Abstract
The Cape Parrot is a geographically isolated population of Poicephalus robustus in South Africa which is under serious threat, mainly due to habitat destruction. A major limiting factor for the reproduction of Cape Parrots is the availability of nest cavities. Cape Parrots prefer to nest in dead yellowwood trees (Podocarpus latifolius), and there are few of these trees remaining. To alleviate this problem Wynand Espach, general manager of the Amorentia Estate in Limpopo Province started an artificial nest-box programme in 2013, but these boxes also present difficulties. A new threat to parrot nest cavities is the honey bee, which competes for the artificial nests and completely excludes the Cape Parrots.
Therefore in 2015 the Loro Parque Fundación, The Parrot Fund, Susan Hilliard, Explore Trees and others supported a project in partnership with Amorentia Estate to implement a method, already tested by expert Caroline Efstathion of the University of Florida, of integrated pest management for bees called the push-pull method. Twenty artificial nest boxes for Cape Parrots, ten each of wood and PVC, were installed throughout the Amorentia property by highly trained tree climbers, suitably protected against the bees. Nest boxes were placed facing east, away from wind and rain, in the upper third of tall trees, 30 to 60 m high. To push the bees away from the nest-boxes, the inside surfaces of the boxes were sprayed with a safe permethrin repellent. At the same time, to pull the bees away from nests, close to each nest-box there were two bee trap boxes installed at a lower level, each with an attractant pheromone to act as a...