prospective owners pay for their birds the more are they likely to take great care of them; this is an unpleasant fact, as all creatures under our husbandry deserve equal care and attention, but it is very true in many cases.
Marked Changes in the Popularity and Value of Species
Harking back to the late ‘sixties and early ‘seventies: the ban on Australian parrots had been in force a few years, there were practically no controls on importing most South American, Indonesia and African species of parrots. But which birds were in most demand during this period? Without a doubt, British bred Australian parakeets and colour varieties; for example, Cloncurry Parakeets and Blue Indian Ringnecks could fetch £3,000 a pair, and £10,000 was obtained in Britain for the first Albino Ringneck, all this while wild caught Scarlet Macaws could be obtained for as little as £28 each, Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoos for £12, and African Greys £9 apiece.
After the CITES and quarantine regulations were imposed in the mid ’seventies (placing importation of parrots into the hands of commercial dealers) though prices of Australian Cockatoos continued to climb, in comparison, the majority of Australian Parrakeets gradually decreased in their prices and popularity. On the other hand, the demand for such birds as South American Macaws and Amazons, Indonesian Cockatoos and African Greys was stimulated and increased rapidly, forcing up their prices manifold. In keeping with the peculiar laws of supply and demand, escalating prices of such birds rapidly increased the demand for their ownership - and massively accelerated the numbers taken from the wild.
Purity of Species versus Hybridisation So, what can we expect in the present climate of stringent controls and financial uncertainty? We can only make a calculated guess in most cases, but I believe that ‘purity’ - as well as health and hardiness - is sure to be
One of the biggest dangers to our aviary bred stocks of psittacine birds is uncontrolled hybridisation, whether it’s cross-bred Grass Parakeets, Lovebirds and Rosellas or hybrids between species of Macaws, Cockatoos, and species and sub-species of Amazons, Lories and Eclectus Parrots; all represent the same danger, which is the loss to aviculture of pure bred species and sub-species that may never again be obtainable..
52 BIRD SCENE
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