Hi all,
Coming from more of an avicultural background, there would be no
economic reason to trap wild Princess or Scarlet-chested Parrots for the
avicultural trade. Wild-type varieties of both species are still
extremely common in Australian aviaries however, with the ever
increasing interest in colour mutations the focus is now more focused on
the different varieties of these species rather than the wild-type
birds. The only reason I can think of for current trapping of these
species would be to introduce new blood-lines into the captive
population to strengthen what are likely to be weaker blood-lines from
successive colour mutation breeding.
One other point to consider is whether the colour mutation market is now
saturated and popularity is returning to wild-type birds. It can be
sometimes difficult to establish whether a wild-type looking bird is a
true normal bird without any mutant genes. Bird keepers may be wanting
to establish a new true "normal" population. This has occurred over the
last 10-15 years with budgies. "Bush Budgies" are now very popular with
bird keepers as the show-type budgies look like a distant cousin to the
normal green budgie in both colour and size. This is more probable with
the Scarlet-chested Parrot than Princess Parrots as there are many more
readily available colour mutations of scarlets.
In terms of differentiating wild caught birds from captive bred birds, I
totally agree with Chris's comments on behaviour rather than colour or
appearance. Princess and Scarlet-chested Parrots are nearly at the point
of domestication in Australian aviaries and would be much more docile
and comfortable than wild caught birds.
Luke
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chris Sanderson <>
Date: Jun 17, 12:02 pm
Subject: Capturing Princess Parrots and Scarlet-chested parrots in the
wild even though common in captivity
To: birding-aus
I'm pretty sure behaviour is a huge clue as to the origin of a bird. I
was
once shown a pet store (that was subsequently reported to the relevant
authorities) that had a mixture of captive bred and wild finches. We
guessed the wild finches were from Cape York given the species mix and
which
subspecies they had. The person I was with had been a very experienced
aviculturalist and was able to point out by behaviour which birds were
wild
and which were not. It was quite educational. I suspect with parrots
it
would be similar, with animals being more aggressive/scared, but it
would be
good to hear from someone in the know.
Regards,
Chris
On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 11:46 AM, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> DOnald, you're suggesting that a wild captured parrot might be worth
more
> than an aviary bred one. It might well be true that a breeder would
value
> one more highly for the reason you stated, but would it be possible
for them
> to verify that it wasn't a run of the mill aviary bred bird? Would
they look
> different in any way?
> I.e would it be possible for a poacher to get the price they need to
make
> it worth while?
> Peter Shute
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > On Behalf Of
> > Donald G. Kimball
> > Sent: Thursday, 17 June 2010 8:59 AM
> > To:
> > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Capturing Princess Parrots and
> > Scarlet-chested parrots in the wild even though common in captivity
> > Hi Folks:
> > I thought I would weigh in and ask some questions here since
> > being from North America I might have a different
> > perspective. As someone who has been delighted to see and
> > film both of these 2 species in the wild in Aus and having
> > kept princess in my aviaries in Canada I had some thoughts on this.
> > First of all I might need some help here but regarding
> > Princess is there not literature that suggests that even
> > relatively recently on the Canning Stock Route it has been
> > recorded that nests have been robbed and historically other
> > locations as well? If so since Princess are cheap even here
> > in North America (I can obtain a pair for about 450.00 US)
> > why would nests be vulnerable to predation by humans? Is
> > egg-collecting common in Australia like the UK?
> > Regarding Scarlet-chests I am wondering the same thing. I
> > havent had aviaries now for 20 years but if I put on my
> > aviculture hat on I am wondering if the appeal would be for
> > genetically rigorous stock from the wild to inject into
> > aviary blood-lines.
> > Please understand I am not wanting to kick any sleeping
> > rottweilers here with my thoughts. I simply love parrots and
> > would feel saddened to know any indiscretion on my part may
> > have caused the demise of nesting success with these 2
> > species in the wild. One thing to consider on a global bird
> > conservation scale is that we dont even know how common
> > Princess are in the wild let alone what specific requirements
> > they need to thrive as they are so under studied.
> > Thanks for your feedback on this one as I constantly am
> > confronted with the difficulty of whether to reveal specific
> > locations on these 2 species or not.
> > Cheers!
> > Don Kimball
> >http://polytelismedia.wordpress.com/
> > ===============================
> >www.birding-aus.org
> > birding-aus.blogspot.com
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