Seychelles parrot in peril from invader

It was just a feather, but in the tropical paradise of the Seychelles, the discovery of parakeet plumage has put environmentalists in a flutter, with a foreign invading bird threatening the national parrot.

In the steamy and thick jungles of Praslin, one of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean archipelago of white sand beaches ringed by palms, the authorities are worried after the warning sign of a green feather from a ring-necked parakeet was discovered.

If not stopped, the intruder threatens to wipe out the country's black parrot, listed as "vulnerable" on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

"Based on the characteristics that I could see, the size and specifics, it is indeed a feather from the ring-necked parakeet," said Vilna Accouche, a scientist at the Seychelles Islands Foundation, which helps conserve the palm-filled Vallee de Mai national park, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and main home to the parrots.

The vivid green parakeet with a bright red beak, originally a domestic bird from India that escaped its cages in the 1970s and now breeds in the wild on the main island of Mahe, may appear harmless.

But it is a direct rival to the endemic black parrot, the "most noteworthy species" in the park and "totally dependent" on the palm forest there, according to UNESCO.

The black parrots live on Praslin, around 45 kilometers northeast of Mahe, a distance previously thought to be too far for the parakeet to fly.

That isolation has left the parrots unused to competition, and vulnerable to infections from outside.

Rats, a major pest, as well as cats have until now been its main threat, with some nest boxes protected by rat traps.

But now the green parakeet appears to have crossed the island divide and is threatening the parrot too.

As well as eating the same food as the parrots, the parakeets could carry diseases.

"The biggest danger posed by the arrival of the ring-necked parakeet on Praslin is that it could carry beak and feather disease, and spread them to the black parrot," said Accouche.

For the tropical islands, where tourism is the mainstay of the economy, preserving its unique nature is vital.

The small black parrots, isolated on the Indian Ocean island from competing species, could disappear if exposed to disease, she added.

There are only 500 to 900 black parrots, according to the foundation's estimates, most living in the "primeval palm forest" in the Vallee de Mai. Endemic trees in the valley include the famous coco de mer palm, which produces the world's largest nut.

(China Daily 10/18/2014 page10)