Primary Objectives:
To offer a safe refuge to ensure any birds that arrive at our institution are to:
1. maintain the rest of their existence here with a plethora of activity and environmental stimulation.
2. offer ample space to exercise by utilizing all their muscles and assurance of flight capability.
3. nourish their mental state to prevent unwanted behaviours and to allow them to interact with others of their own kind.
To contribute toward conservation and preservation with controlled population management. Proper population management can ensure the long-term survival of the captive population and the health of individual animals. Basic population management is necessary if the private sector and zoological institutions are to maintain stable, self-sustaining populations for their preservation and conservation.
Population Management:
Currently our population management of Moluccan Cockatoos reside in large aviaries consisting of 250 sq. ft. outdoor enclosures where they can enjoy outside environmental stimulation and adequate exercise for flight. As well, we only allow prime candidates to enter breeding programs, where appropriate to raise their own young for future breeding programs and potential released candidates back to Indonesia. These normally consist of wild caught birds or ones that have been parent-raised who are experienced in raising their own offspring to imprint natural behaviours in their offspring. Former pets we are allowing for human interaction and can utilize and demonstrate their thinking skills and capability in our live bird shows with our near future plans for the opening of St. Vincent Bird Park.
Experience: Our experience shows that due to the influx of cockatoos, we have not ever produced them at our facility to offer as companion pets. The contribution towards this cause to risk them circulating and then returning to either ours or other aviculturists’ hands for unwanted behaviours (eg. screaming, abnormal or unnatural behaviours, plucking, mutilating and biting) shows they have more negative pet characteristics than any other potential pet animal one can total. Our views on contributing to this cause is counter-productive and can potentially be devastating to each individual life.
Personal Observations: Due to the Moluccan cockatoo being notoriously misunderstood, it’s very easy for one to blame them for their inadequate or unexplained behaviours. At Longo’s Aviaries Inc. our experience has learned over the last decade that Moluccans are very kind and endearing in nature. Although they threaten to defend by swelling their appearance to enormous size, they will only attack so as a very last resort.
During handling for examination and data collection, they have proven to us they seem to understand in our care we mean no harm and may protest with yelling but struggle very little and will grudgingly allow our prompt interaction. This is somewhat of an anthropomorphic view but our continual experience continues to prove this.
Objective: The focus of this project is to control the genetic population to diversify the nucleus of bloodlines that are represented to best ensure the species’ long-term survival in aviculture. With many species of birds, raising their young to full term can sometimes take upwards of 5 months. This is the best domestic environmental stimulation that can be offered to the birds to encourage constant activity and lack of boredom which leads to many unfortunate circumstances they learn to live with.
We are beginning collaboration with the Indonesian Government and local parrot field organizations to contribute to the ongoing dynamics of the main reasons their population is dwindling and hopes to regain their stable numbers in these significant regions.