Thanks for that review Chlidonias. I know it's just the grumblings of a senior citizen but I really hate to see some of those Macaw pairings. And to have eight "miligolds" including one paired with a pure Blue and Gold just has me scratching my head and asking "why would you?" I fully accept that these people own their birds and can do what they like with them but I just don't believe that hybridising them can ever improve on what nature made them.
I feel the same about these sorts of hybrids, especially when they're presented in the fashion of "and these ones are miligold macaws. They're from South America. We have bred x many here" so most visitors wouldn't even be aware they weren't real species. The hybridising of macaws is for largely the same reason here as in Australia: lack of enough pure birds. There's not many militaries left in NZ so from the breeder's point of view, better to breed hybrids than nothing. Of course some people also just want to deliberately create new things like "miligolds". This particular hybrid isn't as ugly as some of the macaw hybrids I would say. Blue and golds aren't difficult to get hold of in NZ though, so I wasn't too pleased to see the one paired with the hybrid because it is just so unnecessary.
I wouldn't say this is the main cause for sure. I used to be a member of a large bird forum, and many bred/rescued hybridised macaws, amazons, conures, lorikeets, cockatoos and other species. There was one reason behind it: money. Some members were breeders that purposely bred hybridised birds for extra money, because to most hobbyists they are more worthy and colourful than the pure birds. Another reason was for their colours, it seemed the more you hybridised the different species the more 'beautiful' they became. I often see blue and gold macaws at a large pet shop near me (along with many native birds and amazons and conures). They are far from rare in Australia, in fact, a worker at the same pet shop told me about thier recommended Hahn's (Red Shouldered) Macaw breeder. The only species that is in any real danger is the hyacinth macaw, I seem to remember only 20 or 40 (either one while I was part of that bird forum) breeding pairs in the entire country.
Well, while some species may not be 'rare' in Australia or New Zealand, their genetic diversity is definitely decreasing, and finding unrelated pairs is getting harder for some of these species, especially when they are being hand raised for pets, which is an other debate in itself.
I was just looking at some of my old Wellington Zoo stuff, and I found a print-out of their 2002 bird species list, which says they have 48 species at the top, but the actual list comprises 51 species, more than two times their current collection. The list is: Barn Owl (still there in 2005) Black Stilt Cockatoo (3 species) Dove (2 species) Duck (12 species) Egret Emu Finch Frogmouth Goose (2 species) Ibis (3 species) Kingfisher (2 species) Kiwi Lorikeet Morepork Parrot (7 species) Peacock Pelican Pigeon (4 species) Pitta Plover Rhea Spoonbill Waxeye Seems like someone really has it in for ducks at Wellington, from 12 to 0 in less than 10 years! Sad to say I have never (AFAIK) seen several of these species: rhea, noisy pitta and black stilt, as well as 1/2 of the ibises, even though I visited in 2005. What would the two kingfisher species have been? I assume one was sacred, but the list does not put a native symbol next to this entry, where it does all other groups. I would have thought that they would have listed kookaburra separately, but possibly not.
so 26 species on display this year at Wellington Zoo, 31 in 2008, 48 in 2002, and between 50 and 60 in c.1988 (my first visit, for which I don't have notes so relying on memory) ....... at this rate I figure in twenty years there'll be no birds at all left there
I just revisited Nga Manu yesterday and I'm afraid I'll have to remove it's name from the list of being good for native birds. The variety there now is depressingly low, as follows (in total): North Island brown kiwi White-faced heron Black swan Mute swan Paradise duck NZ scaup NZ shoveller Grey teal Brown teal Pukeko Western weka (did not see) NZ pigeon Antipodes Island parakeet Kea Kaka Little owl Morepork Tui
sorry, I never saw the edited version of this post four weeks ago so didn't respond to it. Interesting they had three ibis species in 2002. I saw the Australian white and glossy ibises at Wellington (in 1988 they were housed in a large aviary with cattle egrets, white herons, royal spoonbills, spur-winged plover and an American alligator) but not the straw-necked ibis which must have been the third species; I did see straw-necks at Auckland, though, many years ago, as well as a hybrid straw-necked X white ibis. The two kingfishers would be the sacred kingfisher and the kookaburra, the only two species ever kept in NZ (at least in my lifetime). At one time Wellington had about a dozen kookaburras in a huge aviary with a flock of Australian crested pigeons. Back when Bird Valley was at its greatest....... ....sigh
I wrote that in February last year, and I thought I'd put a species list here somewhere but I can't see it. So I was in Dunedin yesterday, and this is the collection at the Botanic Gardens: South Island kaka (bred here for release at Orokonui Eco-Sanctuary outside the city) Kea Yellow-crowned kakariki Red-crowned kakariki [in years past they also had orange-fronted kakariki and Antipodes Islands parakeets but no longer] African grey parrot (labelled, but I didn't see the birds this time) Scarlet macaw Blue-and-gold macaw Red-tailed black cockatoo Yellow-tailed black cockatoo Greater sulphur-crested cockatoo Galah Australian king parrot Australian crimsonwing Bourke's parakeet Scarlet-chested parakeet Turquoisine Red-rump Indian ringneck Plum-headed parrot Slaty-headed parrot Derbyan parrot Eclectus Musk lorikeet Rainbow lorikeet Barbary dove Australian crested pigeon Cape dove Diamond dove Emerald dove Golden pheasant Hooded siskin Orange-breasted waxbill Fire finch Green singing finch Jacarini finch Java sparrow Red-faced parrot-finch Gouldian finch Plum-headed finch [they used to have more waxbill species in the past]
I also stopped in at the aviary at Caroline Bay in Timaru and they have the following: Yellow-crowned kakariki Cockatiel Budgie Bourke's parakeet Barraband Princess parrot Red-rump Crimson rosella Australian king parrot Australian crimsonwing Galah Greater sulphur-crested cockatoo Indian ringneck Alexandrine Sun conure Peach-fronted conure Rainbow lorikeet Scaly-breasted lorikeet Golden pheasant Red-legged partridge Japanese quail Chinese painted quail Californian quail Canary Zebra finch
I just happened to come across a list of the parrots in the shipment mentioned above. Basically the import (in 1997) tested positive for Pacheco's Disease which wasn't then found in NZ (but I'm assuming is now!!), and the importer was given the choice of return-to-sender or destruction of the birds. The importer obtained a court injunction to stall proceedings and afterwards chose the option of destroying the birds. However in the interim, various species from the shipment were swapped before they were destroyed, and these entered the captive trade here illegally. (Also, it seems that the Derbyans weren't amongst that shipment, so either I remembered that wrong or I was given false information at the time). Parrots which *may* therefore be in the country (either the actual imported birds or their offspring), but not already mentioned in this thread, are: Edward's Lorikeet Yellow-streaked Lory Papuan Lory Meyer's Lorikeet Olive-headed Lorikeet White-eyed Conure Green Conure Mitred Conure Maroon-tailed Conure Dusky-headed Conure Olive-throated Conure Orange-fronted Conure Brown-throated Conure Patagonian Conure Orange-winged Amazon Red-bellied Macaw
I was just at the Kiwi Birdlife Park the other day. The last time I visited was 1998. From a recent map it appeared to have increased in diversity since then but unfortunately it really hasn't. Full bird list (that I saw): *North Island brown kiwi (with two on-show nocturnal houses) *South Island pied oystercatcher *Black stilt *Buff weka *Blue duck *Brown teal *Campbell Island teal *NZ scaup *NZ shoveller *Paradise duck *NZ falcon *Red-crowned kakariki *Yellow-crowned kakariki *Antipodes Island parakeet *Kea *NZ pigeon *Morepork *Tui
Aren't there any Spinifex pigeons left in NZ? In Europe they managed to hang on till eary 2000s but they re gone now unfortunately.
I've never heard of spinifex pigeons being kept in NZ, sorry, so I would say that if they were here then they aren't any longer.
just linking this thread to here because it is relevant to some of the historical discussions: http://www.zoochat.com/17/wellington-zoo-bird-collection-1921-a-354737/
that post was from 15th March 2011. I went to Willowbank yesterday and the bird collection is now as follows: *North Island Brown Kiwi *(Other kiwi species off-show or part of ONE, as noted in the original post) *White-faced Heron *Black Swan *Mute Swan *Domestic Goose (Sebastopol Geese; I think Chinese Geese as well but I didn't see them) *Cape Barren Goose (I didn't see any but they should still be there) *Mallard *Muscovy Duck *Carolina Wood Duck *Paradise Duck *NZ Shoveller *Brown Teal *Campbell Island Teal (now in the old Blue Duck aviary) *Grey Teal (wild ones) *NZ Scaup (wild ones) *NZ Falcon *Spur-winged Plover *Domestic Turkey *Helmeted (Domestic) Guineafowl *Domestic Fowl *Blue Peafowl *Golden Pheasant *Silver Pheasant *Red-legged Partridge (saw several of these this time) *Brown Quail *Buff Weka *Pukeko *Takahe *Domestic Pigeon *Barbary Dove *Crested Pigeon *NZ Pigeon *Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo *Leadbeater's Cockatoo (I didn't see it but the sign is still there) *Blue And Gold Macaw *Kea *South Island Kaka *Yellow-crowned Kakariki *Red-crowned Kakariki *Morepork *Sacred kingfisher *Canary *Bengalese Finch *Java Sparrow *Tui *Rook So changes in the last three years: Gone: *Ostrich (he was killed in a storm last year -- http://www.zoochat.com/17/ostrich-killed-storm-336783/ -- and a new Blue Duck aviary is being built on the site of the yard). *White Heron (presumably has died). *Mandarin Duck (may or may not still be present; I didn't see any sign of them). *Lady Amherst's Pheasant (did not see any, but might still be there). *Himalayan Monal (appear to be gone, and their aviary now has Silver Pheasants in it). *Japanese Quail gone and replaced by Brown Quail, in an aviary which now also houses Canaries, Java Sparrows and Bengalese Finches (all new since 2011). *Eastern Rosellas and Indian Ringnecks appear to be gone. *Little Owls appear to be gone. New: *Canaries, Java Sparrows, Bengalese Finches and Brown Quail as already mentioned. *Spur-winged Plover *NZ Shoveller *Tui in a new aviary by the entrance
How many rooks did they have, and how were they displayed? Big aviary with stuff to investigate? Or still as in this photo: http://www.zoochat.com/400/rook-corvus-frugilegus-209600/ ?
exactly the same as that photo. One bird (the same bird) in a small aviary with very little to keep it entertained unfortunately. It is presumably a rescued bird - it doesn't look like it flies too well, although it can fly. The photo does make it look like a tiny cage but it is more of a small aviary (I would say too small, but I don't know the bird's history; I'll see if I can find out next time I'm there).
I took a photo of the aviary today: http://www.zoochat.com/400/aviary-rook-corvus-frugilegus-408038/ I asked some staff about the bird's history but the people that were available didn't know anything because it has been at the zoo for so long. It must be really really old.
