World Parrot Day
Next: May 31, 2027
Wild parrots belong in the wild.
The story
Where it comes from
World Parrot Day began in London on 31 May 2004, organised by the World Parrot Trust. An open-topped Parrot Bus carried birds and their owners to a rally in Trafalgar Square, and the illustrator Quentin Blake then led a march to Downing Street with a blue-and-gold macaw called Gizmo on his shoulder. There campaigners handed in a petition of 33,000 signatures asking for a ban on wild-caught birds entering the European Union. The petition later grew to 40,000 signatures.
How it's celebrated
Zoos, bird parks and parrot clubs hold talks and fundraisers, and owners share photos of their birds. The day's message is about parrots in the wild, which are threatened by trapping for the pet trade and by lost forests, so many people give to conservation projects. If you share your home with a parrot, it is a good day for a new toy.
Did you know
- The EU announced a permanent ban on wild bird imports in January 2007, and it took effect on 1 July 2007. The Trust says it stops about 2 million live birds a year from being imported.
- Nearly one in three parrot species is threatened with extinction, mainly through habitat loss and trapping for the wildlife trade.
- The Trust's founder, Mike Reynolds, opened a bird garden in Cornwall in 1973 that became Paradise Park, and in 1989 he and others founded the Trust.
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