Beginning the year at Loro Parque Fundación

March 11th, 2019 | by Rafael Zamora Padron
Beginning the year at Loro Parque Fundación
LPF NEWS
0

At European latitudes, especially in the south and from February on, parrots notice an increase in daylight hours. They are getting more active now and the first signs of courtship games already have appeared. 

Loro Parque Fundación is located in a subtropical zone where the effect of the constant sun and the increased daylight hours can be seen, e.g. with the Keas, also called alpine parrots, that already had offspring. The little chicks were born with downy plumage to withstand low temperatures in the nest in the parental absence. Other species, as the Australian parrots, are getting also very active and are looking for nest sites before setting on a location. We offer alternative nest sites, even for the species to breed on the ground.

The spectacular courtship rituals are a sight to see, as the outlandish courtship games of the Keas, where the female takes the first step.

Because of this activity and the upcoming mating phase, caregivers are enriching the parrot´s diet. The birds are provided with new food texture like pasta, which we give in little portions to get them used to it gradually. This kind of food is essential to get prepared for the breeding phase.

Macaws during their courtship (c) M. Kortmann/LPF

It is also during this period that we need to increase the vigilance of those species that will take a little longer to enter into heat. This is the case of cockatoos or macaws. Although the males can start their courtship from the first months of the year, the females on the contrary will be delayed a little longer. For this reason, we provide them escape options from the passionate partner, who in many occasions can be very insistent and cause weakness to the females who show little interest in entering the nests. In these cases, we wait until the couple has synchronized to provide them with suitable nesting sites or to open the access to the nests.

In Loro Parque Fundación we observe the compatibility of the species, which is determined by the season but also by the age of each member of the couple.

When the members of each couple begin to stay together for different activities, it is time to add the stimuli, since if we do not do so, unwanted behaviour, such as aggressions, laying eggs outside the nest or laying infertile eggs will be the consequence of not having known how to wait.

.

Author: Rafael Zamora Padrón, Scientific Director of Loro Parque Fundación

Title photo: Compatibility can be observed and determines when to give them access to the nest, (c) M.Kortmann/LPF

DON'T MISS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Parrot News Blog | Parrots Daily News

RSS
Follow by Email8k
Facebook25k
Instagram18k