Filed under: Australian Parrots, Diseases, My Pets, Parrots Other, Uncategorized | Tags: affects, beak, beaks, become brittle, birds, birds’ immune system cells, carriers, cells, Cockato, Cockatoo, Cockatoos, deformed, depleted, diarrhoea and weight loss., die, disease, DNA, Fact sheet, fatigue, Feather, feathers, immune system, infection, Lorikeet, Lorikeets, Lorries, lose feathers, no treatment, other infections, parrots, PBFD, poster, protects psittacine birds, Psittacine, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD), psittacine birds, psittacine circoviral disease, recover, recovered, Research, suffer, surviving, susceptible, test, treatment, vaccinated, vaccine, virus, vulnerable, Young birds
This disease affects the birds’ immune system cells and the cells that develop their beak and feathers, slowly causing them to lose their feathers and their beaks become brittle and deformed. The birds also become vulnerable to all other infections due to the depleted immune system. Young birds under a year are believed to be most susceptible and are more likely to eventually die as a result of the infection. They will often also suffer from fatigue, diarrhoea and weight loss.
Sadly no treatment is currently available for this disease but much research is being undertaken through out Australia. A DNA test is available to detect the disease in infected birds. If you suspect your bird might be infected, you veterinarian can take a blood sample and send it away for diagnosis.
I don’t want to get peoples hopes up to high due to the high mortality of this disease but when I research the disease I did come across stories of some parrots not only surviving the disease but apparently they have completely recovered from it. Click here to read a heart felt story about Sweetpea’s struggle with PBFD and ultimate recovery. Apparently some older birds that have been tested positive have show no effects but they so remain carriers for the disease.
Many Infected birds do however live long and happy lives, some owners even knit them little jumpers if their birds loss too many feathers. I provided my girl with her own heating lamp. Due to their weak immune systems they need especially good care and hygiene. An infected bird must be isolated to prevent any contact with other parrots as this is a highly contagious disease which is transmitted though faeces and feather powder. Take great care when you personally come into contact with other parrots, make sure you change your cloths and wash thoroughly. This is a very resistant disease and is know to survive many disinfectants. It can lay dormant in an old cage for years, so it is best to destroy any of the bird’s possessions to prevent inflecting another parrot. This virus occurs in both wild and pet birds.
References: (Viewing date – 22nd June 2008)
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/p-c-disease/index.html
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/p-c-disease/pubs/p-c-disease.pdf
http://www.parrotsociety.org.au/articles/art_007.htm
http://www.petalia.com.au/Templates/StoryTemplate_Process.cfm?Story_No=281
http://www.geocities.com/~calliefeather/sweetpea.html
Diet: Many sites recommend a combination of small parrot seed mix, striped sunflower seeds (not too many) and oats as a basis for their seed diet, while other sites recommend parrot pellets or a combination of both. What ever you choice, make sure that your Alexandrine received a daily serve of various fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouts, nuts, flowers, berries and nectar. You can also offer your Alexandrine egg and biscuit mix, vitamins and supplements
Size: The Alexandrine is on average 56 and 62 cm and the tail making up 35 cm of this length.
Informative websites:
The Alexandrine Parrot is not a native species of Australia. They are an Asiatic Parrot and can be found throughout South-east Asia, Nepal, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Assam, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Afghanistan India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Andaman Islands and Bangladesh. The Alexandrine is an outgoing and boisterous parrot, which can seem deafening when they flock together in extremely large groups consisting of hundreds or more for their evening roost in palm trees. These large evening flocks separate into smaller groups in the morning. During the day they travel in their small groups all over their indigenous area searching for seeds, fruits, flowering plants and available large trees for nesting, either in hollows or they will gnaw out their own nest. They are incredibly precise, solid and expeditious in flight.
The primarily colour for an Alexandrine Parrot is green, with brighter green feathers on their head, a lighter green under their wings and the feather on the top of their wings is the darkest of its green shades. The males developing a solid black neck ring which is widest under the beak and tapers of near the back of the neck. They will also develop a pink band beneath the back of the black ring, which is usually not visible until after their first full molt, which can take about two years.
The female and juvenile Alexandrines look very similar to the male but don’t have the black and pink neck ring. The Hen also has slightly shorter tail feathers and the juveniles have shorter tails feather then the females.
Psittacula. e. magnirostris - Andaman Islands Alexandrine Parrot: They are about 60cm in length. Their chest and abdomen feathers are marked with a greyish white tinge in both sexes. Above their broader pink band is a slight blue tinge to their smaller nape. Their shoulder patch is lighter in colour and they have a larger and thicker beak. They are native to Andaman.
Psittacula. e. nipalensis - Nepalese Alexandrine Parrot: Their chest and abdomen feathers are marked with a greyish white tinge in both sexes. Their cheeks and nape are tinged with blue, with a larger, broader band to the nape. They are found in Assam, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India and Pakistan.
Psittacula. e. siamensis – Siamese or Laos Alexandrine Parrot: The back of their head and nape is a light blue, spreading up towards their crown. They have a narrower and pinker nape and their cheeks are a greenish/yellowish. Their shoulder patch is a little smaller and darker in colour. Thy have yellowish coloured feet and at 56 cm they are the smallest of all the Alexandrine sub species. They are native to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.
