From the parrot's beak: 1/29 edition

- Trump's Wall Could be Parrots' Downfall: The red crowned parrot joins a list of 111 species likely to be negatively impacted by Pres. Trump's proposed wall along the Mexican border. The red crowned is already endangered, with a wild population of 1000-2000 and decreasing. Feral populations live in Florida, California and Hawaii. They also exist in the wild in Texas where they may be feral, immigrants from across the border or a mixture.

- AFA vs. ESA Groundbreaking Compromise: American Federation for Aviculture has long opposed the placing of assorted parrots on the Endangered Species Act. This may seem odd, but their reasoning is that certain provisions complicate domestic breeding; ironically reducing numbers of designated species. A proposed Indiana bill, if passed, will allow for the owning/breeding/selling of domestically-bred birds including those currently labelled under "exotic species" appearing on the United States list of endangered foreign fish and wildlife.The bill was written by the AFA Legislative VP and sponsored by Congressman VanNatter. Parrot enthusiasts hope other states will adapt similar measures, although a former Fish & Wildlife Service employee notes that the bill should be corrected to say "legally obtained parents or stock" or it will have no standing or establish a precedent outside of the state

- Parrotrivia: Secret Agent Maxwell Smart has to feign being dead for a caper, but he objects to his faux funeral, saying, "You call that a headstone? I've seen better headstones for parakeets." It's a classic "Get Smart" episode.

- Gripe o' the Week: "I'm sorry but I need to vent. If you see a bird in a travel cage at a vet, why are you saying do you have a bigger cage? Like OBVIOUSLY I do if he's in a TRAVEL CAGE! OMG. I have been dealing with birds for 17+ years, I think I have it figured out by now what is and isn't appropriate" - from the Our Fids FB page

- Orange You Glad: Last year was a disappointing one for the Healesville Sanctuary in Melbourne, Australia for critically endangered orange bellied parrots. “We lost a number of orange-bellied parrots due to an illness and as a result did not release any into the wild," explains Doctor Kim Miller, life sciences manager of conservation and research. Moreover, as of last November, there were only three breeding pairs of orange-bellied parrots left in the wild, with 14 of the species left in total. It's a different story for this summer's breeding season. (The USA's winter months are Australia's summer months.) More than 40 orange-bellied parrots have hatched in one of the most successful breeding seasons yet, with 23 already fledged.

- Kakabonanza: In the 1970s only 18 kakapo were known to exist, all in Fiordland, New Zealand; and unfortunately, their low-frequency "boom" mating calls went unansered because they were all males. Then, in 1977, a population of male and female kakapos was discovered on Stewart Island. Since then, a small team from the Department of Conservation have worked to conserve and increase their population. The unusual parrot has just experienced a record-breaking breeding season, producing 34 chicks of the still critically endangered species of land bird; increasing the population to just shy of 160.

- Didja know: Parrot fossils have been found that date back as far as 60 million years..

- Quote o' the week: If you ever wondered why pirates wear eye patches than obviously you've never owned a parrot.

- Have you missed a previous edition of "From the Parrot's beak"? Past issues can be seen on the Facebook page, Pet Bird Owners.

- Hot Dates: 1/27-29: Parrot Festival 2017-Doubletree Hotel Houston Intercontinental Airport, 15747 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Houston, TX -- Lehigh Valley Pet Expo-Ag Hall at Allentown Fairgrounds, 17th and Chew Streets, Allentown, PA -Fri 4-9 pm, Sat 10-7, Sun 10-5 -- World of Pets Expo -Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Road, Timonium, MD -Fri 2-8, Sat 10-7, Sun 10 -5

1/28: Addressing Screaming for Attention in Companion Parrots; Barbara Heidenreich Webinar. 1 pm

1/29: Avian Health & Wellness class Parrot University -2 pm Pineville Towne Market, 321 South Polk St., Suite 2C, Pineville, NC

1/31: Avian advocacy webinar, outreach and campaigns and the role of captive wildlife sanctuaries in education Part 1. 1:30

2/4: Solutions for Parrot Behavior Problems Related to Hormones. Barbara Heidenreich webinar 12-1:30 CST.

- Lost: Budgie "fancy" green and yellow Shirley, NY (631) 374-9384 chrissys27@gmail.com