George and Ida Van Der Togt Specialist Breeders.

Breeding  Alexandrine Mutations, A Dream Come True.

As a  young boy, my husband George Van der Togt visited the zoo Artis,   in  Amsterdam, with his parents. Initially this pastime seemed innocent    enough but proved to have a huge impact on his life in the years to    follow. It wasn’t the monkey cage that held his fascination as would be    normally expected of a young boy but the sight of a pair of the exotic    Alexandrines Parrots. These beautiful and elegant large parrots with    their streamlined slender bodies, huge beaks and their quality green    plumage, which is enhanced by the black and pink neck ring of the  mature   male, captivated him.

Lutino Alexandrine Female.

If there is such a thing as  love at first sight, then this was it  for  George. History books have  documented that it was Alexander “The   Great” who bought the Alexandrine  Parrot into Europe. “If the parrot   was good enough for King Alexander  the Great, then it is certainly good   enough for me”, he thought. The  seed was planted and from then on   George would daydream of one day being  able to have a pair of these   majestic birds of his own. As a boy it was  very unlikely that he would   be able to buy or keep such birds as he  lived in a busy city in a ten   storey high-rise flat in which no animals  were allowed. City life was   not for George, so when he matured and the  opportunity arose to  migrate  to Australia, he seized it with both hands.

Pure Alexandrine Male.

With the confidence of a  fearless adventurer he studied the map of    Australia deciding where in  this vast land he would make his new home.    He had no ties or family so  the whole of Australia lay at his feet.  As   he had grown up in a cold,  windy and snowing environment it didn’t   take  long for him to decide that  the Sunshine state of QLD with its   warmer  climate would be his  destination. With another passion for   diving,  George decided that we  would move to the Whitsundays where he   could  also enjoy observing the  coral and reef fish. We eventually   purchased a  5 acre property in the  area and settled down. Now George   had the  opportunity to realize his  childhood dream to breed   Alexandrines of his  own. When the budget  allowed it, he purchased his   first roll of bird  wire, a pair of  Alexandrines and a pair of Indian   ring necks.  “Parrotitus” (a disease to  breed more parrots) as I call   it, had struck  George and he kept  dreaming of what he wanted to   achieve in the near  future. This was the  start of his collection which   after 20 years had  increased to more than  250 birds.

Blue Alexandrine Male.

Following the advice of Sid  and Jack Smith to specialize in a   particular species rather than having  one of everything and having a   love of the Asiatic species George has  stuck with the Alexandrines in   which he has established his own line of  colour mutations like Lutino,   Blue, Cinnamon, and Grey-Green.