From the parrot's beak: June 26 edition

- Riddle of the Spix: A Spix's macaw flew freely over the goat herding community of Cuaca, Brazil last week. This blue hued parrot species has not been seen in the wild since 2000 and is considered to be critically threatened; if not in fact extinct in the wild. A cellphone video captured the elusive parrot; along with its distinctive calls, well enough that the biologists from the Society for the Conservation of Birds in Brazil confirmed the rare sighting and scrambled to make a trip to the area. Their enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by questions of this individual's origins, as it may be a domestic escapee, and not truly wild. Spxi's macaws were the model for the characters Blu and Jewel in the animated films "Rio" and "Rio 2".

- "X Files" - the Parrotnormal: Could parrot-like space aliens be gazing down on us with cocked heads? Telepathic contact with just such beings has been established, according to Ameriah, who goes by just the one name. Ameriah also has had the honor of mind melding Vulcan style with celestial psittacine superstar Thoth. These ETs are not specifcally IDed as parrots, but they are humanoid in form with a bird's head, wings and feathers; hooked beak, a cockatoo-like crest and are usually blue. (Maybe that's where all the Spix's are hiding.) Who knows? Maybe we're all in their gigantic bird cage.

- Bye Bilingual: Before Liefie, the African grey, went bye, bye from his home he spoke with an Afrikaans accent. Four years passed and owner Christof Van Wyk figured he was gone for good. Liefie eventually wound up with a Durban veterinarian named Teresa Micco. Micco actually thought Liefie was a bird she had lost- but checked the microchip and traced it to Van Wyk, “I introduced myself and said, ‘Have you lost a bird?'” Micco says.. “He initially said, ‘No.’ But he thought I meant recently.” He did eventually recall his last pet. Still unclear is where the parrot had been for most of the 4 years. One clue: Liefie lost his Afrikaans accent and now speaks isiZulu - which is not a typo, but the language of the Zulu people.

- Don't have to Live Like a World Parrot Refugee: Reeling after the one-two punch of its founder's death and a deadline of August 1 before being kicked out of its rented digs, Vancouver's World Parrot Refuge is finally getting some good news.Response to the facility's widely publicized imminent demise has been "huge"."So far, we're having a challenge dealing with all the offers," said John Creviston, a former Calgary zookeeper and a volunteer at the Greyhaven Bird Sanctuary in Vancouver who has stepped in to try to raise money and find homes for the birds at the World Parrot Refuge in Coombs, B.C.In a stroke of good luck, the city of Nanaimo has agreed to let the parrots move into a former SPCA facility for a rent of one dollar. Creviston is still looking for adoptive "parronts"; including asking some former owners to take back their birds.

- Psittacine cinema: Hasta la Vista, Baby Bird! - YouTube -- Ballad of the Brooklyn Parrots (Full-Motion Version) - YouTube

- Quote o' the Week: The most dangerous animal in the world is an unseen parrot being busy in silence. - Facebook meme

- Pollytics '16: the Clinton vs. Trump slugfest isn't the only election going on. Winners in this year's American Federation for Aviculture election are Carol Woodson; Secretary, Jason Crean; 1st VP, Genny Wall; S CA RD, Buddy Waskey; Mid-Atlantic RD, Francine Andersen; Mid-Eastern RD, Julie Corwin; NW RD, Georgia Fletcher; , S Central RD and Susan Stieve, Specialty Director.

- Parrotrivia: A new Geico ad features a band of marauding pirates complete with an insult spewing blue and gold macaw. because "when you're a parrot it's what you do."

- It wasn't a parrot, either: According to "National Geographic", scientists have an answer to which came first, the chicken or the egg. Reptiles were laying eggs thousands of years before chickens appeared. The first chicken came from an egg laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken. Therefore, the egg came first.

- Hot Dates:

6/24-26: Skills to Empower people to Understand Parrots workshop (Step up) Phoenix Landing . Asheville, NC.

6/25,26:Steel City Pet Expo - Monroeville Convention Center, 209 Mall Boulevard, Monroeville, PA - Sat 10-6, Sun 11-4

6/25: So You Want a Talking Bird? class 1 pm Parrot University, Pineville Towne Market at 321 So. Polk Street. Pineville NC -- Sex and the Single Bird 2 pm Parrot University, Pineville Towne Market at 321 So. Polk Street. Pineville NC --A Parrot's Point of View class. 1-3. Pender Exotics Veterinary Centre, 4001 Legato Rd., Fairfax, VA [satisfies Phoenix Landing adoption process requirement]

6/26: Positive Reinforcement class- 2 pm. Parrot University Pineville Towne Market at 321 So. Polk Street. Pineville NC

7/1-5: Official bird events take a back seat to 4th of July celebrations. Please note fireworks may be fighening to your pet bird.

- Lost: Black capped conure, Hollywood, FL Band number FX xxxx. (908) 3070739 or mixi0991@gmail.com