Roelant Jonker: Studied biology at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands, and graduated in 2004. During his studies he was a member of the board of the Benelux branch of the World Parrot Trust. His master thesis was done on the Yellow-eared parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis) of Colombia. His time in Colombia was interrupted brutally when he was kidnapped by FARC rebels.
Determined to work for the good of parrots he co-founded the Society for Parrot and Parakeet Welfare (SPPW) in 2003. Grace and Roelant met while volunteering for the SPPW, collecting signatures on a petition against the dreaded trade in wild caught parrots.
Now Roelant is back in his element studying wild and freeborn parrots. Although not the tropical type he hopes that the intimate knowledge on parrot behaviour these birds provide will contribute to parrot conservation world wide. Since February 2006 he teaches classes on parrot behaviour for students the Tinleys’ parrot behavioural therapy course.
Grace Innemee: Is a para-veterinarian. During her studies she did internships in a clinic specialized in parrots and in a parrot sanctuary. Now she is working in veterinary clinic H.A. Luten in Velp, the Netherlands.
The clinic treats the animals of nearby Burgers Zoo. This gives Grace the chance to develop the skills to work with many types of animals, parrots being a big favourite. Her love of parrots drove her to become a volunteer for the SPPW where she met Roelant. Together they located the macaws in March 2005 and started studying them.
Nape: We named the male macaw Nape because when we started to study them he had a bald spot on his nape. The feathers on his nape have since returned. The best way to tell individual macaws apart is by the coloration of their beaks. The border between the black and the white part on Napes’ beak is more of a straight line in contrast to Toos who has a curve in it. In flight Nape is the sleeker bird with the tight tail.
Nape is the more playful of the two. Positively bored when Toos was brooding the eggs and he relished every moment when Toos came out to stretch her wings. He faithfully guarded the nest and brought back food for Toos while she was breeding.
Toos: We named the female macaw Toos (a traditional Dutch name) because she misses two front toes on her right foot. The black and white parts of her beak are divided by a more curved line than that of her mate Nape. In flight she is the bulkier bird with the wider tail. On some pictures she is distinguishable because when she was moulting she missed out on one of her tail feathers.
Toos is the serious mom that would only leave her eggs every few hours or so for a few minutes to stretch her wings. Mostly indifferent to humans she would get agitated when we came too close to the nest in the period just before laying her eggs.
