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INTRODUCTION:
Not many people in our hobby get the opportunity to travel overseas, so
when my father invited me to visit family and friends, as well as
visiting some bird breeders, Importers & Exporters, and some
world-class bird parks, over a 5 ½ week period I could not
refuse such an exciting offer. On the fifth of May, 2003, my father and
I flew out of Sydney airport towards our destiny, Europe, mainly to
visit The Netherlands, Germany, & Belgium. Our return trip
would see us leaving Europe on the eighth of June, then stopping off at
Bali for 4 days, before flying back to Australia on the Thirteenth of
June. If everything goes as planned then this should be ample time to
visit all of the Bird parks, Bird breeders, & Bird importers
& exporters on our schedule. After a very long flight, and some
waiting around in Jakarta, we were finally picked up at Amsterdam
Airport by a good friend of ours, staying with him and his family for a
few days in Germany, before heading back across the border into the
Netherlands, where we would spend most of the time visiting family, and
friends, and doing some site seeing. PARK
PLANTARIA, GERMANY: The first place on the agenda to have
anything to do with birds that is, was a visit to The NeiderRhein Park
Plantaria, situated in Kevelaer, Germany not far from the Dutch border.
The idea of this park is a combination of some 700 tropical and native
birds with 170 different species, mainly parrots, and the typical
nature of the landscape from the Lower Rhine. It’s a well
laid out park that presents both birds and plants in a relaxed
atmosphere.
The first complex you enter is from Africa, where you can mingle with
many cheerful African Greys, these are combined in a large walk through
aviary with more of the beautiful and colourful species from the black
continent. Parrots such as Vasa Parrots, Senegal Parrots,
Jardine’s Parrots, Meyer’s Parrots,
Ruppell’s Parrots, Fischer,s Lovebirds, Masked Lovebirds,
& Peach Faces, were also seen in there.e. You then make your
way around walkways past planted gardens until you come to the next
complex, which is I believe the largest of the parks complexes, the
South American Complex, with a large tropical hall, where you will find
the superlatives of the parrot world. Large parrots such as the
Hyacinth, the Green Winged, the Scarlet, & the Blue &
Gold Macaws, along with other smaller Macaw species are found in this
complex. Also around 25 species of Amazons, with other parrot species
such as Caiques, Hawk Heads, & many species of Conures are
found here and are all housed in beautifully designed large aviaries.
In the centre of this complex is a heated walk through area with well
planted aviaries housing the smaller Conure species, such as Painted,
Red Eared, Blue Throated, Maroon Bellied, & Crimson Bellied.
Along with bird species, some rarer Monkey species are also housed in
here.
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