Bird's Eye View

The rarest species of parrot in the United States is the Thick-billed
parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha). Thick-billed parrots are
currently only found in the highland and pine forests of New Mexico
and Mexico. Although they lived in parts of Arizona at one time,
they are no longer found there due to pine forests being cleared out for the mining industry. They live in large flocks of up to 1000 birds. In the morning they separate into smaller flocks to look for food, coming together at night in large pine trees to sleep. The diet of the Thick-billeds is made up primarily of pine seeds, fruits, acorns, and other plant materials. In the summer months these birds travel north, and then return south again in the winter. It is thought that they go where the pine seed production is higher.

Nesting in the wild occurs from July to September in large, dead pine trees, abandoned woodpecker holes, or other tree cavities. The clutches of each pair in the flocks can range anywhere from 1-4 eggs, and are then incubated up to 30 days. By late October or early November, these birds are ready to fledge.


Currently, Thick-billed parrots are endangered due to logging and the pet trade. The World Bird Sanctuary is working with several other organizations to breed them in captivity, and then reintroduce them into Arizona. The World Bird Sanctuary has a small breeding flock on display.

Nicknamed “The Christmas Parrot," Thick-billed parrots are extremely colorful birds! I took these pictures of a small flock we have at our Education Training Center. Even though they’re cute and look harmless, parrots can apply 1000 pounds of pressure, and it only takes 7 pounds of pressure to break a human finger! Strong beaks like that come in handy when they’re trying to break open hard nutshells.


Bird's Eye View is a regular column, written and photographed by our volunteer Daniel.

Bird's Eye View

Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) are the fastest animals in the
world, reaching speeds up to 300 miles per hour. They reach these
high speeds by doing what is called a “tear drop” dive, which is
when they are high above their prey, then tuck their wings in close
to their body and drop straight at their next meal. Since Peregrines
use the impact at high speeds to kill their prey, they can only catch
their next victim if it is in the air. If there is a pigeon or duck
that is lying on the ground, Peregrines will fly by and hit it, until
it attempts to fly away. Pigeons make up most of their diet,
although they also have been known to hunt starlings, swifts, ducks, quail, and several other different species of songbirds and waterfowl.

Peregrine falcon pairs mate for life, and return to the same nesting
site annually. The most common nesting locations are on the edges of cliffs, on top of tall buildings, or on bridges. In most clutches,
three to four eggs are laid and are then incubated for 29-33 days.
After hatching, these chicks fledge at around 42-46 days, but remain dependent on their parents for about two months.

This is a young Peregrine that was hatched in 2006, at Labadie Power Plant. He was brought to our Rehabilitation Center after he had been in a collision with a vehicle in downtown St. Louis. He is now almost fully healed, but we continue to work with him on flying back and forth between our staff members to see if his
shoulder is now completely healed. As you can see in the pictures, he holds his left shoulder differently than he holds his right one. Once he is fully healed, we will release him back downtown in pigeon paradise.






Bird's Eye View is a regular column written and photographed by our volunteer Daniel.

Bird's Eye View

Meet Linus and Cayenne, two of our Green-winged Macaws (Ara chloroptera). These two beautiful parrots came to us from the Milwaukee County Zoo. During programs, Linus and Cayenne fly side by side around the stage, where they then land in a special artificial tree and collect their reward. This summer, a few of our staff members will be taking them back to the Milwaukee County Zoo, where they will again be participating in educational programs. In the wild, Green-winged Macaws are found in Central and South America in tropical forests, savannas, and mangrove swamps. Their diet is made up of seeds, fruit, berries, and leaves.

I took these pictures at our Education Training Center. Those two posed for pictures almost on cue right as I took out my camera.





Bird's Eye View is a regular column written and photographed by our volunteer Daniel.