Always an occasion to celebrate, a new book by Rosemary Low is about to be published.

In Go West for Parrots – a South American Odyssey, Rosemary chronicles her journeys to the neotropics over 33 years, which started in 1975.

South America is a paradise for those with an interest in tropical birds and other wildlife – it has more than its fair share of fascinating creatures – whether they inhabit its cities or its wild and unspoilt forests, mountains, lakes and páramo regions.

Although the emphasis is on birds and other fauna, Rosemary also includes in this book anecdotes involving the people and the culture of this part of the world, and tells of some of the adventures she encountered along the way.

Rosemary Low is well known to all parrot enthusiasts, having enjoyed a lifelong interest in them, and she’s known worldwide for her influential books and magazine articles, some of which we are privileged to publish in PI Press.

Rosemary has had more than 20 books published on parrots, as well as other avian  topics, and they have been translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese. Her first, The Parrots of South America, was written while she was still in her twenties, and reflects her intense interest in the parrots of this continent.

Rosemary has travelled widely, speaking at avicultural symposiums in four continents and observing parrots in the wild in more than 30 countries, but her involvement in the world of the psittacine extends well beyond her extensive knowledge about them – she has always shown great concern for their welfare.

She is an enthusiastic fund-raiser for projects concerned with endangered parrots (one third of all parrot species are threatened with extinction), raising funds by organising meetings, writing articles and donating sales from her books.

In the next issue of PI Press, look out for Marie Stafford’s review of Go West for Parrots!.