Found in the same habitat as the lories of Indonesia, the Salvadori's Fig Parrot is a "restricted- range" species and is vulnerable to extinction due to extensive logging and land clearing over its range as well as trapping for the cage bird market. It is listed on CITES II. The Salvadori's Fig Parrot is a green bird with elongated yellow facial feathers, blue feathers around the eyes and broad red patch on the breast. The sexes are easily distinguishable, as the female lacks the bright red breast. It is a stocky bird, only measuring 7 ˝ inches (19 cm) but weighing around 105-118 grams.
The Salvadori's Fig Parrots' behavior
is very similar to the lories. They are very energetic and
playful. They are a delight to watch in the aviary and their
soft twill-like call is very charming. Since they are mostly
frugivorous (fruit-eating), they can be a bit messy. They tend to
throw their food around and their droppings are softer and stickier
than other parrots’, thus making regular cage cleaning very
important in order to maintain proper hygiene.
Fig parrots are
not picky eaters. They will sample most anything that is put in
their bowl. All my birds are fed twice daily. The morning feeding
consists of the same “parrot diet” that I feed to all my non-lory
parrots. This includes cooked organic brown rice, cooked lentils,
cooked split peas, chopped fruit (apple, grape and papaya), chopped
vegetables (peas, corn, green beans, lima beans, red bell peppers,
carrots, cooked yams and squash) and ZuPreem AvianMaintenceTM
Fruit BlendTM
pellets. 2-3 halved figs are added to the diet every day. Fresh
figs are fed when available; however, when the fig season is over,
dried figs are soaked overnight in water to reconstitute them before
feeding. Additionally, since fig parrots need higher levels of
vitamin K in their diet in order to thrive, Nekton Q (a vitamin K
supplement) is added to the diet 5 days per week. For the afternoon
feeding, the fig parrots receive a good quality safflower-based seed
mix, except when they are feeding chicks. When they are feeding
chicks, a second diet of chopped fruit and pellets replaces the
seed. Seasonal food items, such as wild banana, loquat,
prickly pear and palm fruit, are added to the diet when they are
available
Due to the low
numbers in the United States, all chicks reared should be placed
into breeding programs.
View more photos of
Salvadori's Fig Parrots in our photo gallery. |
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