Black Parrots of Praslin

Abstract

Certain remote places scattered about the globe have, since the time of their discovery, acted like a magnet to naturalists. Because of their unique fauna, islands are high on the list of such places, among them the Seychelles. Situated one thousand miles from the east coast of Africa and two thousand miles from the Indian mainland, these islands are certainly remote. The nearest land mass is the Malagasy Republic (formerly Madagascar), 650 miles distant.

The Seychelles are a group of granitic and coral islands situated about 300 miles south of the Equaror. Their avifauna is fascinating. It can be divided into three groups: the introduced species which comprise the most common land birds (e.g., common mynahs and barred ground doves); the seabirds, some of them counted in millions, on the outlying islands, the migrants; and the endemic species.

Almost without exception the latter

are rare or not numerous. All the islands are small and some species are confined to a single island. On Praslin, for example, which measures seven miles long and two miles wide, is found the black parrot. The conservation of parrots found on small islands holds a special interest for me. Having seen how rapidly increasing human populations on a number of Caribbean islands have placed severe pressure on the Amazon parrots found there, bringing some species to the brink of extinction, I wanted to investigate the situation in comparable circumstances in the Indian Ocean. Could anything that I was able to learn about the black parrot aid the survival of the Amazon parrots which so desperately need man's help?

The black parrot belongs to the genus Coracopsis which contains only two species, the larger Vasa parrot (C. uasa} from Malagasy and the Comoro Islands and C. nigra whose distribution additionally includes Praslin. The smallest sub-species C. n. barklyi, is found there. One of the unique features of the members of this genus is the plumage which is uniform greyish brown or brown. In coloration these are the dullest parrots in the world. A few Vasas have been kept by zoos and aviculturists but they are not well known and attract attention mainly for their drab coloration.

Little is known about the Coracopsis in general so, in April of this year my husband and I visited Praslin to learn what we could of the black parrot. On arrival in Mahe, the main island of Seychelles, I went to the offices of the Department of Agriculture to meet Lindsay Chong Seng who is responsible for conservation of the native fauna.

My first question to him was a leading one: was there a recent estimate of the population? He told me that in 1970 members of the Young Scientists' Society from Seychelles College had carried out some work on the black parrot from which they concluded that the population numbered about one hundred birds. In June of that year, all firearms

were confiscated for political reasonsso had that resulted in a subsequent increase, I wondered? It is quickly evident that generally speaking the standard of living is higher here than in the Caribbean-and no one has any need to shoot birds for food. Unlike the situation in the Caribbean islands, shooting in order to take parrots alive for trade has never occurred. And Mr. Chong Seng told me that he will not issue any licenses for taking or keeping them. All endemic birds are protected by law, with fines of up to Rl,000 (about $1,700) or imprisonment not exceeding one year, under the Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act. However, no one has yet been charged under the act.

I was told that there is a growing feeling of responsibility toward wildlife, an increasing attitude of pride in the endemic species and a realization that they are attractions which can only benefit the tourist industry and therefore the people in general. The positive attitude toward conservation is a comparatively recent development here, as in most parts of the world. On Praslin, Mr. Figaro, of the Department of Agriculture, told me that until the late 1950s dead parrots could be seen by the roadside, the victims of boys with catapults. This never occurs now. Again I heard, "The people take pride in their parrot.''

Human predation is a thing of the past-so are there any other predators, I asked? It is believed that rats have taken young in the nest-but to date, fewer than half a dozen nests have been found, so this is an area where further study is desirable but far from easy. I had heard it rumored that the introduced barn owl takes parrots. Mr. Chong Seng doubted this-but again an attempt to investigate the possibility should be pursued.

I then considered other factors which could limit the population: food supply and nesting sites. The former appears plentiful in the area of the Valee de Mai; the latter is an unknown quantity. Both Evans (1979) and Penny (1965) believed that the absence of suitable nesting sites, i.e., standing dead trees, might be the factor limiting population growth. Penny suggested the provision of nestboxes and Evans, a little more realistically, believed that leaving dead Albizia and Acacia trees standing was the best policy.

Possibly, too, the parrots are competing for nest sites with other species. It was only after an intensive study was made of the Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) that it was discovered that it was losing the battle for nest sites

in competition with a recent colonise, the pearly-eyed thrasher (Fuscus margarops). Could the same type of problem be occurring here, with the introduced common mynah (Acndotheres tristis) playing rhe role of villain? I would have rhoughr nor, as there are few mynahs in the Vallee itself: they prefer areas of human ha bi ration.

However, Andrew Gardner, a zoology student at Aberdeen University, who spent a year on Praslin studying geckos, informed me of the following incident. "I watched a group of three parrots investigating a hollow Pandanus homei stump on November 18, 1980. One bird went inside, then hopped our and performed a head-bowing display and appeared to be fed by one other, ruffling its head feathers in the process. A few days later, however, it became obvious that mynahs had taken over the hole."

It could have been chat the parrots lost interest in the sire, for some reason, bur it seems equally likely that the more aggressive personality of the mynah would result in a victory in any alrercation over nest sires. This is certainly an aspect which deserves further study. It is of inrerest that on another Indian Ocean

island, Mauritius, the common mynah is a nest competitor of the critically endangered echo parakeet (Psittacula echo) which has a smaller population than any other parrot throughout the world. Mynahs have been known to displace parakeets from nesting cavities; one had been used for at least four years by the parakeets before mynahs rook possession. Only the fact that mynahs have different preferences regarding nest locations, preferring open areas to forest, prevents them from being a serious threat.

To dare, the discovery of the nest of a black parrot has been an extremely rare event. The first described were two found by a forestry worker in November 1963 (Legrand, 1964). One, in the trunk of a dead Pandanus hornei, was destroyed when the tree fell. Ir contained three young. The second nest, in a dead Albizia falcata, was examined closely. It contained two white eggs which had been deposited on a layer of rotten wood dust at the bottom of a perpendicular tunnel which served as an entrance. The tunnel measured about 4 fr. in length.