This is because many of the captive birds are in fact hybrids with Hooded Parrots from the Northern Territory. These birds look similar but, as we have discovered on a recent trip to the Territory, live in a completely different habitat. Even in the 1920s, when McLennan and Thomson were on the Cape, many young Golden-shouldereds were being kept by station owners. The fast breeding, however, is credited to Sir Edward Hallstrom at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney in the 1950s. During the 1960s and early 1970s there was a high demand for the species as a cage bird and one particularly voracious collector took dozens, and possibly hundreds, of birds from Violetvale and surrounding stations.
Demand seems to have dropped since then as captive bred stock has become available.
Certainly the price has come down but some illegal trapping may continue. We are currently seeking the assistance of people keeping Golden-shouldered Parrots in captivity to help with studies on feeding. We want to know how much seed a parrot can consume, how well it is digested and whether the husk of a seed is handled in a distinctive manner. We also want to know what density of grass the parrots like to feed in - we suspect that, if the grass is too dense, the parrots cannot find fallen seed. The Parrot and the Moth One of the most remarkable features of the parrot's biology is its relationship with a moth, called Trisyntopa scatophaga.