Nature » parrots http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature The premiere natural history program on television. Thu, 24 May 2012 20:49:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Parrot Photo Contest http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrot-photo-contest/733/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrot-photo-contest/733/#comments Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:13:41 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/?p=733 See entries for NATURE’s parrot photo contest, held in January 2008.


Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The contest is now closed.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrot-photo-contest/733/feed/ 6 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Parrots in Danger http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrots-in-danger/711/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrots-in-danger/711/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:14:24 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/parrots-in-danger/

Beautiful, elegant, and intelligent, parrots have long been coveted and caged by humans. With over 340 species living in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceana tropic zones, our world should be brimming with parrots. But today, parrots are one of the most threatened families of birds. Nearly a third of parrots worldwide are threatened — a statistic three times greater than the threat to all bird species.

Several factors are responsible for such grim statistics about these colorful birds. Poaching for the pet trade may be the biggest. The stress and damage from the capture, transit, and quarantine of parrots take a serious toll on the fragile birds. It is estimated that for every parrot in a pet store, three have died in transit. Ever since the Wild Bird Conservation Act made it illegal to commercially import parrots into the United States from countries without conservation strategies, most pet shop parrots are captive-bred. However international trade in wild-caught parrots remains a concern. It is estimated that 88 percent of parrots, parakeets, and lovebirds imported into Britain between 1995 and 2000 were caught in the wild.

Destruction of their natural habitats due to clearing of tropical rainforest and to agricultural development has also taken its toll. To make matters worse, as seen in “Parrots in the Land of Oz,” parrots are grain eaters and so are treated as pests by farmers.

The biggest parrot victims appear to be the larger, more colorful parrots like macaws and cockatoos. Not only are they more sought after but they have smaller broods; hence, it takes them longer recover and repopulate. The largest flying parrot, and possibly the noisiest, the macaw has paid a price for its willingness to be tamed and trained as a human pet. Over half of all macaw species are on the endangered list. The Spix’s macaw, a delicate, pale blue bird, was considered one of the world’s most endangered species. For ten years, only one lone male was known to exist in the wild in a small arid region of savanna scrubland in northeastern Brazil known as the “caatinga.” Then, in 2000, this last wild bird disappeared. There is currently an international captive breeding program for the bird, and the hope is to re-introduce the macaw to the wild — eventually.

One species of macaw that scientists hope to save before it suffers a fate similar to Spix’s macaw is the red, yellow and blue-plumed scarlet macaw. With only 300 macaws left in Guatemala’s nature reserve, the primary-colored creatures are in danger of being wiped out in that country. At fault are poachers, drug traffickers and land invaders, who slash and burn the bird’s jungle habitat. Thousands of acres of forest are cut down to make way for settlers and clandestine airstrips for drug traffickers moving cocaine from Colombia up into the United States. To keep an eye on their numbers, researchers recently fit two scarlets with satellite collars to track them in northern Guatemala and southern Mexico. With hope, the watchful eye of science will help protect these beautiful birds from further danger.

While over one million may have roamed at the time of Columbus’ arrival, today less than forty Puerto Rican Parrots remain in the wild. Their decimation has been so relentless that the gregarious Puerto Rican Amazon, or the Puerto Rican Parrot, is one of the ten most endangered species of birds in the world. Habitat destruction throughout the 19th and 20th centuries drastically reduced the bird’s numbers. As early as 1968, conservation efforts began to protect this species with the goal of saving it from extinction. A recovery program sought to establish a wild population and hopefully down-list the species from endangered to threatened.

A diminutive, yet plump parrot with a small, fragmented range in New South Wales and Queensland, the Coxen’s fig parrot has virtually vanished from the wild. Sadly, recent surveys have come up with only a few fleeting sightings, and no active nests have been discovered. The Australian native’s original habitat included lowland coastal rainforests, but these have mostly been cleared.

If humanity is to reverse the trend and save these magnificent creatures from extinction, it is essential that we immediately begin to conserve the habitats of threatened parrots and to be aware of politics of the pet parrot trade. As smart as parrots are, only humans can stop the devastation that some of the most vulnerable species have experienced at our hands.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/parrots-in-danger/711/feed/ 5 Parrots in the Land of Oz: What Do Parrots Find Sexy? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/what-do-parrots-find-sexy/709/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/what-do-parrots-find-sexy/709/#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:14:43 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/what-do-parrots-find-sexy-/

With plumage of intense and other-worldly colors, deployable regal crests, and behavior that ranges from coy to maniacal, parrots have little trouble attracting our attention. But what traits fare best for these birds when their goal is inspiring love in potential parrot mates? Is a parrot sexy in the eyes of other parrots because it is a good provider, attentive, talented, or beautiful?

Of the parrots’ many qualities, colorful plumage is surely its most spectacular: blue and gold; red and green; blue, yellow, green, orange, red. These brilliant colors are not just splashed on these birds; they’ve soaked right through. It would seem that the fantastically gorgeous plumage of parrots would be obvious sexual attractants for mates. But when the would-be mate is flying the same colors, how sexy is that? In fact, 75 percent of parrots species are classified as sexually monomorphic, which means that males and female resemble each other physically.

It turns out that it’s not just color but the intensity of feather color that can be a turn-on to a prospective mate. Color intensity signals good health, immunity, parental care abilities, and breeding success — all key things to know if you’re in the market for a mate. In a study of wild Burrowing Parrots in Patagonia, Argentina, researchers found that the more intensely red the abdominal feathers on the parrots were, the better was their success in breeding.

Color intensity is a physical characteristic that we, as humans, can observe. But research shows that while male and females parrots of the same species look similar to us — they look different to each other. A parrot’s highly sensitive tetrachromatic avian eye can see the entire UV spectrum, while we only perceive light in the near-ultraviolet spectrum. So there’s a whole world of fluorescent color that a parrot’s eyes can visualize that our humans eyes just can’t.

Budgerigars have yellow fluorescent plumage on their crowns and cheeks. To determine if the fluorescent patches are used in courtship displays, researchers covered the crown feathers of male and female birds with sunscreen, limiting their ability to absorb UV light. Other male and female budgies spent more time courting “glowing” companions, ignoring those with dulled feathers. What the study showed was that the more a suitor glowed, the more alluring it was to a prospective budgie mate.

But don’t get the wrong idea: in the parrot world, mating is not based on looks alone. Some parrots appreciate “talent” or showmanship in a mate. In the kakapo’s mating system, the males go to a prominent location, such as a hilltop, and create a courtship area known as a lek, or a group of bowl-like indentations dug in the ground. When the males gather, they compete for the best spots, and then begin calling for the females. The male mating call is a very loud, low booming sound that can be heard for several miles. The booming goes on all night, every night, for as long as several months. At the same time, the males spread their wings and do a hopping dance. When females show up, they pick out the best boomers and hoppers for one blissful night of mating.

It should come as no surprise that music can woo a female. A good, strong singing voice in the bird world indicates good health, strong immunity, and a successful partner. But a study of budgerigars found that while a female appreciates vocal abilities, she actually prefers to mate with a male who sounds like her.

Glowing plumage, fancy moves, and a beautiful singing voice go a long way toward attracting a mate, but nothing says sexy to parrots like regurgitation. Though sometimes used as a reward for sex, many parrot species use food regurgitation as a part of the courtship ritual. Parrot couples exchange food, and thus information, on the quality of mate. A healthy amount of regurgitation tells the female that the courter can provide for her and her brood if she decides to choose him.

Those vibrant colors, beautiful voices, and fancy crests may all look like mere adornments to us, but to a parrot, they’re clues about a potential mate’s overall fitness, genetic superiority, and superior traits for survival. Just like with humans, in the parrot world, “sexy” takes many forms.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/what-do-parrots-find-sexy/709/feed/ 1 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Video: The Budgerigar Mating Game http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-the-budgerigar-mating-game/731/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-the-budgerigar-mating-game/731/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:18:37 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/?p=731 Male budgerigars use their fighting skills and shimmering feathers to vie for a female’s attention.

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]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-the-budgerigar-mating-game/731/feed/ 21 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Video: Cockatoo Uses Tools to Attract a Mate http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-cockatoo-uses-tools-to-attract-a-mate/732/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-cockatoo-uses-tools-to-attract-a-mate/732/#comments Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:30:11 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/?p=732 A male palm cockatoo gets crafty in his effort to attract a mate.


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]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/video-cockatoo-uses-tools-to-attract-a-mate/732/feed/ 20 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Introduction http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/introduction/712/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/introduction/712/#comments Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:19:43 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/overview-12/ NATURE tracks down the cockiest characters in the land down under in Parrots in the Land of Oz.

We keep them in cages in our homes, but in their natural state they are independent birds who can seek out water over hundreds of miles through pure instinct. We feed them seed from a pet store, but they can find food in a wide variety of habitats. We give them plastic toys and mirrors to play with when in fact in the wild some have figured out how to use tools to communicate and attract mates.

For tens of millions of years, parrots have survived and thrived in Australia even as the continent underwent dramatic changes, including some brought about by man. Though some, like the golden-shouldered Parrot are threatened, these tough Aussies have adapted well to deal with harsh life in the outback. Clever, resourceful, opportunistic and resilient, parrots may be Australia’s toughest survivors, and they’re certainly its most beautiful.

Online content for Parrots in the Land of Oz was originally posted January 2008.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/introduction/712/feed/ 66 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Birds that Use Tools http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/birds-that-use-tools/714/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/birds-that-use-tools/714/#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:43:37 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/birds-that-use-tools/

Birds have long defied the slur “bird brain.” With their well-developed brains — 6 to 11 times larger than those of like-sized reptiles — birds are capable of learning and mastering complex social behavior. But there’s one behavior that never ceases to fascinate — their ability to use tools.

As shown in “Parrots in the Land of Oz,” the Palm Cockatoo has learned to use tools with great creativity. The Australian bird employs a simple twig as a “lure for love.” Beating the stick on a hollow tree, the male demonstrates to the female that he owns this hollow, this piece of real estate. It’s the part of the mating ritual that assures female, his prospective mate, that he can provide for her.

The urge to mate is what moves the palm cockatoo to use tools. But there is an even stronger force that has inspired a range of tool use in various species of birds — the need to feed.

Perhaps the best-known avian tool user is the woodpecker finch of the Galapagos Islands. Although unrelated to a true woodpecker, the woodpecker finch forages in a similar way — prying up bark to uncover insects underneath. The true woodpecker has a long barbed tongue that serves as its natural tool for extracting the insects. The tongue of the woodpecker finch, though, is too short to sweep up bugs, so when the finch discovers insects, it flies to a cactus, breaks off a spine, and returns to spear its prey. If a cactus spine is not available, the Woodpecker Finch may break a twig off a bush or tree, and if necessary even trim it. The bird is clever enough not only to use a tool, it can even “manufacture” its instrument.

Like the Woodpecker Finch, some herons also engage in tool manufacturing. Striated Herons in southern Japan have been observed using insects, berries, twigs, and discarded crackers as bait to catch prey. Much like a human fisherman, the heron will cast the bait in the water, then crouch down and wait for the curious or hungry fish that comes to inspect the lure. The birds have even been seen to trim oversized twigs to the proper dimensions. While the herons can fish successfully without bait, their use of bait seems to increase the catch.

Crows and their relatives (ravens, magpies, jays) have long been known to be the most intelligent group of birds, so their ingenious use of tools may come as somewhat less of a surprise. But the wisdom to use humans and their machines as tools? Surely that must impress us. Carrion crows in Japan have actually been seen waiting for the traffic light to change before hopping out into the street to place walnuts in front of the tires of cars. When the cars drive over the nuts, hopefully cracking them open, the crows hop back into the street (free of traffic of course) to reclaim the shelled nuts.

But the New Caledonian outsmarts them all. This crow is known to use twigs, leaves, and their own feathers as tools to pull grubs from deep within tree trunks. Using their beaks as scissors and snippers, the birds even modify the hooks to suit the type of bark or the size of the crevice containing the food. The crows don’t throw the tools away after one use — they carry them from one foraging place to another. Now consider this: in a lab setting, a captive female crow bent a straight wire into a hook to retrieve food from a bucket. This makes the New Caledonian crow the only bird species capable of crafting tools from materials it does not encounter in the wild.

The fact that New Caledonian crows know how to use tools was perplexing to researchers. Is this skill innate (inherited) or learned? To find out, a team of scientists hand-raised four New Caledonian crows. Two of the four babies were shown videos of human foster parents giving tool-use lessons to other crows. Though all four juveniles used tools to pull food from crevices, the two offspring that watched the videos used the tools better and more often. The researchers concluded that tool use among New Caledonian crows was partly inherited and partly learned.

Birds may be crafty and creative when it comes to using tools, but they don’t always have to be elegant. Perhaps one of the least discriminating tool users, the burrowing owl, doesn’t get too fancy when selecting its tool of choice. The owl spreads animal dung in and around its burrow to provide a bait to attract dung beetles, one of the staples of the bird’s diet. Now that’s being resourceful.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/birds-that-use-tools/714/feed/ 1 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Download Parrot Wallpaper http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/download-parrot-wallpaper/715/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/download-parrot-wallpaper/715/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:12:17 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/download-wallpaper-7/ Download parrot wallpaper for your desktop.

PC users: Right click on the wallpaper and select “Set as Wallpaper.”

Mac users: Save the image to your desktop, then select it via the Desktop tab of your Appearance control panel.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/download-parrot-wallpaper/715/feed/ 7 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Additional Web Resources http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/additional-web-resources/713/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/additional-web-resources/713/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:08:58 +0000 admin http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/resources-14/ Web Sites

BirdLife International
http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/index.html
A global partnership of conservation orgnizations to conserve birds, their habitats, and global biodiversity.

Birds Australia
http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au
Organization dedicated to the conservation, study, and enjoyment of Australia’s native birds and their habitats.

The Blue Macaws
http://www.bluemacaws.org/
Information on these remarkable birds from Tony Pittman.

The Gabriel Foundation
http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org
A parrot welfare organization promoting educational outreach, conservation, rescue, rehabilitation, adoption, long-term foster care, and sanctuary pertaining to the needs of parrots.

Macaw Landing Foundation
http://www.macawlanding.org/index.shtml
An extensive site from a foundation dedicated to the preservation of macaws.

Parrot Education & Adoption Center (PEAC)
http://www.peac.org
A non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to educating current and potential bird owners on the proper care of pet birds.

Parrots International
http://www.parrotsinternational.org
This Web site has the largest collection of photos and videos of wild New World Parrots on the Web (from Central America, South America and the Caribbean), as well as updated information regarding their status in the wild, conservation strategies, and current research and field projects.

Tropical Nature
http://tropicalnature.org/
Learn more about Dr. Charlie Munn’s ecotourism organization and find out how you can donate to his work.

Tropical Nature Travel
http://www.tropicalnaturetravel.com/
Learn more about Timpia Lodge and Hyacinth Camps.

The World Parrot Trust
http://www.parrots.org/
The Trust works to conserve parrots in their natural habitat and advocate for their welfare in captivity.

Related Episodes

PARROTS: LOOK WHO’S TALKING
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/parrots/
NATURE looks at the amazing ability of parrots to “talk,” including the famous African Grey, Alex.

EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/exbirds/
EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS highlights the intimate links that people have forged with birds.

THE REAL MACAW
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/realmacaw/
THE REAL MACAW takes you to the deepest enclaves of the Amazon for a first-hand look at macaws.

Parrots on Film

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL
http://www.wildparrotsfilm.com/
Inspirational independent film about one man’s bond with a colony of cherry-topped parrots in San Francisco.

]]> http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/additional-web-resources/713/feed/ 0 Parrots in the Land of Oz: Production Credits http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/production-credits/710/ http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/parrots-in-the-land-of-oz/production-credits/710/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:08:07 +0000 fultonk http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/2008/06/25/production-credits-17/ Television Credits

Narrated By
F. MURRAY ABRAHAM

Producers
DAVID PARER
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