Dear Parrots magazine,
I would like to make a correction to my Letter in Postbag about Spix’s Macaw in the December issue (323). I stated that the Sao Paulo Zoo has never previously exhibited this species. David Waugh knows better! He told me:
Dear Parrots magazine,
I would like to comment on the letter about Spix’s Macaws in the November issue. The writer said that she had never been clear why it became extinct in the wild. This is surprising considering the large volume of information on the subject. Examples are the detailed accounts in Threatened Birds of the Americas (by Nigel Collar, L. P. Gonzaga and others) and Chapter 29 in my book Parrot Conservation. In a nutshell, the Spix’s Macaw became extinct due to the combined pressures of habitat destruction and illegal trapping. These factors have brought many parrot species close to extinction. The Spix’s Macaw is more vulnerable because its range is small and it is a habitat specialist.
Dear Parrots magazine,
How many times have we heard that owning a parrot will result in converting your furniture into matchsticks, and lots of mess around the cages and your house, but don’t we just love them!
Dear Parrots magazine,
I have always been a fan of natural fresh food and will always buy organic whenever I can find it, particularly with green stuffs like cabbage, runner beans peas in the pod when in season, and oranges, banana chips and pomegranate, but lychees are favourite for one of my Greys that has a passion for them. Unfortunately they don’t seem to be in season for that long, but suppose I’m lucky as having a couple of international food shops closed by, which sell a lot of different types of fruit and vegetables. They always seem to have good stocks of lychees when others don’t have any.
Dear Parrots magazine,
I read with great dismay in the September issue about the problem with the Spix’s Macaw reintroduction project. I have been following the story of this project for many years with the ups and downs, but have been pleased to see amazing progress that has been made in recent years with continued success. But to see there is now a dispute with the programme that is putting the whole project under threat is extremely sad and worrying.
Dear Parrots magazine,
I would like to respond to Lee Gamble’s article in the August issue 319 - ”It’s official, I am turning into my grandad”. I am assuming Lee is retired and home most of the day. Lee, your daughter’s report on her parrot ownership is sadly too common nowadays. I am so pleased you and your wife have stepped in and clearly given the parrot a much better home.
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