AVICULTURAL

MAGAZINE

VOLUME 115
No. 3
2009

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

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THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE welcomes original articles that have not
been published elsewhere and that essentially concern the aviculture of a
particular bird or group of birds, or that describe their natural history. Articles
should be preferably typewritten, with double spacing, and the scientific
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ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR

Malcolm Ellis, Hon. Editor, The Avicultural Magazine, The Chalet, Hay
Farm, St. Breock, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7LL, England.

E-mail: editor@avisoc.co.uk

Avicultural Magazine

THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

Vol. 1 15 - No. 3 All rights reserved ISSN 0005 2256 2009

KEEPING AND BREEDING THE LESSER KISKADEE
Philohydor lictor

by Gary Bralsford

I have kept Lesser Kiskadees for the past four years. During that time I
have bred 1 2 young. I had several enquiries from aviculturists wishing to
obtain these birds and all went to other keen softbill breeders, who I know
will try to continue breeding this species.

At the moment I have one pair and a friend has a further two pairs. So,
there are a few Lesser Kiskadees being kept here in the UK and there are
some others in Europe. Hopefully, we can all get in contact with one another
to exchange and/or loan one another surplus birds to create further pairs.

My original pair, along with three young the pair had raised, came from
Phil Lewis on the Isle of Wight. Later I managed to obtain a second pair
of unrelated birds from an importer. I housed both pairs in indoor flights
measuring 9ft long x 4ft wide x 6ft 6in high (approx. 2.7m long x 1 .2m wide
x 2m high). I put two half-open-fronted nest boxes, with hinged lids, in each
flight. Various types of nesting material was provided, including coconut
fibre, sisal string, animal hair, moss and dry grasses.

Both pairs were housed well apart, one in my birdroom and the other
across the garden in my bird shed. Had I not done this, I am sure I would
have had problems with both males clinging to the wire mesh with their
wings outstretched, calling loudly.

I begin to get my kiskadees into breeding condition in early January. I do
this by feeding them giant morio worms and steak cut into narrow worm-like
strips. I also give them pinkie mice, which they can take whole.

When they are ready to breed, they begin calling loudly and the female
becomes very dominant over the male. Nest building is a frantic affair
accompanied by lots of wing displaying and calling. It is the female who
builds the nest, with the male only helping with the final nest lining. The
nest, which is a huge affair with a domed top that pushes open the nest box
lid, is completed within three days and the first egg is laid 1 0 days or so later.
The nest cup seems very small for the usual clutch of three eggs.

114

BRALSFORD - LESSER KISKADEE

The fertility of one pair was fantastic, with the pair’s eggs always being
fertile. The second pair was not as prolific. For some reason each clutch
consisted of just two eggs and the pair usually produced only two clutches,
with the fertility being a bit hit and miss.

Having once witnessed a male throwing a four day old chick out of the
nest, I now remove him once the eggs have been laid. The female always
rears a nest of two or three chicks on her own without any difficulty. They
are reared mainly on white-skinned mealworms, buffalo worms and black
crickets. I no longer use waxworms as their mouthparts seem too hard for
chicks to digest and they become compacted in the gut. Some keepers,
I know, get around this problem by cutting off the waxworms’ heads, I
will though continue to steer clear of them when I have young in the nest
and feed them only to adult birds. My female will also feed the young on
minced (ground) meat and pinkie mice and (soaked) dog food is also taken.
I always dust the livefood and softfood with powdered calcium. I also use
a vitamin supplement.

The young leave the nest at 14 days old and hide away in a comer for
a few days until they get stronger. I put a few branches and some cover at
floor level for them and this seems to help and also decreases the likelihood
of them trying to climb up the wire mesh in panic when I am in the shed.

At four weeks old they begin to feed themselves and are independent.
I always remove the young at this time, as the female becomes aggressive
towards them. I place the male back with the female a week later, so that
the pair can nest again. I often get four clutches a year.

This year I intend to keep one or two of my youngsters and try to obtain
an unrelated bird. My friend Bob Jewiss is finding it difficult to get his birds
to settle down and breed. His two pairs are, however, only young birds and
will, hopefully, eventually settle down and breed.

The Lesser Kiskadee is a stunning bird with its buttercup yellow breast
and belly, which show up well in an aviary. When really excited it raises the
‘streaky’ yellow feathers along the top of its head. It is an aggressive bird
and because of this is not usually suitable to keep in a mixed collection. It
will almost certainly kill any birds smaller than itself and because it is so
territorial will even try to drive away the occupants of adjoining aviaries.

The Lesser Kiskadee is one of the 435 species of Tyrant Flycatchers
(Tyrannidae), as is the closely related Great Kiskadee Pitangus sulphur atus.
Both species look very similar, however, the latter measures about 22cm
(8y4in) in length, whereas the Lesser species measures 1 8cm (Tin) in length.
A third similar looking species, the Boat-billed Flycatcher Megarynchus
pitangua , measures 23cm (9in) in length and has a large, broad bill, especially
in comparison to that of the Lesser species. I have seen the Great Kiskadee

BRALSFORD - LESSER KISKADEE

115

offered for sale in the past (it was bred in the UK for the first time at Chester
Zoo in 1965), but have never seen the Boat-billed Flycatcher offered for
sale.

The latter is found from Mexico southwards through Central and northern
South America and also on the island of Trinidad. The Great Kiskadee,
which has a similar but slightly larger distribution, occurs from southern
Texas southwards to Paraguay, central Argentina and Uruguay; it too also
occurs on the island of Trinidad. The Lesser Kiskadee is found from eastern
Panama southwards to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, and eastwards
to Venezuela, the Guianas and Amazonian and eastern Brazil. It is said to
inhabit gallery forest (forest along rivers).

When Brian A. G. Hill (2007) visited Brazil, kiskadees turned out to be
the most ubiquitous birds of his entire trip. The Great Kiskadee’s loud call
to action, mimicking its name, he heard soon after arriving in the city of
Belem, and saw it perched on buildings and on overhead wires. The Lesser
Kiskadee he saw many times during his voyage on the river.

The price and availability of small to medium-sized softbills is becoming
an increasing problem nowadays. We often have to travel all over the UK
and even to Europe in order to obtain the birds we require. With the costs
and difficulties this entails, we would be foolish not to provide our birds
with the best accommodation and food we can.

I try to ensure that all my young birds go to bird keepers who I know will
attempt to breed them and thereby help secure the future of these species
in aviculture.

Reference

Hill, B. A. G. 2007. Memoir, notes and anthology arising from a visit to Brazil - Part 2.
Avicultural Magazine 113,2:49-56.

Articles by Gary on keeping and breeding the Tropical Mockingbird
Mimus gilvus, Formosan Yuhina Ynhina brunneiceps, Chestnut-backed
Thrush Zoothera dohertyi (which he was first to breed in the UK) and
Oriental, Chinese or Grey-headed Greenfinch Carduelis sinica will be
published in future issues.

116

THE DISTRACTION BEHAVIOUR OF A FEMALE
KORI BUSTARD Ardeotis kori

by Sara Hallager

The Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori is a large, mainly ground-dwelling bird
of eastern and southern Africa. Numerous accounts describe the sexual
display of the male (Astley-Maberley, 1937; Hoesch, 1938; Urban et al.
1 986; Hellmich, 1 988). However, little has been written about the incubation
by the female and the behaviours associated with incubation. This is likely
due to the secretive nature of the female during the incubation period. Only
the female Kori Bustard incubates the eggs and rears the chicks. Like other
bustards, female Kori Bustards lay their eggs on the ground in a shallow
scrape. Nests are usually partly hidden by tall grass, small trees or bushes
(Mwangi, 1988; Maozeka, 1993; Osborne & Osborne, 2002) and are near
a natural feature such as a bush (Osborne et al. 1984) or rocks (Maozeka,
1 993). Usually the first sign that a female has bred, is that she is accompanied
by chicks. Because females are well camouflaged and are inconspicuous
during the incubation period, it is not surprising that a thorough description
of distraction behaviour has not been documented for this species.

On June 21st 2007, a female Kori Bustard at the Smithsonian’s National
Zoological Park in Washington DC, USA was displaced from her nest by the
alpha male. At the time this happened the female Kori Bustard was 2 1 days
into her 23 days incubation period. Upon displacement from the nest, she
ran away with her head held high, barking as she fled from the male. Several
seconds after the displacement, she lowered her head to a level below her
back, erected her crest feathers, spread her wings horizontal to the ground and
began fluttering her wings. Her wings were arched while held horizontally
out with the tips of the primaries nearly touching the ground. Her tail was
cocked (Fig. 1). She slowed her pace and while continuing to flutter her
wings, altered her vocalization from a barking sound to a croaking sound.
Her mouth was wide open as she uttered the croaks. She ran behind a bush
from where she continued to croak and flutter her wings for the next several
minutes. The male eventually located her behind the bush at which point
she immediately ran back to the eggs. Incubation resumed approximately
1 0 minutes later.

Distraction behaviour has been documented for other species of
bustard, including the Great Bustard Otis tarda (Schuster, 1927; Gewalt,
1959; Sterbetz, 1981; Goriup, 1982), Great Indian Bustard A. nigriceps
(Dharmakumarsinhji, 1955; Ali & Rahmani, 1 982), Australian Bustards.
australis (Carter, 1 921) and Denham’s Bustard Neotis denhami (Uys, 1963).

HALLAGER - KORI BUSTARD

117

Fig.l. Postures adopted by female Kori Bustard during distraction display.

The descriptions are similar in nature and describe females with outstretched
wings either crouched on the ground or walking and fluttering their wings.
A croaking noise made by a female Australian Bustard when driven away
from her nest by approaching sheep was described by Carter (1921).

Behaviours ascribed as distraction behaviour in Kori Bustards have been
reported by MorgamBavies (1965) and Maozeka (1993). Both authors
reported females with young chicks walking in a crouched position with

118

HALLAGER - KORI BUSTARD

drooped, waving wings and barking. This paper is the first to thoroughly
describe distraction behaviour by a female Kori Bustard.

Acknowledgement

My gratitude is extended to D. K. Talbott for her illustration of this
behaviour.

References

Ali, S. and Rhamani, A. 1982-1984. Study of ecology of certain endangered species of
wildlife and their habitats. The Great Indian Bustard. Annual Report 2\ 1982-84. Bombay
Natural History Society.

Astley-Maberly, C. T. 1937. Notes on birds from North-Eastern Transvaal. Ostrich 8:10-13.
Carter, T. 1921. Stray feathers. Emu 20: 1 9 1 - 1 92.

Dharmakumarsinhji, R. 1955. Birds of Saurashtra, India. Dil Bahar Publishers, Bhavnager,
India.

Gewalt, W. 1959. Die Grosstrappe. Neue Brehm Bucherei Nr. 22 3. A. Ziemsen Verlag,
Wittenburg Lutherstadt.

Goriup, P. 1982. Distraction behaviour of Great Bustard. British Birds 75,6:288-289.
Hellmich, J. 1 988. Zum Balz-Verhalten der Riesentrappe (Ardeotis kori). Zoologische Garten
58:345-352.

Hoesch, W. 1938. Zur Balz von Choriotis kori. Ornithologische Monatsberichte 46:110-113.
Maozeka, F. 1993. Breeding kori bustard at Central Estates, Myuma. Honeyguide 39,3:133-
137.

Morgan-Davies, A. 1965. On the Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori (Burchell) in north-western
Tanzania. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists ’ Club 85,8:1 45- 1 47.

Mwangi, E. M. 1988. The ecology of bustards in Nairobi National Park and the Kitengela
Conservation Area, Kenya. M.Sc. thesis, University of Nairobi.

Osborne, P., Collar, N. and Goriup, P. 1 984. Bustards. Dubai Wildlife Research Centre, Dubai.
Osborne, T., Osborne, L. 2002. Ecology of the kori bustard in Namibia. Annual Report for the
Ministry of Environment and Tourist Permit Office, Namibia.

Schuster, L. 1927. Einige brubiologische Beobachtungen aus dem Jahre. Beitrage zur
Fortpflanzungs-Biologie der Vogel mit Berucksichtigung der Oologiel 3,2:52-56.

Sterbetz, I. 1981. Comparative investigation in the reproduction behaviour of monogamous,
polygamous and unmated Great Bustard populations in south-east Hungary. Aquila 877:31-
47.

Urban, E., Fry, C. H. and Keith, S. 1986. The Birds of Africa Vol.2. Academic Press, London.
Uys, C. 1963. Some observations on the Stanley Bustard ( Neotis denhami) at the nest.
Bokmakierie 15,2:2-4.

Sara Hal lager, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, 3001 Connecticut
Avenue, Washington DC 20560, USA. E-mail :hallagers@ si.edu

IRON STORAGE DISEASE (HAEMOCHROMATOSIS)
IN LORIES

119

by Rosemary Low

Iron storage disease is well documented in toucans (Ramphastidae) and
mynahs (Stumidae). Less well-known is the fact that lories are often affected.
However, most private owners of these birds do not have autopsies carried
out when their birds die and most sudden deaths remain unexplained.

In June 2008 my 13-year old male Rajah Lory Chalcopsitta atra insignis
died suddenly having shown no symptoms except difficulty in breathing
just before death. A post-mortem examination was inconclusive. Because
Black Lories seem to be susceptible to haemochromatosis I requested that
further tests be carried out on the organs of this lory. It was found that iron
had been deposited in his liver, suggesting that haemochromatosis was the
cause of death. This happens when there is abnormal absorption of iron
from the intestine, causing liver cells to die.

Margrethe Warden in the USA told me that the condition was found in
five of her Black Lories in 1999. She wrote: “When evident, symptoms can
include difficulty breathing, fluid in the air sacs, paralysis and distended
abdomen. Actual diagnosis is usually made during necropsy. In living birds
tests conducted on tissue retrieved from a liver biopsy can make a specific
diagnosis. Radiographs and blood work on living specimens can indicate
liver disorders that may include iron storage but will not accurately diagnose
the disorder itself.”

She went on to write that drawing blood equal to 1% of the bird’s body
weight on a regular basis is acceptable treatment - but is not always practical,
especially with birds not used to being handled. Other treatments have been
tried, such as the use of tannins - giving tea to toucans - chelation (treating
with a chelating agent to remove heavy metals) and the use of a certain drug.
None of these have been proved to be effective. However, it seems to me
that one does not know that a bird is suffering from this disease until it is too
late to treat it - even if a successful treatment is available - and, one would
not want to use the suggested treatments as a prophylactic.

While it is usually suggested that iron in the diet is to blame, other factors
might influence the condition. Haemochromatosis also occurs in humans
and genetic factors have been isolated. It does seem strange that Black
Lories in different collections have proved to be susceptible, even though
the diets offered to them are entirely different. Therefore, I suspect diet is
not entirely to blame.

However, we can do our best to feed our birds diets that are low in iron.

120

LOW - IRON STORAGE DISEASE

This might not be easy, as commercial preparations do not always show this
information. Also, there are some badly formulated commercial preparations
on the market that might be suitable for more omnivorous lories, such as the
Trichoglossus species, but entirely unsuitable for those, such as the Black
and other Chalcopsitta and Charmosyna species, which take a very high
proportion of nectar in their diet. Also, some people make up their own lory
nectar using such products as Complan and baby cereals which are relatively
high in iron. I doubt whether many people would feed monkey chow to
lories, but this contains twice the recommended level. However, this might
not be harmful to lories that take nectar as only a small part of the diet. It
is probable that animal protein (such as bone meal) is higher in iron than is
plant protein, so this is another factor to consider.

It is suggested that lory diets should contain under 1 OOppm (parts per
million) of dietary iron and this seems to be the case with most commercial
lory foods, but where this figure originated from I do not know. After all,
how much iron do lories consume in their natural diets? Surely, almost
none. The two products I use on a daily basis, CeDe (as one third of my
lory mixture) and, Nekton, are relatively low in iron. CeDe lory food
contains 61 ppm and Nekton 71 ppm. Kaytee hand-feeding formula, on the
other hand, contains 374ppm. I have hand-reared lories using nothing but
Nekton when they are small and CeDe when they are older, or only Nekton,
with excellent results.

I perused Avian Medicine: Principles and Application by Ritchie,
Harrison and Harrison for references to haemochromatosis and found a
photograph of the liver of a toucanet on necropsy. The caption stated:
“The enlarged liver was orange and rough in appearance. Histopathology
was suggestive of haemochromatosis, and the disease was confirmed using
Prussian blue stain to demonstrate iron-laden hepatocytes.”

Under iron storage disease the text states that abnormal storage of iron is
usually seen in the liver but other organs may be involved and: “It has been
suggested that excessive iron in the diet may be the cause of iron storage
disease but this hypothesis has not been confirmed.”

Rosemary’s book Why does my Parrot...? is reviewed on pp. 152- 153.

121

HAND-REARING PIGEONS AND DOVES
AT BRISTOL ZOO GARDENS

by Nigel Simpson

Introduction

Pigeons and doves have been successfully hand-reared in several
institutions, but often with subsequent attempts these successes were not able
to be repeated. Bristol Zoo has an extensive collection of pigeons and doves
and has for many years successfully reared the young of several species,
both by parent-rearing and the use of foster parents. On many occasions
in the past hand-rearing was attempted but there were high rates of failure.
Several diets and methods of rearing have been reported as having been
successfully used to hand-rear Columbidae (Blanchard, 1992; Bell, 1981;
Harrington et al. 1999). In 2004 a new diet and method used successfully
by Chelle Plasse at Disney’s Animal Kingdom1, Florida, USA, which came
with the suggestion that the method of feeding is more important than the
actual content of the diet, were trialled at Bristol Zoo.

By following the Plasse diet and method of rearing, we succeeded in
successfully rearing Victoria Crowned Pigeons Goura victoria and White-
naped Pheasant Pigeons Otidiphaps nobilis aruensis at Bristol Zoo.

Method

The diet consists of Avi-Plus parrot breeder pellets (20% protein, 8% fat)
that are soaked in water overnight until all of the water has been absorbed.
They are then cooked in a microwave for approximately two minutes until
the mixture has homogenised and become runny. An alternative method is
to heat the mixture in a saucepan on a conventional hob until the mixture
is of the required consistency. We have also used the formula uncooked,
by liquidising the soaked pellets until they have reached the required
consistency. In the latter stages of rearing, fruit can easily be added to the
formula. The prepared formula can be stored in a sealable food container
and kept in a fridge for up to 24 hours, after which any unused food should
be discarded.

Newly-hatched squabs can be fed from day zero. If they hatch early
in the day they can be given an initial drink of water and feeding with the
formula can commence in the afternoon. Squabs that hatch late in the day

1 This refers to a DVD produced by Chelle Plasse and Disney’s Animal
Kingdom. The author has also produced a DVD on the subject. Details
on how to obtain copies of these DVDs are available from: Chelle. Plasse@
disney.com and nsimpson@bristolzoo.org.uk

122

SIMPSON - HAND-REARING PIGEONS AND DOVES

should receive only a drink of water on day zero and feeding with the formula
should commence the following day (day one).

Squabs are fed using a 2.5ml pipette with the tip cut at an angle of forty-
five degrees. Having it cut at an angle makes feeding easier and in the case
of difficult squabs, means that it can also be used to gently prise open the
upper and lower mandibles. The formula should be heated by standing it
in a bowl in boiling water. It is important to test the temperature of the
formula on the back of the hand before attempting to feed it to the squab. If
it is too hot it will, of course, bum the squab and, if it is too cold, the squab
may refuse to eat it.

Squabs are fed initially by slightly prising open the mandibles and
dribbling the formula into the lower mandible and allowing the squab to
voluntarily swallow it. The formula needs to be fairly runny at this stage
to enable it to flow into the squab’s lower mandible. It is important to fill
the crop to its maximum capacity in order to stretch the walls of the crop in
preparation for the large volumes of food which will be eaten later. As the
squabs grow larger and become accustomed to being fed by hand they begin
to solicit food and open their beaks more easily. Also, as they continue to
grow larger the thickness of the formula can be increased and the delivery
method will need to be changed and the squabs fed from a syringe. Large
syringes can have the end cut off and the squab will insert its entire beak
into the end and take the formula from it. There will be little need to use the
plunger at this stage, as the squab will suck out the formula for itself.

With most birds a good indicator that the rearing process is going well is
that the chick’s crop is emptying between feeds. With this method, however,
the crop should be filled at each feed and should remain full throughout
the day and be allowed to empty only overnight. When you go to feed the
squab, it may seem unusual to discover that it still has some food in its crop,
but it nonetheless needs to be filled again. It is felt that maintaining a full
crop has the effect of getting sufficient food into the squab and helps the
formula move through its system. Most squabs pass faeces after each feed
and this is generally a good indicator that all is going well. If it appears
that the squab is not digesting the formula and has stopped passing faeces,
increasing the humidity in the brooder may help. The humidity level should
be maintained at about 60% (rh).

The squabs are weighed each morning and their weights are plotted on
Excel spreadsheets. Growth rates for parent-reared pigeons and doves are
known to be over 20% per day. However, for hand-reared Victoria Crowned
Pigeons it can be 1 0% per day (see Fig. 1 ), but other taxa have been reared at
higher levels, more like those of parent-reared squabs (Fig. 2). The volume
of food taken by squabs varies depending on the species and its age. Fig. 3

SIMPSON - HAND-REARING PIGEONS AND DOVES

123

shows the total volume of food consumed by a pheasant pigeon during the
first 10 days of rearing.

Fig. L Growth rates of two hand-reared Victoria Crowned Pigeon squabs.

Rearing schedule for Victoria Crowned Pigeon.

Age Feeds

(days) per day
0-11 8

12-19 6

20-30 4

31-33 3

3 3 -weaning

Average

temperature

Average

humidity

Comments

36°C

(96.8°F)

65%

Fed using 2.5ml pipette with end cut at an
angle.

32°C

(89.6°F)

65%

Fed using 5 ml syringe with end cut at an
angle and allowing squab to fully insert
beak and suck out food.

At 17 days heat turned off during daytime.

24°C

(75.2°F)

65%

Fed using 10ml syringe with end cut off.
From 25 days onwards a 20ml syringe
was used.

Ambient

Ambient

Fed using 20ml syringe. Formula changed
to Avi-Plus pellets and liquidised fruit.

Ambient

Ambient

Squab begs for food and is fed small pieces
of fruit and (Kaytee Exact) low iron pellets.
These are placed in the beak and are
swallowed by the bird. It was later moved
into an enclosure with bleeding heart doves
to encourage it to learn to feed itself.

124

SIMPSON - HAND-REARING PIGEONS AND DOVES

Fig. 2. Growth rate of a parent-reared Pied Imperial Pigeon squab.

120 -r

□ Total volume
per day

11 Average
volume per
feed

Age (days)

Weaning

As the squab grows, depending on the species, either fruit or grain can
be added to the formula. Fruit should at first be pureed and then later cut
into pieces and mixed in with the formula. As the squab continues to grow
larger, small pieces of fruit can be placed in its open beak and a small bowl
of food can be left with the bird to encourage it to feed itself. It is crucial to

SIMPSON - HAND-REARING PIGEONS AND DOVES

125

monitor its weight at this time to ensure that it is eating sufficient food, and
is not losing too much weight. If at any point it is felt that the squab is not
eating enough, a single feed of the formula can be given in the morning, to
ensure the bird is receiving sufficient nutrition.

Summary

Hand-rearing formula

Avi-Plus parrot breeder pellets (protein 20%, fat 8%)

Preparation

Quantity of pellets soaked in water overnight until the pellets have
absorbed the water and swollen.

Soaked pellets cooked in a microwave on high setting for approximately
two minutes until they have homogenised into a runny consistency.
Formula stored in fridge and used as required. Any unused food is
discarded after 24 hours.

The consistency of the formula can be varied by adding more or less
water.

Feeding method

Hold the head between the thumb and forefinger and offer the tip of the

pipette to the squab.

To encourage the squab to voluntarily swallow the formula, run it down
the inside of the lower mandible.

Fill crop at each feed and do not allow it to empty during the day, but
leave it to empty overnight. This is the most important part of the method
and is crucial for successful hand-rearing. Do not overfill the crop as
regurgitation may lead to aspiration and death.

Feed every two hours from 6.00am= 10.00pm, i.e. eight times a day.
Monitor defecation and if problems arise increase the humidity and dilute
formula by adding more water.

References

Bell, K. J. 1981. Breeding and hand-rearing the Nicobar Pigeon Caloenas nicobarica.
International Zoo Yearbook Vol. 21.

Blachard, B. 1992. Hand-rearing a New Zealand Pigeon Hemipha n. novaeseelandiae.

International Zoo Yearbook Vol. 31.

Harrington, P., Ferguson, A. and Joseph, P. 1 999. Hand-rearing a Superb Fruit Dove Ptilinopus
superbus at London Zoo. Avicultural Magazine 105,2:57-64.

Nigel Simpson is Curator of Birds at Bristol Zoo Gardens , Clifton, Bristol
BS8 3 HA, UK. Website :www.hristolzoo. org.uk

126

BIRD WATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES
by Graham Thurlow

In April 2008 I joined a group of five fellow enthusiasts on a three week
birdwatching trip to the Philippines. Although a holiday, I suspect that many
would not have classed it as such, as it involved a great deal of hard walking
and much of our accommodation was very basic - at one camp there were
no facilities whatsoever. As one of the group observed, the trip overall was
a good example of ‘extreme birding’ !

We made our way to Manila (some having stopped in Singapore for a
few hours birding en route), where we assembled before leaving for Mount
Makiling, an inactive volcano situated a few hours drive to the south-east
of Manila.

We stayed overnight at Trees Lodge, where we had a few hours sleep
and then got up before dawn to walk along a nearby track in the surrounding
forest and were rewarded with sightings of a Philippine Hawk-Owl Ninox
philippensis and, following daybreak, views of Black-chinned Fruit Dove
P til in opus leclancheri , White-browed Shama Copsy chits luzoniensis,
Philippine Trogon Harpactes ardens, Philippine Hanging Parrot (Colasisi)
Loriculus philippensis , two species of malkohas Phaenicophaeus spp, as
well as flowerpeckers and sunbirds.

The climate was hot and humid, but the sights and sounds of the
forest distracted us from any discomfort. The large forest butterflies were
particularly noticeable and there was the constant “churring” of cicadas
which, from time to time ceased, only to return in a sound version of the
Mexican wave. The “buzzing” would be heard from far off and would
gradually come closer and would become louder before dying away again
- it was quite an assault on the senses!

From there we drove to nearby Los Banos and visited the botanical
gardens, where we had good views of Indigo-banded Kingfisher Alcedo
cyanopectus and, along a track bordered on each side by fields, saw Spotted
and also Barred Buttonquail Turnix ocellatus and T. suscitator respectively.
The highlight for me, however, was a Hooded Pitta Pitta sordida watching
us from a lower branch of a bush in nearby woodland.

Another start at an ungodly hour the next morning resulted in sightings of
Tarictic Hombill Penelopides panini and Philippine Serpent Eagle Spilornis
holospilus. We then returned to Manila for a flight to Tuguegarao in the
north-east of the island, where we were met by our guide for the next few
days. He was driving a jeepney , a vehicle which passes for a bus in the
Philippines. Open at the back and sides and with a canvas roof and wooden

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

127

benches running the length of the vehicle, it offers a natural form of air
conditioning (albeit warm air) and a rather uncomfortable ride, exacerbated
by the many unmade roads and tracks we encountered. Our guide took us to
his home where we were met by a group of men who were to be our porters
for the next leg of the journey. En route we passed fields in which maize
was being harvested and laid out in the middle of the road on sheets to dry,
regardless of any cars, lorries or jeepneys that might drive over it.

Our destination was a camp at Hamut, a remote birding site high in
the Sierra Madre mountains of northern Luzon. We set off on foot for the
foothills and our first camp in the late afternoon, taking three hours of very
hard going to reach it, and arrived to find that the porters had already erected
our tents. They were in the process of preparing our meal of rice and tinned
tuna which, together with rice and omelettes, was to be our main diet for
the next four days. How the porters managed to carry the loads, which they
organised between themselves, I shall never know; it was desperately hot
and the going was quite steep.

During the hike, as dusk approached, we had excellent views of Savanna
Nightjars Caprimulgus affinis displaying and, at camp, fireflies glowing from
a nearby tree gave it the look of a Christmas tree covered with fairy lights.
The following morning we saw Rufous Coucal Centropus unirafus and
both Luzon Striped and Golden-crowned Babblers Stachyris striata and S.
dennistouni respectively in the vicinity of camp before setting off for Hamut.
As we climbed higher we had good views of the surrounding countryside
and saw the extent to which the lower elevations of this mountainous area
had been cleared of trees to make way for agriculture.

It took us most of the day to reach the camp at Hamut and as the day wore
on I began to wonder whether I would survive to see it. It was desperately
hot, although the shade of the forest that we travelled through did give some
slight relief, and birding became of secondary importance to the speed of
my heartbeat and my aching legs. Pauses to catch breath did, however,
provide an opportunity to observe and appreciate the countryside that we
were travelling through, with huge trees covered in epiphytes and tree ferns
and with a dense understory. It was the dense understory that made birding
difficult - the birds could be heard but not seen - at least not by me. Those
I did see included Yellow-breasted Fruit Dove P occipitalis , Blue-throated
Bee-eater Merops viridis , Rufous Hombill Buceros hydrocorax, Tarictic
Hombill, Philippine Fairy Bluebird Irena cyanogaster , Blue-headed Fantail
Rhipidura cyaniceps and Yellowish White-eye Zosterops nigrornm.

The camp proved to be very basic and entirely lacking in facilities. We
slept in tents under a large canvas awning while the porters slept on poles
lashed together and covered only by a blanket. Food was cooked on a camp

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THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

fire and anyone who wanted to wash had to resort to a nearby stream for
a dip. I suspect we probably made quite an aromatic group by the end of
our stay.

On the two mornings we were at Hamut a group of Rufous Hornbills flew
into the tall trees surrounding the camp and made a welcome distraction from
our regular breakfast of porridge. After breakfast we would set off into the
surrounding forest or walk along the nearby mountain ridge looking for birds.
Again, the dense vegetation made observing birds difficult - they certainly
knew how to make the best use of the available cover - and I found it more
productive to sit and wait in a particular spot, rather than being constantly
on the move. On one such occasion, at a point on the ridge looking down
onto the forested mountain slopes, a group of five Rufous Hornbills flew
across the valley below me, their wings making a very audible “whoosh”
as they flew. It was a truly memorable sight.

One bird that everyone wanted to see was the Whiskered Pitta P. kochi
that inhabits the area and, although two members of the group did get a
fleeting glimpse, it remained elusive. A popular method of enticing birds
into view was to use a taped call of the bird in question - and we used this
method for the pitta. It did respond and came quite close but remained
annoying out of sight.

Our return to the lower camp was, from my viewpoint, welcome as the
vegetation was less dense and the birds were easier to see. The journey
down was almost as difficult as our ascent as the ground was quite slippery.
Few birds were observed as we descended, although we did see a Peregrine
Falcon Falco pereginus and a number of hanging parrots.

The following day was perhaps the hardest I have ever endured. On
setting off from camp we took a detour from our set route to look for Green¬
faced Parrot Finches Erythrura viridifacies but unfortunately the bamboo
was not at the correct stage of growth to attract them, therefore, we drew
a blank. We then had a three hour walk back through the foothills to our
guide’s home and, as the morning wore on, it became increasingly warm
until we were walking in a temperature of 39°C (102.2°F), with virtually
no shade. I came as close to heat exhaustion as I ever want to. There were,
however, highlights even at this temperature, with good views of Pied Harrier
Circus melanoleucos and I was delighted to see Scaly-breasted Munia or
Spice Bird Lonchura punctulata and Blue-breasted or Chinese Painted
Quail Coturnix chinensis. Seeing these well-known cage birds in such an
environment really did make one reflect on how these birds manage to cope
with our British climate.

Our next destination was Mount Polis in north-central Luzon. As we
walked towards the birding area we passed some houses with half a dozen

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

129

cockerels tethered outside, presumably destined as fighting birds, and also
the only fat dog I saw in the Philippines. We saw a major passage of swiftlets
Collocalia sp. while on the mountain, as well as, amongst other birds. Island
Thrush Turdus poliocephalus and Chestnut-faced Babbler S. whiteheadi.
We then drove a short way to where a swift flowing river bisected a valley
and were lucky to see a Luzon Water Redstart Rhyacornis bicolor. The
mountainous scenery was quite stunning with rice paddies terraced into the
mountain sides and small villages of wooden huts clinging to the slopes. We
then returned to Manila to accommodation best forgotten. On switching on
the light in my room an army of cockroaches scuttled for cover and whoever
was responsible for wiring the lights in the room was clearly unaware of
health and safety. I was pleased to head off for Palawan the next day.

An early morning flight took us to Porta Princesa, Palawan, where we
hoped to see the migratory Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes and Palawan
Peacock-Pheasant Polyplectron emphanum , amongst other species. Having
seen the former at Garceliano Beach, we drove to Sabang, the gateway to
St Paul’s National Park on the west coast of the island, with the view to
searching for the peacock-pheasant. Again the scenery was stunning with
tropical beaches backed by forest or massive cliffs. It was also very hot
and humid and when we eventually arrived at our beach-side villas, which
were basic but very acceptable, the first item on the agenda was to raid the
local bar for its cold bottled beer. En route we had sightings of Blue-headed
Racquet-tail Prioniturus platenae (a species of parrot), Green Imperial
Pigeon Ducula aenea , Blue Paradise-Flycatcher Terpsiphone cyanescens
and Palawan Flowerpecker Prionochilus plateni.

To reach St Paul’s we took a banco (small boat) along the coast and landed
at the beach opposite the reception area, where we were greeted by a splendid
male Palawan Peacock-Pheasant that had become habituated to visitors and
came over to us hoping for titbits. We also saw the endemic White-vented
Shama C. niger and some of us had a brief glimpse of a Tabor Scrubfowl
Megapodius cumingii , before a very large Water Monitor Varanus salvator
arrived and stole the show. This was also one of the few places where we
had good views of monkeys - these were Long-tailed Macaques Macaca
fascicularis which gather at the visitor centre for handouts.

Then it started to rain, monsoon style. It was to be a downpour that lasted
into the next day, and resulted in all of us being soaked to the skin; it also
did irreparable damage to the more sophisticated options on my camera,
although thankfully it continued to take photographs. It was, apparently,
caused by a typhoon off Mindanao.

The following day saw me dip (birding parlance for missing something
others have seen) on Blue-naped Parrot Tanygnathus lucionensis (very

130

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Philippine Frogmouth.

Graham Thurlow

Graham Thurlow

Mountain White-eye.

annoying), but later I was the only one to see a Philippine Cockatoo
Cacatua haematuropygia , which raised one or two eyebrows. My record
at identifying some of the small passerines was, I confess, not brilliant, but

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

131

Graham Thurlow

Male Palawan Peacock-Pheasant.

I do know a cockatoo when I see one. Other birds seen while on the island
included Palawan Hombill Anthracoceros marchei and the rare Little Curlew
Numenius minutus.

Our final day on Palawan involved a visit to a penal colony where some
trails within the prison grounds were said to be good birding territory.
However, other than jail birds (scientific name unknown) we did not see a
great deal, but just outside on some marshy ground spotted Long-toed Stint
Calidris subminuta and Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola and, in a nearby
field, a large flock of Chestnut Munias or Black-headed Nuns L. malacca
together with some Scaly-breasted Munias or Spice Birds.

From Palawan we flew back to Manila and then to Davao on Mindao,
from where we had a long drive to Bislig, on the east of the island, which
was to be our base for a couple of days. We arrived at midnight and were
up again at 4.00am (not an unusual occurrence on this trip) and drove to an
area known as PICOP which is, in fact, an area of forest that is being logged
by the PICOP Resources Co-operation. We wanted to look for Steere’s
Pitta P. steerii and the Mindanao Wattled Broadbill Eurylaimus steerii. We
succeeded in seeing both species, though it meant sitting or standing for
hours and, much as I enjoy watching and waiting for wildlife to appear,
forest birding in which very little happens for long periods, can be very like
watching paint dry. We also saw a White-eared Dove Phapitreron leucotis in

132

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

a small wicker cage hanging from the roof of a wooden shack. It was used,
apparently, as a decoy to attract others that were caught using bird lime and
were a source of food for the owner.

Other birds seen in the area included Amethyst Dove P. amethystena ,
Silvery Kingfisher A. argentata , Writhed Hombill Aceros leucocephalus,
a lovely Blue Fantail R. superciliaris , Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis
panayensis, Guaiabero Bolbopsittacus lunulatus (a small parrot common
in forested areas) and Coleto Sarcops calvus.

While driving around this area I was struck by the very basic standard
of living of many Filipinos, particularly those living in the countryside.
Houses built of bamboo poles and placed on stilts contrasted with the
ultramodern shopping mall, with shops selling the latest fashions and
electronic equipment, seen in Manila.

One of the highlights for me on this trip was the couple of evening visits
to a disused airfield outside Bislig. We sat on the roof of our jeep and had
excellent views across fields of rough grass and a pond with a reedbed around
it. In the grassland large flocks of Chestnut Munias were clearly visible
and Black Bittern Dupetor flavicollis , Yellow Bittern Ixohrychus sinensis
and Cinnamon Bittern I. cinnamomeus at the water’s edge, together with
Philippine Duck Anas luzonica , Watercock Gallicrex cinera and White-
browed Crake Porzana cinera. A Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel flew
overhead and we saw a Grass Owl Tyto longimembris in the distance.

Further birding in this area of Bislig resulted in us seeing Blue-crowned
Racquet-tail Pdiscurus , Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx melanurus,
Everett’s White-eye Z. everetti and Philippine Frogmouth Batrachostomus
septimas , the latter sitting on a branch close to the roadside and appeared to
revel in having its photo taken.

Our final destination was Mount Kitanglad, an active volcano in the
Kitanglad Mountain Range, reached by driving to Malaybalay in Buckidnon
Province to the north-west of the island. There we met up with a local official
to obtain a permit and for the chicken sacrifice ceremony to ensure that all
went well on our trip up the mountain.

We stayed at the Del Monte Lodge, which by the standards we had
become used to, turned out to be quite acceptable. The ground floor was
open on three sides and was where we ate. It also had a toilet and cold
shower. The sleeping accommodation was above, on the floor in sleeping
bags. Thankfully, there were no rats.

Birding entailed quite an uphill walk to our main observation point, en
route passing through forested areas and cultivated fields in which we saw
large flocks of Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava. The observation point
overlooked a valley with thickly forested slopes opposite and on our second

THURLOW - BIRDWATCHING IN THE PHILIPPINES

133

walk up the mountain we had clear, but distant, views of a Philippine Eagle
Pithecophaga jefferyi , a ‘must see’ bird for the trip and quite splendid.
Others species seen included Mountain Shrike Lanius validirostris , Black-
and-cinnamon Fantail R. nigrocinnamomea , Apo Mynah Basilornis miranda,
Short-tailed Starling A. minor , Plain Bush-hen Amaurornis olivaceus ,
Mindanao Racquet-tail P. waters tr add, flowerpeckers, Mountain White-eye
Z. montanus and Red-eared or Mount Katanglad Parrot Finch E. coloria
feeding on some flowering shrubs.

The above are but a few of the 304 species that were seen during the trip,
in many cases hard won but well worth the effort

Avicultural Society Council Member Graham Thurlow retired last year
from the post of Chief Advisor to DEFRA ’s (Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs) Animal Welfare Division.

* *

*

UK BREEDING RECORDS

Members who successfully bred birds in the UK this year (2009) are
invited to list the birds they bred on the Foreign Bird Federation (FBF)
Breeding Record Form that accompanies this issue of the magazine and return
the completed form to: Reuben B. Girling, 1 1 Deramore Drive, Badger Hill,
York YO10 5HW. Using the information supplied, Reuben will collate the
Avicultural Society UK breeding records and these will be published in the
magazine (but with the names of the individual breeders omitted).

The results will also, as usual, be forwarded to the FBF, which will
publish the results in the FBF Breeding Register , with the names of the
breeders published in a separate list at the end of the register. Breeders can,
however, request anonymity and have their names omitted (no addresses
are published).

The completed forms will ultimately give Reuben hours of “enjoyment”
and, who knows, might lead to an article containing some real and
encouraging surprises!

134

HORNBILL FAMILY ADOPTION REPORT

In 2008, the society again adopted two pairs of hombills, a pair of Great
Hombills Buceros bicornis and a pair of Rhinoceros Hombills B. rhinoceros ,
as part of the Hornbill Research Foundation’s Hornbill Family Adoption
Programme in Thailand.

The female of our adopted pair of Great Hombills on Budo Mountain, part
of Budo Sungai-Padi National Park, Bacho District, Narathiwat Province,
was imprisoned in the nest cavity on February 1 st and emerged 96 days later
on May 7th. One chick fledged successfully on June 1 6th. A massive 99.6%
of the food brought to the nest, which was observed by Dohha Panoh and
Gorsem Dhauree of the Pacho team, consisted of fruit, especially figs.

Male Great Hornbill bringing fruit to the nest 20m (approx. 65ft) above
the ground in a Dipterocarpus tree.

The female of our adopted pair of Rhinoceros Hombills, also on Budo
Mountain, was imprisoned in the nest cavity on May 27th and emerged 45
days later on August 26th. One chick fledged successfully on October 6th.
Over 90% of the food brought to the nest, which was observed by Dohha
Panoh and Jehsoh Bueraheng of the Pacho team, consisted of fmit, again

HORNBILL FAMILY ADOPTION REPORT

135

mostly figs.

Male Rhinoceros Hor n hi ll bringing fruit to the nest 11m (approx. 36ft) above
the ground in a Shorea faguetina.

136

HORNBILL FAMILY ADOPTION REPORT

There follows a summary of hombill nestings on Budo Mountain along
with, for comparison, summaries of nestings at the project’s north-eastern
research site at Khao Yai National Park and its western research site at Huai
Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand.

The study area on Budo Mountain, which covers an area of 1 89sq km
(approx. 73 sq miles), was formerly covered by tropical rainforest, but is
experiencing heavy encroachment and the clearance of forest to make way
for fruit and rubber plantations. Approximately 40% of the remaining
forest supports six species of hornbill: Great, Rhinoceros, Helmeted B.
vigil , Wreathed Aceros undulatus , Bushy-crested Anorrhinus galeritus and
White-crowned Berenicornis comatus.

Species

No. of

No. of

No. of

Success

existing

nests

successful of sealed

nests

sealed

nests

nests

Great Hombill

51

18

16

89%

Rhinoceros Hombill

38

6

3

50%

Helmeted Hornbill

9

1

1

100%

Wreathed Hornbill

11

1

1

100%

Bushy-crested Hornbill

11

2

2

100%

White-crowned Hornbill

9

0

0

0%

Total

129

29

23

79%

Khao Yai National Park covers an area of 2,168sq km (approx. 875sq
miles). Approximately 90% of forest cover (evergreen forest) supports
four species of hombill: Great, Wreathed, White-throated Brown Hombill
Anorrhinus or Ptilolaemus austeni and Oriental Pied Hombill Anthracoceros
albirostris.

Species No. of No. of No. of Success

existing nests successful of sealed

nests

sealed

nests

nests

Great Hornbill

43

29

29

100%

Wreathed Hombill

35

16

15

94%

White-throated Brown Hombill

24

13

13

100%

Oriental Pied Hombill

51

29

29

100%

Total

153

87

86

99%

Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, situated in the western part
of Thailand, covers an area of 2,780sq km (approx. l,075sq miles).
Approximately 75% of the various forest types, including monsoon

HOKNBILL FAMILY ADOPTION REPORT

137

evergreen, hill evergreen, mixed deciduous forest and secondary growth, are
utilised by six species of hombill: Great, Rufous necked A. nipalensis , Flam
pouched A. or Rhyticeros subruficollis, TickelFs Brown Hombill Anorrhinus
or Ptilolaemus tickelli , Oriental Pied Hombill and Wreathed Hombill.

Species

No. of

No. of

No. of

Success

existing

nests

successful

of sealed

nests

sealed

nests

nests

Great Hombill

21

18

12

67%

Rufous-necked Hombill

10

4

4

100%

Plain-pouched Hombill

7

5

5

100%

TickelFs Brown Hombill

8

6

6

100%

Oriental Pied Hombill

25

21

20

95%

Total

71

54

47

87%

Flocks of Wreathed Hombills were recorded, but no nests were

found during the survey.

Incidents of unrest in the southernmost provinces rendered some areas
unsafe and work had to stop for a while, leaving some of the 2008 data
incomplete. Work was also hampered by prolonged periods of heavy rain.

The Hombill Research Foundation, headed by Pilai Poonswad, is based
at the Faculty of Science at Mahidol University in Bangkok. Its Thailand
Hombill Project has received the overwhelming cooperation of local villagers
in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, who previously
earned extra money by robbing hombill nests and selling the chicks. Now,
villagers are employed as field assistants who, along with staff of the Thailand
Hombill Project, collect biological data, monitor hombill populations and
safeguard the hombills throughout the year.

As noted above, the Hombill Research Foundation also has research sites
at Khao Yai National Park in the north-east of the country and at Huai Kha
Klaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in the western part of Thailand.

Pilai Poonswad has expressed the programme’s gratitude to the
Avicultural Society for its support in helping to conserve these fascinating
birds in Thailand and, she says, it both needs and welcomes our continued
support.

In 2009, we have again adopted two pairs of hombills, this time choosing
a pair of Wreathed Hombills and a pair of White-crowned Hombills.

138

IS PRINCE RUSPOLI’S TURACO
THREATENED BY HYBRIDIZATION WITH
THE WHITE-CHEEKED TURACO?

by Luca Borghesio, Tolera Kumsa, Jean-Marc Lemould and
Afework Bekele

The Ethiopian plateau is home to two endemic species of turaco, the
widespread White-cheeked Turaco Tauraco leucotis, with two subspecies
T. 1. leucotis and T. 1. donaldsoni , and Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco T. ruspolii,
which has a small and restricted range on the southern part of the plateau.
The ranges of T. ruspolii and T. 1. leucotis abut along a narrow strip of land
along the north-western edge of the former’s distribution (see Fig.l). While
the White-cheeked Turaco remains relatively abundant and is therefore not
considered to be a threatened species, Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco has for many
years been on the Red List of globally threatened species.

In 1 995, one of us carried out a survey of T. ruspolii and concluded that it
remained reasonably common (population about 1 0,000 mature individuals)
and was most abundant in the north of its small range of just 7,700sq km
(approx. 2,975sq miles) (Borghesio & Massa, 2000). Although T. ruspolii
and the closely related T. leucotis both occur in the same region, they were
separated by their choice of habitat (T. ruspolii choosing woodland and the
forest edge, with T. leucotis preferring closed-canopy forest); no evidence
was found of hybridization.

In 2002, however, the first observations were reported of T. ruspolii x
T. leucotis hybrids (Lemould & Seitre, 2002), whose hypothesis was that
hybridization might have been the result of habitat barriers separating the two
species having become blurred due to rapidly occurring habitat destmction.
Hybridization might, therefore, be a new threat to the survival of one of
Ethiopia’s most charismatic endemic birds.

In 2007-2008, Tolera Kumsa (a student at Addis Ababa University)
undertook a pilot survey of the northern part of the range of Prince Ruspoli’s
Turaco, to investigate the co-existence and hybridization of these two species
of Ethiopian turacos. Here we briefly summarize his results and highlight
the need for further research:

1 . November 2007-March 2008 a total of 374 points were surveyed in
an area of approximately 50km x 10km (roughly 30 miles x 6 miles),
where the ranges of the two species abut (Fig. 2).

2. At each point, recordings of vocalisations of Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco
and the White-cheeked Turaco were played for 10 minutes. The recorded

BORGHESIO ET AL - TURACO HYBRIDIZATION

139

Fig. 1. Distribution of turacos on the Ethiopian plateau.

Fig. 2. On this satellite image of the survey area, forest appears as deep red,
mainly agricultural areas are pinkish and bush/woodland is pale grey.

140

BORGHESIO ET AL - TURACO HYBRIDIZATION

calls elicited the vocal responses of nearby turacos, the presence of
which would otherwise have been difficult to detect, had they remained
silent.

3 . Contact was made with the White-cheeked species at 1 1 2 points, with
Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco at 59 points and with hybrids at eight points.
The distance in metres between the observer and the birds was measured
in each instance in order to obtain an estimate of the abundance of each
of the turacos (for a given number of observed individuals, estimated
density per unit area increases if detection distances decrease, because
the same number of individuals are located in a smaller area).

4. Despite the relatively low number of observations, hybrid turacos were
found in the entire area, suggesting that hybridization is a widespread
phenomenon.

5. The White-cheeked Turacos were usually a greater distance from
the observer (average distance 125m (approx. 400ft)) than the Prince
Ruspoli’s Turacos (average distance 52m (approx. 170ft)). This was a
consequence of the much louder calls of the White-cheeked Turacos,
compared to those of Prince Ruspoli’s Turacos, and suggests that the
apparent greater abundance of the White-cheeked Turaco (as indicated
by the higher number of birds detected) was a consequence of the larger
area ((125/52)2=5.8 times larger) around the census point, in which
White-cheeked Turacos could be detected. In synthesis, Prince Ruspoli’s
Turaco and the White-cheeked Turaco remain widespread and numerous
in the study area.

6. Hybrids had by far the shortest detection distances (only 36m (approx.
1 1 8ft)). This suggests that hybrids are more difficult to detect and identify.
As a consequence a substantial number of hybrids were probably missed
or mistaken for pure individuals of one of the parent species. Only hybrids
seen at close distances can be reliably identified. Thus, the apparent low
prevalence of hybrids (eight individuals at 374 sample points) is, judging
by other evidence, a substantial under underestimate.

7. There are differences in the habitat preferences of the White-cheeked
Turaco, Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco and hybrids. The White-cheeked
species occurs in more forested habitat than Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco,
which reaches high densities in woodland and along the edges of forest.
Hybrids tend to occur in similar habitats to Prince Rupoli’s Turaco but
usually with a greater preponderance of crops and plantations, which
suggests that human-driven habitat change might be one of the causes
of hybridization between T. ruspolii and T. leucotis. Unfortunately, due
to the small sample size - only eight hybrids were observed - this is at
present a very weak hypothesis and much more fieldwork is needed to test

BORGHESIO ET AL - TURACO HYBRIDIZATION

141

it properly. The differences in habitat selection between Prince Ruspoli’s
Turaco, the White-cheeked and hybrids can be seen in Fig. 2, in which
the study area is shown in infrared satellite visualization. This offers
support to the hypothesis that habitat degradation in the area is leading
to hybridization between Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco and the White-cheeked
species.

The survey yielded a number of interesting - albeit preliminary - findings.
Firstly, the suggestion that hybrids are widespread and probably abundant in
the study area is worrying and might call for a revision of the conservation
status of Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco. Secondly, the data seem to suggest
that habitat degradation is indeed increasing the chances of hybridization
between Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco and the White-cheeked species. Thirdly,
it is unusual for a forest species to apparently be invading the range of a
non-forest relative. We would have expected the reverse to happen. The
questions arise: how is this happening and what is the role of human-driven
habitat change in this process? A possible explanation is that increasing
afforestation with exotic trees ( Eucalyptus spp. and Curpressus lusitanica)
may be providing T. leucotis with the ‘stepping stones’ by which it can invade
the range of its relative Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco.

Unfortunately, the importance of these preliminary findings is reduced
by the fact that they are based on such a low data sample - just eight hybrids
- which means that no definite conclusions can be reached on the prevalence
of hybrids and their habitat selection. Therefore, a follow-up survey is a high
priority. We are now in the process of selecting a new Ethiopian student at
the University of Addis Ababa, to continue the work begun by Tolera. The
task of the new student will be to undertake a survey of the areas around
Kibre Mengist, Zembaba Wiha, Haro Bori and Lolotu that Tolera was unable
to visit. These sites vary from those in which the natural vegetation remains
largely untouched (Haro Bori and Lolotu) to others where there has been a
marked human impact (the vicinities of Kibre Mengist and Zembaba Wiha).
This will allow us to test the hypothesis that hybridization between these
two species of turacos in southern Ethiopia is driven by human impact on
their habitats. Based on this hypothesis, we expect that the prevalence of
hybrids will be greatest in man-modified habitats, especially those in which
large plantations of exotic trees are found, and lowest in areas in which the
natural vegetation remains dominant.

Acknowledgements

The above research was funded by Conservation des Especes et
Populations Animales (CEPA), France, Zoologische Gesellschaft fur Arten-

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BORGHESIO ET AL - TURACO HYBRIDIZATION

und Populationsschutz (ZGAP), Germany, Chester Zoo, International
Turaco Society (ITS), The Avicultural Society (UK) and A1 Wabra Wildlife
Preservation (AWWP), Qatar. We gratefully appreciate the support of these
sponsors.

References

Borghesio, L. and Massa, R. 2000. Status and conservation of Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco Tauraco
ruspolii. Ostrich 71:355-358.

Lemould, J-M. and Seite, R. 2002. Observation d’hybrides naturels entre le Touraco a joues
blanches Tauraco leucotis et le Touraco du Prince Ruspoli T. ruspolii. Alauda 70:247-251.

Luca Borghesio, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois
at Chicago, 60607 Chicago, IL, USA. E-mail: lborgh2@uic.edu

Tolera Kumsa and Afework Bekele, Biology Department, Addis Ababa
University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. E-mail :afeworkbekele@
hotmail.com

Jean-Marc Lernould, CEPA-Conservation des Especes et des Populations
Animates - 1 7 rue de l ’etang, 68440 Schlierbach, France. E-mail :lernould@
association-cepa. org

The Avicultural Society gave £300 (approx. US$495/€360) towards the
cost of the above survey and, at the Council Meeting held at Colchester
Zoo on March 28th, agreed to give a sum of €500 (approx. £415/US$680)
towards the cost of a follow-up survey. This matches the sum given by the
International Turaco Society.

* * *

FORTHCOMING INTERNATIONAL PARROT
CONVENTIONS

In 2010, the Loro Parque Fundacion is organising the 1st International
Convention on the Conservation of Psittacidae - Science, Policy and
Practise, which will be held September 20th- September 22nd, followed by
the VII International Parrot Convention, which will take place September
22nd-September 25th, both at Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. To learn
more about these events, including the objectives of the conventions, the
speakers, registration and accommodation information, etc., you can visit the
Loro Parque Fundacion Websiteiwww.loroparque-fundacion.org or E-mail:
congreso20 1 0@loroparque.com

143

SEARCHING FOR THE BLACK-COLLARED LOVEBIRD
Agapornis swindernianus IN UGANDA

by Rene Wuest

I have for more than 1 5 years been keeping and breeding virtually all of
the Agapornis species occurring in aviculture, although it must be said, not
all at the same time. I have tried all the various ways of keeping them - in
pairs, in flocks and in breeding colonies. I have also harboured an interest
in the countries of origin of the birds in my care. However, it was to other
continents that I travelled, even though I always had the desire to travel to
Africa one day.

Black-collared Lovebirds live high in the trees and are rarely photographed.

The only Agapornis species about which there is very little information
is the Black-collared Lovebird A. swindernianus. Lovebird enthusiasts will
readily understand why the Black-collared Lovebird has such a special allure.
After a lengthy preparation time spent reviewing the sparse literature that is

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available on this lovebird, with the help of atlases I searched for the places
where museum specimens had been collected and, eventually, decided upon
a new travel destination - Uganda.

Once referred to as the “Pearl of Africa” by Winston Churchill, Uganda
is situated in the north-east of the “Dark Continent” by Lake Victoria, the
second largest freshwater lake in the world. Uganda has many natural
wonders, such as the White Nile and its various rapids, and the Rwenzori
Mountains and the famous Mountain Gorillas Gorilla g. herengei. As
well as various species of apes and monkeys, there are more than 1,000
species of birds. Six or seven of them are species of parrot, two of which
are lovebirds.

The nominate form of the Black-collared Lovebird A. s. swinderniamis
was first described in 1820 by Heinrich Kuhl (1784-1821) and named in
honour of his teacher Prof. Theodor van Schwinderen (1784-1851) of the
University of Groningen. In 1 895 the subspecies A 5. zenkeri was described
by Anton Reichenow (1874-1941) and named after Georg Zenker (1855-
1 922), who zealously collected specimens and made botanical discoveries at
the research station at Jaounde in the Cameroons and sent them to Reichenow
at the Natural History Museum in Berlin. In 1908, a third subspecies, A. s.
emini , was introduced to science by Oscar Neumann ( 1 867-1 946). However,
with the only morphological difference being a more curved bill, the validity
of this subspecies has been questioned by many scientists. A similar situation
probably applies to the Uganda Red-faced Lovebird A. pullarius ugandae
which, in 1 908, was also described as a new subspecies by Neumann. The
examples I have seen to date did not show a clear difference in the colour
of the rump - but that is a topic for another day.

The Black-collared Lovebird does not have a white periophthalmic ring,
but a black one with a yellow iris. The bill is black. The general plumage
is green with a narrow black collar on the nape, below which the plumage
of the Uganda birds is tinged with orange-red, which partly extends onto
the breast.

The exact distribution of the Black-collared Lovebird is unclear.
However, on the basis of museum specimens, it is known to occur in: Liberia,
Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and
Uganda. It has yet to be established whether the Congo, Central African
Republic, Nigeria, Benin and Togo should be included.

There is also Sierra Leone, where in February 2007, Dowsett-Lemaire
and Dowsett (2008) heard its characteristic calls over the canopy of primary
forest near Konella in the Gola Forest, close to the border with Liberia. It
confirms, they believe, that Black-collared Lovebirds were the unidentified
species of lovebird seen in the same area and elsewhere in the Gola Forest

WUEST - BLACK-COLLARED LOVEBIRD

145

by Allport et al ( 1 989). It had not previously been recorded in Sierra Leone
and is the westernmost record for this species.

There was originally an enormous belt of rainforest stretching right across
the Equator and the Black-collared Lovebird’s future distribution will, of
course, depend on there being large connected areas of primary and secondary
forest. However, as elsewhere in the world, there is rampant deforestation
and, in most African countries, all that remains are varying-sized fragments
of the forests that once existed.

According to present scientific knowledge the Black-collared Lovebird
occurs only in forested areas. For this reason we wanted to begin our search
in the Semliki National Park in Uganda. However, the day before our
departure I received an e-mail from the Tourist Office there warning us that
it was closed to visitors. Congolese rebels had apparently entered the park,
which is located on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and,
as a result, the area was considered unsafe.

We therefore decided to restrict our search to the Budongo Forest Reserve.
The reserve covers about 793sq km (495sq miles) and lies 700m- 1,270m
(2,300ft-4,200ft) above sea level. It is located in the districts of Hoima and
Masindi near Lake Albert in the west of the country. The reserve is made
up of primary and secondary forest and is the last remaining large connected
forested area which changes to grassland and savannah. The temperature is
on average more than 25°C (77°F) and the precipitation is between 100mm-
1 ,000mm (4in-40in) during the year.

Some 470,000 people live in Masindi District, as well as 84,000 head
of cattle, 314,800 goats and 502,700 chickens. You can imagine therefore
what pressures there are on the last untouched areas. The district is, of
course, considerably larger than the reserve. There are not only some 366
species of birds, but also more that 250 butterfly species and several primates
including Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes. The so-called “Royal Mile” is known
worldwide amongst ornithologists. This road with its large trail system
provides excellent access to the forest and its fascinating flora and fauna.

We were based in the nearby grounds of Nyabyeya Forestry College,
which is on a hill. There was no running water, no electricity and our
choice of meals was restricted to rice or potatoes. We started out early
each morning before dawn. It was very eventful as the first Grey Parrots
Psittacus erithacus flew over while it was still dark (!) and others followed
later in the half-light. One could see pairs flying from the forest down into
the valley. During one evening expedition we observed our largest flying
flock of up to 50 birds.

But back to the Black-collared Lovebird. On March 17th 2007, the
second day of our stay, two pairs of Black-collared Lovebirds flew over

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WUEST - BLACK-COLLARED LOVEBIRD

our heads. As they fly quite rapidly, we had to remain very alert. However,
one can tell very quickly from their shrill cries that they are Black-collared
Lovebirds. On the first occasion we succeeded in recording their cries and
replayed these daily. We managed twice to entice birds in our direction, but
they never flew lower than 50m-60m (165ft-200ft) above the ground.

We succeeded in taking our first photographs on April 6th 2007. We
observed a pair with four young. Another pair with just one youngster made
a brief stop in a 60m (200ft) tall Muhimbi tree, otherwise known as the
Uganda Ironwood Cynometra alexandri. Unfortunately it was not possible
to entice these extremely shy birds any lower.

On April 13th 2007 we saw a pair with two young, again at a height of
about 60m (200ft), on this occasion in a silk tree Albizia sp. Unfortunately,
we did not find any feeding trees, which might have provided better
opportunities for observation. The birds we saw were obviously just passing
through and did not stay long. My supposition is that the birds roost in
primary forest and also breed there, but in the mornings forage in secondary
vegetation. The fields of the local people, just outside the reserve, are within
easy reach of the secondary forest and, if danger threatens, the birds can
quickly disappear back into the forest.

With the support of our guide Martin Okot, I was able to question local
farmers. If, we managed to elicit a response, it was that they only ever
saw Red-faced Lovebirds. According to Bates (Schwitchtenberg, 1982)
A. s. zenkeri was often observed with Red-faced Lovebirds. Both species
feed on fruits in the crowns of wild fig trees. If it is difficult enough for an
expert to tell a female Red-faced Lovebird from a Black-collared Lovebird
in the field, then I would not like to rely on the evidence of local people,
who mostly responded to our questions about the Black-collared Lovebird
with a shrug of the shoulders.

The possibility that Black-collared Lovebirds visit the fields cannot be
discounted. On the contrary, I believe it to be highly likely as, in addition to
fig seeds, maize, insects and millet have been found in the crops of specimens
that have been collected (Forshaw, 1989). Unfortunately, we were not there
during the harvest period.

The Belgian missionary, Pater Hutsebout, who worked in what is now
called the Democratic Republic of Congo, is probably the only person to have
kept Black-collared Lovebirds alive in captivity. He had to provide them with
fresh figs every day, as they would not eat substitute foods. Without fresh
figs they would die within three to four days (Bouet in Forshaw, 1989).

We closely examined the large fig trees Ficus spp. The Sycamore Fig
F. sycomorus, which has fruits of up to 4cm (UAin) in diameter, is amongst
the species that occur in eastern Africa. However, according to the literature

WUEST - BLACK-COLLARED LOVEBIRD

147

the Black-collared Lovebird appears to specialise in feeding only on small
figs. Our efforts to search for these fig species were very arduous and made
more difficult because we could not move freely in the forest. The Budongo
Conservation Field Station Chimpanzee Conservation Project area surrounds
the “Royal Mile” and meant that we had to obtain a range of permits, firstly
from the national forest authorities and, then local permits, after having
submitted proof that we had received various inoculations. I could obtain
these only through ZGAP (the Zoological Society for Species and Population
Conservation, Munich), as no private individuals are allowed access to the
area. The food plants of the tree types Harungana and Rcmwolfia, mentioned
in some of the literature, do not occur in Uganda.

We also searched for nesting hollows and termite mounds in which,
according to some of the literature, the nests of Black-collared Lovebirds
can be found. We were, however, unsuccessful. In the Budongo Forest
the termites are mainly ground-living, which leads me to suppose that the
Black-collared Lovebirds do not breed in their deserted mounds, but in tree
hollows.

It is interesting to note that we observed young with their parents in early
April and succeeded in photographing a juvenile with its parents, because
July is often mentioned as the breeding time, although this is based on a
single observation. At the present time there is no other reliable information
on the breeding period, the fledging time and how long the young remain
with their parents after fledging. Further investigation is needed.

According to Dr Wolf Gatter (pers. comm.) the nominate form of the
Black-collared Lovebird^. 5. swindernianus was last seen in the Ta! National
Park in the Ivory Coast in 2005. The original distribution areas in Liberia
are under serious threat.

Even if the subspecies A. s. zenkeri is supposed to be of least concern
because of its large area of distribution, I would like to point out that in
all African countries much of the forest is being removed and, as already
mentioned, this will lead to that which remains being restricted mostly to
just a few connected fragments of forest.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my expedition team: Christina Hester, Schwabisch
Hall; Vincent Odama, Masindi; Martin Okot and Medi Lwere, Kampala; as
well as the African Bird Club (ABC) and Dr Nigel Collar, Cambridge. I
would also like to thank Tony Pittman for translating the original German
text into English.

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Bibliography

Allport, G., Ausden, M., Hayman, RV., Robertson, P. and Wood, P. 1989. The Conservation
of the Birds of Gola Forest, Sierra Leone. Study Report 38. International Council of Bird
Preservation, Cambridge, UK.

Arndt, T. 1990-1996,2000. Lexikon der Papageien. Bretten.

Borrow, N. and Dermey, R. 2004. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Africa. Christopher
Helm, London.

Byaruhanga, A., Kasoma, P. and Pomeroy, D. 2001. Important Bird Areas in Uganda. East
African Natural History Society, Kampala.

Carswell, M., Pomeroy, D., Reynolds, J. and Tushabe, H. 2005. The Bird Atlas of Uganda.
British Ornithologists’ Club & British Ornithologists’ Union, Oxford.

Collar, N.J. 1997. Family Psittacidae (Parrots) pp.280-477. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and
Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol.4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx
Edicions, Barcelona.

Dharani, N. 2005. Field Guide to common Trees and Shrubs of East Africa. Struik, Cape
Town.

Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Dowsett, R.J. 2008. Selected notes on birds of Gola Forest and
surroundings, Sierra Leone, including three new species for the country. Bulletin of the African
Bird Club 15,2:215-227.

Forshaw, J. M. 2006. Parrots of the World -An Identification Guide. Princeton University
Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA & Oxford, UK.

Forshaw, J. M. 1989. Parrots of the World. Third Edition. Blandford Press, London.

Fry, C. H., Keith, S. and Urban, E. K. 1988. The Birds of Africa. Vol .3. Academic Press,
London.

Gatter, W. 1997. Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, East Sussex, UK.

Juniper, T. and Parr, M. 1 998. Parrots - A Guide to the Parrots of the World. Pica Press, East
Sussex, UK.

Lantermann, W. 2001. Agaporniden - Unzertrennliche artgerecht halten und ziichten.
Reutlingen.

Parkes, K. C. 1960. Geographic and Seasonal Variation in the Black-collared Lovebird
Agapornis swinderniana. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 80:3-6.

Robiller, F. 1997. Papageien, Band 2. Stuttgart.

Rwabwogo, M. O. 2005. Uganda Districts Information Handbook. Fountain Publishers,
Kampala.

Schwichtenberg, H. 1982. Die Unzertrennlichen. Wittenberg.

Sinclair, I. and Ryan, P. 2003. A comprehensive illustrated field guide - Birds of Africa south
of the Sahara. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.

Snow, D. W. 1976. Agapornis swinderniana in Ghana. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 96:106.
Stevenson, T. and Fanshaw, J. 2004. Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa. T & A.D. Poyser,
London.

Rene Wuest, Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and
Populations (ZGAP), Germany. Tel: ++ 49-71 52 26032/Fax: ++49-7 152
26031/ E-mail :rene.wuest@zgap. de/Websites :www.zgap.de & www.
papageienfonds. de

149

THE SOCIETY’S VISIT TO EXMOOR ZOO

by Philip Schofield

Avicultural Society members and their guests visited Exmoor Zoo in
September last year and after lunch were taken on a conducted tour of the
public and off-show exhibits by Head Keeper Derek Gibson.

The zoo began life as a bird garden in 1982. Over subsequent years
additional land was added and it now occupies 5 hectares (approx. 12 acres)
plus 3 hectares (approx. 7 acres) which remain undeveloped. It has been
under the current ownership of Danny Reynolds (who is Director/Curator)
and Lynn Reynolds (who is Commercial Director) since 1993.

A few reptiles occupy well-laid out compartments in a small tropical
house as one enters the zoo. These include one of the smaller crocodilians,
identified as Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman. Mammals on view include a selection
of smaller primates, from marmosets and tamarins to gibbons and howler
monkeys.

Hoofstock in the collection include Blackbuck (sharing their paddock
with Maras) and two male Sitatunga. The latter inhabit a marshy enclosure
containing a pond, which they share with Whooper Swans and a Capybara.
A group of Asian Short-clawed Otters (a pair with its two five-year old
daughters) is fed six times every day, the aim being to keep the group active
and interested in life by providing a succession of small meals throughout
the day. Other mammals include Tree Porcupines (which are bigger than
I had expected), Bat-eared Foxes (two males) and a group of Bennett’s
Wallabies.

A pair of Cheetahs, excluded from conservation breeding plans because
of genetic defects, nevertheless look good in their hillside enclosure, from
which the pair has a wide view of the surrounding landscape, something that
can provide much in the way of enrichment for zoo carnivores. Exmoor’s
other large cat is a female black Leopard, one of only a few such panthers
currently in UK collections. This animal, housed in a high and well-planted
enclosure, is promoted as the ‘Beast of Exmoor,’ a reference to the many
reported sightings of feral large cats in the area. Leopard, Puma and Lynx
have all been reported on the moor and there has been some interaction
with the collection’s Leopard. Much has been written about the supposed
presence of large cats living wild in the British countryside, without much
supporting evidence. However, a very tame female Puma was caught in
Scotland some years ago and Jungle Cats and Lynx have been recorded as
road casualties.

Smaller predators have made their presence felt at Exmoor Zoo, with

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SCHOFIELD - EXMOOR ZOO

a female White-naped Crane having been killed on the nest by a family
of Stoats, putting an end, at least temporarily, to Exmoor’s run of success
with this crane. While one might expect crane chicks to be at risk from
this versatile little predator, an adult crane might be expected to be safe.
It seems that Stoats hunting in a family group are a force to be reckoned
with - and almost impossible to keep out of open paddock-style enclosures.
Demoiselle Cranes have been bred at Exmoor and a number of home-bred
birds were on view. Other paddock birds include Rheas and White Storks,
while a pair of Black Storks occupy a tall aviary which incorporates telegraph
poles as uprights.

As a result of recent breeding activity, Crowned Plovers had chicks and
we saw a group of three Superb (Spreo) Starlings and a hand-reared White-
crowned Robin Chat, while Southern Ground Hombills had fertile eggs
in an incubator at the time of our visit and Quaker Parakeets were among
other birds which had bred successfully. White-throated Laughingthrushes
and Buffleheads had both laid eggs but failed to hatch them and the trio of
Red-rumped Caciques had attempted to nest, but had been unsuccessful.
Ringed Teal, which share an aviary with smaller birds, have never laid,
which is unusual for this normally prolific little duck. A pair of Montserrat
Orioles had hatched young but failed to rear them. This species, rescued
from the Caribbean island of Montserrat by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation
Trust, after most of the mountain forest was destroyed by volcanic activity,
appears now to be well established at Jersey Zoo and has been distributed
to a few other collections with a view to building up a captive population
for conservation purposes.

The first of the New World orioles to have anything approaching a self-
sustaining captive population, it reminds one of the other species from this
family that used to be commercially imported, that nobody ever bothered
to try to breed. Some of the hangnests and troupials, as we used to call
them, might have been as adaptable to captive breeding as the Montserrat
Oriole appears to be. Exmoor Zoo was first in the UK to breed the White-
browed Coucal and we saw the latest streaky-plumaged chick sitting in
sun; the parents had eggs again. The zoo’s success with these coucals (the
White-browed being only the second species of this aviculturally neglected
family to have been bred in the UK) and with Blue-throated Conures, that
we also admired, have been described in recent issues of the Avicultural
Magazine.

The aviaries at Exmoor are mostly tall and well-planted. A particularly
attractive enclosure, utilising the semi-circular framework more commonly
used for large, polythene greenhouses, houses a collection of wading birds
including, what was said to be, the only Chinese Pond Heron in the UK.

SCHOFIELD - EXMOOR ZOO

151

This is not the moment to discuss the ethics of the commercial importation
of wild birds; however, individuals like this heron remind one of the many
species one is unlikely to see again. Also in this enclosure was a single
Oystercatcher, for which a mate had just been received and was being held
off-exhibit. I always think that this species is unfairly neglected from an
avicultural point of view, in favour of the more delicately built (and more
delicate in constitution), though surely no more attractive, Avocet

One of the world’s most numerous and maligned avian species is the
Red-billed Quelea, enormous numbers of which are destroyed in Africa as
an agricultural pest, and which was formerly imported as a cage and aviary
bird in almost equally large numbers. When it was freely available, nobody
seemed much interested in it. Sharing a large aviary with other birds at
Exmoor, I saw a male Red-billed Quelea and another bird which looked as
so it might belong to a related species. It was not easy to make a positive
identification in the high and well-planted aviary. Had I known beforehand
that they were there, I could have taken along a widowed female from my
own collection to join them.

A magnificent pair of Lady Amherst’s Pheasants attracted much attention.
Pure-bred examples have become more available in recent years, following
San Diego Zoo’s importation of wild stock from China, and the origin of
the Exmoor pair looked as so it could be traced back to this source. This
magnificent pair apart, however, pheasants were not much in evidence.

Corvids are represented by a group of Azure-winged Magpies and a
very tame Red-billed Blue Magpie. The latter is imprinted on humans and
cannot be trusted with a female; a true pair is housed off-exhibit. Birds
of prey are represented by a pair of Palm-nut Vultures and there are pairs
of African Spotted Eagle Owls and White-faced Scops Owls. Among the
parrots, we admired the Red-fronted and Blue-throated Macaws, also the
groups of Patagonian, Golden-crowned and Jendaya Conures, the last two
species living together. Pigeons include Wonga, Common Bronzewing
and Chestnut napcd Imperial. This is the only collection I know in which
Humboldt Penguins share a lake with waterfowl. They appear to thrive in
this setting; a similar arrangement succeeded well over many years at Rode
Tropical Bird Gardens (now sadly closed). Among the waterfowl at Exmoor
are two male Goosanders.

It is impossible in these brief notes to do justice to this little gem of a
zoo. Belatedly, I realise I have not mentioned the Bali Starlings, Speckled
Mousebirds, Black-headed Caiques and Smew, all of which caught the eye.
It was an enjoyable day out on which we saw well-kept and well-chosen
species in an attractive setting. It is a zoo that is certainly worth visiting
again in the future.

152

BOOK REVIEWS

WHY DOES MY PARROT...?

Written by the renowned parrot expert and author Rosemary Low, Why
does my Parrot...? is one of a series of such books published by Souvenir
Press. Rosemary’s book is aimed at pet parrot owners and offers answers
to frequently asked questions on various aspects of parrot behaviour.
Rosemary’s love of parrots and her concern for the highest standards of
welfare are clearly evident in her writing.

The book is divided into three main parts. Listed on the contents page
as All About Behaviour, Part One is re-titled Behaviour Therapy for Parrots,
further into the book. This section comprises two chapters: the first, What
Affects Behaviour, emphasises that the personality and behaviour of the
owner have an enormous impact on the behaviour of a pet parrot. Rosemary
pulls no punches in stating that loud and threatening people and those with
no real interest in wildlife should not keep parrots. She then goes on to
consider other factors that may influence parrot behaviour, these include
health and diet, the age of the bird, its physical and social environment,
whether it is wild-caught or captive-bred, if it was hand-reared and the
conditions under which it was reared. The second chapter looks at causes
of what are considered to be unacceptable behaviours in pet parrots. Past
history and changes in the people in the household, as well as developmental
changes as the parrot enters adulthood, are considered and case histories
are discussed.

Part Two, What is a Parrot?, again comprises two chapters. The first
considers how parrots live in the wild and the second is a brief review of
parrot species and their behaviour and stresses that not all are equally suitable
as companion birds. Not everyone, and in my experience, not everyone’s
landlord, close neighbours or family, will tolerate the loud screaming of
a macaw or cockatoo. When recently married and living in a very small
ground floor town flat, I was green and naive enough to buy a nervous
Goffin’s Cockatoo that I thought we could offer a good home. Once home
he screamed very loudly from dawn, which as it was midsummer, meant he
screamed from very early in the morning! I had no choice but to return him
to the seller after only a few weeks and feared it might not be the first or last
change of home for this unfortunate parrot. As Rosemary warns would-be
owners, one should think very carefully before purchasing a parrot. Neither
the parrot or purchaser benefit from mistakes and perhaps if I had thought
more carefully before ‘rescuing’ the cockatoo I would, given my personal
circumstances, not have bought him. I still feel sad about this and would

BOOK REVIEWS

153

not want to make such a mistake again.

In Part 3, which comprises the bulk of the book, an A-Z format is used to
consider and discuss many aspects of parrot behaviour, often with reference
to relevant case histories. Screaming by parrots is treated well by Rosemary,
who gives suggestions as to its causes and offers possible solutions. Another
common problem encountered with pet parrots is feather plucking and
again causes and suggestions are given on how best to prevent this. Sadly,
in the case of some individual parrots, both screaming and feather plucking
may become entrenched and prove extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to prevent. Too many parrots have suffered as a result of our desire keep
them as caged companion birds in the comfort of our own homes. If this
book helps prevent or reduce that suffering and leads to an improved rapport
between parrot and owner, it will be of great value to both pet parrots and
their owners.

Why Does my Parrot...? (ISBN 978-0-285-63840=2) by Rosemary Low
was published earlier this year in this revised 208 page paperback edition
by Souvenir Press, 43 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3PD. Price
£9.99.

Roger Wilkinson

INTERNATIONAL ZOO YEARBOOK

The 2009 International Zoo Yearbook Volume 43 has three papers of
special interest to aviculturists. In the first section, Sustainability of Activities
in Zoos and Aquariums, O. Walter, J. A. Ellis and L. Bingaman Lackey
attempt to answer the question: Will the EU ban on bird imports mean the
demise of bird populations in EAZA collections? In the second section, The
Developing Zoo World, J. Cornejo describes the breeding programme for the
Homed Guan at Africam Safari in Mexico and a veterinary team report on
the long-term monitoring of endoparasites in birds-of-paradise at A1 Wabra
Wildlife Preservation in Doha.

Will the EU (European Union) ban on bird imports (which became
permanent on July 1 st 2007) mean the demise of bird populations in EAZA
(European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) collections? The answer to
this question must surely be yes. Undoubtedly many species are likely to
disappear, but deciding which these are likely to be is, at this early stage,
difficult to say with any great certainty. The authors chose six families:
toucans, turacos, hornbills, corvids, Estrildidae finches, true finches,
weavers and white-eyes/zosterops for closer analysis in the belief that the
pre-2007 populations contained a relatively high proportion of wild-caught
birds. Then using data entered onto the International Species Information

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System (ISIS) by EAZA zoos (83% of which are members of ISIS), they
considered which of these families are most vulnerable due to a reliance on
commercially imported birds obtained from dealers. The feeling that the
ban will cause the demise of EAZA bird populations was not upheld by the
data used, they concluded, except in the case of the white-eyes. The authors
question the quality of the data available to them which they used to reach
their surprising conclusion, but do not let any of this prevent them remaining
remarkably optimistic about the future. They believe that EAZA zoos
“might” increasingly turn to private collections to obtain many of their birds
and, therefore, will in future work more closely with private aviculturists
(perhaps through “Accredited Associate schemes and EEP procedures”),
although they concede that the latter will be hardest hit by the ban. There
is a derogation, so far largely untested, which will allow some birds to be
brought into the EU by EAZA zoos for approved conservation projects.

In the second of the aforementioned papers, Juan Cornejo describes the
diet (mainly avocados1, grapes and bananas), housing, breeding (2002-2008 a
total of 33 chicks were hatched from 66 eggs produced by five different pairs),
the nest, eggs, the natural and artificial rearing of chicks and chick growth
(including the growth of the horn) of the Endangered Homed Guan at Africam
Safari, a private zoological institution at Puebla in Mexico. The paper
includes a number of photos, graphs and tables. Table 1 lists the institutions
in the Horned Guan International Studbook holding this species, the number
each holds and the number hatched from 1990-2007 (about 50 more birds
are held in non-participating institutions in Mexico and Guatemala). The
list includes two pairs at Vogelpark Walsrode in Germany, a pair at St Louis
Zoo in the USA and 30 birds (13.12.5) at Africam Safari. Sadly, the author
concludes that current breeding levels are not sufficient to maintain a viable
population in the long-term, without a number of improvements.

The authors of the paper on endoparasites in birds-of-paradise at A1
Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP), evaluated the results of over 4,400
documented faecal parasitological examinations of 90 individuals of six
species of birds-of-paradise. At the beginning of 2007, the collection
included: 1.1 Magnificent, 16.9 King, 24.16.2 Greater (4.5.1 from mainland
New Guinea, 18.9 from the Aru Islands and 2.2. 1 hybrids), 2.3. 1 Lesser, 2.2
Red and 6.1.1 Twelve-wired. The last named, the most insectivorous of those
listed and one that has been known to search for prey by digging in the ground
in the wild, showed the greatest susceptibility to parasite infections. The
prevalence of endoparasites was found to vary between the different species

1 It should be noted that some varieties of avocado can be highly
toxic to some birds (see Birds and Avocados Avicultural Magazine
Vol. 108, No. 1, pp.37-38 (2002)).

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155

and also between the sexes, as well as according to the type of housing, e.g.
whether or not the aviary had a soil or concrete or tiled floor and whether or
not the floor might have been contaminated by the droppings of wild birds.
Table 2 provides a detailed dosing and treatment plan.

The International Zoo Yearbook Volume 43 is published on behalf of The
Zoological Society of London by Wiley-Blackwell, 9600 Garsington Road,
Oxford 0X4 2DQ, UK. Visit:www.interscience. wiley.com/joumal-info for
the price and other information.

Malcolm Ellis

* * *

FOSTERING PIGEONS AND DOVES

In an attempt to increase the number of pigeons and doves being bred,
Paul Boulden is planning to compile a database of information on which
methods of fostering work best and which do not. He would appreciate the
following information, including on failed attempts, from those who have
fostered pigeons and doves.

Which species have you fostered?

Which species was used as foster parents?

At which stage was the switch made, was it at the egg or chick stage?

Were the foster parents at the same stage of the breeding cycle?

Was it a success? If not, at which stage did it fail?

Did the chicks go on to breed successfully?

Information should be sent to: Paul Boulden, Hon. Secretary/Treasurer,
The Avicultural Society, The Mounts, East Allington, Totnes, Devon
TQ9 7QJ, UK. Tel:01548 52 1203/E-mail:Paul@pboulden. fsnet.co.uk

The results will be made available on the Avicultural Society website
- www.avisoc.co.uk - and will be published in the magazine, but names and
addresses and other personal details will remain confidental.

* * *

2010 SUBSCRIPTION

The time has come around again to remind members and other subscribers
that the 20 1 0 subscription will become due on January 1 st. Those who would
prefer to make the payment in US dollars will again be able to send checks
or money orders (US$38.00 for receiving magazines by regular mail or
US$50.00 by air mail) to: The Avicultural Society, c/o Jane Cooper, 12650
Hearst Road, Willits, California 95490-923 1 , USA. All checks and money
orders should be made payable to The Avicultural Society.

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NEWS & VIEWS

NOTABLE BREEDING RESULTS

Another Purple-throated Fruitcrow Querula purpurata has been hand-
reared at Wuppertal Zoo in Germany. The 2008 Annual Report lists among
the birds bred there last year: 12 Elegant Crested Tinamous Eudromia
elegans, 1.1 Red-crowned Cranes Grus japonensis , 0.1 White-naped Crane
G. vipio, 46 Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta, two Bateleurs Terathopius
ecaudatus , a Hyacinth Macaw Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus , 2.1 Andean
Cocks-of-the-Rock Rupicola peruvianus, two Yellow-rumped Tinkerbirds
Pogoniulus bilineatus, two House Wrens Troglodytes aedon and six Brazilian
Tanagers Ramphocelus hresilius.

* * *

SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CHICKS

When Josef Lindholm wrote from Dallas World Aquarium at the
beginning of June, the seventeenth and eighteenth Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
chicks Rupicola peruvianus had hatched two weeks earlier and another
female was on two eggs that were due to hatch four days after he wrote.
Dallas World Aquarium also has phenomenal success breeding members of
the toucan family, with the Many-banded Aracari Pteroglossus pluricinctus
and Fiery-billed Aracari P. firantzii , amongst the latest species to be bred
there, both probably for the first time in captivity.

* * *

CLOSED AFTER 25 YEARS

Umgeni River Bird Park in Durban, South Africa, has closed after 25
years. A spokesman for Tsogo Sun Gaming, which owned and operated the
park, said it had supported it for the past 1 0 years, but the cost of running
the park had continually increased and, sadly, it had not been sustainable
as a tourist attraction due to its location and efforts to relocate it had failed.
Most of the birds have been relocated to Montecasino Bird Gardens in
Johannesburg and other institutions.

* * *

STILL LOOKING

Dick Jaquest - Tel:01273 5 84737/E-mail : d-j aquest@toucansurf. com - is
still trying to locate a female Lilac-breasted Roller Coracias caudatus and
would appreciate any help and advice on where he might find one.

NEWS & VIEWS

157

FIRST BRED SEVERAL YEARS AGO

Here in Cornwall two White-crested Turacos Tauraco leucolophus have
been bred at Paradise Park, the collection which is credited with having
bred this species for the first time in the UK back in 1982. A Red-crested
Turaco T. erythrolophus has also been bred and a Violet Turaco Musophaga
violacea which has gone to the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Great Blue Turacos
Corythaeola cristata have produced several clutches of eggs but, to date,
no chicks have been reared.

* * *

TWO SPECIES OF HORNBILL BRED

The Silvery-cheeked Hombill Ceratogymna ( Bycanistes ) brevis and the
African Grey Hombill Tockus nasutus , have been bred at Attica Zoological
Park at Spata in Greece. The pair of Silvery-cheeked Hornbills from
Tanzania, obtained in 2000, nested for the first time last year. The female
emerged from the nest after 153 days, followed the next day by a single
youngster. A week later a second youngster emerged, this one much smaller
than the first. It had, it was estimated, hatched three weeks after the first one,
which probably explains why the female remained in the nest for so long.
Five Grey Hornbills fledged from the first nest and four from the second
nest in 2008. The pair nested again earlier this year and at least three young
were thought to be preparing the fledge.

* * *

NEWS FROM LORO PARQUE, TENERIFE

By the beginning of July, 735 young parrots of 136 species and subspecies
had been ringed (banded) and, in August, Curator Dr Matthias Reinschmidt
was delighted to announce that four Lear’s Macaws Anodorhynchus leari had
been hatched. It was the result of two pairs again having nested. Two of the
young were being raised by a pair of Green- winged Macaws Ara chloroptera
and the other two by a pair of Blue- and -yellow Macaws A . ararauna. It
means that Loro Parque now has 15 Lear’s Macaws.

Two Yellow lo red Amazons Amazona xantholora and two Marajo
Yellow-crowned Amazons A. ochrocephala xantholaema had been reared.
These Amazons are seldom kept in Europe and, therefore, these young
are crucial in helping promote self-perpetuating captive populations.
The subspecies of Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus timneh was having an
extraordinarily productive season. Eight pairs had bred and were raising
young or had gone on to incubate a second clutch of eggs. A Short-tailed
Parrot Graydidascalus brachyurus was being reared by its parents. It is
five years since this species last bred at Loro Parque. The male of the pair

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NEWS & VIEWS

has lived at Loro Parque since 1996 and has previous breeding experience,
the female who is now five years old was first fostered by a pair of Red-
shouldered Macaws Diosittaca nobilis and then hand-reared. This year she
laid four eggs, of which only one was fertile and hatched.

Housed in a new recently opened jungle-like riverscape at the entrance
to the aquarium are four Crimson-bellied Conures Pyrrhura p. perlata , a
pair of Toco Toucans Ramphastos toco , four Blue-grey Tanagers Throupis
episcopus and four Ringed Teal Calloneta leucophrys.

Loro Parque Fundacion is currently looking for responsible breeders in
all countries, prepared to buy pairs of Loro Parque-bred parrots and breed
them on a long-term basis and transfer all revenues from the sale of the
birds they breed to the Loro Parque Fundacion to help conserve threatened
parrots around the world. To obtain further information you can go to the
Website : w ww. loroparque -fundacion.org or E-mail :papageien@ loroparque-
fundacion.org

* * *

FLEDGED AFTER 34 DAYS

The July 23rd issue of Cage & Aviary Birds , p.5, included a photo of a
pair of Black- spotted Barbets Capita niger with one of three young hatched
in one of Bob Jewiss’s aviaries here in the UK. The three young fledged at
the end of June after having been in the nest log for 34 days. The pair fed
the young about 17,000 crickets and on one day shortly before the young
fledged a whole punnet of blueberries was consumed. This medium-sized
northern South American barbet was first bred in the UK at Winged World
in 1971. The breeding was described by Bryan S. Ward in the Avicultural
Magazine Vol.77, No 6, pp. 194-195. On that occasion two young, a male
and a female, were reared and left the nest after 34 days.

* * *

BLUE CRANES AND BLACK OYSTERCATCHERS

World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary, Hout Bay, South Africa has, wrote
Walter Mangold in its Newsletter No. 299, March/ April 2009, p.8, the largest
flock of Blue (Paradise or Stanley) Cranes Anthropoides paradisea anywhere
in the world. At one time it had more than 40 birds, but now the species is no
longer considered to be endangered, the number of birds is being drastically
reduced. Adventure Farm, home of the African Crane Breeding Centre, has
been sold and the 30 adult and juvenile cranes, plus seven young from the
last breeding season, during which 10 were bred, have been found temporary
accommodation at the World of Birds. Four or five pairs will probably be
retained for breeding and all remaining birds and future surplus stock will

NEWS & VIEWS

159

go to other zoological institutions.

On p 13, Walter Mangold wrote that the Pan African Association of Zoos
and Aquaria (PAAZAB) was considering establishing a captive breeding
programme and studbook for the African Black Oystercatcher Haematopus
moquini , but was advised to drop the plan by a seashore expert, who claimed
that this bird is difficult to keep in captivity due to its specific dietary
requirements. The response from the World of Birds was that oystercatchers
are commonly bred in overseas zoos, moreover, oystercatchers have been
hand-reared at the World of Birds and have been kept there for many years
on a very simple diet which they share with plovers, egrets and ibises, and
- will even eat fruit!

* * *

SEXING BLUE-FRONTED AMAZONS

Male Blue-fronted Amazons A mazona aestiva can be distinguished from
females by their larger size and the fact that they have more yellow on the
head, according to the authors of a paper published in Emu Void 09, Issue
3, pp. 192-197, 2009. They took a number of measurements and noted the
percentage of yellow on the heads of 202 birds (of the subspecies A. a,
xanthopteryx) captured in north- western Argentina. They found that males
were on average larger and heavier than females and had a higher percentage
of yellow on the head. Bill depth was the most accurate single measurement
for sexing this species, classifying correctly 80% of the individuals, all of
which had been DNA sexed. It is suggested that the difference in bill size
may be important, as during most of the year they travel together in pairs
and can therefore exploit food sources slightly differently and without
competing with each other.

* * *

A LATER RECOLLECTION

Following Nigel Hewston, Philip Schofield and Dave Cole's recollections
of the pair of Black-and-white Laughingthri.ish.es Garni I ax bicolor (formerly
G. leucolophus bicolor ) owned by Raymond Sawyer in 1987 (see Vol.l 14,
No. 3, p 1 32 (2008) & Vol.l 15, No.l, p.40 (2009)), Paul Irven has written
to say that he had the pleasure of looking after the pair when the birds were
housed in an off-show aviary at Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo,
the pair having arrived there on September 22nd 1989. He recalls that they
were very lively birds that were in first-class condition and were the first of
their kind he had ever seen. Subsequently, Paul moved onto another section
at the zoo, and does not know what became of the pair.

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NEWS & VIEWS

MODEL WHITE-EYE BRED

Sedgwick County Zoo at Wichita, Kansas, in the USA, has achieved
the first captive breeding of the Saipan Bridled White-eye Zosterops
conspicillatus saypani , as part of the Mariana Avifauna Conservation (MAC)
programme. This white-eye is not currently endangered, but was chosen as
a model for other species that may require intensive management.

* * *

SECOND CHICK HATCHED

Following the publication of our 64-page special issue devoted to Dr
Quinque’s work with the Kagu Rhynochetos jubatus , I found a second
record of a Kagu chick having been hatched here in the UK. I found it in
the correspondence section of the Avicultural Magazine Fifth Series, Vol.
II, No. 1 , January 1937, where on p.30, A. Martin, Curator of the collection
at Keswick Hall, Norwich, described how a pair of Kagus nested there and
succeeded in hatching a chick. However, because the Kagu persists in nesting
during the northern winter, the chick survived only a very short time.

The pair of Kagus was purchased in April 1936 and housed in a large
aviary with a small shelter attached. The pair quickly settled down and
during the summer underwent a perfect moult and became quite tame. In
late August the male commenced his loud and curious call, which to the
letter writer sounded like the barking of a dog and could be heard a long
way off. In early October the male was seen carrying dried leaves and grass
and placing them under a small bush. The nest was completed on October
1 4th and the egg was laid the next day. Both birds took turns to incubate the
egg, the female sitting during the day and the male at night. After sitting for
close to 36 days a fine chick hatched, but by then the weather was bitterly
cold and the chick died after about an hour - before it and its parents could
be driven into the warm shelter.

* * *

ACCESS TO EARLIEST ISSUES OF MAGAZINE

As a research scientist associated with the University of Michigan
Museums of Zoology and Paleontology, Janice L. Pappas has access to a
complete set of the Avicultual Magazine. If at any time a member needs a
copy of an article published in some of the earliest issues that may not be
readily available, Janice will, if requested, be happy to obtain a photocopy
of the required article. Requests should be addressed to: Ms J. L. Pappas,
Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, 1 109 Geddes Road,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079, USA.

AVIAN REARING RESOURCE WEBSITE

For generations aviculturists have been hand-rearing birds and over the
years protocols have been refined and improved; however, this information
is not always easily accessible and sometimes it is an art (albeit a time
consuming one) tracking down the most up-to-date information.

Only limited work has been done to measure the success of these
protocols and the long-term effects on the health and breeding success of
species that have been hand-reared; and at a time when it is vital that we all
work together in an attempt to establish self-sustaining captive populations,
it is more important than ever that if the decision is taken to intervene and
hand-rear, it is done with the knowledge that the resulting individuals will
be healthy and valuable additions to the captive populations.

Therefore, a new website - www.avianrearingresource.co.uk - has been
created to compile hand-rearing protocols, measure success rates, highlight
problems and the potential for research into improving protocols, as well
as look into the long-term survival and breeding success of hand-reared
birds.

Aims of the site

The aim of this site is to compile current hand-rearing protocols for all
species of birds, to highlight any problems rearing individual species and to
make the site accessible to all and simple to navigate. Over time it is hoped
that by sharing information we can work together to improve the quality of
hand-reared birds and minimize mortality.

Using a rating system the success of each protocol is measured and there
is a star-rating system for: the success rate, whether the protocol has been
used successfully by two or more institutions/individuals, points and criteria
for minimizing imprinting, whether the birds go on to produce fertile eggs
and whether the birds go on to successfully parent-rear their own young.

Site content

There can be as many as four or five different hand-rearing protocols for
each species, giving users a better idea as to which may be the best option for
them. A protocol template can be found on the home page, along with the
e-mail contact for any feedback etc. A hand-rearing decision tree is included
to encourage aviculturists to take the decision to hand-rear responsibly.

Additional information is also included, such as general information on
species, articles about hand-rearing and husbandry guidelines.

The site is at present in its infancy and with help and input will evolve. All
are welcome to submit protocols, which along with any comments or other
feedback can be sent to Louise Peat at: avianrearing@googlemail.com

SMITHSONIAN INSTJTUTiQN LIBRARIES

3 9088 01509 6902 j

CONTENTS

Keeping and breeding the Lesser Kiskadee Philohydor lictor
by Gary Bralsford . 113

The distraction behaviour of a female Kori Bustard Ardeotis kori
by Sara Hallager . 116

Iron storage disease (haemochromatosis) in lories

by Rosemary Low..... . 119

Hand-rearing pigeons and doves at Bristol Zoo Gardens

by Nigel Simpson . 121

Birdwatching in the Philippines

by Graham Thurlow . 126

Hombill Family Adoption Report . 134

Is Prince Ruspoli’s Turaco threatened by hybridization with the
White-cheeked Turaco?

by Luca Borghesio, Tolera Kumsa, Jean-Marc Lemould and
Afework Bekele . ..138

Searching for the Black-collared Lovebird
Agapornis swindernianus in Uganda

by Rene Wuest . 143

The society’s visit to Exmoor Zoo

by Philip Schofield . 149

Book Reviews

Why Does my Parrot...? . 152

International Zoo Yearbook . 153

News & Views . 156

Published by the Avicultural Society, England.
Produced by Data Publishing Service, Cheddar.