babies! Here's a video of our newest arrival. Our flock of thick-billed parrots is thriving. This little one is being raised in the nestbox by his parents.
A little information on the thick billed parrot:
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
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
The Thick-billed parrot is one of only two parrots formerly native to the U.S. The other (the Carolina Parakeet) is extinct
That baby was just adorable!!! Are you going to release this baby or keep it for education???
ReplyDeleteThere have been attempts to reintroduce thick-billed parrots to the wild, but that goal is proving difficult because of habitat loss. For now, this little one will join his flock at the sanctuary.
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope that conservation efforts will one day make it possible for these birds to reclaim some of their natural habitat here in the U.S.