NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ZOO WORLD
173
WILLIAMS, M. G., GOLDING, L. P. 8r GOLDING, R. R.
(1987): Breeding and rearing the Humboldt penguin
Spheniscus humboldti at Cotswold Wildlife Park,
Burford, Oxon. The development of a successful
hand-rearing technique. Avicult. Mag. 93: 61-72.
Inf. Zoo Yb. (1991) 30: 173-177
Breeding and rearing Salvadori’s fig parrot
Psittaculirostris salvadorii
at Lor0 Parque, Tenerife
RICK JORDAN’ & TONY SILVA2
’Head of Hand-rearing and Incubation Facility and 2Curator of Birds, Lor0 Parque,
Punta Brava, Puerto de la Cruz, 38 400 Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
The Australasian genera Opopsitta and
Psittaculirostris, commonly called fig
parrots because wild figs are a favoured
food, are found mainly in New Guinea,
although a number of subspecies occur in
Indonesian islands and Australia. They
are small to diminutive, stocky birds with
short rather pointed tails; their actions
resemble those of the Loriidae but unlike
this group they lack papillae on the
tongue. Weights of fig parrots at Lor0
Parque range from 30g for the Orange-
breasted fig parrot Opopsitta gulielmitertii
to 126 g for Desmarest’s fig parrot Psitta-
culirostris desmarestii.
Their avicultural history is not parti-
cularly long. Although some specimens
were kept earlier this century, most of the
species became known in the late 1970s; in
the USA they became available after
about 1978 and both there and in Europe
continue to be traded in small numbers.
Once acclimatized these birds are hardy,
and mate and lay readily. The rearing of
captive-bred young, however, has met
with little success; most have died during
the first few weeks of life with infections,
swollen livers or deficiencies of vitamin K,
and possibly the vitamin B complex, cited
as contributory factors.
YOM-TOV,Y., WILSON,R. 8r AR, A. (1986): Water
loss from jackass penguin Spheniscus dernersus eggs
during natural incubation. Ibis 128: 1-18.
Manuscript submitted 18 July 1990
0The Zoological Society of London
All five species of fig parrot are kept at
Lor0 Parque, the Orange-breasted 0.gu-
lielmitertii, Double-eyed 0 .diophthalma,
Desmarest’s P. desmarestii, Edward’s
P. edwardsii and Salvadori’s P. salvadorii.
All have laid but before the 1990 hatching
only one bird survived to fledging and this
died shortly thereafter. This paper
describes the successful hand-rearing of a
Salvadori’s fig parrot hatched at Lor0
Parque in March 1990.
HOUSING AND DIET
The adult fig parrots, which are kept both
on display and in off-exhibit aviaries,
seem not to be particularly selective in
their requirements. Although some aviar-
ies are 3.6m in length, pairs have nested
in enclosures as small as 1.2 m long and in
general nestboxes have been readily
accepted.
Recently, we experimented with a more
natural nest site by offering a pair of
Double-eyed fig parrots a partly decom-
posed pine branch c. 25 cm diameter and
it is our intention to provide similar nest
logs for other parrots in the collection in
future. The birds excavated a tunnel in the
log, c. 60 cm long, ending in a chamber
where two eggs were laid. Both chicks
I74
hatched but neither survived. The birds
chewing capabilities appear surprising for
such small birds but if one examines the
bill closely (or is bitten) it is seen to be
extremely strong and sharp.
In the wild the parrots’ diet is
comprised of figs and other fruits, small
pieces of food being continuously
dropped as the birds feed; in captivity,
their cage and surroundings become
festooned with pieces of dried fruit, the
result of their eating and shaking their
heads. At Lor0 Parque the fig parrots are
fed twice a day. In the morning they are
offered fruit and vegetables, including
parboiled beets and carrots, apple, pear,
orange, the spinach-like alcegar, cactus
fruit, papaya, guava and any other seaso-
nally available fruit, as well as Turkish
figs that have first been soaked in water.
Of the latter, they eat mainly the seeds, a
behaviour also observed in the wild with
0. d. macleayana feeding on the hard-
skinned, small figs of Ficus ehretii (Silva,
pers. obs.). In the afternoon they are fed a
small amount of parakeet seed (assorted
millets and oats), occasionally canary
seed, and a mixture of lentils, garbanzo
and pinto beans. The three pulses are
soaked, drained and allowed to sprout,
and are then mixed with boiled maize,
small pieces of dog crackers and high-
protein monkey chow (Silva, 1991). All
the ingredients are sprinkled with vita-
mins, minerals and calcium and three
times a week a few drops of Konakion are
add to the mixture. All the water supplied
is boiled and allowed to cool.
Except on very cool or windy days, the
parrots are sprayed daily with a fine mist
of water for about 15-20 minutes.
BREEDING
The breeding pair of Salvadori’s fig parrot
is housed on display, in an enclosure
measuring 2.4 x 0.9 x 2.1 m high, and
containing a nestbox, 15 x 15 x 30 cm,
filled with wood shavings. The 8 was seen
displaying on several occasions; he
approached the 9 with exaggerated hops,
bobbing his head and occasionally ‘wing-
N E W DEVELOPMEN rs I N T H E ZOO WORLD
whirring’. During copulation, which
lasted from a few seconds to as long as
two minutes, the 8 kept one foot on the
perch and placed the other on the hen’s
back; a continuous vocalization could be
heard and he constantly touched the 0’s
head on both sides with his head.
In February 1990, the Assistant
Curator of Birds, making a routine
inspection of the nest, discovered two
broad-elliptical eggs measuring
26.5 x 21.2 mm and 26.2 x 21 mm. They
were removed for artificial incubation and
24 days later, on 13 March, at 2100 hours
one egg hatched. The second egg showed
no signs of fertility. The eggs were incu-
bated at 35.25”C (27.25”C wet bulb) in a
Roll X Model I1 incubator. They were
turned manually every two hours during a
16-hour day.
weight
100-
90-
00-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
I
10 30 50 70
age (days)
Fig. 1. Growth rate of Salvadori’s fig parrot Psittucu-
lirostris salvudorii chick hatched and hand-reared at
Lor0 Parque, Tenerife. The chick’s weight was
recorded daily from day 2 to day 61 (except for days
42, 48 and 55) and at two-day intervals until day 67;
the final recorded point is at day 72.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ZOO WORLD 175

DAY WEIGHT DEVELOPMENT

(g)
1 4.1 short yellowish down covers entire body, including crop, feet pink, nails grey and bill
flesh coloured with grey on the edges
7 7.4 bill greyish, darkest at base, lightest on soft pads at rear part of cutting edge; feet
grey; eyes slitting
14 18.9 eyes open; secondary down beginning to appear under skin (as small black follicles)
18 22.7 bill black; secondary down follicles present over entire body; very active
24 33.4 dark grey down appearing on back; present but not open on crop and underparts
27 43.1 secondary down completely open; nails black, greyish towards base; jumping out of
bowl and able to recognize people
34 64 short thick secondary down gives woolly appearance; primary and secondary flight
pins 8 mm long; moves closed wings when begging to be fed
38 70.9 tip of tail and breast pin feathers appearing; pin feathers showing on wings; flight
feather sheaths 25 mm long
42 76.1 pin feathers showing on head and cheeks; tip of green tail showing
45 84.4 underparts beginning to feather; tail 33 mm long; wings feathering
50 96.3 back and under-wing areas in down, otherwise feathered excepted for head still in pin
feathers
55 101.2 biting; nape in pin feathers; under-wing in down; tail 35 mm long
59 100.5 first flight taken
64 all feathered; perching; resembles 0 except for darker iris and slightly less blue on
head
65 92.2
61 85.6
68 weaned
72 94.7

Table 1. Development of Salvadori’s fig parrot Psittaculirostris salvadorii artificially hatched and hand-reared at
Lor0 Parque, Tewrife.

DEVELOPMENT A N D DIET OF CHICK of Konakion, one drop of vitamin B

The hatchling weighed 4.1 g at birth. It
had decreased to 3.9g on day2 and by
day4 passed the hatch weight to 4.9g
(Fig. 1). The physical development of the
chick from day 1 to weaning is shown in
Table 1.
The basic chick formula comprised ten
High-Protein Monkey Chow biscuits
(number 5045 with 25% protein) and a
large tablespoonful of peanut butter
whipped in a blender-full of water and
strained. The formula was kept very fluid
(similar in consistency to full milk)
throughout the hand-rearing period as
both digestion and the chick’s feeding
response seemed better when a thin
formula was fed, any attempt to thicken it
resulting in crop stasis and lethargy.
The chick was given its first feed four
hours after hatching. For the first three
days the formula consisted of 20ml
lactated Ringer’s solution with two drops
complex, one quarter teaspoon of honey,
a very minute pinch of Prozyme and one
teaspoonful of regular formula. At first it
showed no feeding response and the
mixture was introduced into the crop
every hour from 0600-2300 hours with a
night feed at 0400 hours via a stainless
steel gavage needle. During feeding the
chick was supported in an upright posi-
tion with soft tissue paper to avoid aspira-
tion of the formula, a particular problem
with fig parrots which often lay on their
backs for the first few days of life.
On day 4 the amount diet was increased
to two tablespoons of regular formula,
10 ml of lactated Ringer’s solution, three
drops of vitamin K, one drop of vitamin
B complex and a pinch of Prozyme. From
day4 the chick was fed to satiation every
two hours from 0600-2300 from a small
spoon, which when touched against the
inside of the upper mandible induced a
176
swallowing response. As it became
stronger over the next few days, it fed
from the spoon easily. From day 15 the
chick swallowed its food eagerly. It called
loudly whenever it heard anyone in the
rearing room and was precocious, leaping
from containers that were five times its
height. It would also bite, often quite
hard, in its attempts to solicit food.
From day27 the chick was kept in a
plastic bucket from which it would try
actively to escape. Once removed from the
container it would defecate and begin to
beg for food. It would not defecate in the
‘nest’ and we were concerned that its
health would suffer if it were left for too
many hours overnight; the authors and
other staff members shared the chore of
removing the growing bird from the
brooder to allow it to defecate and to feed
it as necessary.
Figs were added to the diet on day 34.
These are purchased dried and rehydrated
by placing in boiling water and leaving
them to soak for one hour. The soft
inside, including the seeds, was then
scraped out with a spoon and added to
the formula. The undigested seeds were
eliminated in the faeces. Beginning on
day45, once the chick had taken all it
wanted from the spoon, it signalled its
lack of interest in more food by biting its
handler hard. On day50 fresh fruits
(apple, banana, papaya) and soaked dried
figs were introduced. Within two days it
began taking small amount of figs and
papaya but continued to receive three
feeds of formula daily. At times it
evidenced no interest in the formula, at
others it would take a small amount and
then attack the hand of the feeder.
During the weaning period the chick
slept and hid in an overturned bucket in
the brooder. Although we were occasion-
ally able to see it emerging to take fresh
fruit, it appeared to limit these expedi-
tions to times when it felt itself unob-
served. At three months of age its
favourite foods were pear, soaked figs,
papaya and cooked dried corn and sweet-
corn. During the weaning period, it
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ZOO WORLD
received two drops of oral vitamin K
daily.
HEALTH
On day9 the tips of the wings became
dark and appeared irritated. Mineral oil
was applied to the area three times daily
for the next week until the irritation dis-
appeared. On day 11 the chick ingested
some wood shavings and a c. 3 mm ball
was removed from the crop; the chick was
held in an upright position and gently
stretched to allow palpation of the
obstruction as far up the oesophagus as
possible. It was then removed with a pair
of small haemostats. Because the wood
shavings had blocked the passage of food
from the crop to stomach, slowing diges-
tion considerably, the chick had become
dehydrated and subcutaneous injections
of warmed lactated Ringer’s solution were
given for three days to help restore the
lost body fluids. After removal of the ball
feeding returned to normal. As a pre-
caution against bacterial infection 001 ml
of injectible piperacillin diluted to
4 g/20 ml was administered twice a day.
On day 26, the chick’s digestion slowed
considerably and it suffered diarrhoea
with many undigested food particles
appearing in the faeces. Cultures of faeces
showed Pseudomonas; 0.01 ml of pipera-
cillin twice daily, was injected for seven
days and 0.33ml Abactrim/lOOg of the
bird’s weight was added to the food twice
daily for three days. Within 24 hours the
amount of feed taken was increasing and
the faeces returned to normal.
CONCLUSION
Unlike other parrot chicks reared at Lor0
Parque (Low, 1989), the Salvadori’s fig
parrot was secretive and aggressive
towards its handlers and needed very
different treatment. The successful rearing
of this chick required considerable dedica-
tion and patience but the feeling of satis-
faction in weaning this difficult species has
made the extra efforts worthwhile.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ZOO WORLD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the staff at the Lor0
Parque for their efforts and in particular to Pedro
Martin, Assistant Curator of Birds, Arantxa Artal,
Park Biologist, and Julia Escobar who shared in the
task of removing the chick from brooder at frequent
intervals.
PRODUCTS MENTIONED IN THE TEXT
Abactrim: sulpha-trimethoprim, manufactured by
Roche Labs, Madrid, Spain.
Becozyme: vitamin B complex, manufactured by
Roche Labs, Madrid, Spain.
Konakion: synthetic vitamin K, manufactured by
Roche Labs, Madrid, Spain.
Piprik pipercillin injectable antibiotic, manufactured
by Lederle Inc, Carolina, Puerto Rico, USA and
Int. Zoo Yb. (1991) 30: 177-180
Breeding the Amazilia hummingbird
Amazilia amazilia
at the Noorder Zoo, Emmen
W. LANDMAN
Entomologist, Noorder Dierenpark Zoo, Postbus 1010,7801 BA Emmen. The
Netherlands
On 18March 1988 a group of humm-
ingbirds was introduced into the tropical
butterfly garden at Emmen Zoo to act as
a biological pest control against the
spiders whose webs were a hazard to the
butterflies. The hummingbirds proved not
only to be exceedingly useful in this
respect but also provided an added attrac-
tion for visitors. The Amazilia humm-
ingbirds Amazilia amazilia settled so well
that eggs were laid regularly. In the
autumn of 1989 one of the 99 succeeded
in rearing two young for the first time at
the Zoo.
MAINTENANCE
The butterfly garden is located in a
tropical hall covering an area of some
177
Lederle Laboratories, Fareham Road, Gosport,
Hants Po13 OAS, Great Britain.
Prozyme: cellulose, lipase, protease (derived from
papain), amylase and lactose, manufactured by
Prozyme Co., Elk Grove Village, IL, USA.
Purina High-Protein Monkey Chow: manufactured
by Purina Mills, St Louis, MO 63166, USA.
REFERENCES
Low, R. (1990): Breeding Pesquet's parrot
Psittrichas fulgidus at Lor0 Parque, Tenerife. Int.
ZOOYb. 2 9 102-108.
SILVA, T. (1991): Psittaculture: the breeding, rearing
and management of parrots. Ontario: Silvio
Mattacchione & Co.
Manuscript submitted 21 June 1990
0The Zoological Society of London
1000m2 and varying in height from
3.5-6m. The roof and side windows,
apart from two glass windows, are made
of a double layer of plastic which,
although not transparent, allows a wide
spectrum of light to pass through. No
artificial light is used. The daytime
temperature varies from 2&28"C, while
relative humidity is 70% minimum.
Around 1000 tropical butterflies are
present throughout the year making it
impossible to use chemicals to control the
plagues of red spidermite, whitefly,
aphids, spiders and other pests. Eighteen
Peruvian hummingbirds, six each of the
Bronze-tailed comet Polyonymus caroli,
Sparkling violet-ear Colibri coruscans and
Amazilia hummingbird A . amazilia, were