NEWS & VIEWS



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SUCCESS WITH SOFTBILLS


Among the birds bred this year at Waddesdon Manor, which the society

visited in April, were seven Rufous-bellied Niltavas Niltava sundara, 10

Chestnut-backed Thrushes Zoothera dohertyi (with six more in the nest

(September 19th)), seven Orange-headed Ground Thrushes Z. citrina , four

Blue-crowned Laughingthrushes Garrulax c. courtoisi , four Fairy Bluebirds

Irenapuella and eight Pekin Robins Leiothrix lutea. Over 70 birds had been

bred by late September, most of which were softbills.


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EUROPEAN PARROT BREEDING PROGRAMME


Dutch aviculturist Jose Appels, who has been keeping Blue-rumped

Parrots Psittinus cyanurus for 14 years, last year started a European breeding

programme for the species. So far she has traced about 18 breeders and 70

birds. If you keep this species or have any information about it, she would

like to hear from you. She would specifically like to know whether you breed

this species, how many you keep, what type of accommodation you keep

them in and any other relevant information. To find out more you can visit

her website: www.psittinus-cyanurus-cyanurus.com or you can join the group

by contacting her via e-mail:info@psittinus-cyanurus-cyanurus.com


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FLAGSHIP PROJECT FOR 2008


Built originally as a Reptile House, using money received from the sale

of Jumbo the African Elephant Loxodonta africana to the famous American

showman Phineas Bamum, and opened to the public in 1883 and then in

1927-1928 converted to house birds, ZSL London Zoo’s dilapidated old Bird

House is undergoing major renovation work and is due to reopen next Easter.

The project will cost £2.3 million (approx. US$4.6 million).


It is planned to preserve many of the building’s charming Victorian

features. Visitors will enter the building through the original, restored,

foyer or entrance porch, in which there will be interactive displays, setting

the Victorian theme and giving visitors a sense of anticipation of the tropical

experience which awaits them when they enter the atrium. They will be

able to continue through a door and into a 30m (approx. 98ft) long free-

flight aviary. As they walk along the Victorian Promenade by a stream and

transverse the path over a bridge towards a small waterfall, visitors will see

such birds as Victoria Crowned Pigeons Goura victoria and Bali Starlings

Leucopsar rothschildi. The door at the end will take visitors into the Avian



