2020 Pesquet’s parrot

Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

First to be bred in continental Europe

The Pesquet’s parrot inhabits the montane rainforests of New Guinea, where its main threat is from hunting for its beautiful feathers. It is rarely kept in zoos.

The first chick hatched in November 2020 and was hand reared. The keepers fed it every five hours, even at night, with a mixture of papaya, banana, instant mix for lories and dietary supplements. This parrot does not accept grains like most parrots, but mostly fruits and sweet juices like lories. The following year saw the first time this species bred naturally in a European zoo.

Pesquet’s parrots don't nest in abandoned tree cavities like most parrots. To stimulate nesting, they need to hollow out the cavity in the mouldering trunk themselves, using their conspicuous hooked beak to do so. Therefore, we prepared a trunk and completely filled the cavity with wood shavings. The Pesquet’s bit open an entrance hole and carried the shavings out, thus evoking this nesting adaptation.