Diet – Offering Fresh Greens

Posted on by eclectusark

In trying to offer fresh greens to birds, it is often a good idea to finely chop them and add them to foods they already enjoy. We take a bunch of freshly washed kale, roll it tightly like a cigar, and begin chopping in thin slices, starting at the stem end. When all leaves are sliced across, turn and slice the bundle crosswise, so the thin shreds are chopped. Mix them with the preferred foods and stir in well. Greens we use are all kale varieties, mizuna (Japanese Mustard), endive, curly endive, mustard greens, turnip greens, beet greens, carrot greens and dandelion greens. Single leaves can also be offered whole for them to play with and eat.

There are VERY good reasons to include more leafy greens in your eclectus parrot’s diet. They are packed with vitamins, minerals like iron and calcium, antioxidants, fiber, phytonutrients and chlorophyll.  They are also a source of omega-3 fatty acids, have anti-inflammatory properties, and help the body detoxify.

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Australian Night Parrot

Posted on by eclectusark

Australian Night Parrot

Congratulations to Adrian Boyle, Nigel Jackett, George Swann and Bruce Greatwich, who discovered the extremely rare Night parrot in Western Queensland, Australia and which has now been sighted in Western Australia!   The night parrot was thought to be extinct until three years ago, and the new sighting is more than 1,200 miles (2,000 km) from where the bird was rediscovered in Western Queensland.  See: Night Parrot sighted in Western Australia

So many birds and animals in Australia, as in the rest of the world, are at risk due to habitat loss and also to predation by invasive species, such as feral and free roaming cats. It is very exciting when a species is found to still exist when it was thought to be extinct. This surprising discovery provides a wonderful opportunity for local communities and officials to take appropriate actions to support the continued existence of this rare and quite unusual species.

The Night parrot is not a typical parrot species, since it is active at night instead of during the day, and it prefers an environment which is quite desert-like.

Every native species has a role to play in their environment. That is just one reason it is important that rare species are protected and their survival ensured.  We look forward to more information on this unusual species as bird watchers and biologists share what they learn about the species.

Laurella Desborough