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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Cholangiocarcinoma in a yellow-faced Amazon parrot (Amazona xanthops).

A cholangiocarcinoma in a 3 1/2-year-old yellow-faced Amazon parrot (Amazona xanthops) is reported. The parrot presented with a prolapsed cloaca and died after a 6-week clinical course of progressive weight loss. The tumor replaced much of the normal hepatic architecture but apparently did not metastasize. Cholangiocarcinomas have been reported rarely in several species of domestic and captive wild birds, but this appears to be the first reported case in a large psitticiform bird.

Adenoma, Bile Duct↗
PubMed1995

Mycobacterial keratitis in a parrot.

Histologic examination revealed acid-fast organisms in a granulomatous lesion involving the cornea of an eye of a Maximilian's Parrot. Disseminated mycobacteriosis was also diagnosed. Antemortem attempts at determining the cause of the corneal lesion had been unsuccessful. Ocular involvement in birds with avian tuberculosis is uncommon. The corneal lesion in the parrot was likely initiated by a dysfunctional third eyelid.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[The development of the red blood picture in growing parrot chicks].

In order to evaluate the development of the erythrogram of growing parrot nestlings, blood samples were taken monthly from birds of six different parrot species at the age of 30-200 days. Values for the packed cell volume (PCV), the total red blood cell count (TRBC) and the hemoglobin content (Hb) were determined directly and served as basic data for the calculation of the red blood cell indices MCV (mean cellular volume), MCH (mean cellular hemoglobin) and MCHC (mean cellular hemoglobin concentration). Additionally, stained blood smears were evaluated microscopically to judge the morphology of the red blood cells. The results of five species confirmed most results from earlier publications. The data from the species Pyrrhura leucotis formed an exception. The birds showed a decrease of the Hb during the investigated period. Simultaneously, an increase of the PCV and the TRBC could be observed. Thus an anemia as possible cause for the development of the hemoglobin content is rather unlikely. Possibly a certain hemoglobin structure compensates for this development and may be of metabolic advantage for the affected species.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characterization of the avian polyomavirus-associated glomerulopathy of nestling parrots.

The glomerulopathy occurring in nestling nonbudgerigar parrots with avian polyomavirus (APV) disease was examined in 10 parrots. Glomerular lesions were characterized by the presence of dense, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive material that expanded the mesangium and that narrowed and at times occluded capillary lumina. PAS-staining was found to be more sensitive than hematoxylin and eosin in the detection of the lesions. Ultrastructurally, finely granular electron-dense material was found in massive intracapillary and mesangial condensates. Capillary endothelial cells exhibited changes consistent with cellular swelling. No evidence of chronic glomerular changes was observed. Immunofluorescent staining demonstrated that the PAS-positive, electron-dense condensates were complexes of IgG, avian polyomavirus antigen, and, in one bird, IgM. Viral DNA was detected in the serum of all six birds examined. Anti-APV antibodies were also present in all five serum samples examined. These findings suggested that the pathogenesis of this acute immune complex glomerulopathy and other APV-associated lesions depends on the presence of an appropriate ratio of circulating virus and anti-APV antibody.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Molecular mapping of brain areas involved in parrot vocal communication.

Auditory and vocal regulation of gene expression occurs in separate discrete regions of the songbird brain. Here we demonstrate that regulated gene expression also occurs during vocal communication in a parrot, belonging to an order whose ability to learn vocalizations is thought to have evolved independently of songbirds. Adult male budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) were stimulated to vocalize with playbacks of conspecific vocalizations (warbles), and their brains were analyzed for expression of the transcriptional regulator ZENK. The results showed that there was distinct separation of brain areas that had hearing- or vocalizing-induced ZENK expression. Hearing warbles resulted in ZENK induction in large parts of the caudal medial forebrain and in 1 midbrain region, with a pattern highly reminiscent of that observed in songbirds. Vocalizing resulted in ZENK induction in nine brain structures, seven restricted to the lateral and anterior telencephalon, one in the thalamus, and one in the midbrain, with a pattern partially reminiscent of that observed in songbirds. Five of the telencephalic structures had been previously described as part of the budgerigar vocal control pathway. However, functional boundaries defined by the gene expression patterns for some of these structures were much larger and different in shape than previously reported anatomical boundaries. Our results provide the first functional demonstration of brain areas involved in vocalizing and auditory processing of conspecific sounds in budgerigars. They also indicate that, whether or not vocal learning evolved independently, some of the gene regulatory mechanisms that accompany learned vocal communication are similar in songbirds and parrots.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Application of a noninvasive, PCR-based test for sex identification in an endangered parrot, Amazona guildingii.

The St. Vincent Amazon Parrot Consortium was established during the 1980s in an effort to cooperatively manage the captive population of the St. Vincent parrot (Amazona guildingii) and support conservation of the wild population. Ex situ management of A. guildingii has been hindered by the sexual monomorphism of the group, mediated in the past through the use of time-consuming, expert-driven, and sometimes hazardous sexing procedures. In this article, we apply a noninvasive, molecular sexing technique, using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA from a single feather tip to the captive populations of A. guildingii residing on St. Vincent (66 individuals) and Barbados (13 individuals). This study allowed for the rapid assessment of gender, while posing no threat to individual health, and will facilitate the efforts of the consortium breeding programs in the United States, Europe and on the islands of St. Vincent and Barbados. Zoo Biol 20:41-45, 2001. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

The skills of the parrot?

The talking parrot can be given information by voice and then reproduce that information verbatim, without necessarily understanding it. I submit that the teaching, assessment and examination of dental students requires little more of them than the skills of the parrot.

Education, Dental↗
PubMed2006

Isolation of a coronavirus from a green-cheeked Amazon parrot (Amazon viridigenalis Cassin).

A virus (AV71/99) was isolated from a green-cheeked Amazon parrot by propagation and passage in both primary embryo liver cells derived from blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) embryos and chicken embryo liver cells. Electron microscopic examination of cytopathic agents derived from both types of cell cultures suggested that it was a coronavirus. This was confirmed using a pan-coronavirus reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction that amplified part of gene 1 that encodes the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The deduced sequence of 66 amino acids had 66 to 74% amino acid identity with the corresponding sequence of coronaviruses in groups 1, 2 and 3. Several other oligonucleotide primer pairs that give PCR products corresponding to genes 3, 5, N and the 3'-untranslated region of infectious bronchitis virus, turkey coronavirus and pheasant coronavirus (all in group 3) failed to do so with RNA from the parrot coronavirus. This is the first demonstration of a coronavirus in a psittacine species.

Amazona↗
PubMed2001

Prevention of the parrot beak deformity in fingertip injuries.

The nail is supported by the dorsal tuft of the terminal phalanx. Following distal fingertip trauma, varying amounts of nail support may be lost resulting in the nail curving palmarwards. This curvature is dependent upon the degree of bony loss, the amount of remaining nail bed and the degree of scar contracture at the hyponychial-pulp interface. The parrot beak or hooked nail deformity is most commonly caused by tight closure of a fingertip amputation and excessive palmar tension at the hyponychial-pulp suture line. A simple technique using a hypodermic needle, that eliminates tension from the suture line at the fingertip pulp-hyponychial interface and prevents hooked nail deformity is described. This allows healing to take place without any palmarwards pull of the scar and a subsequent parrot beak deformity.

Finger Injuries↗
PubMed1988

Comprehension of "absence" by an African Grey parrot: Learning with respect to questions of same/different.

An African Grey parrot, Alex, learned to report on the absence or presence of similarity and difference between two objects. Alex was shown pairs of objects that were (a) totally dissimilar, (b) identical, or (c) similar or different with respect to one of three attributes (color, shape, or material). In the first two cases, he responded to the respective queries of "What's same?" or "What's different?" with the vocalization "none," and in the third case he responded with the appropriate category label ("color," "shape," or "mah-mah" [matter]). His accuracy was 80.9% to 83.9% for pairs of familiar objects not used in training and 72.5% to 78.4% for pairs whose colors, shapes, and materials were unfamiliar. The data provide evidence that this parrot's abilities are comparable to those of mammals that have been trained to report on the presence or absence of objects or features of objects.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

[Parrot's method of angiostereometry in the evaluation of the status of chronic venous disease].

The authors present the results of capillary resistance measurements (CR) in three groups of examined subjects: with postthrombophlebitic syndrome, in patients with primary varicosis and in examined subjects which comprised the control group. We started from the fact that in more severe clinical conditions within venous insufficiency there also develop severe consequent conditions with the liberation of inflammatory reaction mediators in a greater extent than in the less severe cases and the assumption that in such patients CR is also lowered in the distant parts of the body. Angiostereometry by Parrot was the used technique. A total of 200 hundred persons was investigated. The examined subjects were divided into three groups. In group I there were 80 persons, all with the postthrombophlebitic syndrome which had the CR mean value of 15.26 cmHg (20.3 kPa). In group II there were 60 patients with primary varicosis, and the mean value of their CR was 17.7 cmHg (23.6 kPa). Group III had 60 examined subjects which comprised the control group, and their CR mean value was 19.90 cmHg (26.5 kPa). The difference was statistically significant. Capillary resistometry by Parrot is a very convenient method for the follow up and evaluation of clinical conditions of many diseases, as well as the follow up of therapy results. Due to all of its advantages it is superior to all stoppage methods such as Rumpel-Leed, for example.

Capillary Resistance↗
PubMed1994

A new treatment for parrot beak deformity of the toe.

Two cases of congenital parrot beak deformity of the toe were treated by pushing back the nail plate, nailbed, matrix, and proximal skin fold in one piece as a flap. The proximal skin portion of this flap was deepithelialized to facilitate this shift, and thus no dog-ear deformity was produced. The distal skin defect of the pulp was covered by a palmar advancement flap. This method does not require augmentation of the fingertip or toetip and is very useful for correcting parrot beak deformities of the toes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Organization of the avian basal forebrain: chemical anatomy in the parrot (Melopsittacus undulatus).

Hodological, electrophysiological, and ablation studies indicate a role for the basal forebrain in telencephalic vocal control; however, to date the organization of the basal forebrain has not been extensively studied in any nonmammal or nonhuman vocal learning species. To this end the chemical anatomy of the avian basal forebrain was investigated in a vocal learning parrot, the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus). Immunological and histological stains, including choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (DARPP)-32, the calcium binding proteins calbindin D-28k and parvalbumin, calcitonin gene-related peptide, iron, substance P, methionine enkephalin, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphotase diaphorase, and arginine vasotocin were used in the present study. We conclude that the ventral paleostriatum (cf. Kitt and Brauth [1981] Neuroscience 6:1551-1566) and adjacent archistriatal regions can be subdivided into several distinct subareas that are chemically comparable to mammalian basal forebrain structures. The nucleus accumbens is histochemically separable into core and shell regions. The nucleus taeniae (TN) is theorized to be homologous to the medial amygdaloid nucleus. The archistriatum pars ventrolateralis (Avl; comparable to the pigeon archistriatum pars dorsalis) is theorized to be a possible homologue of the central amygdaloid nucleus. The TN and Avl are histochemically continuous with the medial aspects of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the ventromedial striatum, forming an avian analogue of the extended amygdala. The apparent counterpart in budgerigars of the mammalian nucleus basalis of Meynert consists of a field of cholinergic neurons spanning the basal forebrain. The budgerigar septal region is theorized to be homologous as a field to the mammalian septum. Our results are discussed with regard to both the evolution of the basal forebrain and its role in vocal learning processes.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed2001

Loss of the gene for the alpha subunit of ATP synthase (ATP5A1) from the W chromosome in the African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus).

This study describes the results of an analysis using Southern blotting, the polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing which shows that the African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) lacks the W-chromosomal gene for the alpha subunit of mitochondrial ATP synthase (ATP5A1W). Additional evidence shows that in other psittacines a fragment of the ATP5A1W gene contains five times as many nonsynonymous nucleotide replacements as the homologous fragment of the Z gene. Therefore, whereas in these other psittacines the corresponding ATP5A1Z protein fragment is highly conserved and varies by only a few, moderately conservative amino acid substitutions, the homologous ATP5A1W fragments contain a considerable number of, sometimes highly nonconservative, amino acid replacements. In one of these species, the ringneck parakeet (Psittacula krameri), the ATP5A1W gene is present in an inactive form because of the presence of a nonsense codon. Other changes, possibly leading to an inactive ATP5A1W gene product, involve the substitution of arginine residues by cysteine in the ATP5A1W protein of the mitred conure (Aratinga mitrata) and the blue and gold macaw (Ara ararauna). The data suggest also that although the divergence of the psittacine ATP5A1W and ATP5A1Z genes preceded the origin of the psittacidae, this divergence occurred independently of a similar process in the myna (Gracula religiosa), the outgroup used in this study.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Herpesviral, but no papovaviral sequences, are detected in cloacal papillomas of parrots.

Internal papillomatosis of parrots (IPP) is a tumour disease with unknown etiology, characterised by progressive development of papillomas in the oral and cloacal mucosa. Based on epidemiologic data, infectious agents, particularly DNA tumour viruses, are considered to be involved. In this study, cloacal papillomas were investigated by PCR for the presence of herpesvirus, papillomavirus and avian polyomavirus genomes, respectively. Using consensus and specific primers, 5 out of 12 papillomas were tested positive for herpesvirus; all papillomas were tested negative for papillomavirus and avian polyomavirus. The DNA sequence of one of the PCR products showed 86.5% homology to the corresponding region of the psittacine herpesvirus 1 DNA polymerase gene. Using a PCR with primers based on this sequence, additional 4 papillomas were tested positive. By in situ hybridisation, herpesviral sequences were detected in epithelial cells of the papilloma, but not in surrounding tissues. As 75% of the tumours proved to be positive, these data suggest an involvement of a herpesvirus in the etiology of IPP; the distinct role, however, needs to be investigated.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

"Insightful" string-pulling in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) is affected by vocal competence.

Four Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) were tested on their ability to obtain an item suspended from a string such that mutiple, repeated, coordinated beak-foot actions were required for success (e.g., Heinrich 1995). Those birds with little training in referential English requests (e.g. "I want X") succeeded, whereas birds who could request the suspended item failed to obtain the object but engaged in repeated requesting.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Grey parrot numerical competence: a review.

The extent to which humans and nonhumans share numerical competency is a matter of debate. Some researchers argue that nonhumans, lacking human language, possess only a simple understanding of small quantities, generally less than four. Animals that have, however, received some training in human communication systems might demonstrate abilities intermediate between those of untrained nonhumans and humans. Here I review data for a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) that has been shown to quantify sets of up to and including six items (including heterogeneous subsets) using vocal English labels, to comprehend these labels fully, and to have a zero-like concept. Recent research demonstrates that he can also sum small quantities. His success shows that he understands number symbols as abstract representations of real-world collections, and that his sense of number compares favorably to that of chimpanzees and young human children.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Unusual tracheal foreign body in an African grey parrot.

This case report documents an unusual tracheal foreign body (a moth) in Congo African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus erithacus). Gross postmortem signs and histopathology results are presented. A discussion of the peculiar avian anatomy that may have contributed to the aspiration of the moth is provided.

Animals↗