In January this year 10,000 Birds featured parrots and the threats they face (both in the wild because of eg habitat loss and as a substantial component of the illegal wild bird trade) in our first-ever ‘theme’ - “Parrot Month“. One month was hardly enough to cover every species and every aspect of parrot conservation of course, and we never intended to stop writing about parrots come Feb 1st! Over the months we’ve caught up with people and organisations we missed in January, and I’m very glad to say that recently we’ve been talking with Roelant Jonker who started City Parrots, an organisation which has a core belief that some species of threatened parrots could be conserved partly by building up their numbers in urban locations.

The interview that follows is extremely interesting - and controversial? - and I recommend anyone who enjoys it to checkout the City Parrots website which looks in much more detail at some of the ideas discussed below. As always we welcome comments…

Roelant Jonker M.Sc.

Director of City Parrots, an organisation that advocates the use of urban areas in the conservation of parrots.

Roelant did his master thesis on the “ helper at the nest behaviour” of the Critically Endangered Yellow-eared Parrot Ognorhynchus icterotis in Colombia. After graduating he started studying naturalised parrot populations with his partner Grace. Their focus lies on a small population of Scarlet Macaws Ara macao that have been living in the Netherlands for over 30 years and 4 generations.

Roelant’s main interests are the adaptational processes parrots undergo when colonising urban areas, why Parrots are so successful in cities, and how this can benefit the conservation of this highly endangered avian class.

From City Parrots website:
“The Parrot family is the avian class most at risk of extinction. In sharp contrast, it is also the class with very many naturalised species. Conservation should learn from this. Parrots from a wide range of species and genera [live] naturalised in cities, suburbs, parks and botanical gardens on every continent. Some of these naturalized species are endangered, critically endangered and even now extinct in their native ranges. Suburban parrots show that parrots can adapt to alien habitats and maintain sizable populations there. Although no substitute for habitat preservation, establishing native suburban populations of threatened or near-threatened species is a comparatively simple and economic conservation tool of use for species of parrots that are now mostly neglected by conservation.”

Roelant, many thanks for taking time out to talk with us. Firstly, can I just make sure I understand this: you don’t want conservationists to stop habitat preservation, what you’re suggesting is a different way of conserving threatened parrot species at the same time?

• RJ: Habitat preservation is a very effective and proven way for species conservation. Pride campaigns, pioneered by Paul Butler in the 80ies and 90ies, especially appeal to me and their results have been astounding. The merit of this method stands without question.

  However when I look ahead I see an ever-growing human population for the planet. With finite resources available to conservation many species will inevitably do without the conservation attention they deserve. The focus of conservation biology has already shifted from preserving everything to preserving what is most precious - see for example the biodiversity hotspot concept.

  One of the many strengths of nature, I always felt, is her ability to deal with change. The species we see around us are the result of this history of change which we share with all other living creatures and which connects us to these fellow species.

  Containing nature in reserves like a living museum, as a glimpse of how the past used to be, in my vision degrades nature and takes away its strength. This is probably why I am always fascinated to learn about species that manage to make a comeback trough the opportunities urban people have offered them unintentionally but effectively. Like London’s city foxes or New York’s Peregrine falcons. These stories bring hope and a continuation of this strength of nature to thrive on change.

  In short: Yes

Yellow-headed Amazons Amazona oratrix, Stuttgart.
Photo © Jonker/Innemee cityparrots.org.

So your core premise is to establish naturalised flocks of free-flying parrots in urban settings?

• RJ: Many parrots have proven to be able to live in cities. We counted over 50 species. Since natural habitats tend to get more and more degraded, fragmented or even disappear altogether it is only logical to shop for alternative habitats that could help the survival of parrots. We believe cities in the native ranges of these parrots could be such an alternative.

I assume that you’re thinking of using this model to build up numbers of threatened species rather than introduce, for example, more Monk Myiopsitta monachus or Ring-necked Parakeets Psitticula krameri to cities across their native range?

• RJ: Funny you should mention these two species. No, there would not be much conservation sense in introducing more of these parrots to cities within their native ranges. These two species are well established. Even in Leiden in The Netherlands where we live, Ring-necked Parakeets are regular visitors to our peanut feeders in the garden.

  It was however this species that helped me form this idea. In your ‘Parrot Month‘ you did a piece on the Echo Parakeets of Mauritius. This species is closely related to the Ring-necked Parakeet, some authors even consider it a subspecies. It came very close to extinction for many reasons. One of the main contributions to their decline is habitat destruction. Only a fraction of Mauritius is still covered with something resembling native forest. However its sister-species, the Ring-necked Parakeet, introduced to Mauritius in the late 19 century, actually thrives on Mauritius. It started out as an urban species at Grand Port/Mahebourg.

  I wondered how it could be that these two very similar species had such a different fate on the same small island? Searching for scientific papers on habitat use I came across a phenomenon called “Habitat Imprinting”. It describes how many birds develop a preference for the habitat they were born and raised in and that one can alter this preference simply through raising birds in a different environment. Ring-necked Parakeets escaped from an urban home in Mahebourg developed a preference for urban and other man altered habitats. To this present day Ring-necked Parakeets are not able to forage in the native forest where the Echo Parakeet occurs. The habitat imprinting of the echo Parakeets trapped it in a habitat which was getting smaller and smaller.

  Introducing Echo Parakeets to urban areas on Mauritius now would not be advisable because they would run the risk of hybridising with Ring-necked Parakeets, but it did get me thinking about reintroduction to cities as a tool for species conservation.

You say on your website that:

That’s a fascinating list of positives and the potential of what you’re suggesting seem very obvious to a layman like myself when they’re laid out like that. What do established parrot conservation groups think about your ideas?

• RJ: Well they are slowly warming up to the idea, I think. Like all new ideas, urban parrot introductions have met with controversy. But the latest issue of World Parrot Trust’s ‘PsittaScene’ magazine actually features an article on the discovery of a fledging urban population of the endangered Sun Conure Aratinga solstitialis in Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil, within the native range of the species.

  I just started research for my PhD at Leiden University on this subject. The next couple of years I will research this idea further and hopefully give it more scientific credibility.

  The idea is not originally mine, however. J.W. Wiley first suggested it in the wonderful book: ‘New World Parrots in crisis’. A must read for any parrot conservationist. And independent from me Dr. Nigel Collar of Birdlife International suggests much the same; benign introductions. [See references below.]

Are there specific parrot species (or perhaps genera) that you think would be most suitable for this type of introduction?

• RJ: Well, concentrating on the Neotropics, Amazona, Brotogeris and many of the Aratinga species have shown remarkable abilities to colonise cities. But this ability is by no means restricted to these genera. Globally we found urban species in the Nestorini, Calyptorhynchinae, Cacatuinae, Arinae, Loriinae, Psittacini, Psittaculini, Melopsittacini, Polytelini and Platycercini. For future projects we would concentrate on these groups.
  
  
  Golden Conure Guaruba guarouba. Photo © Jonker/Innemee cityparrots.org.
  

  For our first project we were offered Golden Conures Guaruba guarouba and their new urban habitat will be the lush green and parrot rich city of Belém at the end of the Amazon delta in Brazil.

Who ultimately would decide which species should be released and where?

• RJ: As with most if not all of these complex projects all depends on the joint efforts of many parties. Ultimately local authorities have the final say in what happens in their jurisdiction. To convince them we have sought alliances with local wildlife conservation groups and zoos, a prerequisite in working in these countries.

  Where to introduce parrots in cities should be guided by their natural distribution. Although I believe we have very little to fear from the urban parrots now present in Europe and the USA it is just a biologically sound idea to utilise cities within the native range of the species.

  I would concentrate on species that need conservation. The species on the IUCN redlist will be our guide.

Establishing free-flying parrot populations isn’t simple though surely. For instance it says on your website that, “Building aviaries and paying people to maintain them is usually by far the biggest drain on captive conservation budgets.” Wouldn’t you have to start any introduction scheme by building aviaries and bringing birds to them prior to release, or is there a way around that?

• RJ: Well, remember that many of the present urban parrot populations came about through escaped or released “pet” parrots, which before that survived the horrors of what is the wild bird trade - very few populations actually stem from captive bred birds. These birds got little or no aid when establishing themselves in urban areas and look how they turned out! I think they deserve deep respect for that.

  Yes building aviaries will be a drain on our budget. That’s why we sought help from local zoos to harbour the release population and serve as the release site. Utilising this existing infrastructure will make this project very cost effective. We expect the parrots to be self-sustained within the year. This is in sharp contrast to captive breeding programmes that would need to house many generations for several years, often decades.

Owners aren’t likely to give away their birds and I presume you won’t get permission to relocate endangered species, so where would the birds come from to start the new city flocks?

• RJ: Well surprise, surprise! While attending the Parrots International Symposium in 2007 an elderly couple approached us and, to our utter amazement, offered us captive bred Golden Conures for a project in Belém. As these people live in Brazil these birds are perfect for the project. We visited them 6 months ago and the breeding season presently is in full swing and it looks like we will have a goods size flock of young golden conures to start the reintroduction project in Belém in June 2010.

  Another source could be aviculture. We would like to supplement the Sun Conures in Boa Vista with genetically unrelated birds as the present population stems from only one breeding pair (not unheard of in urban parrots). Getting some gene flow from captive populations seems only logical. These birds are not that expensive and they have been offered free for such a purposes. http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forums/viewthread/696/

That’s great news. That brings up another question though: if owners or zoos are giving you parrots to release who would these new flocks ‘belong to’. Someone would need to take responsibility for them while they established themselves.

• RJ: During their training the Parakeets will belong to the zoo from which they will be released later. After their release it is hard to speak of an “owner”. But we as a project together with our local partners will continue to monitor them and their development. Assisting where needed to ensure their establishment.

As introductions would they still come under existing legislation that protects wild birds? And what would stop poachers, for example, simply collecting up these new birds and selling them on before they’d become properly established: it would be much cheaper and quicker than taking them out of remote sites in the wild?

• RJ: Because we release parrots within their native range they will be under the protection of local laws. Laws alone however provide little protection.

  Catching parrots is actually much harder then you might think. Traditionally much bird research depends on mist-netting. Through the principle of “you can trick some parrots some times, but not all parrots all the time” this method is not very successful. Their intelligence enables them to not fall for the same trick again and their flock members learn from observation.

  The major method by which parrots are captured for the illegal bird trade is through robbing their nests. So collecting young birds, unable to fly, instead of adult fully flighted birds. To this end poachers usually chop down the nesting tree and hack out any surviving youngsters out of the fallen tree. This is just the start of what we call the “horrors of the wild bird trade”. It is hard to see poachers actually utilising this method in a busy city parks or on the side of busy city lanes. If the authorities won’t intervene I am sure the general public will.

  Would-be poachers are apparently realizing this as there is little evidence of urban parrots being poached, although it does occur. Subsistence farmers and other impoverished rural people have few options to supplement their income. Poaching parrot chicks is one of the few opportunities for these people. Having grown up in such a tradition these people usually posses quite a good knowledge of the movements and breeding spots of these birds.

  Basically the economic necessity to poach parrots is absent for urban people. Urban people do not usually rely on poaching parrots to supplement their income. Not having grown up in this tradition urban people lack the skills to poach parrots. Some adolescent boys think they struck gold but pay for it in the end: http://cityparrots.org/post/urban-bird-trapper-gets-a-near-fatal-jolt. Choosing a “well to do” area for their initial release will aid the establishment of parrots in suburbia.

  In working together with a zoo we can basically guarantee the release population will not be bothered by poachers. The growing population will have this save area to start from. Exactly the same has happened for a population of Scarlet macaws in Medellin, Colombia. These were released from a zoo in the 80ies and are not only still present but the population is reproducing and growing: http://www.cityparrots.org/post/macaws-flying-over-medellin-colombia

  It is an illusion to think any parrot population is safe from poaching. It is however our experience that poaching in urban areas is well within the margins of what is sustainable.

There are a lot of powerful lobbying groups - farmers and fruit growers for instance - who would probably object to introducing what they might portray as potential pests. How would you convince them that introducing native or even non-native parrots into strictly urban settings wouldn’t impact them?

• RJ: We plan not to introduce parrots to areas where they are not native. Having said that I should mention that many of the fears expressed by farmers over the introduced parrot species in the USA and Europe remain to come true. As it happens ‘habitat imprinting’ contains many of the species to urban areas where few crops of interest to parrots are grown. If you must have a vineyard in the Greater London area I advise you to account for losses or to change crop.

Red-crowned Amazons Amazona viridigenalis, San Diego.
Photos © Jonker/Innemee cityparrots.org.

I know you’re not really thinking about introducing non-native parrot species anywhere, but there’s no doubt that many American cities could certainly theoretically act as reservoirs for threatened parrot species and the idea must be of interest to you (you already quote on your website the example of how a quarter of the world’s Red-crowned Amazons Amazona viridigenalis now live naturalised in California). Many cities in eg the US have strict regulations that forbid the introduction of non-native species, and given how wary many Americans are of being sued do you see a way you could ever convince city legislators in the US that introductions pose, for example, no health problems to the human populations they’re answerable to?

• RJ: In my research I will be looking at disease. Especially psittacosis. This disease is transmittable to people and is often fatal if not diagnosed correctly. However to date I know of no study of introduced parrots transmitting disease, to people or to other wildlife. Disease is prevalent among parrots in captivity because of the cramped condition in which they are transported and the mixing of species from different regions and poultry together in trade, quarantine, pet shops and at breeders. Also the trade in immunodeficient baby parrots has aided the transmission of disease greatly.

  Disease therefore might largely be a symptom of captivity and might quickly lose its potency in wild populations including urban populations. What the facts are I hope to find out soon.

  Unless anyone (what a hero that would be!) finds a remnant population of Carolina Parakeets Conuropsis carolinensis I don’t see an urban parrot project take wing on US soil though. Well, maybe Phoenix could trade in its now numerous population of introduced Peach-faced Lovebirds Agapornis roseicollis for [Mexican] Thick-billed Parrots Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha?

Nearly all parrots are cavity nesters, and cavities in urban settings are in short supply - is there not a possibility that introduced parrots could out-compete smaller native cavity nesters like woodpeckers that are already struggling to survive in city parks and gardens?

• RJ: These concerns have been raised many times. Research done at Leiden University says there is little merit to these fears - http://www.cityparrots.org/post/native-avifauna-not-impressed-with-ring-necked-Parakeets. Remember that parrots have a very wide range on this planet. Parrots may not be native to Europe or much of North America, however many of the species they live with in these non-native ranges have global ranges in which parrots do occur. So nuthatches might not have had to deal with Ring-necked Parakeets in Europe, but their congeners in Asia do! Same goes for Woodpeckers. I never seen so many woodpeckers as I have seen in Brazil or Colombia where I was watching parrots.

  Another thought regarding the interaction between woodpeckers and Parrots. Woodpeckers create cavities, parrots do not; they are squatters. If woodpeckers go extinct who will be the next birds to disappear? Parrots depend on woodpeckers for their reproductive success. It is not in their interest to drive woodpeckers off. This is illustrated by the peaceful co-existence of these types of birds on large parts of the planet and the results of the Leiden study.

  Parrots are creative in their nesting behaviour. If they come across opposition they might choose alternatives. A population of Ring-necked Parakeets in Germany now actually prefers to breed in the nooks and crevices of city buildings. A niche not usually exploited by native birds.

I’m assuming that for the concept of ‘urban introductions’ to be universally accepted it would have to be shown to work based on properly collated data showing population trends and/or impacts on native species. Is there such an example available at the moment, or is the evidence mostly anecdotal?

• RJ: This is why I wanted the backing of a University and turn my research into a PhD project. In my reports I will give a thorough review of the present literature on the subject and incorporate my own data. Stay tuned.

  While we are on the subject of interspecies competition. I also like to be looking at the ability of native parrot species to compete with non-native introduced Parakeet populations in South America. There is for example a population of monk Parakeets in Santiago, Chile where either of the two native Enicognathus Parakeets would be more appropriate for this region. I think it would be a good idea to introduce one or both of the native species and see how this will effect the non-native population.

If/when this project takes off it will mean a huge amount of collaborative work. How do you see the collection of data being organised in the future - and how would the data be distributed and who would it be given to?

• RJ: I hope to publish my PhD work in appropriate journals. These and other publications will all become available on www.cityparrots.org.

You say on your website that the

It’s a fantastic thought but is it a little Utopian given how far removed from Nature most city-dwellers are these days? Many New Yorkers, for instance are entranced by the flocks of Monk Parakeets they now live with, but many are either not interested or are actively opposed. Do you really see parrots as a way of engaging the public in conservation etc?

• RJ: A guy can hope can’t he?! ‘Who thought parrots could actually fly?’, is not an uncommon phrase when I show people our flighted parrot pictures. Parrots are so familiar to us as a captive animal it is hard for us to see them as wild animals. Let me give you an example. Remember the Disney’s “The Lion King”? In the movie there are many animal characters. All these animals, although cartoons, are identifiable as genuine African animals. The one exception are the parrots. There is one scene where parrots are depicted. It is not the native African grey parrot or any of the other African species, but some fantasy bird with elements of parrots from several different continents, somehow reminiscent of the extinct Carolina Parakeet. This illustrates that many people do not see parrots as true animals but as comical feathered clowns that live in zoos or with your uncle Herbert.

  On our flickr pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/410910@N24/ we have collected thousands of pictures of parrots that live wild in cities. People that have parrots come to their backyard feeders tend to really get into them. They start by asking questions on what species they are. Then they see different colourations and I explain those are juveniles. “Who would have thought parrots could actually raise their own babies!” Then the family shots come and images of the juvenile groups getting in all kinds of mischief. They never look at parrots quite the same again.

Do you enjoy being so interactive?

• RJ: Definitely! I don’t know if it actually gets dollars for conservation but it sure is engaging!

This is probably an unfair question, Roelant, as it’s so far down the line (and wildly speculative), but do you think that if your strategy succeeded there might be a danger one day that, for example, developers in a small country with tiny remnant wild populations of a particular parrot species might turn around and say, “What does it matter if this forest is cleared, the parrots exist in much larger numbers in the capital city anyway…” and habitat might actually be lost instead of protected?

• RJ: Well indeed this is far fetched. But I can imagine developers looking into where to house people and where to create jobs for them searching for a space where this would have the least impact on nature. If parrots are incorporated in this decision-making I think we gained a lot!

  Your question also involves the flagship species concept. A charismatic species which is a member of a unique habitat in its conservation protects the whole of this unique habitat. This flagship species concept is obviously lacking from the city parrot concept. With up to 100 species of parrot listed on the IUCN list it is plain to see not all of these species will become a flagship species. The non-charismatic, the smaller and the unknown in captivity species suffer from a lack of conservation dollars simply because their plight is not heard amongst the many flagship campaigns installed presently. So for these species urban introductions are a good way to proceed. We won’t be out of a job any day soon.

You’re speaking at the 5th Parrots International Symposium in Las Vegas at the end of this month (May 2009) about your aims. This is a slightly tongue-in-cheek question, Roelant, but are you anticipating a friendly audience?

• RJ: Well yes! It has been heart-warming to be invited to the Parrots International symposium this year. We presented a poster two years ago at this same symposium and were greeted very friendly then. This time we were asked to come and speak and I am really looking forward to presenting this idea to the parrot conservation community present. Mark and Marie Stafford have been very supportive to our goals. With few exceptions the parrot conservation community has been very supportive of the idea. The Golden Conure project has been a direct result of the people we met there and this year we expect to build on that and hopefully even secure some funding!

What are you hoping to achieve specifically while you’re there, or is it as much a chance to talk with like-minded parrot experts than setting concrete goals?

• RJ: Yes it is always great to talk with like-minded people and we always thoroughly enjoy these events. Our organisation is still small. If we truly want to make an impact with this urban parrot concept we need to work with local parrot conservation groups. This symposium is ideal as many of these groups are present. For example I am looking forward to discussing a future for the Cliff Parakeet Myiopsitta luchsi in Cochabamba, Bolivia with Bennett Hennessey, director of Armonia http://www.armonia-bo.org.

Finally, personally speaking I would really like to see how this initiative develops. Obviously I’m not a scientist, legislator, or parrot expert though, I’m a birder and a blogger - is there any practical way someone like me could actually help?

• RJ: Sure! Get your credit card ready, go to http://www.cityparrots.org/ and hit the donate button. We need about $10.000 to make the Golden Conure project in Belém a success. Mostly travel costs, release aviary construction and transport of the conures to Belém. Our time is donated free. We really appreciate any support we get.

  If you are an aviculturist, zoo or conservation group operating within the native range of parrots and would like to assist in starting up a city parrot project contact us! We would love to hear your plans and assist you where we can.

Roelant, I know how busy you are preparing for the Parrots International Symposium so many thanks indeed for taking the time to answer these questions, and I hope Vegas 2009 is a great success for you.

• CP: You are very welcome! Thank you for this opportunity to present our ideas to your audience. It has been interesting to see what questions arose and this direct way of explaining our intentions hopefully gains us the support we need to continue our work.

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