FEATURE


johnstoniae). Both are little known in aviculture and the Blue-naped Parrot has seldom been bred. Antonin showed me two youngsters with the typical almost pastel shades of the species and the lovely feather quality and intricate wing markings. These young will be retained for a


ground-breaking new bird exhibit that will open in 2017. “Ground-breaking” is true in more than one sense as contractors are currently working on the foundations in a rocky hillside. It was with great anticipation and excitement that Antonin spoke about this. His vision includes landscaped zoogeographical exhibits with appropriate birds and plants. The other parrot from the Philippines,


the tiny Mount Apo Lorikeet, is very rare in private aviculture and has not bred


Antonin lived and worked in the Philippines for a short while. This fact is reflected in the number of extremely rare bird species from those islands found in the zoo.


especially well in the few zoos that keeps it. In Prague more than thirty young have been reared. I was shown a breeding pair and two chicks in the nest-box. Currently there are not many parrot species on exhibit -- but this will all change in 2017. Today the focus is on lories, hanging parrots and fig parrots, housed in a range of aviaries in the higher part of the zoo, reached by a chair lift -- or a path built above sediments 600 million years old, the floor of an ancient sea.


Continued in the Summer Edition


BIRD SCENE 47


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