That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

If you observe wild birds, you’ve no doubt marveled at their ability to fly through dense brush without touching a single branch.  In NYC, I’ve twice been surprised to see pigeons flying at full speed through amazingly tight spaces when pursued by Red-Tailed Hawks.  Bats utilize echolocation to perform similar feats, but with few exceptions (i.e. the Oilbird, please see below), birds lack this adaptation.  So how do they do it?  According to a recent study (Current Biology, Oct., 2011) at Australia’s Vision Center and the University of Queensland, some species rely upon vision alone.

“See-Compare-Adjust Course”

Researchers worked with Budgerigars (Parakeets) that had been trained to fly an indoor course that allowed for careful monitoring.  They were able to show that the birds used their vision to sense and compare the speed at which they passed background images, and then adjusted their flight path accordingly.  Read More »

The Eclectus Parrot is well known for an unusual degree of sexual dimorphism (males are emerald green, females bright red) and a breeding strategy wherein several males mate with a single female.  But no one expected the results of a recent study: under certain circumstances, mothers will kill their male chicks and raise only females.  Other than humans, Eclectus Parrots are the only species known to kill offspring based solely upon gender.

Harsh Conditions and Drastic Adaptations

The study, published in the journal Current Biology (October, 2011), was conducted by researchers based at the Australian National University.  The study site was at Cape York, Queensland, in Australia’s tropical northeast (Eclectus Parrots are also found on New Guinea and many Indonesian islands).  Read More »

Recent advances in parrot husbandry and captive breeding may have had an unintended effect.  Lower prices and a larger selection of available species may be contributing to a problem of epic proportions – hundreds of thousands of abandoned parrots, macaws and cockatoos, many of which will never find a permanent home.  While parrot ownership has soared a staggering 147% over the past 20 years, from 11.6 million pets in 1990 to 60 million in 2010, our ability to provide for them has not kept pace.

Desirable but Demanding

The very qualities that draw people to parrots – intelligence, sociability and long lives – also render them as unsuitable pets for the average person.  Many live as long as their owners, who often find it difficult to provide for their pets, financially and otherwise, as time goes on.  According to a study by Best Friends Animal Society, it is not unusual for an elderly parrot to have 7-11 owners over the course of its life.

Parrots are likely the USA’s third most popular pet, yet many people do not realize that, unlike dogs and cats, they are not domesticated animals.  As wild animals, parrots have very different needs than domestic creatures.  Few people are able to provide the space, social situation and emotional environment needed by these active, “complicated” birds.  I have observed many species in the wild, and, despite years of study and zoo experience, was surprised by how much of their time was spent on the move and in direct contact with others.  The noise they produced was deafening…even on wide-open grasslands. Read More »

The gorgeous Plum-Headed Parakeet, Psittacula cyanocephala, combines “exotic” beauty with extreme hardiness.  Active and inquisitive, yet possessed of a calm disposition, this South Asian native makes a wonderful pet or aviary addition.

Description

A slender tail comprises over two-thirds of the Plum-Headed Parakeet’s 14 inch length.  The male’s colorful head, which is clad in mixed shades of red, purple, maroon, violet, rose and/or pink, lends the species its common name.  Females lack the black neck ring and have an attractive bluish-gray head.  The body plumage of both sexes is a beautiful blend of lime and other shades of green.

Albino, green, blue and lutino mutations have been produced by hobbyists.

Range

The Plum-Headed Parakeet ranges from western Pakistan through most of India to Sri Lankain the south and Nepal and Bhutan in the north.  Read More »

A pair of highly endangered Forest Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos, Calyptorhynchus banksii naso, has hatched a chick in an artificial nest box located in Perth, Australia.  The box was erected as part of a conservation effort launched by the Western Australian Museum and Murdoch University.  The nesting is significant because it represents both the first time this species has accepted an artificial nest and the first known breeding in an urban setting.

Unique Threats and Considerations

The Forest Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo faces “typical” problems such as habitat loss, but is also plagued by several unique threats and an unusual breeding biology…all of which complicated the formation of a recovery plan.

Black Cockatoos have very specific nest-site requirements, and once a suitable nesting hollow is located a pair generally uses it for many years.  Over the past several decades, Black Cockatoos in natural habitats have come under pressure from burgeoning populations of feral honeybees and of other cockatoo species, including Galahs and Corellas.  These aggressive insects and birds take over Black Cockatoo nests and severely impact the species’ ability to reproduce. Read More »