November 19th, 2008 by Gypsy

LA GARITA DE ALAJUELA, Costa Rica (AP) — Endangered scarlet macaws born in captivity are reproducing in the wild for the first time on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast. Three-week-old scarlet macaw chicks sit in an incubator at the ZooAve center in La Garita, Costa Rica.

The ZooAve Center for the Rescue of Endangered Species has released 100 of the birds into the wild in the past decade. But biologists didn’t spot offspring until last year, biologist Laura Fournier said.

Since then, they have recorded 22 chicks born in the wild, and four more scarlet macaw couples have laid eggs, Fournier said.

The parrots once occupied all of Costa Rica. But hunting and poaching dramatically cut their population, and they are now found only in two national parks along the coast.

The biologists’ goal is for 200 birds to populate an isolated coastal area.

Chicks are hatched at the ZooAve center in La Garita, northwest of Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. At 6 months, they take a 200-mile trip to the southern city of Golfito and then travel by boat to a beach and finally the isolated San Josecito conservation center, far from human settlements. There, they spend up to three months in captivity before being released.

The parrots, which live up to 80 years, can start reproducing at age 7. Of ZooAve’s 86 scarlet macaws, 54 are in the reproduction program.

Many parrots in the breeding program were confiscated by environmental authorities or turned in by their former owners. Some can’t leave the sanctuary because they don’t know how to survive in the wild.

“Many don’t even know how to feed themselves,” Fournier said.

October 5th, 2008 by Gypsy

Finding the right veterinarian for your pet bird
Peter Lopatin for WebVet

Finding a veterinarian who’s the right fit can be a challenge. Experience, education, and the intangible — but critical — element of trust all affect your decision. Fortunately, most communities have a number of veterinary practices that you can choose from.

However, it’s one thing to find the right vet for your dog or cat; it’s quite another to find one for your parrot, cockatiel, or lovebird. Avian anatomy and physiology are quite different from that of the cat and dog and, consequently, they suffer from a completely different variety of illnesses.
Not all vets are bird vets

Every veterinary student spends years studying the treatment of canine and feline illnesses. But avian medicine is not a required subject of study at most veterinary schools and many vets have limited experience treating birds. Typically, avian medicine is an elective subject taken only by those students with a particular interest in it.

However, there are veterinarians whose practices include avian medicine and who have special training and expertise in the field. The problem is finding them.

So, what is a bird owner to do?
Specialty organizations

Laurie Hess, DVM, a board-certified avian specialist practicing in a suburb of New York City, suggests that bird owners take advantage of two important sources of avian specialist information.

The first is The American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP), which is the organization accredited to certify veterinary specialists in nine veterinary practice categories, including Avian Practice. Veterinarians who are certified in one of the nine specialties are referred to as “Diplomates.” The ABVP site has a search function enabling the user to enter the practice category (in this case, “Avian”), as well as city and state.

ABVP Diplomate status is only granted to those veterinarians who have had six years of “acceptable” experience in avian medicine, complete a two-year residency program, and pass a rigorous written examination.

A further source of information is The Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), which maintains a veterinarian-search tool on its Web site, enabling the user to search for an AAV member by city, state, zip code, province, or area code.

The AAV is an organization open to any veterinarian with a special interest in avian medicine. While it is not a guarantee of expertise in the field, AAV membership strongly suggests that a vet is seriously interested in the field and is committed to maintaining his/her expertise.

Hess — who is also the 2009-2010 president-elect of the AAV — points out that lack of ABVP Diplomate status as an avian specialist does not mean that a veterinarian is not qualified to treat your pet bird. She points out that there are only about 120-130 board-certified avian veterinarians in the world: “There are some perfectly well-qualified avian vets who are not board-certified,” she said.

More …

September 20th, 2008 by Gypsy

TOKYO, Japan (AP) — When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor’s roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

“I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

“We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we’ve found Yosuke,” Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn’t keen on opening up to police officials.

“I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me,” Uemura said.