Exotic Birds in Australia

zooboy28 said:
I haven't looked into this deeply at all, but Mute Swans are not mentioned anywhere (obvious) in the Pizzey & Knight field guide (9th edition), but they are in the Morcombe guide (2nd edition), where they are described as being restricted to a few localised colonies, although it only specifically mentions Northam and there is no map.
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I recall there was a colony in Tasmania but no idea where, and the last time I heard a reference to it was at least 20 years ago.
 
MRJ said:
I recall there was a colony in Tasmania but no idea where, and the last time I heard a reference to it was at least 20 years ago.
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I remember that one, it was in the north-east of the island somewhere I think.
 
Supposedly there was a colony in Melbourne also, but the only ones I know of are a pair at the zoo. I have seen them advertised for sale by private people in the Melbourne area, but there's certainly none left in public parks that I know of.
 
Chlidonias said:
I've just added a small bit to the opening of the thread, about bird importation. I will note here that although the import ban was commenced in 1949 it seems that Edward Hallstrom of Taronga Zoo continued bringing birds into the country from New Guinea through the 1950s via not-exactly-legal means.
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zooboy28 said:
As PNG was administrated by Australia at this time, was there a loop-hole they could import birds via?
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Chlidonias said:
that is entirely possible. I haven't been able to find out much about what he brought in and when, and how he did it.
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relating to the above quotes, I have just come across a five-page obituary in the journal Emu for Fred Shaw Mayer who was a museum and zoo collector in New Guinea and who died in 1989. The article includes some mentions of Taronga and Hallstrom with some dates.

In 1948 a sheep station was established by Hallstrom at Nondugl in the Western Highlands (in PNG), and there was an aviary complex on this site. The first manager of the facility was Captain Neptune Blood, who probably has the most awesome name of any naturalist ever. In 1953 Hallstrom passed over the sheep station side of things to the Administration of the "Australian Territories of Papua and New Guinea" (PNG was an administration of Australia until becoming an independent country in 1975), but retained the aviaries for his own purposes with Fred Mayer becoming the manager. In 1966 Hallstrom sold up and most of the collection was taken over by the government and moved to a new site at Baiyer River.

The article specifically mentions Victoria Crowned Pigeons and White-bibbed Ground Doves:
"Nondugl was used by Hallstrom as a staging post, with most of the established stock going to Taronga Zoo in Sydney or to overseas zoos, in exchange for stock for Taronga Zoo (Sir Edward was the Chairman for the Taronga Park Trust). The Victoria Crowned Pigeons Goura victoria at Taronga are the survivors of about 50 birds collected by Fred in the Ramu Valley, north of Nondugl, during this period. Not all of these birds went to the zoo directly, Taronga getting their initial stock via Sir Edward's private aviaries around 1959. The very successful White-bibbed Ground-doves Gallicolumba jobiensis at Taronga were also collected by Fred, either from Yule Island or the mainland opposite. Regrettably, few of Fred's Nondugl-based activities have been reported in the literature."

As well as the Victoria Crowned Pigeons and White-bibbed Ground Doves, there are also still Nicobar Pigeons in Australia which were originally imported by Hallstrom. These aren't mentioned at all in the Emu article but presumably were brought in during the same period.

I can't work out the way New Guinea fits into the 1949 bird import ban. Technically it should have been included but presumably wasn't because it was under Australian administration as zooboy28 suggested. I found a newspaper article from November 1963 about a shipment arriving in Sydney with ten birds of paradise and eighteen parrots as well as lots of mammals (the birds were to be sent onwards overseas from Taronga, the mammals were to stay at the zoo). Another article from September 1950 was about one shipment of 200 birds (including 100 birds of paradise). I do wonder how many birds of paradise passed through Hallstrom's private aviaries in Australia -- it must have been literally thousands (in a book called Times and Tides there is a line saying "one year he presented Taronga with 190 birds of paradise"!!). Eventually imports were completely ceased from New Guinea (that book has a comment about Hallstrom protesting that Newcastle Disease isn't found in New Guinea - but it didn't give a date), and the last non-native bird of paradise (a Raggiana) died at Taronga in 1976.
 
Whilst not exactly zoo related, a pair of Hyacinth Macaws have just been advertised on Gumtree, and the price of them leaves the Hawk Headed Parrots looking like a bargain!

Hyacinth Macaws - Hand Rared young | Birds | Gumtree Australia Bundaberg City - Bargara | 1055735290

"We have available 2 x Hand Reared Hyacinth Macaws at the age of 6 months and are weaned.

The pair we have available are unrelated and ideal for future breeders, and/or can be used as pets.

Please genuine enquiries only!! Yes Hyacinth Macaws do exist in Australia for those who seem to know it all. If these birds were illegal and smuggled into Australia, this ad would not be here.

Also don't call asking to view the birds so you can decide whether you want to buy them or not, as you can understand someone serious about wanting to own a hyacinth would not ask such a question.

All genuine buyers are welcome to have a look, you just need to prove that you have the finances to buy them.

The price is $95,000 each or $190,000 for a unrelated pair."

Any zoos with spare funds wanting a new exhibit?
 
Astrobird said:
Whilst not exactly zoo related, a pair of Hyacinth Macaws have just been advertised on Gumtree, and the price of them leaves the Hawk Headed Parrots looking like a bargain!

The price is $95,000 each or $190,000 for a unrelated pair."

Any zoos with spare funds wanting a new exhibit?
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cheaper than giant pandas! :D
 
The ad is no longer available. Looks like someone snapped it up. :D Why would they need to put an ad on Gumtree, the website of poor plebs looking to buy used crap? Surely they have a network of bird collectors?
 
Recently I read a short article about the possibility of Victoria making it illegal to keep many birds currently available in avaries. This includes many species of parrots and finches. This is under the auspices of the fear that escapees might create feral populations. Does anyone know more about this?
 
jay said:
Recently I read a short article about the possibility of Victoria making it illegal to keep many birds currently available in avaries. This includes many species of parrots and finches. This is under the auspices of the fear that escapees might create feral populations. Does anyone know more about this?
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that is regarding the new DEPI additions to the lists of non-indigenous bird pests (which come under the categories of Prohibited, Controlled, and Regulated). The aviary birds which are/have been considered to be added all come under Regulated Pest Animals. They include ringnecks, lovebirds, quakers, bobwhites, avadavats, Java sparrows, all sorts of things like that.

However, the listing of these species as Regulated Pest Species does not affect aviculture. There is no impact on keeping or breeding or selling these species, and there is no permits needed. Nothing changes in that regard. The listing of them is solely to do with feral/wild populations. There are a lot of bird-keepers who have completely misunderstood the meaning. At the most it will mean species not already in Victoria may not be allowed to be kept.

"All bird species currently able to be kept privately can continue to be kept, there will be no changes to the regulations or permitting for bird keepers in Victoria."

"Bird species declared as pests can still be kept in private keeping."

You can read about some of it here: DEPI - Non-indigenous Bird Management Policy (and there are some pdf links as well)
 
$600 sounds very cheap for a pair of these birds.. I thought, if it indeed legit, that the asking price would at least be in the thousands.
 
It says Sold now. If they existed , they are sold now.

Did anyone here contact them to see if they were real or even buy them.
 
my understanding is that crested wood partridges were down to a figurative handful of old birds about a decade ago and then they all died out. If there were any left in Australia they wouldn't be being sold for a few hundred dollars, and probably not even as a pair. I doubt there are really any left in the country.
 
zooboy28 said:
*Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus - Few true-breeding to wild phenotype.
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Sorry, but what exactly does this mean? Are they birds that are directly derived from wild, non-hybridised Red Junglefowl populations, or are they simply domestic fowl that strongly resemble wild Red Junglefowl? "Wild phenotype" seems to imply the latter.
 
Cassidy Casuar said:
Sorry, but what exactly does this mean? Are they birds that are directly derived from wild, non-hybridised Red Junglefowl populations, or are they simply domestic fowl that strongly resemble wild Red Junglefowl? "Wild phenotype" seems to imply the latter.
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there used to be pure red and green junglefowl in Australian aviculture. The greens are now gone. The reds are probably largely (entirely?) now mixed with domestic genes.
 
There are a couple of parrots not listed that are still available in Australia. There are a fair number of lineolated (barred) parrots in Australia and their population here seems secure. There are still also some yellow streaked lories and Pacific Parrotlets in private collections in Australia.
Regarding Hawk Heads, Casuarina Parrot Gardens still have at least one pair of these on display.
I'm not sure if there are still any long tailed parrots left in Australia
 
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