Thickbill parrots are the only remaining parrot indigenous to the United States and are considered Rare and Endangered. It is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild, mostly found only in the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. Status is ENDANGERED. Attempts to reestablish a population in Arizona during the 1980s was unsuccessful due to the birds’ inability to elude a well established population of predator species.
The World Bird Sanctuary is fortunate to have a well established flock of these rare birds, who reside in a free flight enclosure where they are able to live in a flock as they would in the wild. It is hoped that someday our flock, as well as those from other zoos, will be the nucleus of a reestablished wild population.
Our new baby last week, trying to decide if he really wants to venture out into this scary new world.
Our youngster has fledged and is flying with the rest of the flock. Note his white beak as opposed to the black beak of the adults.
Our new baby is flying independently the full length of the enclosure, along with the rest of the flockThe next time you visit WBS, be sure to walk down the upper trail to the Thickbill enclosure and see if you can spot our new addition. Look for his white beak!
Today's post was written and photographed by Gay Schroer.
2 comments:
Congratulations on your new baby!! He is so precious. I am glad you pointed out the white beak, I may not have noticed!
Are there any plans on releasing any of the babies after predator aversion training to get them re-established in the wild?
VERY CUTE!!!
At this point in time we have no plans for release back into the wild. All attempts starting in the 1980's and 1990's failed. The birds could never figure out how to avoid predators.
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