That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

Click here to view the first part of this article.

Nesting
Most parrots lay their eggs within holes in trees, using little if any nesting material.

Lovebirds build true nests. Females wedge dried grasses and other nesting material into the feathers of their rumps for transport to the nest site.

Monk parrots build huge, communal stick nests. Escaped pets have established large colonies in NYC. At the Bronx Zoo I cared for a group that built a nest in their outdoor exhibit – their calls attracted free-living monk parrots, which added sticks to the exhibit roof, eventually forming an extension to the nest within the exhibit.

Golden-shouldered parrots (Australia) evacuate nests within terrestrial termite mounds, while New Guinea’s buff-faced pygmy parrot does the same in arboreal termite nests. It is assumed that the insects confer a degree of protection to nesting birds, although why they do not attack the parrots is unknown. The eggs may also benefit from the stable temperatures maintained within the mounds.

The Patagonian conure burrows into riverbanks and cliffs to a depth of 10 feet or more when nesting. Those I kept at the Bronx Zoo would not breed until provided with artificial burrows.

Ground parrots (Australia) nest in depressions below grass clumps.

Peach-faced lovebirds (East Africa) nest colonially – often commandeering the intricately woven nests of weaver finches after driving out the rightful owners.

The rock parrot is surely the oddest of all when it comes to egg-laying. Its nests have only been found below rocks, just above the high tide mark along the South Australian coast.

Breeding and Courtship
Most parrots form monogamous pair bonds that may last a lifetime. New Zealand’s kakapo and kea, however, are polygamous.

The nocturnal kakapos are the only parrots to display in leks – females choose mates from groups of males which gather in one place to compete with loud, booming calls. In contrast to other parrots, male kakapos provide no care to the young.

Courting parrots utilize a behavior known as the “eye blaze”, in which the brightly colored iris expands in size.

Male and female parrots are often indistinguishable from one another. Male Australian king parrots, however, are scarlet in color while the females are bright green. Male and female eclectus parrots differ so much in appearance that they were long thought to be separate species – males are emerald green with scarlet flanks and under-wings, while females are crimson red with violet-blue bellies.

Conservation
The IUCN Red Data Book lists 18 species of parrot as extinct, 32 as endangered, 17 as critically endangered and 82 as either vulnerable or threatened.

The spix macaw is likely extinct in the wild (although it survives in captivity) and the glaucous macaw has only been sighted twice in the 20th century. The flightless kakapo, threatened by introduced rats, cats and stoats, likely numbers less than 100 in its native New Zealand.

An article examining the relationship between natural and pet parrot behavior is posted at:http://www.realmacaw.com/pages/parrbehav.html

An oft-repeated story suggests that parrots, most likely one of the Amazons, may have figured prominently in the history of the New World as well. Legend has it that, after over 2 months of sailing through featureless seas, the crew of Columbus’ ship Pinta was ready to mutiny. The ship’s captain, Mr. Pinzon, advised Columbus to continue westward, as he had observed “forest birds” flying in that direction. Upon landing on San Salvador, Columbus observed the green birds seen by Mr. Pinzon in the huts of the people living there.

Some time later, tame parrots roosting near villages on several Caribbean islands were also said to have warned the residents of the approach of the Spanish conquistadors. The journals of generals Hojida and Nicuso show that in at least one case (Yuibaco, 1509) the villagers, relying upon their pets’ warning calls, were able to escape into the forest.

An account of Columbus’ observations of parrots in the West Indies, drawn from his journals, is posted at:
http://wildbirdsbroadcasting.blogspot.com/2007/11/columbus-voyages-discover-birds.html

As mentioned in my recent article on this blog, providing pet birds with access to sunlight and fresh air is of great value to their well-being. A pair of yellow-fronted Amazon parrots, Amazona ochrocephala, kept at a research station on Tortuguero Island, Costa Rica, where I worked some years ago, seemed a perfect example of this. They spent their days climbing in 2 small trees and over the ropes stretched between them (their flight feathers were clipped). Active and inquisitive, they were in the peak of health and color. A large cage, door opened, hung in one of the trees. For a time, the birds’ owner had tried to herd them into the cage for the night, but had given up in the face of their stubborn refusal to cooperate.

One morning, we awoke to the gruesome discovery of a small pile of blood-spattered feathers below the birds’ roosting site – all that remained of the male. Tortuguero is home to a number of creatures, including ocelots, Leopardus pardalis, great horned owls, Bubo virginianus, and the unusual Linneaus’ false vampire bat, Vampyrum spectrum, that would be more than happy to snack on a plump parrot. Apparently, the dog that usually slept below the roost had gone “off duty”, and a nocturnal predator had made the most of the lapse in security. On the very next evening, with only the slightest of prodding, the female walked over into her cage and perched quietly while the door was secured – and, I’m told, she has done so each night since!