Quasimodo's StorySpecies: Thick Billed Parrot
Hatched: 1998
Hatched: 1998
When Quasi was hatched it became apparent that he had wing and foot deformities. He was not able to join our flock of free flying Thick Bills, however he could become an education ambassador for this endangered species. Quasi has become a very popular AND VOCAL member of our Education Department.
Quasi has been part of our Clarksville, MO, and Milwaukee Zoo education team, and now entertains visitors to our Nature Center with his happy-go-lucky personality and surprising vocabulary. Even though he is a special needs bird (can't crack large nuts, has special needs when on the glove or perching, can't fly), no one would ever know it because of his engaging nature.
He loves shows, rooms that echo, people, baths in a shallow bowl, grapes, sunflower seeds, apples; however, he's not to crazy about spray baths.
Your adoption donation would help defray the expenses of caring for this captivating little urchin for the coming year.
To adopt Quasimodo, simply click our donation button, make a donation of $150, and specify in your payment notes: Adopt-a-bird: QUASI. Also include your name, phone number, and mailing address so that we can send you your adoption materials!
Every donation helps to feed, house, and provide medical care for the bird of your choice! Adopt-A-Bird Parents Receive:
Quasi has been part of our Clarksville, MO, and Milwaukee Zoo education team, and now entertains visitors to our Nature Center with his happy-go-lucky personality and surprising vocabulary. Even though he is a special needs bird (can't crack large nuts, has special needs when on the glove or perching, can't fly), no one would ever know it because of his engaging nature.
He loves shows, rooms that echo, people, baths in a shallow bowl, grapes, sunflower seeds, apples; however, he's not to crazy about spray baths.
Your adoption donation would help defray the expenses of caring for this captivating little urchin for the coming year.
To adopt Quasimodo, simply click our donation button, make a donation of $150, and specify in your payment notes: Adopt-a-bird: QUASI. Also include your name, phone number, and mailing address so that we can send you your adoption materials!
Every donation helps to feed, house, and provide medical care for the bird of your choice! Adopt-A-Bird Parents Receive:
- *A personal visit with the bird you adopt!!!!! Call 636-861-3225 to set up a time for
- your personal visit.
- * Certificate of Adoption
- * Color photo of the bird you've adopted
- * Sponsorship Card
- * One year's subscription to Mews News (our quarterly newsletter)
- * Life History and Natural History of the bird
- * 10% Discount off WBS merchandise
- * Invitation to Sponsors-only events like Camera Day
- * Discounts on WBS Special Events
- * WBS Decal
Natural History
Thick-billed parrot
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha
Description: pigeon sized; bright green overall; red forehead, eye stripe, and bend of wing, with red splotching on the thighs; a small patch of yellow on under wing coverts seen when in flight; adults have amber eyes surrounded by a yellow eye ring and black beak with dark grey legs and feet; wings and long green tail are both pointed
Sex: so similar as to be virtually indistinguishable
Age: juveniles have brown eyes and a flesh colored bill which turns black by the end of the first year; individuals may live 35-40 years
Length: 15-17”
Weight: 11-13 oz.
Habitat: high country pine and conifer forests;
Status: once inhabited the mountains of southern Arizona and south through the Sierra Madre mountains in western Mexico; extirpated from the U.S. by about 1920 through hunting activity; logging of large stands of old-growth forests in Mexico has taken a further toll on the remaining Mexican population; it is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild; 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
Range: high mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in western Mexico, migrating to their winter breeding range south of Durango to Colima and Michoacan, Mexico
Behavior: social birds that live in large flocks; an adult pair may stay together for life; nesting pairs have been known to share trees with up to three nests in one tree; breeding occurs in mid-summer to mid-fall to coincide with the peak of pine seed production; one clutch of 1-4 eggs is laid in a cavity next in a large conifer (old woodpecker holes are preferred); incubation is 28 days; hatchlings attempt their first flights at approximately 2 months, but remain dependent on parents until about 7 months
Diet: primarily pine seeds from various pine species are the preferred food; will also eat acorns, conifer buds and other food
Vocalization: large repertoire of calls; screech that can be heard up to 2 miles
√ The Thick-billed parrot is one of only two parrots formerly native to the U.S. The other (the Carolina Parakeet) is extinct
Adopt A Bird spotlights are written and photographed by Gay Schroer
Thick-billed parrot
Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha
Description: pigeon sized; bright green overall; red forehead, eye stripe, and bend of wing, with red splotching on the thighs; a small patch of yellow on under wing coverts seen when in flight; adults have amber eyes surrounded by a yellow eye ring and black beak with dark grey legs and feet; wings and long green tail are both pointed
Sex: so similar as to be virtually indistinguishable
Age: juveniles have brown eyes and a flesh colored bill which turns black by the end of the first year; individuals may live 35-40 years
Length: 15-17”
Weight: 11-13 oz.
Habitat: high country pine and conifer forests;
Status: once inhabited the mountains of southern Arizona and south through the Sierra Madre mountains in western Mexico; extirpated from the U.S. by about 1920 through hunting activity; logging of large stands of old-growth forests in Mexico has taken a further toll on the remaining Mexican population; it is estimated that there now remains only 1000-4000 Thick-billed parrots in the wild; 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
Range: high mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in western Mexico, migrating to their winter breeding range south of Durango to Colima and Michoacan, Mexico
Behavior: social birds that live in large flocks; an adult pair may stay together for life; nesting pairs have been known to share trees with up to three nests in one tree; breeding occurs in mid-summer to mid-fall to coincide with the peak of pine seed production; one clutch of 1-4 eggs is laid in a cavity next in a large conifer (old woodpecker holes are preferred); incubation is 28 days; hatchlings attempt their first flights at approximately 2 months, but remain dependent on parents until about 7 months
Diet: primarily pine seeds from various pine species are the preferred food; will also eat acorns, conifer buds and other food
Vocalization: large repertoire of calls; screech that can be heard up to 2 miles
√ The Thick-billed parrot is one of only two parrots formerly native to the U.S. The other (the Carolina Parakeet) is extinct
Adopt A Bird spotlights are written and photographed by Gay Schroer
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