Thick-billed Parrots - a Homecoming for our Native Parrot

Abstract

A raucous flash of green, brilliantly accented by red and yellow, hurls itself across an azure sky or perches quietly, dismantling a pine cone for deeply hidden, sweet nuggets. Such sightings of wild Thick-billed Parrots, re-established in their ancestral home in the desert Southwest, would bring joy to many an avian enthusiast.

For several years, conservationists and zoo groups have worked to accomplish just this, with limited success. For the most part, aviculturists have sat by, guarding these gems of the Mexican pine forests in quiet seclusion. The time has come for aviculturists to take a stand and do their part for a return of our native parrot to the skies of Arizona.

Through the intiative and persistence of Richard M. Schubot, Avicultural Breeding & Research Center (ABRC) was able to negotiate an agreement with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to allow ABRC to acquire and work with donated Thick-bills from people desirous of seeing them returned to their natural home after some 50 years of absence.

Under a new, cooperative agreement between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region #2 office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Florida-based Avicultural Breeding and Research Center, a program has been established which will allow captive Thick-billed Parrots of questionable legal origin to be utilized for breeding and future release. Any birds currently held by aviculturists or pet owners can be donated to this project without fear of legal prosecution.

History and Natural History of Thick-billed Parrots

Thick-billed Parrots (Rhynchopsitta pacbyrbyncba] represent a truly unique opportunity as well as a dilemma for American aviculture. They are the only living psittacine species native to the continental United States. As the Carolina Parakeet, Thick-billed Parrots were virtually eradicated in the early 1900s. Only a small flock was reported in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona in 1938. Early accounts from the Chiricahuas detail annual sightings and reports of breeding activity in the area. Most published reports on Thick-billed Parrots refer to shooting by hungry miners and woodsmen deriving their sustenance from the arid land. Other game species, such as wild turkey, sheep, elk and pronghorn antelope, disappeared from the region at the same time. Timbering associated with mining activities placed additional stresses on the population. Unlike the Carolina Parakeet, Thick-billed Parrots have survived in the highland pine forests of Mexico's Sierra Madres. Now they are facing new threats in their historic stronghold in Mexico. Despite international protection, these birds are being harvested for illegal trade.

The Reintroduction Project

Conservationists for many years have discussed the possibilities of reintroducing our only living native parrot into its historical range. In 1985 and 1986, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents and many aviculturists observed an enormous increase in the flow of illegal Thick-billed Parrots into the U.S. Many of these birds were confiscated and formed the nucleus of initial reintroduction efforts.

A cooperative release program between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was initiated in 1986. Since then, a number of other organizations have become involved in the project, supplying birds or financial support or both. The program receives major financial support from the Wildlife Preservation Trust, the granting arm of the Jersey Wildlife Trust in England.

Many zoos and individuals have taken an active and vital interest in the project. Susan Healey of the Sacramento Zoo currently holds the North American Regional Studbook for Thick-billed Parrots. The Tyson Research Center has initiated a captive breeding project utilizing confiscated birds not suitable for release. Nonetheless, the project suffers from a lack of releasable birds.

 

 

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