Parrot in 40: Early psittaciforms

Irene Pepperberg’s papers treated English tokens as categories, not circus tricks. Alex (1976–2007) identified colours, shapes and same/different above chance. The debate is about the ceiling, not whether the tasks happened. Why did African greys move to CITES Appendix I in 2017?

Wild capture for pets plus forest loss cut Psittacus erithacus. Appendix I ended most commercial international trade in wild greys. Every Strigops is named and managed on predator-free New Zealand islands. Supplementary feeding and nest cameras make it closer to intensive care than to a hands-off reserve.

Are London’s ring-necked parakeets a conservation win? They are an introduced boom, not a restored native. Cavity competition with starlings and bats is the local argument. Why do so many macaws remain threatened? Cavity trees come down with forest. The pet trade added a second cut. Spix’s macaw went extinct in the wild before a 2019–20s reintroduction attempt in Bahia.