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A South African parrot to be proud of

by Steve Boyes

Parrots have the largest number of threatened species of any bird family, whereby over 90 of the 332 recognized parrot species in the world are threatened by global extinction. Around 73 species are threatened by global extinction because of habitat loss, fragmentation or degradation, while 39 are under pressure from capture and nest poaching for the legal/ illegal wild-caught bird trade. The Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus) is one of 28 parrot species affected by both pressures.

Cape Parrots are recognized as critically endangered in South Africa with only 1000 to 1500 parrots remaining in the wild, having undergone a population collapse over the last 50 – 100 years. Unjustified or unsubstantiated changes in taxonomy (i.e. classification of a species), more often than not lead to confusion, thus supporting illegal or unsustainable trade in wild species, counter-productive changes to conservation status and international trade regulations, and significant benefit to a restricted special interest groups (e.g. traders) as opposed to the species in question. Birdlife International has, therefore, been reluctant to accept the Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus) as a species separate from the Grey-headed Parrot (P. fuscicollis suahelicus) and Brown-necked Parrot (P. f. fuscicollis). They cite concerns around niche overlap with Grey-headed Parrots in Malawi and the possibility of stimulating illegal trade in what is currently recognized as a critically-endangered subspecies. Based on a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed findings of the Research Centre for African Parrot Conservation (RCAPC), the Cape Parrot Working Group (CPWG) supports independent species status for the Cape Parrot, recognizing that, based on current IUCN criteria, this would elevate their threat status from “Least Concern” to “Critically Endangered”, resulting in their likely inclusion in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I due to the observed massive population and range reduction. With a recognized global population of less than 1500 Cape Parrots in the wild their market value could soar, thus stimulating the illegal wild-caught bird trade already operating throughout their distributional range.

The risk of stimulating an already problematic illegal trade in Cape Parrots would, if unregulated, result in further population decline, but still pales in comparison to the conservation action required to save this species from extinction. These are important times in Cape Parrot conservation, and as Winston Churchill said: “The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” No longer can we dither on what amount to taxonomic technicalities, what we need now is conservation action. Recognition as an independent species by Birdlife International and CITES would provide improved access to conservation and research investment from established grant schemes, conservation NGOs, corporate sponsors, government, import/export authorities, and charitable donors. Urgency created around classification as critically-endangered is the stimulus required to gain the financial and societal investment necessary for the recovery of the Cape Parrot to population levels robust to the extinction threats of the 21st century (e.g. climate change). This option is, in many ways, more risky than no change at all, but has a better chance of facilitating the conservation action necessary (e.g. research and monitoring projects, yellowwood planting schemes, nest box projects, etc.).


Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus); (b) Brown-necked Parrot (P. fuscicollis fuscicollis); (c) Grey-headed Parrot (P. fuscicollis suahelicus)
Photos © Cyril Laubscher. All rights reserved.

The global Cape Parrot population is split equally between two disjunct populations in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, with an additional isolated population of approximately 30 parrots persisting in the Woodbush-Wolkberg forests, Limpopo Province. Cape Parrots are unique to South Africa and need to be recognized as proudly South African, a unique part of our natural heritage, our only endemic parrot species. As we prepare for the 2010 World Cup here in South Africa, polishing all our national treasures for presentation to the world, we should count the Cape Parrot in with the Blue Crane, the springbok, and the protea. We should be proud to still hear them screeching and whistling in our most pristine yellowwood forests, ambassadors of our forest heritage.

An integral part of our natural heritage are the four majestic yellowwood tree species, the Breede River Yellowwood (Podocarpus elongatus), the Outeniqua Yellowwood (P. falcatus), Henkel’s Yellowwood (P. henkelii), and the Real Yellowwood (P. latifolius). When visiting Afromontane mistbelt forests in South Africa you will often find a sign for or hear of the “big tree”, which will invariably be a gargantuan Outeniqua Yellowwood standing alone, proud in the forest. I have yet to meet someone who isn’t taken back by the sheer size and majesty of such a tree. Our passion for yellowwoods here in South Africa, however, goes far beyond their aesthetic and intrinsic value. It is much deeper, under the bark in fact, our attentions historically have been focused on the wonderful, warm yellow timber ready grown in long straight beams perfect for building ships, cathedrals, forts, furniture, wagons and much else. Shortly after the discovery of the Orangekloof forests behind Table Mountain in June 1652, we began over three hundred years of almost systematically removing yellowwood trees from the landscape mosaic. The first Dutch surveyors described these forests as “full of large, tall, straight, heavy, medium and small trees, suitable (for) the largest construction one could desire”. Well, these forests have long disappeared and so too have the large flocks of Cape Parrots reported as far south as Knysna and Storms River. But was this solely the result of logging of yellowwood trees in the past or the product of several factors (e.g. wild-caught bird trade and disease)?


Yellowwood Forest

Pioneering research on the ecology of Cape Parrots in the mistbelt Podocarpus forests of southern KwaZulu-Natal by the late Olaf Wirminghaus produced high-quality empirical data supporting a very strong link between Cape Parrots and yellowwood trees, whereby Cape Parrots are dependent on the three yellowwood species distributed within their range (i.e. Podocarpus falcatus, P. latifolius and P. henkeli) for sustenance and nesting opportunities. His research in the Hlabeni and Ingeli forests demonstrated specialized feeding on Podocarpus sp. fruits, whereby over 76% of their diet over three years constituted yellowwood pods. Similarly, 75% of Cape Parrot nesting records were secondary nest cavities (i.e. excavated by a woodpecker or barbet) in tall yellowwood snags (i.e. standing dead trees). Cape Parrots can, therefore, be considered perfect ambassadors for the Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests they depend upon. We need to recognize the distress calls being put out by these forest ambassadors and look at ways to better support these forest ecosystems and the multitude of plant and animal species that inhabit them.

Cape Parrots are long-lived (probably up to 30 years in the wild), mature late, often do not breed annually, and raise few chicks to adulthood over their lifetimes. Ongoing monitoring of Cape Parrot population levels over 12 years throughout their distributional range by Prof. Colleen Downs of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, have demonstrated that the Cape Parrot exists in a population bottleneck of approximately 1200 parrots. This population bottleneck ( a restriction like the neck of a wine bottle) demonstrates the inability of Cape Parrots to recover their population levels under current conditions. Whether this is directly linked to the number of large yellowwoods in our forests, habitat loss, avian disease, capture for the illegal wild-caught bird trade or persecution as a crop pest requires further discussion…

There is no doubt that Cape Parrots are critically endangered today due to over 300 years of intensive logging for saw timber in our yellowwood forests. In a letter written to Prof. Mike Perrin, the Chairman of the CPWG, John E. Cobby, the Regional Director of Forestry (Eastern Cape) between 1974 and 1985, admitted that “our indigenous forest management practices did not favour the (Cape) parrots”. As an avid Cape Parrot enthusiast, John lamented that “in hindsight, it is a pity that the dependence on the (yellowwood) trees was not forcefully impressed upon the forest management authorities”. The public was also in the dark, as he reported that only once was an objection raised to felling yellowwood trees in the Qacu forest. Up until recently, the removal of dead and dying yellowwood trees by local Xhosa pit-sawyers was official policy. This was done with the best intentions, as the authorities hoped to create space on the forest floor for the emergence of the next generation of yellowwoods. The practice, in fact, systematically removed almost all yellowwood snags utilized by Cape Parrots for nesting. Most patches of primary forest remaining in South Africa are legislatively or contractually protected from any further logging, and it is hoped that over the next 100 years we will see drastic improvements in the condition and extent of Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests in South Africa.


Cape Parrot feeding in an apple orchard in Hogsback

The rapid expansion of the forestry industry in South Africa over the last 60 years, has been primarily to the detriment of our indigenous grasslands, but has resulted in a reduced reliance on our indigenous forests for forest products (e.g. saw timber, firewood and wood pulp). In addition, forestry companies such as Sappi and Mondi have both contributed significantly to indigenous forest conservation and the upliftment of associated rural communities. In time, we hope to develop a dead wood removal scheme from plantations to offset reliance on indigenous forests by local communities. Let’s hope these partnerships and initiatives persist well into the future to support the conservation of our indigenous forests and their specialized inhabitants, such as Cape Parrots. Yellowwood trees form the backbone of our Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests, and planting of all four Podocarpus species and as many other tree species indigenous to these forests on a landscape scale is now a conservation priority, if future generations are going to appreciate these forests as they were. This is not to say that planting individual trees in private gardens within the distributional range of Cape Parrots doesn’t make a significant difference, as more and more we are seeing Cape Parrots turn to these “garden sanctuaries” when food resources become seasonally depleted in their natural habitat

In recent years, sightings of Cape Parrots in fruit orchards, residential gardens, homesteads, commercial centres and cities have increased significantly. In the Eastern Cape, large flocks of Cape Parrots have been reported feeding on pecan trees in Alice, King William’s Town, Stutterheim and Keiskammahoek. They have also been reported in gardens in Creighton, Boston, Bulwer and Port St. Johns, when previously daily sightings of large flocks flying between indigenous forest patches were more common place. Why is this happening? Is this a warning sign? To fully understand the situation the Cape Parrot currently finds itself in, you need to appreciate the energetic requirements of their daily lives, the daily life of a free-living parrot.

Poicephalus actually means “of the head”, speaking of the strikingly large beak and head of all Poicephalus parrots. These powerful beaks facilitate unrestricted access to most seeds inside hard fruit stones/pits and pods, while their short wings evolved for agile maneuvering in the forest canopy while feeding and evading predators. Although integral to their daily lives, these characteristics are not suited to long distance flight, elevating their energetic costs to as much as 25x that of an aerial insectivore. Cape Parrots have, however, been reported to undertake feeding forays between mistbelt and coastal forests in the Eastern Cape of over 100km each way. Daily local movements are likely more commonplace – understanding how Cape Parrots utilize the available landscape mosaic is a primary focus of the new Amathole Cape Parrot Project. These long distance feeding forays are unlikely the product of seasonal wandering due to low food availability during winter in the higher-lying areas, but rather a learned behaviour from the established routine of older parrots. Parrots are characteristically adaptable and constantly inspect new food resources, so as to track their fruiting phenology and accommodate changes in the environment and landscape. If these changes in the landscape mosaic are too rapid (e.g. poor land management or rapid climate change), resource tracking pre-dispersal seed predators with high energy requirements, such as Cape Parrots, that are dependent on forest resources spread over a large area will likely begin to lose body condition, stop breeding, and experience rapid and then gradual population decline.

The decimation of our Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests over the last 300 years has, most probably, tipped the balance towards an energy deficit for most remaining Cape Parrot populations, whereby individuals are unable to locate sufficient natural food to improve their body condition, much less to muster the energy or bodily resources for a breeding attempt. So, yes, this is probably a sign that indigenous forests are falling short of sustaining our remaining Cape Parrots. Right now, we are most likely witnessing a species struggling to avoid extinction by changes in its feeding behaviour and local movements in an attempt to discover a new way of life that can sustain breeding and thus population growth. The population bottleneck monitored over the last 10 to 15 years by Prof. Colleen Downs of the University of KwaZulu-Natal demonstrates that they have been unable to achieve this. These are risky times for a species with less than 1500 individuals remaining in the wild, and therefore, Cape Parrots need our full support in mitigating any extinction threats (e.g. disease and wild-caught bird trade) that may compound their current situation.


Logging of the forests

One threat linked to habitat quality is climate change, whereby projected changes in rainfall patterns in the southern African may further undermine our last-remaining Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests with catastrophic repercussions for Cape Parrot populations, if these changes occur too quickly. The potential impact of climate change on these forests will, I am sure, become more apparent in the coming years, thus allowing us to design a suitable conservation strategy.

Cape Parrots aggregate into large flocks of up to 80 parrots when feeding on localized food resources (e.g. fruit orchards or a really good patch of yellowwoods), thus giving the impression that they are abundant in that specific area, when in fact you are looking at almost 10% of the global population. Cape Parrots have thus, historically, been persecuted as crop pests, primarily for damage to apple and pecan orchards in the Eastern Cape. In the early 1980s, two brothers on a small farm close to Pirie forest in the Eastern Cape were actually paid annual compensation for damages by Cape Parrots to their pecan nut orchards on condition that they stop shooting them en masse. Even though we have seen a marked increase in reports of Cape Parrots feeding in suburban gardens, orchards and botanical gardens, damage has been insignificant and persecution as a crop pest should no longer be considered an important threat.

So, right now, the last 1000-odd Cape Parrots remaining in the wild are faced by two primary threats that we need to monitor and mitigate, including live capture for the illegal wild-caught bird trade and avian diseases (e.g. Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD).

Live capture for the pet trade and the subsequent illegal wild-caught bird trade has played a significant role in the descent of the species towards possible extinction. Cape Parrots were first reported as “cage birds” in South Africa in 1897 by which time most of the yellowwood forest had been depleted, and for the next 75 years were a popular pet in households within their distributional range. One writer at the turn of the 20th century remarked that “(Cape Parrots) do not take kindly to confinement; out of the several which, to my knowledge, have been caged in this neighborhood, not one seems to have survived more than a few weeks”. Over subsequent decades hundreds, if not thousands, of Cape Parrots were captured for the pet trade in South Africa. Culminating in a flourishing trade in wild Cape Parrots around 50 years ago, whereby, according to one witness, school children near Umtata in the Transkei used caged Cape Parrots to call down wild Capes flying overhead into fishing nets - these parrots were subsequently sold for £1 each. In 1962, another record documented that 23 wild, Cape Parrots were sold for R19.00 per bird by one trapper. At that time, in the north-eastern Transkei ladders were permanently in trees known to have Cape Parrot nest, so that chicks could be poached annually. Since 1974, anyone in possession of a Cape Parrot must obtain an aviary license and permit from the local District Conservation Officer, and movement between provinces requires the relevant import and export permits. Despite protection under these licenses and permits, other provincial ordinances, and national legislation (e.g. the Biodiversity Act (Act 10: 2004)) there continue to be reports of illegal trade in the species. The IUCN/PAAZAB Cape Parrot Studbook provides our best up-to-date overview of all Cape Parrots kept in captivity, monitoring all legal trade, movement, lending schemes, births, and deaths. Maintaining the studbook often involves investigating the histories of Cape Parrots of unknown origin, linking these birds to others who have disappeared from one location and reappeared in another. If you have any questions related to the studbook (e.g. anonymity) or wish to add your details to the studbook, please contact Shaun Wilkinson at the Umgeni River Bird Park (email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)). The CPWG supports the captive breeding of registered Cape Parrots, as an insurance policy for the species and too offset demand for wild-caught Cape Parrot primarily due to poor availability of captive-bred Cape Parrots. We need to facilitate the advancement of avicultural techniques to ensure the long-term security and self-sufficiency of the captive Cape Parrot population. An established, genetically sound captive Cape Parrot population could be very useful in education programs and displays, bringing this elusive species of the high canopy to the South African public. To this end, the CPWG continues to support established Cape Parrot breeders, such William Horsfield (Amazona Endangered Bird Breeding Facility), who, in addition, has been a long time supporter of Cape Parrot conservation in the wild and captivity.

Following the “boom” years of Cape Parrots in the caged bird industry in South Africa prior to the 1970s, interest in Cape Parrots in captivity has once again begun to grow since the turn of the 21st century. There have been numerous reports over the last five years detailing capture of wild Cape Parrots in Port St. Johns, Umtata, Alice, Hogsback, King William’s Town, Stutterheim, and Keiskammashoek, basically wherever Cape Parrots are distributed in the Eastern Cape. Shipments of wild-caught Cape Parrots have been reported, both officially and confidentially, in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. This re-emergence of trade in wild Cape Parrots has been largely driven by the dangerously high market value for “confirmed” breeding pairs, bolstered by the rarity of the species today and recent publicity around its threat status. Trade in this iconic bird species has existed for a hundred years and isn’t going to go away. Cape Parrots are a flagship species that, due to its natural heritage value, uniqueness (e.g. golden head) and beauty, will always be of interest to private collectors with the best and worst of intentions be they philanthropic or profiteering. We need to ensure that this growing interest does not affect wild Cape Parrot populations, but rather benefits them by generating public interest and investment. Let’s hope we achieve our goal of a captive population managed responsibly that maintains genetic variability commensurate with wild populations and 100% offsets any demand for wild-caught Cape Parrots, so that one day we have opportunity to reintroduce Cape Parrots to “those hills that used to have Cape Parrots” and keep “those mountains” that do.

Finally, avian diseases are also a significant extinction threat to Cape Parrots at current population levels, as the remaining populations are small enough to be threatened by localized disease outbreaks. Recently, a photograph was taken by Graham Russell, the Cape Parrot Big Birding Day count coordinator in Hogsback, of a Cape Parrot potentially-infected with PBFD. This strain of the disease may be endemic to the wild population and only represent itself when the parrots are under physiological pressure (e.g. malnutrition). Although unlikely, exotic avian diseases could jump from captive bird collections to wild populations with catastrophic repercussions. We need to continue monitoring wild Cape Parrot populations for any signs of disease, and as a matter of urgency acquire blood samples from Cape Parrots in the Hogsback area to determine the incidence of PBFD in that population.

This year, we have launched the Cape Parrot Trust to support the Cape Parrot Working Group. As part of our conservation initiatives, we launched the Hogsback Cape Parrot Project in May this year. The project will study the ecology of the Eastern Cape parrot population, focusing on the Hogsback-Keiskammahoek-Stutterheim-King William’s Town-Alice complex along the Amathole mountain range. We endeavour to monitor the fruiting phenology of all tree species observed in their diet, track their movements using radio telemetry from a microlight, and record their feeding activity through a network of collaborators throughout the region, including foresters, local residents, conservationists, bird guides, and local community members. This is our best chance at understanding this iconic South African parrot and saving it from extinction. In saving this forest ambassador, we will save hundreds of other species whose fate is tied up in the future of our Afromontane mixed Podocarpus mistbelt forests. I hope that I will be able to take what I have learnt over the last six years studying Meyer’s Parrots in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, and convert it into conservation action for the critically-endangered Cape Parrot.

For more information on how you can help Cape Parrot conservation please contact Dr. Steve Boyes, the coordinator of the CPWG, at the following email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Or visit our website, http://www.capeparrottrust.org

Posted by Steve Boyes on 07/14 at 09:56 AM

Arctic adventures and the way forward in African parrot conservation

by Steve Boyes

An expedition to the Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Circle, though unrelated to African parrot conservation, has much to teach us about protecting our environment and our global community. This visit left me with a clearer vision for the future, without all the doubts and worries of modern life. How can I make living? Will this be good for my career? I am going to move forward in African parrot conservation without these worries. In the knowledge that I am doing the right thing...

I recently returned from a trip on an expedition ship that circumvented Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Circle, going as far north as 81⁰N. Although entirely unrelated to African parrot conservation, beyond the Little Auk being called the “parrots of the far north”, I will relate some of the details of this Arctic expedition. Experiencing the midnight sun, witnessing climate change in action with every glacial calving, kayaking with the seals, watching Polar bears hunting on the pack ice, and visiting massive Kittiwake, guillemot and Little auk breeding colonies, were life-changing experiences that sent me back home with renewed urgency to publish my findings from the Meyer’s Parrot Project and move into a new era of conservation action in African parrot conservation. The expedition began at Longearbyen…

At first glance, the Arctic landscape appears desolate and lifeless, a frozen wasteland, the most inhospitable place on earth. Perhaps this initial perception is a reaction to not be able to process the information being provided by your senses. The freezing cold headwind on the ship, endless daylight, expansive fjords, imposing snow-capped mountains, glaciers flowing from almighty ice caps, and stark contrast of red and black lichen-covered rock faces behind rocky, green Arctic tundra, all leave the observer dazed and somewhat shocked on their first day. Maybe, this was the Russian vodka I had the night before? Either way, this was true wilderness. How could it not be?

Arctic tundra. Ahhh…Arctic tundra…my new mantra…Arctic…tundra. Arctic tundra will keep you on your knees for at least three hours the first time you experience it, on your knees photographing and identifying flowering plants, mushrooms, lichens and mosses. From a distance of 30m, the tundra is grey, rocky and uniform, but on your knees you are overcome by bright colours and intricate architecture on a scale that necessitates a magnifying glass or reversed pair of binoculars. Sunny slopes, good drainage and mature soils produce a lush carpet of flowering plants including a variety of saxifrages, Arctic bluebell, shinleaf and poppies (including the endemic Svalbard poppy). Arctic tundra is the most recently evolved biome on earth, comprising a patchwork mosaic of tough, perennial herbs and one tree, the Arctic willow, all under a few inches in height. Every now and then, you see some independent movement, you look again and you see it, a fly, again, it’s an Arctic Bunting, then later, a lemming. All you’ll ever see is a flash and then they’re gone, hence no photographs this time round. It seems these creatures have their lives in fast forward trying to cram a year of life into six months of 24-hour daylight. Whether 6am, 3.30pm or 2.45am, you’ll find insect, bird and beast doing exactly the same thing, moving quickly, and if you’re a bird, making a noise. Added to this underlying energy, is the underlying threat of the omnipresent Polar bear, the undisputed Lord of these lands. All in all, it can’t be beat, if you like that kind of thing. Well, I do, and I could spend the rest of my days learning about this fascinating ecosystem. Ever onwards…


Photograph of Polar bear on Arctic tundra

Next, we pushed the boundaries, we took on the Arctic desert. These are terminally dry, cracked, crumbling places, probably the harshest environment in the world in which to exist. From a distance Arctic desert appears as a completely uniform, smooth series of hills backing away to the mountains. No signs of ice or water, no green, absolute silence, nothing. Silence, ahhh, silence, the silence of the desert was soul-opening, leaving you exposed and almost emotional. Unexpectedly, the Arctic desert was the hardest to walk on, as the fields of glacial till, crumbling slate hillsides and coarse sandy beaches were covered in lichens, covered to the extent that the landscape was practically held together them, red, black and white, some areas so thick it looked like Astroturf. Every step had to be carefully considered. These lichens take over one hundred years to grow to the size of a dish plate. What a peaceful place, a place that will make you believe in God.

Right, this next paragraph is for the birds. Out on the open ocean, we were trailed by Northern fulmars that zoomed past the bridge, using the wind shadow and slip stream behind the ship to accelerate past, Tour de France-style. They weren’t feeding, although I am sure one eye was glued to the water, but mainly, it seemed for fun, our permanent companion. As we entered a fjord, the fulmars would peel off back out to sea, as this new spectacle came into view. In well-sheltered fjords, reasonably close to deep water, but far enough from the glacier to have clear blue water, we would find Kittiwake, Brunnich’s guillemot and Little auk colonies. Kittiwake colonies are numbered in tens of thousands, guillemots in hundreds of thousands and Little auks, who are, in some circles, reputed to be the most abundant bird on earth, in the millions. In amongst and between these chaotic, ranting colonies of hundreds of thousands of birds were breeding pairs of Glaucous gulls and Black guillemots. On new perfectly flat and uninhabited islands exposed by the receding glaciers, we would find pairs of Arctic terns and Sanderlings tending their eggs. Witnessing hundreds of thousands of birds perched on every available ledge, on top of each other, awake 99% of the time, strangely, seems very normal in this grand place. These birds come for one reason, the unrivalled bounty of the Arctic Ocean. The sea literally goes emerald green in the early summer, as green algae proliferate in the 24-hour sunlight. From space the entire ocean literally goes green. Then as the zooplankton devour the algae, the ocean gradually turns bluer and bluer as the summer progresses. The result is a teeming soup, a meriad of copipods, polychaete, amphipod, euphausiids and pteropods, that support these millions of breeding seabirds, the surviving pods of Minke and Beluga Whales, and the fish (mostly Arctic cod, white fish and salmonoids) that feed the seven seal species that feed the Polar Bears that, as a favor, feed the Ivory Gulls. To complete the circle of life, the Arctic bird colonies, ducklings, and Arctic Lemmings feed the Arctic Snow Foxes. A frozen wilderness frenetic with life through summer in preparation for the harshest winter on earth, life on the edge. Or is that? The brink.


Photograph of Little Auks ("parrots of the far north") at breeding colony


Photograph of Brunnich's guillemot at breeding colony


Photograph of Arctic puffins at breeding colony


Photograph of Arctic fox pups at their den

This wilderness area is not so far north that it is beyond the reach of global pollution and the effects of global warming. In fact, due to global warming temperature increases 12 times faster at the North Pole than at the equator. Many of the fjords we were navigating were uncharted due the fact that they were below 50 – 100m of ice ten years ago, and cartographers can’t chart all the fjords quick enough to keep up with the receding glaciers. Some of the glaciers had retreated all the way back to the ice cap. Once those disappear, it takes over a thousand years to re-establish. We walked on glaciers on several occasions and had opportunity to listen to these massive ice flows groaning and cracking under the pressure rising temperatures. These disturbing moments lying on a glacier were confirmation for me that the world is changing. We need to change or are we too far in already. Tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes and monsoons set new records every year. Lake Chad dried up and caused all the unrest in that region of Africa. We need to start making conservation decisions now that protect our wild places through these turbulent times. We need conservation action and a significant shift to a sustainable planet. Our global barometer is spiking.


Photograph of glacial calving in the Arctic

Although still cleaner than the both the North Sea and the Baltic, traces of contaminant have been found everywhere in the Arctic environment, in the air, in the soil and sediments, in snow and ice, in salt and fresh water, in fish, birds, mammals, and humans. Persistent organic pollutants, including chemical contaminants from organo-chloride insecticides and industrial chemicals (e.g. oil refineries, mines, etc.), have probably led to the weakening of the immune systems of Polar bears, Glaucous gulls, Arctic charr and Harp seals. In addition, Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) levels in Polar bears around Svalbard are 2-6 times higher than Polar Bears from Alaska and Canada. Pollutiion levels cannot be diluted anymore in this vast environment. These animals have a right to a clean environment. At present, we have heavily hunted wildlife populations that are now protected but struggling to recover due to an ailing environment and failing ecosystem.

For hundreds of years, the Arctic Ocean has been plundered for its natural resources. The Arctic region is rich in oil, gas, gold and coal resources, but for hundreds of years before the discovery of these hidden resources, the abundant wildlife was the focus and blubber was the business. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of whales, walrus, and seal were rendered into fat, Polar bears killed for sport, and Arctic foxes for their luxuriant winter coats. To feed this rush on blubber and fur, whaling boats would stock up on thousands of eggs, Arctic puffins, geese and much else. Just to put the killing into context, the quota for a whaling boat 120 years ago was 50 Blue whales or equivalent for the season. Even today, there are trapper’s huts at every walrus haul out, bird colony or secluded bay. Next to two of these huts that we visited were massive piles of walrus and Beluga whale bones. Now, at last, that the whaling, seal clubbing, puffin harvesting, Polar bear hunting and Arctic fox trapping are under control, and the Arctic wildlife are trying to recover. The Arctic finds itself less capable of recovery due to increasing levels of persistent organic pollutants and rising temperatures. Polar bears are protected, but are finding it harder to catch seals on the thin ice, resulting in females being unable to recover sufficient condition to breed and males wondering hungry into human settlements. Our solution is to either kill them or scare the life out of them by helicopter lifting them back to where they worked so hard to leave. Are we living in a world that is like this already? Is it just that, in the stark Arctic landscape, all the fat is cut away and we can see it more easily. If we protect our wilderness areas and endangered species, will they bounce back? Have we gone too far? Regardless, of the answers, the time is now, we need to change and make decisions towards a new future. Otherwise, one day we will wake up alone, in control of every aspect of our world with no truly free, wild places, no peers to share the warmth of our sun with.

In African parrot conservation we have languished in scientific investigation and monitoring for too long. We need now, in this time of rapid forest habitat loss, violence and atrocities, poverty and food crises, bushmeat and wild-caught bird trade on the African continent, to enter into a time of conservation action. The groundwork has been laid; we have the tools we need to start developing conservation project ideas that will make a difference to the safety and security of African parrots in the wild. World Parrot Trust projects, such as the “Save the Greys” campaign, are initiatives that we need to invest our time and money in. Similarly, the campaign to halt the wild-caught bird trade in southern Africa represents an investment in changing perceptions, supporting aviculture and protecting African parrots in the wild. To protect the Agapornis loverbirds, Poicephalus parrots, African Greys, Madagascan Coracopsis parrots, and Mauritian Echo Parakeets, we need to engage all governments of African parrot range states to ensure the wild-caught bird trade is halted, illegal trade sufficiently policed, and alternative livelihoods created for rural communities that persecute wild bird populations. These people are not wrong in defending themselves against perceived crop pests or trying to feed and clothe their families. We are wrong in not assisting them protect their, our natural heritage. African governments cannot be expected to achieve these goals independently, they need our assistance. Next year, I will dedicate my time to setting up the African Parrot Survey, a four stage expedition to 32 African countries aimed at checking on the status of all significant African parrot populations inside protected areas, visiting markets to measure the impact of the wild-caught bird trade, and most importantly to meet with government and conservation authorities to ensure that effective policy in place to manage the wild-caught bird trade. We have no idea of the status of the majority of African parrot populations, as most of our records are over 30 years old and range states have remained politically unstable, thus closing the door on international scientists coming in to do monitoring. I have been on several expeditions in southern Africa to check on the status of African parrot populations, and have been disappointed every time. My expedition to southern Mozambique yielded no Brown-headed Parrots. Extensive travels in Zambia recorded infrequent sightings of Meyer’s Parrots and Lilian’s Lovebirds. Sadly, there has been massive range reduction for the Ruppell’s Parrot in northern Namibia. It our responsibility as a global community to reach out to those who do not have the opportunities we have for reflection on the changes happening around us, on the imminent threat to species survival in our African forests. Credit crunch or not, we need to tighten our belts, live with less and give more.. I am not necessarily talking about donating money, I am talking about investing your mind power and energy in a new future. Think about other people, think about climate change, live a mindful life that recognizes the impact of our decisions and actions.

I am back at my desk, so more to come on the African Parrot Survey in the coming weeks.

Yours in African parrot conservation,

Steve Boyes

Posted by Steve Boyes on 10/03 at 01:30 AM

Of elephants and parrots: The uncanny relationship between African elephants and Meyer’s Parrots

by Steve Boyes

Though almost entirely circumstantial and coincidental, there are some striking commonalities between African elephants and Meyer's Parrots...

Two striking qualities of the Okavango Delta are that this massive system of islands, floodplains, and meandering channels, is home to the largest populations of African elephants and Meyer’s Parrots in the world. There are now estimated to be anywhere between 120 000 and 150 000 elephants in northern Botswana, of which approximately 50 000 seasonally frequent the Okavango Delta. Similarly, the sighting frequency of Meyer’s Parrots in the Okavango is the highest I have recorded on my travels to protected within their range in southern, central and eastern Africa. Unfortunately, in most areas sightings were limited to one or two parrots every three days, between 10 and 30 times less than the Okavango.

During the 2007 field season of the Meyer’s Parrot Project we spent March and April exploring and mapping our study area in the Okavango Delta, on foot. We spent five hours every morning out in the bush, and had the privilege of walking a wilderness area home to leopard, lion, elephant, and buffalo. We maintained very close tabs on our resident male lions and their associated pride, which visited once a week to hunt and mate. Our initial plan was to walk a sequence of sections along an outlet of Kubu Lagoon, the most significant body of water in the study area. Aerial photographs, however, revealed large, unexplored (at least recently), islands and lagoons, and on foot we found a veritable maze of small islands, salt pans and lagoons. On these islands, we found some amazing Baobab trees, large groves of Leadwood, and beautiful islands of Wild Date palms and Marula trees along the main channel. A wonderland, into which we departed eagerly every morning, anticipating the discovery of another beautiful scene or spiritual encounter with an elephant, lion, warthog or Meyer’s Parrot. It was on these walks that we began to notice direct and coincidental links between Meyer’s Parrots and African elephants.

Early in March each year, Meyer’s Parrots begin courtship and nest preparation in the Okavango Delta, and thus all active breeding pairs can be found announcing ownership of their breeding territories comprising up to 5 nest cavities. On the walks, we followed and located as many “dueting” couples as possible, in order to GPS mark nest cavities for subsequent inspection for breeding activity. Often, what we found was a single male, managing to achieve the “dueting” effect by himself. This seemed to be very attractive, as subsequent visits to the nest cavity revealed that he either had a partner or found one as a result. Active nest discovered during these walks formed the basis of the Meyer’s Parrot Nesting Project, which was launched that season, whereby we monitored nesting activity during 10-hour nest observations. In total, we recorded over 1300 hours of observations.

Just as the Meyer’s Parrots got into the swing of things, the elephants began migrating towards the Okavango Delta as the pans up north began to dry up. In late March, walking became more hazardous due to the arrival of the first wave of the migration. The breeding herds pouring into the area at this time were all haggard after daily 30 – 40 mile hikes through dry Mopane woodland between seasonal pans for the last few weeks. These elephants were, needless to say, very irritable and positively ravenous. Often the focus of their feeding activity was the sugar-rich cambium under the bark of Knobthorn Acacia trees, resulting in large section of living vascular tissue and bark being stripped off and part of the canopy or entire tree dying. In a similar fashion, elephants seemed to disturbed Mopane trees as much as possible too. Males elephants seemed to focus on pushing entire trees down to browse the canopy – it is estimated that a large bull pushes over 1500 trees a year. Females, on the other hand, are lot more gentle, and typically disturb the Mopane tree as much as possible without killing it. In so doing, they stunt the growth of these tough Mopane trees, thus creating vast areas of scrub Mopane woodland that has the appearance of stands of fruit trees or vineyards. African folklore, says that female elephants do this to ensure that the leaves of Mopane tree are available to their offspring. This makes sense, as Mopane leaves have the highest protein content of any tree in the African savanna analyzed thus far. Anyway, elephants cause a lot of damage when they return to the delta. They repeat this migration every year, as they are dependent on the winter floodwaters to sustain them through the dry season. This establishes a distinct migration route utilized by the same breeding herds each year, and engineers both Mopane woodlands and Acacia-Combretum marginal woodland flush with snags, dead branches and the resultant nest cavities. Second and third waves came in early and late April, during which we witnessed literally thousands of elephants move through our study area in aggregations of several breeding herds, including up to 50 elephants of different ages.

During 2007, the Meyer’s Parrot Nesting Project yielded nest cavity characteristics for over 40 active nest cavities. An analysis of these nest cavities revealed that over 80% of nest cavities resulted directly from elephant disturbance to Mopane, Leadwood or Knobthorn Acacia trees. In addition, when projected onto an aerial photograph, Meyer’s Parrot nest cavities were clustered along the elephant migration path that followed the edge of Kubu Lagoon. Therefore, African elephants play a significant role in the nesting ecology of the Meyer’s Parrots. Whether or not Meyer’s Parrots are as dependent on tree disturbance by African elephants in other areas requires further investigation. Nevertheless, subsequent investigation of any other connections between these two iconic species revealed the following story.

Meyer's Parrot stamps from around Africa



A study of elephant dung in the Kalahari revealed that African Ebony fruit, Marula fruit, False Mopane pods and Sycomore figs frequently appeared in the diet of African elephants. In our study, we attempted to measure the relative impact of Meyer’s Parrots on pollination and seed dispersal of 25 tree species in the Okavango Delta. This revealed that Meyer’s Parrots dispersed significant numbers of fruits and pods to the ground during feeding activity, including the above food items in the diet of African elephants. It is almost as if in an African folklore story, Meyer’s Parrot was thanking Elephant for preparing trees and branches for cavity excavation and subsequent habitation. In ecological terms, however, this contribution has no discernible impact on the dietary intake of elephants. Coincidentally, both Meyer’s Parrots and African Elephants are both long-lived, grey in colour and maintain strong familial or pair bonds. They also have distributional ranges that uncannily overlap, extending almost the length of Africa throughout the subtropics. They are both true ambassadors of the continent’s wilderness areas, largely dependent on protected areas and healthy river systems for their species survival. They are part of an age far removed from the one we know, and teachers that we would do well to stop and listen to. I have always believed that every person needs one guiding image that supports their moral framework, one symbol for a perfect world that guides them in their decisions. Mine is that of the African elephant and Meyer’s Parrot, whereby anything that would harm them is wrong, and all that would do them good is right. Simple, and applicable to all levels of endeavour, whether personal, ethical or political. For example, political and economic stability in Johannesburg make elephants and Meyer’s Parrots safer in South Africa, just the same as not damming the Okavango River in Namibia.

Elephant in the sunset; Meyer's Parrot feeding on Sausage fruit

Posted by Steve Boyes on 06/01 at 11:57 PM

Cape Parrot in trouble

by Steve Boyes

I recently visited the home of the Cape Parrot and it got me thinking…

My work on the Meyer’s Parrot in the Okavango Delta has made the Cape Parrot Poicephalus robustus and Grey-headed Parrot Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus a specific point of interest in my work, resulting in a keen understanding of their ecology and current threats.




Cape Parrot and Grey-headed Parrot (copyright and courtesy of Cyril Laubscher)

I recently visited the areas around Creighton, across the Umzimkulu River and into East Griqualand, and onwards to Kokstad. These areas are today recognized as the source of the surviving Cape Parrot metapopulation. I must confess that I wasn’t visiting the area specifically to see Cape Parrots, but rather to join friends trying to set up a tourism circuit between all the cathedrals, monasteries and chapels the early missionaries established in the region. Even after thinking deeply about any connection between these monasteries, cathedrals and schools and the Cape Parrot nothing becomes apparent. These monks did not keep Cape Parrots as pets, quite the opposite, as they preached love and respect for all living things. However, very quickly it became apparent that all of these massive structures, all the altars, prayer benches, clock towers, supporting beams, bunk beds, tables, etc, etc. were made from Yellowwood, and Podocarpus Yellowwoods are the primary food resource and nesting tree of the Cape Parrot. One of the people with us was an antique restoration specialist, so we were actually seeking out Yellowwood beams and furniture, and we found huge amounts of it! Basically, these early settlers and missionaries had decimated the resource of old growth Yellowwood trees in the surrounding areas. In between visiting these old buildings, I surveyed the area for remaining patches of indigenous forest detailed in our research at the Research Centre for African Parrot Conservation. The closest I could find to this was the Ingeli Forest Reserve, and upon closer inspection thereof I found no Yellowwood trees of a suitable age, and was dismayed to discover that the woodland had been largely taken over by Australian (e.g. Black Wattle) and South American (e.g. Solanum Bugweed) exotics. So, the rapid decline towards extinction of the Cape Parrot is understandable and seemingly unstoppable at this late stage of degradation. We have seen this happen before with the Echo Parakeet, the Carolina Parakeet and the Puerto Rican Parrot, to name just three out of many. Once again, for all out abilities and technology, we seem powerless to help another species in trouble as a result of our careless and misguided development.


On of many cathedrals constructed by missionaries in the region.

The Cape Parrot Working Group recently conducted the “Cape Parrot Day” in an effort to count flocks leaving and returning communal roosting areas. The results, I am sure will become available very soon. Let’s hold thumbs that there is evidence of a population recovery. From recent reports of Cape Parrots in trade here in South Africa and the same stories of habitat loss and degradation, I am unfortunately not hopeful. Though breathtakingly beautiful this species has had a terrible run of luck over the last two hundred years. Firstly, foresters chopped down all of the Yellowwoods, then, almost unfortunately, society fell in love with this truly South African parrot and began to trap it for the pet trade. Our adventures around Creighton, Richmond and East Griqualand yielded no Cape Parrot, however, locals reported flocks of up to 50 parrots feeding on their pecan nut plantation. There were also reports of trappers in the area and a growing trade in wild-caught Cape Parrots. This is an illegal, but very attractive practice, as price for a wild-caught Cape Parrot breeding pair is now between US$20,000 – US$30,000, and rising all the time.

I began my studies with the intention of becoming a forester, spending five years doing an honours degree in Forestry specializing in nature conservation. Upon actually working for a Forestry company I realized that doing conservation within the context of forestry was impossible. All we seemed to do was stay away from rivers, check that the rivers were still recovering very, very slowly, count ungulates in the grassland corridors for the hunting quota, and census biodiversity in adjacent plots we had not yet planted with cloned eucalyptus or pine seedlings. I must admit I produced some wonderful reports and was enjoying the trout fishing, but I had to leave, as nothing that forestry company could do within its power could ever make up for the millions of hectares of grassland already converted and the loss of indigenous, biodiversity-rich forest habitat that was never going to be reversed. By the early 1800’s the first foresters had set up extensive logging operations along the east coast of South Africa, aggressively removing Yellowwood trees to satisfy the growing market in Cape Town, requiring this timber for furniture, housing, wagons, ship building and much else. Unfortunately, unbeknown to them, the Cape Parrot was completely reliant on old-growth Yellowwoods for their food and nesting requirements. Cape Parrots had likely been in gradual decline due to the gradual drying of the coastal and mist-belt forests upon which they were dependent, but this sudden loss of keystone habitat was unprecedented. Now suddenly their food resource was becoming more and more patchy and nest cavities were altogether disappearing from some areas. Due to the increased effort required to find food the parrots were not able to muster the energy to successfully lay eggs or provision incubating and brooding hens. Basically, the population got older and older and eventually went into rapid decline. As population densities plummeted in the first half of the 20th century and the forest habitat and Yellowwoods became more and more sparsely distributed, the probability of encountering another Cape Parrot became less and less. Therefore, the opportunity to benefit from or share information on favorable food resources all but disappeared. As a lingual feeder, Cape Parrots are reliant on this mechanism to be effective in their natural environment. At just about this time, people became interested in owning Cape Parrots, resulting in the unsustainable capture of thousands of birds by professional trappers, using decoys or live birds in cages to lure Capes into mist nets. With nothing to eat and trappers in pursuit, the Cape Parrots turned on the last source of food they could find and that was agricultural crops, including nuts, citrus and apples in the region. This caused farmers to turn on this innocent victim and deliver the final “death blow”. Now there are less than 600 Cape Parrots left in the wild and I will never work in Forestry and will continue to fight the wild-caught bird trade.

It is my feeling that African parrots populations throughout Africa are declining in a similar fashion, it is just that development in range states is happening on a different timeline to South Africa. For example, 10 years after Mozambique declared the end of the civil war and began to develop Brown-headed Parrots have disappeared from the south of the country. Meyer’s Parrots have all but disappeared from South Africa, Chad, southern Zimbabwe and the whole of Zambia due to deforestation and live capture. The shrill calls of Poicephalus parrots are distinctive in the African bush, and I am afraid we are approaching a time when, in the words of Peter Mathiessen, all we will have is an “African silence”. For this reason I plan on undertaking an African parrot expedition, visiting all range states to check on their status and conservation biology, and create awareness around these ambassadors of the African bush.

For more information on this and other initiatives within the Meyer’s Parrot Project please visit our website:

http://www.africaskyblue.org/Meyers_Parrot_Project.html

Posted by Steve Boyes on 05/22 at 01:17 AM

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