Babbling Birds An Anthology of Poems About Parrots Just published—the first and In addition to previous profes- only anthology of its kind, a very sional writing about rare books, special book for parrot lovers. book collecting and bibliography, Babbling Birds: An Anthol- his recent creative work has been ogy of Poems about Parrots, From published in various literary mag- Antiquity to the Present was com- azines and anthologies, such as piled, with an eight-page intro- Vision Magazine, The Lyric, Mis- duction, by David L. O’Neal. sissippi Crow, The Marin Poets collection The book contains 101 poems Anthology, Two Hawks Quarterly by 89 poets, including the poetry and, of interest to aviculturists, Y of Ovid, Statius, Crinagoras, Tu Bird Keeper (Great Britain), Bird Fu, Han-shan, Po Chi-I, Zhu Keeper (Australia) and The Maga- Quingyu, John Skelton, Thomas zine of the Parrot Society of the UK. Campbell, Wordsworth, Gresset, He has also published a book Raffi, Rilke, Eliot, Wodehouse, about his Yellow-collared Macaw, Wallace Stevens, Sacheverell Sit- one black and white illustration. Streak, The Parrot Who Loves o well, Weldon Kees, John Ash- David O’Neal, who lives in Me. Streak and Babbling Birds are p etr berry, John Kinsella and many San Francisco, is a retired rare available for purchase through others. book dealer now enjoying a sec- his website, www.davidloneal.us, Babbling Birds is 158 pages, ond career as a writer, especially or by contacting him at davidl with 20 color illustrations and of poetry. [email protected]. Attention—AVY Awards Applicants The AFA Awards Committee The above nominations were has received applications with submitted by the Dec. 31, 2010, one or more claims in the follow- deadline to qualify for an award ing categories: at the upcoming 2011 conven- tion in San Francisco. Silver Avy Award, Category 1, If you know of additional Most Progress for the breedings that previously qual- Establishment of an Individual ify or challenge these catego- Species or Group of Related ries, please contact AFA Awards Birds Chairwoman Linda S. Rubin at 1. Queen of Bavaria (Golden) [email protected] Conure New nominations for all cat- First U.S. Breeding Awards egories of AFA AVy Awards for to the AVy Awards Categories 1. Lettered Aracari 2012 will be accepted through & Rules by visiting the AFA 2. Black-masked Emerald Dec. 31, 2011. website at http://afabirds Toucanet For more details, please refer .org/20061029_AVy.shtml. 50 Volume XXXVIII • Numbers 1 & 2 • 2011 News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights Loro Parque manufacture them in their bodies, and they produce the red, orange and yel- Fundación low colors of parrot feathers. Color increases durability Under laboratory conditions the of parrot feathers researchers exposed parrot tail and wing feathers of different colors to the The colors of parrots are impor- feather-degrading Bacillus lichenifor- tant for signaling between individuals, mis. They also looked to see if a thicker as well as for appropriate camouflage cortex (the tough, flexible outer layer) within their natural environments. of the feather barbs could increase However, these colors can have addi- resistance to bacterial attack. Finally tional functions, an interesting one ubiquitous among birds. Known as they evaluated whether or not higher having recently been demonstrated keratinolytic micro-organisms, these concentrations of pigment in red and by researchers in the United States. bacteria breakdown the keratin of yellow feathers decreased the rate of In a controlled series of experiments, the feathers by enzymatic action. It degradation. Edward Burtt and colleagues have is already known that presence of Burtt and his colleagues found revealed that parrot feathers can be the pigment melanin helps to reduce that white feathers degrade faster more resistant to bacterial degradation microbial damage, but the researchers than feathers with any colors. Red due to their colors (Burtt et al. 2010). hypothesized that the special pigments and green feathers degrade at much Bacteria of the genus Bacillus that in parrot feathers also have this func- the same rate as blue and black feath- degrade feathers are abundant, espe- tion. These pigments are called psit- ers (only with melanin), even though cially in humid habitats, and they are tacofulvins, unique to parrots which green feathers contain both melanin Hand-fed, Healthy Birds raised by us Quality toys & supplies Including Hagen, Harrison’s, Goldenfeast, & Beak Appetit Check our website to see current birds in need of a new home. 925-681-BIRD (2473) www.feathered-follies.com Shop online & if you don’t see what you want give us a call—our site is not complete. 1820 ARNOLD INDUSTRIAL WAY, CONCORD, CA 94520 Laurie Baker AFA Watchbird 51 News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights Photo by kirsty goDsMan and psittacofulvins. Yellow feathers small group of trees maintains its area for this species. This macaw only degrade substantially faster than red bright green foliage, in contrast to occurs in the seasonally inundated feathers, but for both colors the bac- the parched grassy plain extending plains of Beni, northeast Bolivia, and terial degradation was lower with a into the distance. But that is not all. since 1995 the conservation actions of higher concentration of psittacoful- Look carefully and you will be able to the Bolivian NGO Armonía, in part- vins. Furthermore, the researchers count no fewer than 44 Blue-throated nership with the Loro Parque Fun- report that psittacofulvins, like mela- Macaws (Ara glaucogularis) resting in dación of Spain, have been gradually nin, thicken the cortex of the feather the crown of the largest tree. increasing the population. barbs, which also might make the Never before has such a large group With help from the World Land feathers more resistant to bacterial been photographed, which is not sur- Trust-U.S. and the American Bird degradation. prising, because the Blue-throated Conservancy, the reserve has been cre- Therefore, don’t be surprised if a Macaw is in the IUCN (World Con- ated in the last two years, and more White Cockatoo looks scruffier than a servation Union) Red List category than 90 Blue-throated Macaws use Scarlet Macaw! of “Critically Endangered,” and this it during the non-breeding season. group represents about 15 percent of Research on the macaws and other The Blue-throated Macaw— the entire world population. However, fauna and flora of the reserve has been 15 percent of its global they are in a safe haven, the 11,530- conducted by students of Glasgow population in one tree acre Barba Azul (Blue Beard) Nature University, and in 2010 student Kirsty In the dry season of Bolivia, a Reserve, which is the only protected Godsman was in the right place at 52 Volume XXXVIII • Numbers 1 & 2 • 2011 News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights • News Highlights the right time to capture this unique image. Much more needs to be done to remove the Blue-throated Macaw from the threatened species list, so if you would like to donate to the proj- ect, please contact the LPF at lpf@ loroparque-fundacion.org ~Dr. David Waugh, director Spix’s Macaw Breeding The breeding year was kicked off with an absolute highlight. Our Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) “Richie” and his partner have produced the world’s first two Spix’s Macaw off- spring in 2011. This exceptional success surprised Photo by Patrick PLeuL us a little as Richie had just returned to Germany in September. Since Jan- headlines when she, with her then- populations of the parrots in eastern uary 2007 he had been loaned out to partner, hatched the world’s only and western Australia were distinct the Lymington Foundation to pro- Spix’s Macaw offspring of that year. from each other. vide offspring there. Unfortunately, In the space of two years “Frieda” has The team, led by Australian Wild- the pairings there were unsuccessful now fully developed her plumage and life Conservancy’s Stephen Murphy, and so we decided to bring him back has become a Spix’s Macaw beauty. has concluded that the western popu- to Germany. When Frieda’s two half-sisters can lations should be recognized as a new After a one-month quarantine feed off seed, they will also have the species, Pezoporus flaviventris. period followed by three weeks alone, opportunity to meet their big sister. Dr. Murphy said the western he was reunited with his former part- ~ Enrico Sydow, ground parrot had declined rapidly in ner in mid November. Shortly after- Association for the Conservation of the last 20 years and there were only ward we noticed the first signs of Threatened Parrots about 110 birds surviving in the wild, breeding behavior and after a very few most of them in one national park. weeks the first egg was laid on Dec. 21, Scientists Find It was critically endangered and one 2010. It was followed by further eggs of the world’s rarest birds, he said. on Dec. 24, Dec. 27 and Dec. 30. Two New Parrot Species Allan Burbidge of WA’s Depart- chicks hatched from the three fertil- A type of West Australian parrot ment of Environment and Conserva- ized eggs on Jan. 18, 2011 and Jan. has been found to be a distinct spe- tion said a single wildfire through the 21, 2011. The young birds, “Kiki” and cies from its eastern counterpart and national park or an influx of intro- “Felix,” have come on fine and are cur- needs special protection as one of the duced predators, such as cats, could rently raised by hand. world’s rarest birds, scientists say.