PHOTO: Budgies take part in a Blessing of the Animals in Weymouth, MA. BOTAs are conducted by many different faiths; usually on or around the St. Francis of Assisi holy day on October 4. St. Francis was known for his love of animals. – Photo by George Sommers
LOST PARROT FLIES TO THOMAS JEFFERSON HOME: Two months after Kiwi the Indian ringneck parrot flew off her husband’s shoulder and out the door, Pam Alvey assumed he was gone for good. Turns out the 3 year old IRN flew 40 miles from Culpepper, VA to Monticello, the home of former Pres. Thomas Jefferson, where he landed on the shoulder of a security guard. “The officers were standing at East Walk and out of the blue, this green bird flies out of the trees and just lands on their shoulder, so you know they’re all up there like ‘wow’ so they’re trying to get it and grabbing it but it’s running to the other side,” says Assistant Security Director at Monticello Paw Neilson; before the avian tourist was apprehended. Neilson kept Kiwi at his home with his two daughters. “When we let him out of the cage, he flies into the bathroom and sits right on the counter, looks in the mirror and starts rattling off all types of stuff like ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘you’re a good boy’ and ‘give me a kiss’ and he starts kissing the mirror,” Neilson adds. “Last Saturday, my neighbor came running to the house saying ‘Kiwi’s at Monticello!’ and I’m like ‘no way!’” Alvey says. “I thought he was gone.” Alvey became reunited with Kiwi at the University of Virginia’s Lawn. One of Neilson’s daughters drew a picture of Kiwi and presented it to Alvey at their reunion on Saturday. “In my book, this is a miracle,” said Alvey, who started crying with happiness . Still unknown is if Kiwi is a history buff, or maybe he was intrigued that Pres. Jefferson kept 4 mockingbirds as pets. – From www.nbc29.com/story/39370601/culpeper–woman-reunited and Wikipedia
WHATCHU TALKIN’ ABOUT?: Some parrots just might know what they’re talking about. See George Sonmers’ Page 8 feature story ion the November “Pet Gazette”. duxburypetgazette http://duxburypetgazette.ma.newsmemory.com/
DIDJA KNOW: The blue throated macaw is one of the rarest birds in the world. The total population is probably only about 400,
URBAN ARK: Cockatoos in Hong Kong – ringnecks in London- red crowned parrots in Los Angeles – Quaker parakeets in New York City : they’re all wild and none of them belong there, at least originally. But there is some speculation that cities could be a last refuge for some forms of wildlife – while others warn of unintended consequences. Some estimates count fewer than 2,000 red-crowned parrots in their native Mexico, while escapees from the pet trade have settled farther north, where much larger populations are thriving in an unexploited ecological niche. This feral colony might be the only thing preventing the colorful birds from going extinct. Brad Shaffer, a conservation biologist at UCLA, says that artificial habitats in cities could provide a perfect opportunity to save critically endangered species. “Despite our wisdom and intelligence, it’s very difficult to predict which species are going to become invasive,” argues Adam Smith, an ecologist at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Shaffer counters that properly vetted non-natives can be managed within cities. “Non-native species in urban environments … [tend to] rely on people. They rely on us watering lawns, they rely on fruit trees. … They need us, they need our artificial environments.” Accordingly, he says, the chances of non-native creatures escaping into the wild and wreaking havoc on natural ecosystems is low. “Something’s going to get out [to an unoccupied habitat] eventually,” says Ursula Heise, a collaborator of Shaffer’s who teaches in both UCLA’s English department and its Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “Wouldn’t you rather have something that you chose than something that gets out by sheer luck?” Heise recently produced a short documentary about the red-crowned parrot that makes the case for Los Angeles as an “urban ark” to save not just that species, but many more. – From: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/save-endangered-species-should-we-bring-them-our-cities-180970611/#Z3iWqjPPgYDMWgYu.99
PSITTACINE CINEMA: Birds Up-Close and Beautiful – YouTube macaw, cockatoo, sun conure, Afrcan grey, Amazon, lovebirds and more featured.
“MACAW KINGDOM”, directed by David Attila Molnar & co-directed by Dr. Cintia Garai, premiered at the 2018 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York, NY. | on October 20
TIKIPEDIA: “In the Tiki Tiki room all the birds sing and the flowers bloom. If we don’t sing nice or sound like that, we may end up on a lady’s hat,” goes a tune heard in the land or world of Disney. In less enlightened times, some birds were hunted nearly to extinction for fashion; regardless of how nicely they sang. The Audubon Society was formed to raise awareness and to help stop the carnage.
MAILBAG: Talk about deja vu. RE last week’s item about Daisy the cockatiel who got loose and up a tree but soaked with a fire hose and recovered; Aloha Hawaiian Parrot Association recounts “a similar incident at about 7 yrs ago at a club mtg in the park when a macaw suddenly flew to a park tree. He would not come down and was having a blast, calling out ‘Aloha!’ to us all. We called the fire dept and a member instructed them to shoot their powerful water hose into the air, in an arc, and let it cascade down on Macaw, to soak it. It worked, and macaw immediately dropped to the ground, safe but soaking wet, where he was grabbed by owner.”
HOT DATES: 11/3-4: SOUTHEAST EXOTIC BIRD FAIR 9-4; 16 Forest Pkwy, Forest Park, GA — 11/3: The Parrot Club’s Birdie Bash. Horizon wings- live raptor show. Heart of Feathers Education- toy making. 10-4. Elks Club. 44 Maynard St. Middleton, CT. — Massachusetts Cage Bird Association 2018 Annual Show American Legion Post 225, 592 South Street (Route 1A) Wrentham, MA– PARROT BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING WORKSHOP w. Barbara Heidenreich, Roseville, MN — 11/8-10: 70th National Bird Show This event includes the circle of bird delegates to breeders and fanciers to showcase all types of birds in the show. 9-6. Pheasant Run Resort 4051 E Main Street, St Charles, IL
LOST: Congo African grey ‘Peanut’. Eugene, OR. Reward offered. (503) 396-8043/(503) 3966559.
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