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Magazine of the Winter 2019/20 Winter 2019/20 CONTENTS Message from the Chairperson 4 Alison Hales 30TH ANNIVERSARY SINCE 1989 The Timnehs of Sierra Leone Glanmor House, Hayle 5 WPT-supported research Cornwall TR27 4HB UK [email protected] +44 (0)1736 751026 www.parrots.org The Malherbe’s Parakeet 9 New Zealand’s winged gem ABOUT THE WPT WPT Africa Conservation Program Capture for the live-bird trade, 12 2019 in review habitat loss and other factors put wild parrots at risk. One in three parrot species are currently Pet Pages: threatened in the wild. 14 Why Train a Parrot? As an international leader in parrot conservation and welfare, the Paradise Park UK World Parrot Trust works Where birds inspire with researchers, in-country 16 organisations, communities and governments to encourage 20 Mshindi the Survivor: effective solutions that save parrots. Rescued Grey Parrots thriving in the wild 20 Since 1989 the WPT has grown to send a message of hope become a global force that moves quickly to address urgent issues and support long-term projects. PsittaNews Over that time WPT has led or 14 22 Parrot News and Updates aided conservation and welfare WPT Contacts projects in 43 countries for more 16 than 70 species of parrot. Parrots in the Wild Peach-faced Lovebirds CHARITY INFORMATION 24 United Kingdom: # 800944 United States: EIN 62-1561595 Canada: BN 89004 1171 RR0001 ON THE COVER Photo © Aaron Fellmeth Photography Also known as the Orange-fronted Parakeet, the Malherbe’s Parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi) is listed as Critically Endangered (IUCN) in its native southern New Zealand, with fewer than 300 individuals left in the Editor: Desi Milpacher wild. These birds are threatened by feral predators, loss Layout, Design & Production: Michelle Kooistra Fulfillment: Karen Whitley & Charlotte Foxhall of nesting trees and disease. The World Parrot Trust does not necessarily endorse Learn more on Page 9: The Malherbe’s Parakeet: any views or statements made by contributors to PsittaScene, and will consider articles or letters from New Zealand’s winged gem. any contributors on their merits. Visit parrots.org/ psittascene for Guidelines. Anyone wishing to reprint PsittaScene articles in full or in part needs permission from WPT and the author/photographer(s) and must state that it was copied from PsittaScene. All contents © World Parrot Trust Winter 2019/20 PsittaScene.org 3 | Editorial “Wow!” I whispered, barely containing my excitement. Martin © Rowan LEAVE A In front of us was a pair of Timneh LEGACY Parrots, engaging in what appeared A message from the © Corey Raffel Macaw Hyacinth to be a courtship display. There was FOR PARROTS a distinctive ‘head bob’ followed by Chairperson a clamping together of beaks and the regurgitation of food. So with this issue of PsittaScene the World Parrot Trust starts its fourth decade! How proud would Then some playful nibbling, more my father be to know how much has been bobbing and more feeding. After achieved since he had the idea to start a trust to help parrots, and how much more is planned a few minutes, the male sidled thanks to the support of so many parrot-lovers up to the female, leaned in for around the world. another nibble, reached over his leg, their cloacae met and the act This time we bring you the story of an individual Grey Parrot, trapped in Africa but later released was complete. by WPT partners. Find out what news there is of Mshindi eight years on, and how she got her I looked over at Momoh and Arnold, name. Rowan Martin also writes about Africa’s and we all smiled. other Grey Parrots, the Timnehs, and their small population in Sierra Leone. “Wow”. On the other side of the world, Luis Ortiz- Catedral tells you of his work with Malherbe’s Parakeets, the Critically Endangered species better known as the Orange-fronted Parakeet. And we haven’t forgotten companion and aviary birds in this edition. Pamela Clark considers training as a route to creating rewarding The Timnehs of Sierra Leone relationships, and we spend a day at Paradise Rowan Martin, PhD. WPT Africa Programme Director Park where visitors can get close-up with free- flying parrots in deepest Cornwall where the Trust started all those years ago. e already knew we were in a importantly, to identify ‘hotspots’ and strategies special place. Since setting off to protect them. just after dawn to survey for Timneh Parrots were only recognised as a WTimneh Parrots we had encountered distinct species by the IUCN (International numerous small groups flying overhead Union for Conservation of Nature) in 2012, and and feeding on palm fruit. in 2016 were categorised as globally Endangered. Alison Hales While little is known about their numbers in the WPT Chairperson What will be your legacy? As the mist lifted on the morning there was a wild, it’s clear that they are much rarer than their sense the parrots were becoming more active. brighter, brasher cousins the African Greys, and By including the World Parrot Trust in your We were in a remote coastal region of Sierra recent work in Guinea-Bissau had given us cause will, trust or beneficiary designation, you Leone, one of only five small West African for concern. are creating a personal legacy that will have countries where Timneh Parrots occur. a lasting impact for parrots and the places Our research suggested there are no more than where they live. Since 2018 World Parrot Trust (WPT) has been 1,000 throughout the entirety of Guinea-Bissau For more information about including WPT working with local ornithologists in Sierra and probably far fewer. The remaining Timneh in your planned giving opportunities, visit Leone, Momoh Sesay and Professor Arnold Parrots are largely restricted to just two tiny and www.parrots.org/legacy, or contact the Okoni-Williams of the University of Sierra Leone, remote islands, with numbers elsewhere depleted branch nearest to you (see page 23.) to determine the status of these parrots and by trapping and forest loss. 4 PsittaScene.org Winter 2019/20 Winter 2019/20 PsittaScene.org 5 Fortunately, initiatives led by IBAP (National parrots greater than the entire estimated national Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas), population. Many more were exported as captive- with the support of WPT, Save Our Species and bred despite there being no captive-breeding MAVA have been successful in working with local facilities. Fortunately, in 2017 these ‘loopholes’ were communities to find alternatives to trapping. closed down when CITES transferred the species to For now, the tiny populations in Guinea-Bissau Appendix I. The governments of Sierra Leone and remain stable, but there is an urgent need to Guinea strongly supported this change as vital for build on these efforts to protect wild populations protecting their wildlife. elsewhere. The recent research by Sesay and Okoni-Williams Back in Sierra Leone, the focus has been on in Sierra Leone also uncovered a small but possibly making rapid assessments of five areas in the significant local trade in parrots as pets. Timneh © Rowan Martin more forested southern and eastern parts. In ~ Jamie Parrots were found for sale in a market stall in particular we were targeting potentially suitable, Freetown and several pet owners were identified. but largely unknown, patches of habitat outside Two-thirds of people interviewed were unaware that of existing National parks and other protected Timneh Parrots were a globally threatened species, areas. Adapting an approach developed in Guinea- while a similar number did not know that their Bissau, the surveys combined direct observations trapping and sale was prohibited under national law. with interviews with local community members. Momoh Sesay discussed the situation with the stall The people who live alongside the forest have a holder, who no longer sells parrots. These findings vast knowledge of local wildlife, their lives deeply suggested that significant gains could be made entwined with the threats facing the parrots. through raising awareness and that even apparently As well as gaining insight into the status of the small actions can make a difference. parrots we also wanted to understand people’s attitudes and the values they place on wildlife. Encouragingly, the National Protected Areas Such information is fundamental to building Authority (NPAA) of Sierra Leone, which is the effective conservation. © Rowan Martin national government body that oversees the implementation of wildlife trade laws, is taking Of the 62 people interviewed, the majority had action. Following a tip off in 2018, a group of Timneh © Rowan Martin seen Timneh Parrots flying over, or feeding on Parrots were seized in a village not far from the site foods such as the fruits of oil palms, in the past we were surveying. The parrots were found together year. At three of the five sites, people reported with a baby chimpanzee, and all were reportedly en how they saw them less frequently and in route to an expatriate working at a nearby mine. lower numbers than in the past, but at two sites numbers were considered stable. Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary stepped up to take in the chimp and the parrots. With support Seven individuals admitted to having captured and guidance from the WPT, the parrots have been Timneh Parrots, describing how they sold them to rehabilitated and by the time you read this article middlemen or took them to the capital, Freetown. should be flying free again in the wild! Parrots would be transported on public boats along the coast to Kambia district where they then Direct observational surveys were also a central part crossed the border to Guinea. Additional interviews of our investigations, complementing information conducted with law enforcement officials based in obtained through interviews.
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