The dreaded Swiss Parrot

[Dr Richard Nowotny <>]

Jade Welch enquired about Swiss Parrot, and someone (I forget who -
sorry) did a Google search (as I had recommended to Jade only moments
before) and came up with a single reference to Swiss Parrot.  I
couldn't resist having a look at this reference, apparently refering to a
? mythical psittacine.  What I found was unexpected and delightful.
I have reproduced it in full below, with the key reference highlighted in
bold.  I suspect you'll enjoy this droll little piece that
the author (? who) seems to have managed to slip into what appears to be
otherwise a reasonably sober little communication.
Richard


B.A.P.A.
NEWS
( May 1997 )

This section of the site is devoted to recent news on parrots around
Australia and it is hoped will be updated each month. Some of the more
interesting snippets will be expanded into articles in
Eclectus.

In Tasmania the Swift Parrot Recovery Plan was among the first to receive
funding from the National Heritage Trust - a benefit to Tasmania Senator
Harradine may not have foreseen when he voted for the sale of Telstra. It
is hoped work on the Swift Parrot will get under way in the near future.
Watch this space for an advertisement for a parrot biologist. 

Half way to Victoria, on King Island, Mark Holdsworth and Jon Starks had
a successful time watching Orange-bellied Parrots with ten or so
colour-banded birds being identified individually. Mark is going back in
the near future to see if the same individuals stay there or whether
there has been a change over.

In Western Australia Allan Burbidge recently visited the south coast to
search areas west of Albany where Ground Parrots were seen in the early
1980s, though haven't been since. Eventually it is hoped to reintroduce
the parrots to the best of this habitat.

In the same state Ron Johnstone is continuing to find nests of the
various black-cockatoos that nest in the south-west forests as part of
long-term work to look at long-term habitat requirements.
On Kangaroo Island the Glossy Black-Cockatoo season is progressing well
with 25 nests currently active out of 41 found so far this season. The
first chick of the year has fledged though others are not due to leave
the nest until September. Research on the Glossies on King Island will
wind down after this breeding season with Tamra Chapman starting the
write up of her Ph.D. on the relationship between the birds and their
food and Gabriel Crowley and Stephen Garnett completing their work on the
birds' conservation biology. Lynn Pedler, however, will continue to work
with the volunteer coordinator on nest monitoring and the annual
census.

In New Zealand Mark Jarrett
() reports
on his work on Keas: Kea (Nestor notabilis) are a fully protected
parrot that are endemic to mountainous areas of the South Island, New
Zealand. They are attracted to rubbish dumps and villages where they
scavenge for food. At these sites they investigate by manipulating and
chewing anything novel in the environment. Because of this they may come
into contact with a range of materials, some of which are toxic if
ingested. 

As part of a broad based study on the health and condition of Kea that
forage at rubbish dumps I have found evidence that suggests that lead
toxicity may be a significant cause of ill health in Kea. Further work on
exposure to organochlorine pesticides and the effects of these and lead
on the health and body condition is being carried out.

In New Guinea Greg Pryor and Stephen Garnett are hoping to visit the
Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area next month to start work on
Pesquet's Parrot and Palm Cockatoos respectively. Palm Cockatoos are also
under investigation at Iron Range, north Queensland where Daryn Storch is
currently monitoring nesting in association with members of the Lockhart
River community. Rob Heinsohn and Sarah Legge are also going to be in the
vicinity in the near future to start work on the Eclectus Parrot as part
of Rob's postdoc.

In May the Australian Prime Minister issued a press release announcing
that a large grant had been given towards the recovery of the Swiss
Parrot Lathamus helvetica. This caused great excitement in
Switzerland as the existence of the species had been completely
overlooked. Nevertheless the money was gratefully stashed away in a Swiss
bank from which it cannot be retrieved for over 50 years, and then only
by application to the international court in the Hague. However this is
unlikely as 50 years hence it is unlikely any descendents of the
aforementioned parrot will still survive. In the same press release money
was provided for the Glossy Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo, presumably to be
spread among two species and 8 subspecies.

Finally, at Lakeland in Queensland, some of the less threatened
Red-tailed Black- Cockatoos hit the news when licenses were issued for 5
farmers to shoot 30 birds each. The 2000 or so red-tails in the area have
learnt to uproot peanuts, working in from the edge of the crop with great
efficiency. Fortunately the farmers, having received their permits, did
not pursue them vigorously. It appears the farmers managed to shoot no
more than three (and even that is not certain) during the peanut season
just past. All the damage was to one farm where 13 out of 700 acres were
destroyed. It seems likely that the department will recommend that no
permits be given next season.

                
RICHARD NOWOTNY
8 Pier St   Port Melbourne
VIC  AUSTRALIA  3207
(H)  61-3-9645.6870
(M)  0438 224456