The Labour of Love, Understanding your Bird, Lorikeets under Pressure

Issue 69 - October 2003

Parrots in Focus – Pale-headed Rosellas by Cyril Laubscher – Two subspecies illustrated – one rare and the other commonly kept in aviculture worldwide! The decade or so, I have been making an impromptu study of problems revolving around Complete Psittacine with EB Cravens – Feather plucking of chicks in the nestbox is much more prevalent in captive aviculture than we once estimated. For the past nesting hens shaving off and/or plucking feathers on their young chicks , why do they do this? A Labour of Love, Ron Toft visits Tropical Wings Butterfly and Bird Gardens and reports on how two dedicated bird enthusiasts have succeeded in building up a popular visitor attraction, Rona Richardson had always kept ‘furry’ creatures, but had never considered buying a parrot or any other cage or aviary bird for that matter, until she spotted an advertisement for Blue-fronted Amazons in a national avicultural publication. Understanding your Bird – Christine Woodall gives various accounts when understanding and empathy are the order of the day. Lorikeets Under Pressure – Bob Allison explains how climate change is threatening two Australian gems – The Musk Lorikeet (Glossopsitta concinna) and Purple-crowned Lorikeet (G.porphyrocephala) are two Australian gems whose ecologies have been sculpted and shaped, at least in part, by periodic calamitous natural phenomena. These species are usually well adapted to coping with such challenges as bushfires and droughts. But the scope and severity of recent bushfires, combined with widespread withering drought and scorching temperatures, have generated extraordinary pressure on these birds. Whereas the impact of these events has not been comprehensively evaluated for these lorikeets, anecdotal accounts suggest both have been substantially reduced numerically. Breeding has been largely inhibited. Dramatic and largely futile, distribution shifts have been undertaken in a fruitless attempt to resituate themselves in more favourable conditions. Introducing the Lovebirds - Jim Hayward introduces us to the Lovebirds from the continent of Africa and the island of Madagascar - Early Relatives - The Sexually Dimorphic Species - Madagascar Lovebird (Agapornis cana cana) - Red-faced Lovebird (Agapornis pullaria pullaria) - Abyssinian Lovebird (Agapornis taranta) - Black-collared Lovebird (Agapornis swinderniana) - The Eye-ringed Species - Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigenis) - Nyasa Lovebird (Agapornis lilianae) - Fischer’s Lovebird (Agapornis fischeri) - Masked Lovebird (Agapornis personata) - Peach-faced Lovebird (Agapornis r. roseicollis). Homeopathy helps save an egg bound hen. Hand Raising by Leslie Moran - it takes a certain type of person to hand raise a baby bird.

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