City ParrotsUrban Scarlet Macaw & Parrot Conservation

Ferme de Valbertier

First European seminar of behavior and free flight training will take place at 11-13 May 2007 at Valbertier farm near Dijon, France. Read on…

R. M. V. Jonker MSc. & W.P.J. Teunissen MSc.

As a follow up to “The year of the Ring-necked Parakeet” of SOVON in 2004, Araproject and Waarneming.nl organized the 2nd national Parakeet census on 16-17 December 2006. Dozens of volunteers in Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Diemen, Wageningen, Rhenen, Maastricht, Deventer, Apeldoorn, Ouddorp, Hellevoetsluis, Vlieland, Groningen, Rockanje and Rijswijk helped out. Read on…

Araproject has landed in Medellin, Colombia. Where forestry student Carlos Vásquez is presently conducting a pilot study into the Wild parrots of the city.

The local zoo, Zoológico Santa Fe de Medellín, released several macaws in the 80ties when a local law made it illegal for the inhabitants of Colombia to own native species. Overwhelmed by the amount of macaws that were placed in their care they decided to free-range these parrots. They could come and go as they pleased. Food was available for them in aviaries. Read on…

We always wondered why we hear so few rapports about feral African Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) that have escaped and live feral lives. Handbook of the birds of the world (vol. 4) mentions that many African cities have feral populations. But that’s about the extend of the reports. No mention of population size or breeding success. We know African Greys are capable of living free-range lives. Many people that free-fly their parrots have second guesses with African greys as they are supposed to get lost more often than other species of parrot. But in Cumbria UK many free-range grey parrots live in and around the country house of our friend there and he does not experience any trouble with them. Read on…

We from Araproject always love to hear from the public. We know many people check in at our website to stay informed about the developments of the Scarlet macaws. In our talks with the people we meet, we often get questions about the origin of the macaws. Many locals recall bigger groups of macaws flying in the research area. Read on…

On Saturday the 15the of July we found the nest of the Scarlet macaws empty. Two weeks before team Araproject found two chicks in perfect health. No sign of a struggle were found and we therefore conclude the chicks were stolen.

Team Araproject is inconsolable. These two chicks were the hope of this species that is threatened with extinction in their native lands. Toos and Nape, the parents, show signs of distress. They have sat at the entrance of the nest for hours looking for their babies. Even looking down to see if they had fallen down. It is heartbreaking to see their despair. Read on…

City Parrots is dedicated to the miracle Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) that have been ranging free in the Netherlands for over 25 years. Toos and Nape, as we have named these parrots, allow us, and you, a closer look into the lives of wild Scarlet Macaws. Both are representatives of the endangered Mezzo-American subspecies of Scarlet macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera). Read on…

Roelant was interviewed by David Cooper of Parrotscience It proved to be a nice talk about Toos and Nape of AraProject and the time Roelant was Kidnapped by FARC rebels in Colombia. You can listen to them here.

The AraProject team revisited the free-range population of parrots in Cumbria (U.K.) See pictures

Well known Dutch nature magazine Grasduinen has dedicated their April issue to naturalized animals in The Netherlands. We are very pleased that their editor, Paul Böhre, states that Toos and Nape are the most beautiful feral birds in the Netherlands. Paul joined us one morning and his article is published on the 2nd page of the issue. “de mooiste exoten van Nederland�?