The time-honoured practice of hand-feeding parrot chicks has its good side and its down side. Parrot care expert EB Cravens explains, encouraging breeders to give vulnerable pet babies a head start with their avian parents before beginning the hand-feeding and socializing process.

Read EB's article (PDF) »
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Using punishment as a teaching aid is still all too common these days, whether the subject being taught is human or animal. Thankfully, it is also a source of confusion and guilt plaguing many people, and not just an unchallenged method of changing unwanted behaviour. Susan Friedman Ph.D. explains why, and gives sound strategies for reducing undesirable behaviours in parrots.

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Genus: Strigops
Species: habroptilus
Where found: restricted to Maud, Inner Chetwode, Pearl and Codfish Islands, New Zealand. Relocated.
Ecology: found in low scrubland and forest substrate. Is a ground dweller; also flightless. Feeds on leaves, roots, rimu fruits, ferns, mosses, fungi and seeds. Is also supplemented as part of conservation program with freeze-dried and frozen podocarp fruit, green walnuts, pine conelets and a nutritionally complete pellet.
Status: Critically endangered
Threats: has declined due to habitat loss and clearance; also the introduction of predators such as stoats and cats.
Wild population: 92

The sky is alive with the squawks, trills and squeals of thousands of parrots. They knife through the warm air in acrobatic flights more complex than any man-made aircraft, and more graceful to boot. One assumes that these birds are from the rainforest. They're not. They're in California. Urban California.

Introduced to the area sometime in the 1960's these Amazon parrots became established in a short time in near-perfect conditions. Enter the California Parrot Project and Amazornia.us, two organizations that have joined forces to document, research and protect these avian immigrants.

California Parrot Project »
Photos at Amazornia.us »

MissionFish is the new way to give to the World Parrot Trust. In coordination with the eBay Giving Works program you can donate funds or buy or sell items to raise money for the WPT.

Just sign in or register, then simply go to the eBay Giving Works' World Parrot Trust page, and choose to either buy products, sell or donate now to the World Parrot Trust. Each time you buy an item on WPT's page the seller will donate up to 100% of the final sale price to our cause. Try a new way of giving, and make an impact when you shop.

Sustainable development and parrot conservation have never looked so lovely. Our popular Arpilleras, the handmade, one-of-a-kind Peruvian wall hangings, are now available for the first time at the US eStore. Your continued support of this important project will aid the talented local people of Sepahua, Peru and the threatened parrots of their area for years to come. (See more of the "Rainforest" style in the UK store.)

History of the Arpilleras »
Go to the US eStore »
Go to the UK eStore »

Special Thanks
We'd like to send a special note of thanks to Debbie Johnston of Bluebird Learning in Ontario, Canada for raising $100.00 for the Trust through holding garage sales. Thanks Debbie!