be done carefully as thesebirds are very noisy by nature andvery conspicuous, and it is easy tooverestimate their real numbers. Itis truly urgent to protect their

nesting and feeding areas. It is alsolirgent to start a program offorestation in the most damagedzones like the "Cerro del Potosi" andthe area around "Las Cuevas".Furthermore, it is very important tostart a program of ecologicaleducation focus sed on the local

population.

MiguelA. GomezGarza14th August 1991.

A PARRaT WITH a UT A NAMEby Don Stap

A rare treat - a parrot book whichone can sit down and read likeanovel- except that it is true. Itwould be more accurate to describeit as a book on neotropical avifaunafor, despite its name, other speciesfeature equally in this fascinatingstory of the ornithologists John P.O'Neill and Theodore Parker.Members may recall that JohnO'Neill featured in the February1991issue of PsittaScene, as thefirst in a series of well-known peopleinvited to write a few lines on "If Icould keep only one pair ofparrots..."

The jacket notes describe himas having"... identified more newspecies of birds than any otherornithologist alive, revolutionizingwhat we know about neotropicalavifauna" and Parker as "the world'sleading authority on neotropicalbird behaviour... celebrated for hisphenomenal ability to identifybirdsong."

The Amazonbasin and, inparticular, Peruvian rainforest, iswhere both men are in theirelement. The author, Don Stap,accompanied them on twoexpeditions and gives a vividaccount of life in the field with theseeminent authorities, who arefriendly rivals as far as discovering"new" species are concerned.

However, while O'Neill will collectbirds and prepare the skins, Parker,unlike most university museumornithologists, will take a living birdonly under exceptionalcircumstances.

Collecting birds in the Amazonmight sound like an idyllic pastime -but DonStap describes just a few ofthe hazards to be overcome- suchas getting there, to start with. Andonce away from civilisation onecannot be too fussy about what isserved up for dinner, a MealyAmazon, for example. "I eat ithungrily with my instant mashedpotatoes", records the author, for"Fresh meat has become a rarityand Marta has made the parrot meatflavourful and tender." (No goodbeing aghast - amazons and macawshave been on the menu in theAmazon as long as man has beenthere...)

But life in the rainforest has its

compensations, such as "the coolwater and the flocks of parakeetsthat flyover with the last rays ofsunlight glancing off their greennessas they tilt swiftly and dive Into thetrees on the opposite bank." Yes, Ihave been there too, and it is suchmemories which one treasures - thediscomforts are forgotten.

Don Stap had the good fortuneto be present when the first

specimen of the then unnamedParrotIet (Nannopsitta genus) wascollected. It had been seen and

photographed by Charles Munn inthe Manu National Park and now,John O'Neill was holding the firstspecimen in his hand...

Don Stap's narrative is sprinkledwith interesting tit-bits ofinformation. Did you know that in350BCAristotle named and

described about 140 bird species, allthat were known at the time? That

the word ornithology was first usedin 1599 by the Italian scholar UlisseAldrovandi?

A Parrot without a Name (sub-titledThe Search for the Last Unknown

Birds on Earth) is published byAlfred A. Knopf.

New York price $19.95. This is afascinating "read" - and I thoroughlyrecommend it. - ROSEMARY LOW

PAPAGEIEN - BAND 3:MITTEL- UND SUDAMERIKA

This volume completes FranzRobiller's three-part work coveringall the parrots of the world. It coversavicultural and ornithologicalaspects. It is published inGerman -and, no, don't turn to the next item

if you don't read German! A numberof features of this book make it

worth a place on the bookshelf ofany student of neotropical parrots. lfthere can be a definitive title on anygroup of parrots (impossiblebecause knowledge is increasing atan enormous rate) then this must beit for the neotropical species, for itpresents much of what was knownup to about 1988.

I am not easily impressed byparrot books, which I tend to perusewith an over-critical eye, but thisone left me with the greatestadmiration for the author, thephotographers and whoever drewthe maps. Everything about it is ofthe highest standard.

The text: it launches straightinto the species, starting with the

Hyacinthine Macaw and followingthe usual taxonomic arrangement.Each species commences withabout 14 lines summarising basicinformation such as sexual

dimorphism, number of eggs laid,incubation period and length of timeyoung spend in nest - much ofwhich can be interpreted even bythose who do not read German.

Then follows for each speciesinformation under these headings:Description, Sub-species, Range,Habitat, Behaviour in the wild,Status, General information, Careand Breeding. The literature hasbeen researched with astoundingthoroughness to supply thisinformation. Indeed, there are morethan 800 entries in the list ofreferences. A number of South

American parrots are so littleknown, that no-one has yet beenable to supply the most basicinformation; otherwise, theinformation presented for eachspecies is very well balanced.

The photographs: the publisher,Ulmer, is known for its generous useof colour - but this title surpassesall others with which I am familiar,in this respect. Excluding the maps,there are about 340 photographs, allin colour, all of excellent quality.About one third depict habitats,including in some cases, nest treesof the species. And habitat types,such as caatinga (a dry, scrubbylandscape in Brazil) are wellportrayed. There is a habitat picturefor almost every species, a uniqueand useful feature of this book. The

photographs of the parrots includesome striking full-page portraits byH. Muller, a talented photographer,and there are a number of goodsequences of chicks developmenttaken at Vogelpark Walsrode by

BIRDS USA

Klaus Trogisch.The maps: these are most

informative for the shaded partsdepicting distribution do not coverimmense areas but as far as possibleare much more precise,"that for theSevere Macaw, for example,following major rivers. The map forthe Scarlet Macaw demonstrates so

well how the species is graduallybecoming extinct in CentralAmerica. Different sub-species areshaded in contrasting colours.There is a map for each species -and their preparation must havebeen extremely time-consuming.

Published in 1990 by DeutscherLandwirtschaftsverlag Berlin GmbH,Reinhardtstrasse 14, 1040 Berlin,and Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart;502 pages; page size 18cm x 26cm. Itsurely represents a landmark in theliterature of neotropical parrot~.

RosemaryLow

Not everyone who reads thesecolumns has shelves richly stockedwith books on aviculture or

ornithology; some members arerecent recruits to aviculture and in

need of basic advice - presented inan attractive manner. To thesemembers I can recommend BIRDS

USA - an annual production. The1991 annual contains 17 articles

from experienced people in theirfield, writing on buying, taming,nutrition, parrot behaviour, training,veterinary aspects and aviananatomy. This is an Americanpublication, thus nearly all thearticles relate to members of the

parrot family.It contains an excellent series of

articles, each by a different author,covering all the groups of parrotswhich are popular with pet-owners

and breeders: Cockatoos, GreyParrots, Lovebirds, Macaws,Cockatiels, Amazons, Conures aDdBudgerigars. Each author explainstheir basic needs and

characteristics, advantages anddisadvantages.

This publication is especiallyvaluable for the first-time buyer,faced with a bewildering choice ofspecies. There is a directory of petshops and another of breeders. Theadvertisements feature every kindof basic or luxury item everdesigned for parrots and parrotlovers.

Its 120 pages are packed withcolour and good advice. For thebeginner this will be $5.95very wellspent. Order from BIRDS USA,P.O.Box 6040, Mission Viejo, Ca 92690;add $1.55 for shipping. - RL.

9

LETTERS TO TUE EDITORMembers write ...

..."Keepup the good work

with PsittaScene. It just keeps-getting better and better..."

Steve Milpacher, OkanaganExotic Bird Sanctuary,Kelowna, Canada.

... "] think P.Prenton-Jones is verysilly! We love our MembershipCertificates, and are sick to death ofa purse full of small cards. His ideaabout a survey of advertisers isgood, though..."

Ruth Aspinall, 38 Abingdon Road,London W8 6AS.

I wish to say that I'm not at alloffended by the MembershipCertificate. To give a large certificateor a small card is entirely at yourdiscretion.

However, the most importantissue to me is that The World Parrot

Trust be as successful as possible inthe work it is attempting to do..."

left Bauguss

Dear Ms Low, 27th July, 1991

Enclosed you'll find our check forsubscription renewal to Psittascene.We look forward to each issue as it

gives a more international overviewthan many of the other publicationswe receive.

May I put a good word in for theparrot "keepers" of the World? Myhusband and I became keepers byaccident when we brought aninjured Blue & Yellow macaw intoour lives. Prior to his arrival, we had

a vague notion of the status ofparrots in the wild and no idea ofthe care they needed in captivity.Between books, magazines, friendsand many calls to "bird" people inthe States we had a crash course on

parrots that enabled us to care forhim. Now, several years later, we arestill learning everything we can,"MAX" is thriving and shares ourhome with several more macaws

and parrots.It is our hope and goal to set up

our birds in pairs in the future. Butfor now, just being their caretakershas educated us, raised ourawareness about conservation and

given us countless hours ofpleasure.

10

I'm telling you all this because Ioccasionally read quotes fromAviculturaIists condemning thekeeping of parrots as pets and itbothers me. We cannot all be a

Rosemary Low or Richard Schubot,but we can all contribute to the

conservation and welfare of parrots.Our birds are a daily reminder to meof how precious parrots are andhow carefully we must protect them,both in captivity and in the wild.

Yours truly.

Kathleen Gaynor-Smith

This society supports yourorganization totally, in the quest tostop the trapping of parrots in thewild.

We have enclosed a copy of a letterthat we have sent to Mr. John

Mellon, hoping that it might help insome way.

JamesBoxPresidentThe Victorian Finch & CageBirdSociety Inc.Melbourne, Victoria.

4th August, 1991.

Mr. John Mellon

LP.C. Magazines Ltd.Kings Reach Tower,Stamford StreetLondon. SEl 9LS.

Dear Sir,

Re: "Cage & Aviary Birds"Our society is a member of TheWorld Parrot Trust, and we havebeen following with great interest,the problems they have been havingwith the above publication.

We are greatly concerned withthe parrots in the wild, here inAustralia and overseas, and if the

problems associated with the takingof birds from the wild and not

relayed to the vast number of birdkeepers in the world, it is going tobe even a harder problem tocorrect.

Your publication is an excellentmeans for the The World Parrot

Trust to get the message across tothe bird keepers of the world, asthis publication is available in many

countries around the glob.e. We feelthat your organization does nothave the right to ask The WorldParrot Trust to change any of theiraims, or restrict them in publishingunpleasant pictures of wild caughtbirds in transit etc.

We ask you to instruct your birdpublications to stop advertisingparrots that are obviously wildtrapped, the cost that you may missout on will be replaced in the longterm by breeders advertising aviarybred birds for sale. To remove the

ban on accepting advertisementsfrom The World Parrot Trust, and togive fair and accurate coverage ofThe World Parrot Trust's manyinitiatives to help preserve theparrots of the world, because if weall don't get together now and acton this very important matter wewill not have any parrots left in thewild.

Furthermore, until theobjectives are met, or some othersatisfactory arrangements havebeen made with The World Parrot

Trust, we have had no otheralternative than to ask our members

to stop promoting your publication,Cage & Aviary Birds.

Yours faithfully,

JamesBoxPresident Y.F& CB.S. Inc.

Mr. J. MellonChairman

IPC Magazines LtdKings Reach TowerStamford StreetLondon SEl 9LS

DearSir,

I have recently received a five pageletter from Mr. B. Byles editor ofCage & Aviary Birds in response to aletter I sent you regardingbias/unfair reporting in yourpublications Cage & Aviary Birdsand Birdkeeper magazine.

I regret that the five pages Ihave received from Mr. Byles hasnot convinced me of anything otherthan he and his editorial team are

deeply ignorant of the urgent needto take action to conserve the

world's precious wild tropical birds,that he is also using patheticreasoning as to why the plunderingof these species should continueand also that he will not even

acknowledge that a problem exists.

Your company controls the onlytwo magazines on sale in the UKdedicated to the keeping of cage andaviary birds, yet the readership/general public are not being giventhe benefit of balanced reporting. Inshort, it appears that the twopublications are in the pocket of thepet trade.

I am deeply concerned thatthese publications just refuse topublish any alternative point of viewregarding the crisis of the import ofwild caught birds. I am alsoconcerned that the money raisedand donated to save the Echo

Parrakeet in Mauritius by the WorldParrot Trust was not acknowledgedfairly and the readership was givento believe that the money wasentirely donated by the ParrotSociety. This is a very seriousmatter.

I hope that you will agree thatwhen such expert organisations asthe RSPB,International Council forBird Preservation, RSPCA, EIA andthe World Parrot Trust all campaignfor the end of the mass importationof wild birds then they do so forgood reason. Could it possibly bethat these major organisations areright and Mr. Byles is wrong?

I truly hope that both Cage &Aviary Birds and Birdkeeper willshow a more educated and

compassionate view to theproblems of the world's preciousbirds and that all parties involved inthe hobby of loving birds will cometogether and share the titleconservationists.

Yours faithfully,

Paul W. Brindley.Staines, Mx

Editor's Note: Mr Mellon, Chairmanof \PC, has heard a lot of good sensefrom World Parrot Trust members. If

you haven't yet written, please doso.

...

INTBRNATIONALNBWSROUND-UP

~

FIRST INTERNATIONAL LOKIINAE SOCIETYCONFERENCE

by Rosemary LowSponsored by Loriinae Europa, theFirst International Lory SocietyConference took place on June 7-9.The venue was Vogelpark Walsrodein Germany. The meeting wasattended by over 100 people fromGermany, UK,Holland, Belgium andItaly with one representative eachfrom such distant countries as USA,Australia and New Zealand.

The speakers came from sixcountries and covered a varied

range of topics. Unfortunatelyneither Trevor Buckell nor An'drewBlythe were able to be present dueto family bereavements, and AndrewBlyth's paper on the status of loriesin the UKwas read by GeorgeAnderdon. Steffen Patzwahl,Curator, Vogelpark Walsrode,described the collection at Walsrode

where 37 of the Sllory species keptover the years have bred. Dr. HansClassen from Germany spoke onfeeding. He emphasised that lactoseis a dangerous sugar to give tolories. He stated that the Lori-Nektar

produced by his company,Biotropic, was tested for six yearsbefore use and that birds fed on itshow higher fertility and are notprone to obesity. Rosemary Lowspoke on breeding and hand-feedingof lories and presented a secondpaper on Macaws and Amazons.

Jan R. van Oosten from the USAspoke on deforestation and otherconservation issues, and censusesand studbooks for lories. SimonJoshua described chromosome

studies of lories and how they canbe used for taxonomy. His workshows, for example, that Goldie'sLorikeet should not be classified as

a Trichoglossus(but until thechromosomes of most lory speCieshave been examined it is not

possible to state in which genus itbelongs). Alison Ruggles' subject

was "What nobody told me aboutkeeping lories" and Hans DieterPhillipen spoke on computers andcensuses.

In conjunction with DilsseldorfUniversity Theo Pagel had examinedthe tongues of chicks and adults ofseverallory species under anelectron microscope; he describedhis findings, also the displays ofseveral species. On hatching, thetongue of chicks is covered with akeratinized layer which is shed atabout 22-35days after hatching(depending on species), to set freethe papillae. Tony Silva (Curator,Loro Parque) discussed endangeredn'eotropical parrots, including Spix'sMacaw, of which he stated the totalknown in captivity is now 32. Hecommented that the Brazilian

Government should be given thecredit for the fact that they havenow accepted declared Spix'sMacaws in overseas collections asbeing legally held - the first timethat any Government has taken thisstep for illegally exported birds.

Conservation was the subject ofThomas Arndt from Germany(editor of the excellent magazinePapageien). Regarding re-introduction, he said that this couldsucceed with species such as theBlack-winged Lory (£os cyanogenia)which occurs on only one island,Biak, but with such species asMassena's (Trichoglossushaematodus massena) which arefound on several islands, the genesof captive birds might be different,due to breeding from two birds fromdifferent locations, thus creatingdifficulties. (With the aid of DNA"finger-printing" this could bedetected. - Ed.)

Or G. Kaal from the Netherlands

discussed fungal diseases, andBernd Gerischer spoke on theproblems of keeping Lories in East

Captive-breeding was suggested by Roland Seitre as one method ofpreserving the endangered Tahiti Blue Lory. This pair was bred incaptivity in 1982. Photo: R. H. Grantham.

11

Germany "before and after the wall".Anton Spenkelink, also from theNetherlands, described his methodof breeding the smaller lories. In allhis pairs of his favourite species,Josephine's (Charmosynajosefinae),the male incubates for the first fiveto seven days, then both sexesshare incubation, then after twoweeks the female incubates alone.

Friedrich Bauer from Germany,described field work to be carriedout on lories on the island of Biak,Indonesia. He mentioned that he

had been successful in breeding theEmeraldLorikeet(Neopsittacuspullicauda), probably a first captivebreeding.

The speaker at the banquet wasRoland Seitre from France; hissubject was the lories of Polynesia.He summarised their status asfollows:Kuhl'sLory (Vini kuhliz)hassuffered a severe population declineover the past decade and, partlydue to hunting for plumage, is nowreally threatened. Stephen's Lory(Vini stephem), found onlyon theunpopulated Henderson Island, isnot at risk at present. The TahitiBlueLory(Vini peruviana) hassuffered a great reduction in itsrange and is slowly disappearingfrom all the Society Islands.

In the Tuamotus it is known to

be present only on Rangiroa; theother islands of that group have notbeen surveyed. The Ultramarine(Vini ultramarina)is the mostthreatened, with a good population(about 500 pairs) only on Uahuka.ltis extinct or nearly extinct onNukuhiva. Roland Seitre pointed outthat deforestation is not a severe

threat to Vini lories as they are veryadaptable to man-made habitats.

They are vulnerable to

introduced predators, especiallyblack rats which can climb trees.

The introduced Eagle Owl couldbecome a problem in the Marquesasand if it spread to other islands theVinis could be wiped out. Hisrecommendations for theirconservation included translocationto predator-free islands (but riddingislands of predators would not beeasy) and, for Vini australis andperuviana only,captive breeding.

A limited number of copies ofthe Proceedings of this meeting willbe available from Lars LoventLow,Jettesvej 25, 8220 Braband,Denmark.

SWISS AUTUORlTIESUNDERMINE SPECIESCONSERVATION

By Thomas Arndt, Editor,'Papageien'

The St. Vincent's Amazon (Amazonaguildingii) with its population of 450to 600 birds is one of the mostendangered species of parrot. Butthis amazon species has been morefortunate than most others. It wasrecognised in time that it was on theverge of extinction and it had peoplelike Paul Butler, who took up itscause and fought for its protection.

It must have been like a blow inthe face to the inhabitants of St.Vincent to learn that no less that 6St. Vincent's Amazons were legallyimported into Switzerland inJanuary of this year. The birds weredeclared as captive-bred and camefrom Barbados. The aviculturist andbreeder WT. Miller lives there and

Sf. Vincent Parrot Chick at 35 days. Paradise Park, Cornwall, UK.

12

has kept 16 more or less legal St.Vincent Amazons for years. A Mr.Edwards has become part-owner ofthe valuable amazons. The exactdetails are not known. However the6 amazons came from this stock.Great! one would say. At lastsomeone is breeding theendangered St. Vincent. But it is notso straight forward.

The birds owned by Miller andEdwards have been monitored foryears by the representatives of theinternational conservation agenciesand they are well-known. "Captivebred" birds have occurred before.

It's known that there is just onebreeding pair, but they have notbred recently. All the other birds arenot capable of breeding. All theexperts are agreed that not all of the6 birds, if any, can be captive bred.

It is curious that the exportdocumentation was partlycompleted in German, although onewould not expect the authorities inBarbados, where the local languageis English, to be capable of this. Thedocuments are also identical to the

blank documentation found during asearch under warrant of the home ofthe German importer Ludwig Horr,one of the major participants in theillegal trade in parrots.

It is possible to believe that Dr.Althaus and his superior Dr. PeterDollinger, the responsible officials inthe Federal Swiss office for

Veterinary Affairs, did not realisethat neither Edwards nor Miller

could scarcely have bred the sixamazons. But this is unfortunatelynot the case. Even in the Swiss

Federal Office they know what asensitive issue the St. Vincent's

Amazon presents. To cover himselfin granting the import permit, Dr.Althaus twice asked the CITESSecretariat in Lausanne, on 2nd and23rd October, whether the birdsshould be allowed Into Switzerland.He received the answer by telex on27th October. As one would expecthe was advised to refuse the importpermit.

Every other official would havefollowed the recommendation of theCITESSecretariat, but not Dr.Althaus. He admittedly learned fromthe telex that the adult birds owned

by Miller could be illegal, but thatdid not bother him unduly, since thebirds in question were supposed tobe captive-bred offspring of thebirds in the collection in Barbados

and therefore legal.Anyone who can use such logic

in the issue of import permits forhighly endangered birds must havebeen surprised by the angryreaction of the CITESSecretariat,the conservation agencies and theSt. Vincent government to Swissimporting practice. The St. Vincentgovernment has already made anofficial protest to the Swissgovernment and demanded thereturn of the amazons. There is also

talk within the EC of boycotting theimport and export of captive-bred

endangered species to and fromSwitzerland. It will then be finallyrealised just how much politicaldamage has been done and the greatdisservice to our aviculturist friendsin Switzerland.

I have always envied the Swissaviculturists for the liberal

importing practice of theirauthorities, but it must not go so faras to officially support and legalisethe extinction of highly endangeredparrots. I await with dread the daywhen Messrs. Althaus and Dollingerreceive the first import applicationsfor St. Vincent Amazons or Kakaposbred in Jakarta or Singapore.Hopefully the two gentlemen wouldhave read Paul Butler's report orseen how the school children inDominica collect money to buy landfor their amazons. Then it may beclear to them, whatever theirmotives, just what they haveachieved.

The insight may come sooner.We shall soon know. They have beenpresented already with anapplication for the importation of afurther 8 St. Vincent amazons from

Barbados. They will of course be"captive-bred".

ST VINCENT PARROTBRED AT PARADISEPARK

This is one St. Vincent parrot whoselegality cannot be challenged. Hewas hatched in an incubator on 19th

July 1991, and his parents are a malpsent by the St. Vincent Governmentto Paradise Park in 1974, and afemale similarly sent to JerseyWildlife Preservation Trust and nowon loan to Paradise Park.This picture was taken at 25 days.

EEP FOR GUAROUBA

The Queen of Bavaria's or GoldenConure (Aratingaor Guaroubaguarouba) is now the subject of anEEP (European Programme for thebreeding of Endangered Species). Itsaims are the same as thosedescribed for the HyacinthineMacaw (see August 1990issue ofPsittaScene), ie, to convince privateowners and zoos to give details oftheir birds to a central studbook

keeper, to exchange birds to makeup true pairs, etc.

All holders of this species areasked to co-operate, in order tosafeguard its future in aviculture. Asin the case of the Hyacinthine, thereare quite a number of birds inEurope but the majority of them arenot breeding. Co-operation betweenbreeders is needed, with those whoare successful describing theirmethods.

The EEP (Europa'ischesErhal tungszu ch tprogr amm)

studbook keeper is Bengt Hoist,Curator, Copenhagen Zoo, SdrFasanvej 79, DK-2000 Frederiksberg,Denmark, fax no 45 36 44 24 55. Ifyou reside in Europe or Africa,please contact Mr. Hoist if you keepthis species. Owners in the USAshould contact the studbook keeperthere, Alan Lieberman, San DiegoZoo, p.~. Box 551, San Diego,California 92112-0551.

TUE LORIINAE AWARD

At the Walsrode meeting Jan vanOosten and Rosemary Low werepresented with an award for"promoting the interest andmaintenance of and the

reproduction of the Loriinae incaptivity". The award each receivedwas an exquisite life-sized mounted

carving of an Ultramarine Lory (Viniultramarina). It was speciallycommissioned, and carved andpainted by the English artistRaymond Turley. It is a work of artto be treasured - and one which

delighted both recipients.

DOMINICA

Or Peter Evans returned to the UK

from Dominica earlier this year,having completed further surveywork and monitoring parrotnumbers in the centre of their

distribution. He reported to theEditor: "Both species are showingencouraging signs of recovery-particularly the Red-necked whichhave returned to several areas theyhad vacated after the hurricanes of

1979-90. The Imperial is occurring ina few areas where I have not seen it

for many years, though recoverythere is rather slower. I have been

pressing on with attempts to raisefunds to develop a National Parkand Visitors' Centre, and several aid

agencies have expressed stronginterest."

A film about Dominica, itswildlife and the Dominican Parrot

Project is being made. It will bescreened on TV around the world,

Ultramarine Lory

to an audience in the region of 55million people, in late 1992.PeterEvans has been invited by theNational Audubon Society to make alecture tour on the parrots ofDominica and their conservation.

MEXICO

The Centre for the Conservation of

Mexico's Psittac.ines (Asociaci6npara la RehabiIitaci6n yConservaci6n de Psitacidos ) heldits first "Parrot Festival" in Mexico

City in April. Its aim was to drawattention to the Centre and the

endangered and declining status ofmost of Mexico's parrots. It resultedin international television coverage.The Centre's T-shirt has been

produced and was such a success itis being reprinted. For moreinformation on the work of this

organisation (which is in need ofdonations to further its work),contact Or J. Ehrenberg, Apto Postal4-174, Itzimna, Merida 97101,Yucatan, Mexico.

GLAUCOUS MACAWS ONDEALER'S LIST

During the past decade rumours ofthe existence of the supposedlyextinct Glaucous Macaw

(Anodorhynchus glaucus) have beengrowing increasingly moreconvincing. Specimens were lastcollected in the 1860s, in southern

Queen of Bavaria s or Golden Conure - subject of a new EEP studbook.

Photo Rosemary Low

Photo: Rosemary Low

Brazil and Paraguay - and therehave been no official sightings since.This means nothing, howev~r. TheGlaucous Macaw is almost identical

in size and appearance to Lear'sMacaw (A lean) - and the exact

origin of that species was notdiscovered until 1978, proving that alarge macaw could exist"undiscovered" in the wild, in an erawhen it seemed few ornithologicalsurprises remained.

But the vastness of South

America undoubtedly holds manymore ornithological secrets. Alas,soon the whereabouts of the

Glaucous Macaw may be secret nomore. An interesting, if not totallyaccurate, article appeared in theJune 2 edition of The Mail onSunday. The author, Jo Revill,suggested that this species was"supposedly driven to extinction byman's greed." There is not one shredof evidence to support this state-ment. In historical times it has been

represented in captivity by only ahandful of specimens, the last in1905- or just possibly in BuenosAires Zoo in 1936. No habitatdisturbance occurred within itsrange until several decades after itwas first believed to be extinct.

What is interesting is not thisarguable statement but the story ofCarlos Lazaro Fraga, an Argentinianarms dealer. As a sideline, hetrafficks in rare and endangeredparrots - and boasted to Britishinvestigators regarding the ease ofbringing such birds into Europe. TheMail on Sunday reported: "Fraga'sactivities can now be exposed onlyafter two years of intensiveinvestigative work by a small teamof British wildlife enthusiasts who

are determined to stamp out theblack market in wild birds. (They)...first heard of Fraga when they foundone of his price lists by infiltrating anetwork of Amsterdam birddealers."

The report continues thatconservationists fear that Fraga hasfound the last existing colony of theGlaucous - in Paraguay - and thatthis could lead to it being "wipedout within two years".

If the population is small, thisprediction could, unfortunately,come true. The situation is likely toattract attention as the result of thecurator of a well-known zoo in the

USA (described as "America'sleading parrot expert") making theunfortunate statement that if the

species does exist, "it would carry aprice tag of $100,000 on its head."Once again the price of a rare parrothas been grossly exaggerated - butunfortunately, such claims could actas an incentive to trappers anddealers to hunt for the Glaucous.

There is one aspect of this storywhich I find puzzling. Two pairs ofGlaucous appeared on Fraga's pricelist for $950each, $1,900 per pair.On the same list were Caninde or

Blue-throated Macaws (Araglaucogularis) at $3,200 per pair.Why were the Glaucous offered at acomparatively Iow price?

Fraga told The Mail on Sundayinvestigator that the Glaucous werequickly sold and that he couldillegally send birds into Europe viaMoscow, thence into Rotterdam.However, it seems that these four

Glaucous entered Europe via Lisbon.Their present whereabouts was notreported. - ROSEMARY LOW

GlaucousMacaws depicted by JenevoraSearight.Printsof this superb paintingcan be obtained from G.A.Smith.

Broadway Veterinary Clinic, ]58Broadway, Peterborough, CambsPEl4DG. England.

AIRLINES LIKELY TOSETTLE WILD-CAUGUTPARROTS ISSUE

At the last count 23 airlines

including Lufthansa and BritishAirways had decided to stop thetransportation of wild-caught birds.British West Indian Airways is thelatest to join the ban, but we hearthat Air Mauritius is still movingbirds from Guyana to Europe viaAfrica. More news likely in the nextissue.

13

14

Our picture shows Martin Ballam,bird of prey specialist at ParadisePark, Hayle, Cornwall, UK,with'Zara' a female Golden Eagle. Martinis 19, Zara is 29. During the pastthree summers Martin has put onspectacular flying demonstrations atthe park for hundreds of thousandsof visitors, featuring Golden, Tawny,

Bateleur and Bald Eagles.Martin's shows have become

the most popular events at the park,even beating the parrot and ottertalks. This is because he has

developed his own very funnymaterial, and makes his audienceslaugh while they le$lrn about birds ofprey. In the middle of the mayhem,

however, he stops to explain aboutthe World Parrot Trust and its aims,and the urgent need to help theparrots survive. He asks fordonations to be put in the collectingboxes at the exit gate, and threatensto set Zara on them if they don't payup generously.

How he gets away with it is amystery - anyone else would belynched. The facts speak forthemselves, as Martin and his birdsof prey have now raised the amazingtotal of THIRTYTHOUSANDPOUNDS!No other individual or

organisation has come anywherenear raising so much for the trust'swork. Our sincere thanks are due to

Martin, and his colleagues David,Adam and others who have helpedover the past three years.

CITES APPENDIX I PARROTSIn the last issue of PsittaScene a member suggested we print this list.

Amazona arausiacaRed-necked Amazon

Amazona barbadensisYellow-shouldered Amazon

Amazona brasiliensisRed-tailed Amazon

Amazona dufresniana rhodocorythaRed-crowned Amazon

Amazona guildingiiSt. Vincent Amazon

Amazona imperialisImperial Amazon

Amazona leucocephalaCuban Amazon sp.

Amazona pretreiRed-spectacled AmazonAmazona tucumanaTucuman Amazon

Amazona versicolorSt. Lucia Amazon

Amazona vinaceaVinaceous Amazon

Amazona vittataPuerto Rican Amazon

Andorhynchus glaucusGlaucous Macaw

Anodorhynchus hyacinthinusHyacinth Macaw

Anodorhynchus leariLear's Macaw

Ara glaucogularisBlue-throated Macaw

Ara ambiguaBuf!on's Macaw

Ara rubrogenysRed-fronted Macaw

Ara macaoScarlet Macaw

Ara maracana

Illiger's MacawAra militaris

Military Macaw

Aratinga guaroubaGolden Conure

Cacatua moluccensisMoluccan Cockatoo

Cyanopsitta spixiiSpix's MacawCyanoramphus auriceps forbesiForbes' Parakeet

Cyanoramphus novaezelandiaeRed-fronted Parakeet

Geopsittacus occidentalisNight ParrotNeophema chrysogasterOrange-bellied Parakeet

Ognorhynchus icterotisYellow-eared Conure

Cyc/opsitta diopthalma coxeniCoxen'sFig ParrotPezoporus wallicusGround Parrot

Pionopsitta pileataPileated Parrot

Probosciger aterrimusPalm Cockatoo

Psephotus chrysopterygiusGolden-shouldered Parakeet &Hooded Parakeet

Psephotus pulcherrimusParadise Parrot

Psittacula echoEcho Parakeet

Psittacus erithacus princepsFernando Po Grey

Pyrrhura cruentataBl'lIe-throated Conure

Rhynchopsitta spp.Thick-billed Parrot & Maroon-fronted Parrot

Strigops habroptilusKakapo

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SECOND CONSERVATIONBUS UNDER WAY

Following the considerable successof the JACQUOT bus which the trustprepared and sent to St. Lucia, muchof the funds for a second bus arenow available. This bus will be the

SISSEROUEXPRESS,bound for

Dominica. The trust is now urgentlyseeking two buses similar to the St.Lucia one: this was a Bristol LHS,only 24ft in length. If any memberknows of such a bus, please phoneDavid Woolcock on 0736753365.

Donations to complete the purchaseand conversion cost would be verywelcome. All of us at the trust

regard these buses as the most costeffective of our projects so far,achieving tremendousenvironmental education benefits.

Preparing the exhibits in the 'conservation' bus. Overdue thanks toAlison Reynolds, Nick Reynolds and David Woolcock, all of ParadisePark and The WorldParrot Trust. Nobody worked harder and longerthan they did to make the bus a success.

The Jacquot Express, leaving Cornwall on its way to Sf. Lucia.

FIRST EVER GENERALMEETING OF WORLDPARROT TRUST

This will take place at the UnitedKingdom Parrot Conference, to beheld at the Conference Centre,Penguin Hotel, Chester, OK, from 8to 10 November 1991. The trust has

arranged facilities for a meeting at4pm on Friday 8th November, towhich all members are cordiallyinvited. A presentation of the trust'sprojects will be followed by ageneral discussion. Non-memberswill also be welcome, in the hopethat they might decide to join thetrust. World Parrot Trust staff will

have a table at the conference,where T-shirts and other items willbe on sale. Good timing forChristmas present purchases.

At the time of going to pressthere were still places available at

the Conference. For booking formsplease write to: Alison Dutton, 61High St., Tarvin, Chester CH3 8EE.

MOKE ST. VINCENTNEWS

The breeding programme on St.Vincent needed an incubator, andthe trust are greatly indebted toTerry Rolph of CURFEWINCUBATORS who kindly providedone free of charge, together with anegg candler. This equipment wasflown out by BRITISH AIRWAYSASSISTING NATURE CONSERVATION,to whom we and the parrots areonce again indebted. The addressfor Curfew is: Curfew Incubators,Button's Hill, Southminster Road,Althorne, Essex, OK. Aviculturistsshould ask for their catalogue.

TUE AVICULTUKAL SOCIETY

This venerable society was foundedin 1894and has published a vastnumber of avian breeding reports inits magazines. Most of thesemagazines are still available andrepresent a remarkable aviculturalresource. The society is currentlybeing revitalised and is nowadministered from Bristol ZoologicalGardens, Clifton, Bristol BS8 3HA,UX In addition to producing theAviculture Magazine, the Societyorganise many enjoyable socialevents, including visits to privateand public bird collections.Membership costs £18, and someWorld Parrot Trust members maylike to consider joining thisprestigious society.

The Hon. Editor of the

AvicuItural Magazine is Prof. 1.R.Hodges, Weaver Barn, Cotswold

Meadows, Great Rissington,Gloucestershire GL54 2LN. He would

like to receive all editorial material,

especially any 'first breeding'reports which have always been thesociety's speciality, interestingavicuItural news items and articleson private aviaries as well as those

in zoos and bird gardens.

PARROT BOOK SUPPLIER

The Trust is pleased to advise itsmembers that it has arranged forCanadianbook publisher &distributor Silvio Mattacchione &Co. to become an official booksupplier to the World Parrot Trustand its members. The companycurrently supplies a great variety ofbooks worldwide,and can supplymost parrot books including hard tofind and rare limited editions. Overthe past few years SilvioMattacchione & Co. has publishedEndangered Parrots/Silva;PsittacuIture: The Breeding Rearing& Managementof Parrots/Silva;

Parrot StudbookKeepersOnce again we publish a list ofStudbook Keepers.All readersholding these species would dowell to register their birds withthe relevant studbook keeper.The development of these vitalstudbooks is being seriouslydamaged by the non-participation of leadingaviculturists. If they are asconservation-minded as theypretend, they will register theirbirds right away.BLUE-EYEDCOCKATOO*R*PALM COCKATOO*R*Dr.RogerWilkinson,NorthofEnglandZoologicalSociety,ChesterZoo,CaughallRoad,Upton-by-Chester,CH2lLH

GREEN-CHEEKEDAMAZON *R*LlLACINEAMAZON

MarkPilgrim.NorthofEnglandZoologicalSociety,ChesterZoo,CaughallRoad,Upton-by-Chester,CH2lLH

MOLUCCANCOCKATOO*R*RobColley,PenscynorWildlifePark,Cilfrew,Neath,Glam.,S.Wales.

GOFFIN'SCOCKATOO*R*SCARLETMACAW*R*BUFFON'SMACAW*R*REDFRONTEDMACAW*R*

DavidWoolcock,ParadisePark,Hayle,CornwallTR274HY

THICKBILLEDPARROT*R*DavidJeggo,JerseyWildlifePreservationTrust.LesAugresManor.Trinity,Jersey,ChannelIslandsHYACINTHMACAW*R*

ColinBath,PaigntonZoological&BotanicalGardens,TotnesRoad,Paignton.Devon.GOLDENCONURE*1*

AlanLieberman,SanDiegoZoo,POBox551,SanDiego,California,92112-0551USA

GOLDENCONURE*R*RED-VENTEDCOCKATOO*R*BLUE-STREAKEDLORY*R*c/o TheParrotSociety,108b,FenlakeRoad,BedfordMK42OEU*R* = UKREGIONALSTUDBOOK*1*= INTERNATIONALSTUDBOOK

Parrot Incubation Procedures/Jordan.

When members place an orderand clearly state that they are WPTmembers, a 5% donation will be

made to the Trust. We encourage allof our members to take advantage ofthis new arrangement which willdirectly benefit our conservationgoals.

Your can write for a free 32 pagecatalogue to Silvio Mattacchione &Co.; 1793 Rosebank Road, N.;Pickering, Ontario LIV IP5; Canada.Phone: 416-831-1373; Fax: 416-831-3734.

15

AIMS OF TUB WORLDPARROT TRUSTThe objective of the trust is to promote the survival ofall parrot species and the welfare of individual birds.

1 By educating the general public worldwide about the threat toparrot survival, and seeking their interest, concern and support.

2 By action to protect and preserve the natural habitats ofparrots worldwide.

3 By gathering and disseminating information on the status ofparrot populations in the wild and in captivity.

4 By advocating effective controls on the international trade inwild-caught parrots, and its replacement by captive-bred birds.

5 By encouraging co-operation in the breeding of parrots byaviculturists and zoological institutions, and better liaisonbetween the captive breeding community and conservationbodies, with the aim of creating self-sustaining populations ofendangered species.

6 By promoting high standards in the keeping of parrots as pets.7 By encouraging research projects, Le.: the veterinary care of

parrots, and the preservation of genetic diversity.8 By any 0ther means that may be appropriate.

- - ,IIII

Helpingthe SURVIVALof all parrot species, :and the WELFAREof every individualparrot. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Bank II

-I

Sortcode ClIlm :

I(date), and I

IIIIIII,

YES I WANTTO BE A PARROTCONSERVATIONIST

Name Mr/Mrs/MsAddress

Postcode

SUBSCRIPTION RATES (please tick)

D Single £10 D Family £17.00 D Fellow £100

D Overseas $25 US (orequivalent) Additional donation £

If you can afford to give more than the basic subscription rateyour money will help us fight harder to save the parrots.I enclose cheque/P.O. for £ - payable to The World Parrot TrustOR Please charge my AccessjVisa Ac/No.

Card expiry date

Signature -OR better stilL please sign this Banker's Order

BANKERS ORDER

Amount £ Date

To: The ManagerAddress

Postcode

Please pay The World Parrot Trust. the sum of £every month/year. starting ondebit my account no.

Signed

Pay to The World Parrot Trust. A/C No. 91144022Midland Bank plc, Exmouth, Devon EX8 1HF.

Please send to The World Parrot Trust. NOT to your bank.

The World Parrot Trust, Glanmor House, Hayle, Cornwall TR27 4HY, U.K.

WORLD PARROT TRUSTA Brief Progress ReportThis charity was launched inOctober 1989to work for thesurvival and welfare of the world's320 species of parrot, of which 100species are endangered. It is theonly international organisationdevoted exclusively to the parrotfamily. In its first 18 months it hasraised over £80,000, and supportedthe following important parrot-related projects around the world.:

Australia: Red-tailed BlackCockatoo. Research to assist thesurvival of an endangeredpopulation of this spectacularCockatoo in Victoria. A four yearprogramme to which we contribute£8,000.

Brazil: Spix's Macaw. Helping withthe cost of an expedition toinvestigate the population status ofthis most endangered of all macaws.Only one remains in the wild. Ourcontribution: £2,000.

Brazil: Hyacinth Macaw. Fieldresearch into the breeding biologyof this species, carried out by Dr.Charles Munn. A contribution of£6,000. Also a donation of £600towards work carried out by a teamof Danish biologists.

Caribbean: St. Lucia Parrot.Providing posters and badges for aneducational campaign designed toreach every child on St. Lucia:£2,500. Followed by our largestproject so far, the purchase andconversion of a 'conservation bus',the lacquot Express. This has beendelivered to St. Lucia and is beingvery successful in promoting thepreservation of the remaining forestwhere the endangered St. Luciaparrot lives. Cost to the WorldParrot Trust: £14,000.

Central America: EndangeredMacaws. We supported the 1991Honduras Workshop on MacawConservation and Management witha donation of £600.

The World Parrot Trust

Glanmor House, HayleCornwall TR27 4HY, U.K.

Regd. UK Charity No. 800944Tel: (0736) 753365Fax: (0736) 756438

Indonesia: Endangered Cockatoos.We made a small contributiontowards a British expedition tostudy and report on the MoluccanCockatoo and other species,declining rapidly due todeforestation and trapping for thepet trade. £500.

Mauritius: Echo Parakeet.

Undoubtedly the world's rarestparrot. Only about 12 or 15 birds leftin the wild. Captive breeding andother conservation measures beingpursued by Carl lones, known forhis success with the Mauritius

Kestrel and Pink Pigeon. The trusthas provided general financialsupport, plus the cost of a four-wheel-drive vehicle (approx.£12,000, of which £2,500 was kindlydonated by The Parrot Society).Total contributed to date: £20,000.

Mexico: Maroon-fronted Parrot.This is Mexico's most endangeredparrot: perhaps no more than 600still exist in a small part of the SierraMadre. The Trust recently visitedthis area to assess the situation, andconservation measures are planned.Cost of this visit was approx. £1,000,but these expenses will be met byour Hon. Director, not the Trust'sfunds.

We hope you will agree that theabove summary indicates a charity:that is active and full of initiative:and concern for its objectives; We :urgently need the support ofeverybody who keeps parrots aspets or in aviaries, or who simplycares about their survival and well-being.

Michael Reynolds

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