THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE Vol.109, No.2, includes:

THE TRI-COLOURED MUNIA (Lonchura malacca) IN VENEZUELA. by Robin Restall. The author of Mannikins and Munias ( Pica Press 1996 ) and acknowledged expert Robin Restall`s account of how this south-east Asian munia became established and has multiplied in Venezuela, where he is Research Associate, Phelps Ornithological Collection, Caracas.

NEST ACTIVITY IN RHINOCEROUS HORNBILLS (Buceros rhinoceros) IN RELATION TO ARTIFICIAL RAINFALL PATTERNS. by David A Oehler. The Avian Conservation Program Manager at Cincinnati Zoo describes how the provision of artificial ( but natural-like ) patterns of monsoon rainfall can be used to encourage tropical spcies such as the Rhinoceros Hornbill to nest and successfully raise young.

HORNBILLS IN THAILAND An account of the work of the Thailand Hornbill Project, it includes a summary of hornbill nestings in 2002, followed by a detailed report of the nesting of the society`s adopted pair of Bushy-crested Hornbills, recorded by Mr Haseng Kariya, one of the villagers who receives payment for protecting hornbills` nests and collecting research data.

THE HAND-REARING OF A ST.VINCENT PARROT (Amazona guildingii) by Roger G Sweeney. In 2002, four adult females in this captive group in the West Indies, laid a total of 15 eggs which were removed for artificial incubation. Only one proved to be fertile and from it a chick was successfully hand-reared. Roger Sweeney gives detailed descriptions of the adult birds` housing and diet, the nest-boxes provided, the artificial incubation of the egg and the diet used to successfully wean the chick. A graph plots the chick`s weight gain from day 1- day 50. Colour photos show the chick aged one day, 15 days, 32 days and three months.

CHESTER ZOO BIRD REVIEW 2002 by Roger Wilkinson. As usual this review concentrates mainly on birds bred at Chester Zoo during the preceding year. In 2002, highlights included the fledging of a Great Hornbill chick ( only the second to be reared in the UK ) and the breeding of a Victoria Crowned Pigeon and a Blue Crane. Other species bred included the Blue-Winged Kookaburra, turacos, parrots ( including the Red-tailed Amazon ), cranes, flamingos, over 100 ducks, Java Sparrow, Pope Cardinal, Shama, Pekin Robin, Azure-winged Magpie, African Pied and Bali Starlings. Colour photos show the Great Hornbill at six months old, a Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Fischer's and Schalow's Turacos.

THE PURPLE-THROATED FRUITCROW (Querula purpurata) by Malcolm Ellis. Chris Brack`s colour photo of the male of the pair at Wuppertal Zoo, Germany, is accompanied by notes of on this species in the wild in Ecuador and Guyana.

BREEDING THE WRINKLED HORNBILL (Aceros corrugatus) AT PAIGNTON ZOO ENVIRONMENTAL PARK. by Jo Gregson. An account of the trials and tribulations leading to the eventual successful breeding by a pair made up of a male hatched at Chester Zoo in 1995 and a considerably older female which arrived at Paignton in 1986.

BOOK REVIEWS. The titles reviewed are: Birds of Venezuela, Loros de Colombia and Hummingbirds of Colombia.

NEWS & VIEWS. The breeding of a Black-necked Aracari at London Zoo, two Red Birds of Paradise at Chester Zoo, the 2002 breeding season at Vogelpark Walsrode, Germany, and the successful hand-rearing of 18 Long-tailed Broadbills, the result of collaboration between Disney`s Animal Kingdom Avian Research Center and San Diego`s Avian Propogation Center, are among a number of shorter items in this section. There are also details of the TRAFFIC website covering Wildlife Trade Controls in the EU.