Let us introduce the oldest third-hatch chick from a wild macaw nest ever recorded in the Tambopata area. This chick is 22 days old and is sharing the nest with its two older siblings. All of them are a bit under average weight but look good
Third-hatched chicks in wild Scarlet Macaws have pretty much no chance to survive. In over 20 years of research in Tambopata, we haven’t witnessed a third hatched macaw chick from wild parents that have fledged yet.
We don’t know what mother nature will decide here! Stay tuned to find out what happens!
We are back from our first nest check expedition in the upper Tambopata River, and we have great news. Our first macaw chicks of the season are here!!
PUKAKURO 1 is our first macaw chick of this 2023 breeding season in Tambopata
It hatched in the nest PUKAKURO, one of the 14 artificial nest boxes that we monitore in the upper Tambopata River.
For three years in a row, this nest is our first nest with macaw chicks in the area. Once again, the same breeding pair: Tambo and Pata are vigorously defending it since early October.
Tambo, the nesting female, was born in HUGO nest, one of our next boxes, back in 2011. She is the offspring of TABASCO, one of the macaws that was reintroduced in the area back in the early 90′.
So far this breeding season, we have five chicks in three different nests and three more nests with eggs. Let’s see what this breeding season has for us!
We are making great advances in Bosque Escondido, as part of our scientific partnership with Rescate Animal Rescue Center. For the last few months, we have been monitoring the released Yellow-naped Amazons and getting a new cohort ready to be released probably around Cristmas times!!
Big thank you to our volunteer team: William C. Boteler, Kelly Tailor from Sacred Scarlets, Charlotte Chase, Jack Rees-Elford, Elba Gonzales and to our field leaders Roshan Tailor and Loic de Leeuw.
Jack Rees-Elford helping taking observations in the field. Volunteers participating in an early morning parrot count.
Our Bosque Escondido Team in November 2022. From right to left. William C. Boteler, Elba Gonzales, field leader Roshan Tailor, Kelly Tailor from Sacred Scarlets, co-director Dr. Gabriela Vigo-Trauco and field leader Loic de Leeuw.
The book with the most recent studies and advances in parrot research and conservation is out! AND IS OPEN ACCESS!! 28 scientific articles, over 100 parrot researchers and conservationists sharing their work from all over the world.
Our Tambopata team has just come back from getting our macaw nests ready in the upper Tambopata River. They hung new nest boxes, repaired old ones, and left everything ready for the new breeding season … and macaws ARE ALREADY LOVING IT!
Left: Our Tambopata team posing with a nest box ready to be hung. Center: Scarlet Macaw defending its nest. Right: Roshan Tailor, our avid photographer.
BIG thank you to our Tambopata field leader Carlos Huamani Callata and our awesome field assistants Roshan Tailor, Juan Pedro Portaro y Jossy Solis Suna. EXCELLENT JOB!
Dr. Sharman Hoppes is the 2022 Lafeber Practitioner of the YearDr. Sharman Hoppes with one of our wild macaw chicks in Tambopata, Peru.
Lafeber is a well-known US company that specialized in pet bird food manufacture. For the last two decades, the company has worked with veterinaries and nutritionists to develop nutritionally balanced foods for companion birds. Lafeber Co. also works to educate the pet bird owner community and the general public on a variety of topics related to pet bids such as proper housing, yearly veterinary checks, and bird enrichment activities. Additionally, the company supports psittacine conservation efforts in the wild and spreads the word about different research and conservation projects that work with pet bird species in the wild.
The “Lafeber Avian Practitioner of the year” award is presented every year to an outstanding practitioner who is advancing the quality of health care for companion birds. An independent committee of members from the Association of Avian Veterinarians selects the recipient from a pool of candidates that were nominated by the general public. The selection criteria include clinical excellence and innovation as well as promotion of the profession, contribution to the knowledge base and caring and compassion for avian patients and clients.
Dr. Hoppe teaching about wild macaws chicks in TambopataDr. Hoppes as part of a wild macaw nest check in Tambopata
Dr. Hoppes is the owner of Texas Avian & Exotic Hospital in Grapevine, Texas, and Professor Emerita of the zoological medicine service at Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine. She has been part of The Macaw Society team since 2009 and has led the numerous US and international veterinary students on their wildlife rotations in our field site in Tambopata. She has been an instrumental piece in our wild macaw tracking research and especially in our wild macaws as foster parents’ program. Her dedication, knowledge, and extraordinary performance in the field have inspired many young veterinary professionals to participate in wild psittacine research projects like ours.
We are extremely excited about this recognition of her career and dedication.
Lafeber is a well-known US company that specialized in pet bird food manufacture. For the last two decades, the company has worked with veterinaries and nutritionists to develop nutritionally balanced foods for companion birds. Lafeber Co. also works to educate the pet bird owner community and the general public on a variety of topics related to pet bids such as proper housing, yearly veterinary checks, and bird enrichment activities. Additionally, the company supports psittacine conservation efforts in the wild and spreads the word about different research and conservation project that work with pet bird species in the wild.
Wild Scarlet Macaw chicks (Ara macao) in one o our artificial nests in Tambopata, Peru. Picture: Nora Magonyi
Lafeber has generously supported wild parrot research projects that study Keas in New Zealand, Great green Macaws in Costa Rica, Yellow-shoulder Amazons in Bonaire, Scarlet Macaws in Guatemala, Yellow-throated Macaws in Bolivia, Hyacinth Macaws in Brazil and African Greys in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thank you Lafeber Company for supporting our macaw research in Tambopata, Peru.
We are happy to announce that today, our last wild macaw chick from Punta Leona Hotel HAS FLEDGED!! The chick is 84 days old and has a very playful personality. It loved to play with a piece of wood, with a feather and specially with mom.
With that our 2022 breeding season in Costa Rica has come to an end. We had in total 34 eggs, 20 chicks and 12 fledglings.
What a great start for a first season of nest and chick monitoring in the Central Pacific coast.
Wild Scarlet Macaw Chick playing inside its nest during its very last day as a chick
The Yellow-naped Amazon parrot is critically endangered due to the combined impacts of habitat loss and poaching. Over the past 15 years, populations in Costa Rica may have declined by as much as 50%. During this “Big Week,” these teams of researchers and conservationists , were counting these colorful parrots as they come to sleep at the nearly 40 different roost sites known throughout Costa Rica. This count will help us determine how the populations have fared over the past few years and give us better insight into where and how to direct our conservation efforts.
A pair of Yellow-naped Amazon parrot ( Amazona auropallita) spotted during a roost count in Bagatzi, Costa Rica. Picture credits: Roshan Tailor.
A team from The Macaw Society was counting parrots as part of this “Big Week”. Our field leaders Simon Kiacz and Roshan Tailor plus veterinarian Ivanna Gordienko were covering areas of western Costa Rica, including Tarcoles, La Ensenada, Tabogo, Ortega, Puerto San Pablo and others. They arrived around 4 p.m. to different census locations to wait for the parrots to start arriving to their roosting sites. The same counting strategy is repeated starting at 4 a.m. in the very same locations, to re-count the parrots that leave the roosting area for the day.
A group of four Yellow-naped parrots conformed by 2 adults (with visible yellow napes) and two juveniles (with green napes). Picture credits: Simon KiaczOur Punta Leona Field Leader, Roshan Tailor, counting Amazon parrots arriving to their roosting site. Picture: Simon Kiacz
This week, the different teams are sorting out and reporting their field data. Just our team counted close to 2000 Yellow-naped Amazon parrots across a total of 14 different locations. Looks like this year we will surpass the approximately 1000 birds found in the 2016 nationwide census in Costa Rica!
As part of this national parrot count, there is also a call to the general public to help identifying areas where Yellow-naped Amazons live. People from all over Costa Rica can go to the Mesoamerican Parrot Census Network to report sightings of this species and also to learn more about this initiative.
A pair of Yellow-naped Amazon parrots arriving to their roosting site in Puerto San Pablo. Picture credits: Simon Kiacz.
The past weekend was full of bittersweet emotions. On Saturday, the older sibling of CEIBA BAJO nest decided it was time to leave the nest. Next day, Sunday, its younger sibling couldn’t wait any longer and joined it. With that we have officially entered to “Fledgling time” in Hotel Punta Leona in Costa Rica.
Definitely a very unusual one because the very same Sunday, we have our last egg hatched in CEIBA ALTO nest. First time we have ever had a chick hatch and a chick fledged on the same day.
Never a dull day in the tropical forest in Costa Rica!
The two rounds of “Lighting Talks” where experts from across the Americas share results from their work with parrot releases are available HERE.
Virtual Symposium
Organized by Mesoamerican Parrot Network | Grupo Mesoamericáno de Interés Tematico en Psitaciformes and The Macaw Society | Sociedad Pro Guacamayos from Texas A&M University
PARROT RELEASE IN THE AMERICAS
A Virtual Symposium and Workshop
1 December 2023 | 8 AM to 6 PM Central American Time
