Info request regarding wild-caught parrots

[Jeske]

Hi everyone!

My name is Jeske en I'm from Holland (so excuse me for my english ). Currently I'm working on my graduation project. The subject I chose is the wild-catching from parrots and possible problems that occur.
I'm looking for people who own a wild-caught parrot (or parakeet) and want to tell me something about their experiences.
You will help a lot of you can answer the next questions (here or you can email me: [email protected]

What kind of parrot do you own?
How old is your parrot?
How long do you have this parrot?
Where does the bird come from?
In what kind of shape whas the bird when you got him?
Is your parrot tame? If so, was it hard to tame him? If not tame, why not?
Did you encounter any problems with your parrot (especially involving their behaviour)?
Do you have any other birds that are captive bred (hand-reared or not)?
Is the captive-bred parrot tame and if so how much time did it take you? If not, why not?
Do you notice any differences in the behaviour of the wild-caught bird and the captive-bred?
Were you aware of the fact this was a wild bird when you got him?

In general: Does anyone have more info or a link about numbers of bird smuggling or general information about catching parrots?

Ofcourse all other comments or questions are more than welcome!

Regards,
Jeske

 

[zarafia]

Welcome to the forum Jeske. I am sure some of the folks on here can give you some help with your project. As you probably know, the legal importation of parrots ended in the early 90s in the US.
I have owned and known many imported parrots. Currently I own one import and she is a thirty-something year old mexican redheaded (or greencheeked) amazon. She is tame, but she can be aggressive to people. She was given to our aviary to set up for breeding. We set her up with a mate and they produced young their first and second year set up and then did nothing for several years. I moved the pair up to north Florida and got one more clutch of babies before her mate was killed by a raccoon. After that happened I brought her inside my house and let her live with my male blue fronted amazon and citron cockatoo. She and the bluefront became fast friends. Then a few weeks ago in an act of displaced agression the male bluefront bit her because I got too close to her and she fell on her back and was injured. I was afraid that she might have to be put down but she has recovered very well. I am afraid to put her back with the bluefront so I am presently trying to find her a new home. I want her to go to a breeding program because she is a proven breeder and will hatch and raise her own chicks and she is an endangered species. It can be very hard to sell an import because they are all older now and there are so many handfed babies available. Which is as it should be.