Abstract
A unique parrot book. Parrots -
Tbeir Life in the Wild was first published
in German in 1986 by Horst
Muller-Verlag Walsrode. The author
was Thomas Arndt, an author of many
parrot books and editor of Papageien
(translated Parrots), an excellent Ge rman
subscription magazine on parrots
both in captivity and in the wild.
Both Dale Thompson and Rainer
Erhart were given copies of the German
version of this book and both
realized that this book was written
strictly on parrots in their natural habitats.
It had information that was not
common knowledge to most avicul turists
and parrot lovers . They both
felt it should be translated to English.
A team was then formed to translate
this book from German to English and
later "Americanized," as straight German
to English translation can be
quite confusing. Two translators ,
Rainer Erhart and Renata Decher,
were used with Dr. Erhart doing the
bulk of the work. Dale Thompson
coordinated the team with Janet Tasjian
Hanson doing the vast computer
work. The English translation of this
book became available in the U.S . in
December 1992.
Parrots - Their L?fe in the Wild gives
a vast amount of information on parrots
' natural feeding , nesting and
many other behaviors in the wild . It
includes many other types of information
such as "Why are parrots so colorful?"
Each chapter is, indeed , very
detailed. For example, the major
chapter on "What is the breeding
behavior of pa rrots?" This chapter
includes sections on choosing a partner,
the Casanova , the first clutch,
courtship display, the nest and the
eggs, nesting in tree cavities, parrots
not nesting in trees , nesting in
mounds, nest builders, ground nesters,
the clutch, the nursery and poor
parenting. This chapter alone has
great insight to natural nesting that
could be very helpful to aviculturists.
Just about every type of parrot, from
lories to Amazons, is mentioned in
this book. The concluding chapter is
on "Why are parrots endangered?"
including several species profiles. The
following is a quote from the primary
translator of this book who would certainly
know it well.