Habitat destruction in the Eastern Cape and Kwa Zulu Natal is causing the endemic Cape Parrot to eat a high fat diet. This new diet of green pecan nuts, syringa fruits and jacaranda pods are malnourishing and poisoning these beautiful parrots.

All the sick birds that have been examined have been underweight, some by as much as 40%, covered in fleas and have intestinal flukes. They have been too weak to fly and close to death.

The Cape Parrot Project is actively working to mitigate the extinction threats to this critically endangered South African endemic parrot.

Community Projects

In 2009, the Wild Bird Trust inaugurated the the iziKhwenene Project in the Amathole Region of the Eastern Cape. "iziKhwenene" is the Xhosa name for the Cape Parrot or "uPholi" and will always illicit a smiling, nodding response when shouted out loud in the rural Eastern Cape where Cape Parrots are found.

In partnership with BirdLife South Africa, Africa Geographic, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Rance Timber, Schenk Enterprises, and numerous local stakeholders, we are currently: -

1. Planting over 3,000 indigenous tree saplings in degraded Afromontane forest patches in the Hogsback Area of the Eastern Cape.

2. Constructing and erecting 300 Cape Parrot nest boxes in the forests and smallholdings surrounding Hogsback, Eastern Cape.

3. Manage our newly declared "Cape Parrot Sanctuary" at a pecan orchard on the University of Fort Hare (Alice Campus). Cape Parrots were previously trapped for the local pet trade here.

To supplement the lack of suitable nesting opportunities for Cape Parrots in the Amathole region the Wild Bird Trust have partnered with BirdLife South Africa to establish a community-based workshop to construct and erect suitable nest boxes in tall trees throughout the mountain range. Rance Timber (a local forestry company) is providing the necessary timber and workshop space.

For more information please visit the Wild Bird Trust website -

www.wildbirdtrust.com