It's been twenty years since the World Parrot Trust - founded by Mike and Audrey Reynolds  - first began to support parrots worldwide. In two decades of solid effort, the Trust has led conservation and welfare projects in 22 countries for more than 40 species of parrots. Our activities have ranged from ending the trade in wild caught birds in the European Union to providing wild/welfare education via our 7,000+ page website and printed resources, to rescuing confiscated Grey Parrots in Cameroon, and everything in between.

To celebrate we are having a party, for ourselves and for our members who have supported us all these years. If you're a paid WPT member and you'll be in the UK on June 30 and July 1, 2009, we hope you will join us.

You look once...twice...isn't it a real feather? Alan Derrick's metal sculptures are so astonishingly real that they merit third and fourth looks. Derrick has found his inspiration in bird feathers to create the larger-than-life metal art. And now one of his works will be benefitting the World Parrot Trust.

Available on eBay from March 22nd until March 29th, Derrick will offer "Ancient Voyager", a stunning rendition of an Amazon feather, with the proceeds of the sale generously going to the World Parrot Trust. The auction will be listed under "Art, Direct from Artist, Sculptures".

The lovely, red-feather sculpture "In Your Face" is available for purchase at the WPT US eStore.

Genus: Lathamus
Species: discolor

Where found: SE Australia, with breeding areas in Tasmania. Winters in SE Queensland and E New South Wales to S Victoria and SE South Australia.

Ecology: found up to 1500m (4920 ft) in forest, eucalyptus woodland, towns, grassland, open country and dry sclerophyll forest breeding habitat feeds on nectar, insect secretions, insect larvae, fruit, berries and seeds. Occurs in mixed flocks with Rainbow Lorikeets. Arboreal. Vocal before night-time roost.

Population: About 1,500
Status: Endangered, Appendix II

Threats: endangered from clearing of E. Globules nesting trees for agriculture, urban development, timber and sawlog production and felling for wood chips. Also affected by loss of nectar producing trees.

The Kakapo Recovery Programme and New Zealand Department of Conservation have learned that the Kakapo have gotten really busy this year - so busy in fact, that the current population is now up to 103, from 90 last year, with hopefully more to come.

Researchers credit a bumper rimu fruit crop, the Kakapo's staple diet during the breeding season. The Kakapo, or Strigops habroptilus, is the most critically endangered parrot on earth, with only 50 remaining in 1995. For the population to finally break the hundred mark has taken monumental effort from many people over many years.

Behaviourist Dr. Friedman and Bobbi Brinker talk about the challenges of measuring and defining behaviours (what a bird is doing) and constructs (ideas or theories about mental processes that explain why or how birds behave) to explain why parrots do what they do, the problems that occur when people pin human emotions on animals and the dominance theory.

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