The Millennium Project
BY LAURELLA DESBOROUGH
Copyright Laurella Desbrough (eclectusbreeder.com).
All rights reserved by the author.
After the recent convention
of the American Federation
of Aviculture, (AFA), I am
left with a series of
questions. How can that be
after attending the
lectures?
Graeme Phipps of Australia,
aviculturist,
conservationist and Chairman
of the Australian Federation
of Aviculture Conservation
Committee, presented two
talks on an international
project involving
aviculture, the Millennium
Project. The Millennium
Project is so named, because
it is designed to be
completed in 1,000 days, or
approximately three years.
Leading aviculturists such
as: Roland Cristo, Lee
Horton, Dick Schroeder, and
AFA President Benny Gallaway,
expressed their interest in
the project and obviously
saw its potentials for the
future of aviculture.
Avicultural leaders in other
countries are also in
support of the project,
namely in Australia, Canada,
Germany, Holland and the
United Kingdom.
The Questions
Just exactly what is the
Millennium Project? What are
the mission and goals of the
project? How is the project
structured? How will it
function, and who will run
it? How can it be useful to
aviculture? How can
individual aviculturists
participate in the project?
Is this project for the
experienced and advanced
aviculturist only, or does
it have a place for
newcomers? What about
conservation biologists and
scientists studying birds,
how will the project affect
them? What about bird
curators and keepers at
zoos? Why should we care
about this project anyway?
Why do we need it?
Framework For Success
The mission of the
Millennium Project is to
create an avicultural
resource base for
international use, which
provides information on as
many species as possible
that is accessible by
anyone. It is designed to
link the resources of
private aviculture with
projects set up to assist in
the survival of birds in
captivity and in the wild.
It provides a structure, or
maybe better stated, a
framework, which gives the
direction towards many
different pathways that
aviculturists can traverse
to find data and to provide
data on species of interest
to them.
The project is structured
such that a basic framework
of modules gives direction
to the interested party.
This is done through Module
1, which is a Web site,
Avicare.org, which
explains the project and
provides a range of choices,
including pathways to data
banks containing all the
pertinent information known
on each species.
Avicare.org is the
project gateway and nerve
center. Module 2 is
Conservation Breeding and
Management. Module 3 is
Fundamentals of Birdkeeping
for regulars to review and
newcomers to study. Module 4
is Husbandry Manuals and
Species Monographs to assist
with details on the care of
various species. Module 5 is
AVIDATA.org, an
exciting global project at
individual and society or
regional level to provide
information to scientists to
assist with their
conservation programs.
Once the Web site and basic
information are set up, no
one will run the project. It
will stand alone. During the
initial stages of site setup
and initial data collection,
there will be a need for
direction and monitoring by
a site manager. After the
site is well-established,
the need for monitoring and
information management will
continue but at a lesser
degree. Basically, since the
Web site is designed to
handle avicultural
information, that
information will have to be
assessed for accuracy and
then placed into the data
banks. The person(s)
routinely working on this
site and data banks will be
a computer expert(s).
How can this project be
useful for aviculture?
Aviculture today stands at a
place of transition. We have
in our aviaries a tremendous
variety of birds, many of
these birds were wild caught
and are now breeding birds.
We are fast approaching the
time when we will need
future breeders of many
species. How do we go about
acquiring those breeders?
How do we find viable
breeding birds of unrelated
genetics?
Vital Information Needed
Why does it matter that we
work with a sufficient
supply of genetically
unrelated stock? Simply put,
keeping a diverse gene pool
for each species in
captivity is important for
the continuation of that
species. If we want to know
what happens when gene pools
are restricted, all we have
to do is look at one
example: Ocellated turkeys
in the United States. The
viability of sperm in these
wild natives of Central
America dropped with each
succeeding generation of the
breeding of closely related
stock. This resulted in
infertile eggs or fertile
eggs with weak embryos,
which did not even hatch.
When the gene pool is
extremely restricted, and
closely related birds are
bred, not only does sperm
viability drop, but also
physical abnormalities begin
to appear in the youngsters.
With each succeeding
generation, those
abnormalities and the lack
of sperm viability
dramatically affect the
future of that species. We
see abnormal birds and birds
producing eggs that,
although fertilized, do not
hatch, or if they hatch, the
young are not strong enough
to survive. Therefore, it is
vital to us, as bird
breeders, to seek to
maintain a healthy gene pool
for each species, or the
future of our birds will
indeed be bleak, traveling
the road to extinction in
captivity, and perhaps even
in the wild. The Millennium
Project will be important
for aviculture because it
will provide information so
that individuals can avoid
breeding closely related
stock and, therefore,
maintain the species.
How To Participate
Aviculturists can
participate in the project
in a number of ways. The Web
site will guide the
aviculturists to their area
of interest. Aviculturists
can provide much needed
information to fill in the
blank spots on the data
profiles for each species.
Some of the data provided in
these data banks will be
quite useful to field
biologists who are working
on the conservation of
specific species in the
wild. Much of the data that
is available and well-known
in aviculture, is not
necessarily well-known by
the scientists studying the
species.
Why is it important that we
be concerned about providing
specific data on individual
avian species? Isn't there a
great deal of information
already available?
Interestingly, yes and also,
no. Within aviculture, there
exists a tremendous body of
knowledge about the keeping
and breeding of a large
variety of avian species.
For example, how many eggs
to a clutch, how many days
between each egg laid, how
long is the incubation
period, how many days to
fledging, how many days to
weaning, what are the
weights of the chicks during
their development, from day
one to weaning and post
weaning? At what age do the
birds mature and select
mates and go to nest? What
diet works well for the
birds? In what size nest
boxes and flights do these
birds produce best? While
there may be some
differences of opinion on
some of these areas,
certainly the technical data
on the egg production,
incubation and rearing of
chicks is rather clear.
We need the Millennium
Project, because it is the
only global program that
coordinates all avicultural
information. It is designed
to provide information to
all interested parties and
to show how they can
participate. It shows how
bird breeders can manage
their birds for future
genetic viability, and how
they can provide needed data
to field biologists. For
those interested, be on the
lookout for the Web site
coming in January, 2001,
Avicare.org. For more
immediate information, order
the AFA 2000 Proceedings
(623) 484-0931.
July, 2000
The convention of the
American Federation of
Aviculture (AFA) takes place
August 3, 4 and 5 in Los
Angeles at the Wyndham
Hotel. Of the many
fascinating presentations
planned, two informative
slide lectures will be given
by Graeme Phipps of
Australia. He will present
the Millennium Project for
Aviculture, which is
designed to link the
resources of private
aviculture with projects set
up to assist bird survival.
The greatest number of
exotic birds of many
species, especially various
parrots, are in the
possession of private
individuals, not zoos. Zoos
have special breeding
programs for most of their
birds and other animals.
These programs are designed
for the long-term survival
of the species. Private
collectors and breeders of
exotics may or may not think
about breeding for the
future of the species. Even
when individuals have this
concern, certain factors do
not make this goal very
achievable. Most individual
collections may someday be
sold or perhaps split up,
possibly without
accompanying records on the
breeding pairs. This could
happen if the owner becomes
burned-out, divorced, ill or
dies. Why does this matter
in the long run? In such
cases, private ownership
does not adequately address
the management of avian
genetics for the future.
The Millennium Project fills
this need and makes it
possible for all interested
aviculturists to participate
in creating a future for our
parrots and their offspring.
Private aviculture has the
knowledge, the resources and
the experience to make a
significant difference in
the survival of parrot
species. The Millennium
Project spells out how this
can be done. Since the early
1980s, basic survival issues
for avian species in
captivity and in the wild
have been discussed by
leading aviculturists, zoo
curators and scientists.
Most of their solutions have
not involved resources
within the private sector.
This project provides
direction and details for
private aviculture that have
been lacking, including the
means for achieving results
within a three-year time
frame. It is a comprehensive
and exciting project that
will engage the passions of
all of us who deeply care
about our birds. Do not miss
hearing Graeme Phipps speak
on the Millennium Project,
and find out how you can be
a participant in making it
possible for birds to
survive in the future.
For further information on
the AFA Convention, please
visit:
