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FEATURE


going to change this over just a few hundred years that we have been keeping them in captivity. We need to do more research into how each species of the birds we keep feed in the wild and take a lot more notice of some very valuable work that some people throughout the world are doing in this respect. One of the most extreme examples of


how birds exist in the wild is the CAPE PARROT. This species is found only in South Africa where its preferred living, feeding and breeding is within the Yellowwood tree forests. However, continued land conversion and transformation by the South African Government is a serious threat to the survival of these forests throughout the country. As a result these forests are now very patchily distributed due to extensive logging in the past. These beautiful birds are the only Cape species endemic to South Africa and professor Colleen Downs from The School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa has been carrying out counts for the past 16 years of how many birds there are throughout the country. She has various nominated places throughout their known territories where her teams of counters in May each year carry out a count of how many birds are sighted in each location. From this a good approximation of how many birds there are throughout the country is determined each year. The very disturbing result is the fact that each


year the figure reduces and in 2013 they could only count just under 1600 birds. These birds feed predominantly on the fruit of the Yellowwood trees which they very highly prefer above all other forest fruits. They will fly great distances between the highly fragmented Yellowwood tree forests to catch the Yellowwood trees seasonal fruiting periods. When breeding they usually nest in dead Yellow wood trees laying three eggs of which only one or two chicks now seem to survive. This being due to the vast time it takes the parents to cover the sparse locations of Yellowwood trees etc., to obtain their preferred foods. However, since the reduction of Yellowwood trees throughout South Africa the birds have been getting the dreaded BEAK and FEATHER DISEASE. As a result if this continued loss of the Yellowwood trees is not stopped it will surely wipe out this beautiful bird. So does the Yellowwood tree fruit contain something that prevents the birds from getting beak and feather disease? The South African Government has now recognised the


We need to do more research into how each species of the birds we keep feed in the wild and take a lot more notice of some very valuable work that some people throughout the world are doing in this respect.


BIRD SCENE 35


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