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We recorded a population of Military Macaws in the community of Salazares, Nayarit, Mexico. The observations were made in 2 sites, the Pilas and Mirador del Aguila; both sites have vegetation of tropical semi-deciduous forest with trees of 8-28 m high with a diameter at breast height greater to 40 cm. The objective of this study was to describe the activities of the Military Macaw, as well as the use of the cavities presents at cliff and trees. For 5 years of non-continuous counts, we recorded 43.5 ± 2.6 individual encounters; most records were made in the morning. Reproductive activity was also observed in the tree cavities (n = 1), and in the cliff ones (n = 1). Nine cavities were also recorded that served for roosting. This species record is important because it provides information about the existence of a breeding population in central Nayarit. We suggest working with the community and encourage efforts to make the zone a natural protected area.

El cuachalalate (Amphipterygium adstringens) es una especie endémica del bosque tropical caducifolio mexicano, su corteza tiene gran importancia en la medicina tradicional, sin embargo, las características de sus poblacioneshan sido poco estudiadas. Evaluamos la densidad de individuos, el patrón de distribución espacial, la estructura de edades, su asociación con nodrizas y extracción de corteza de A. adstringens en 10 localidades de México, mediante 4 unidades de muestreo de 30 × 40 m en cada sitio. Se encontraron variaciones en el tamaño poblacional con densidadespromedio de 70 a 279 individuos/ha, la distribución espacial de los individuos fue al azar en 3 localidades y agregado en 7. No se registraron plántulas, 63% de los individuos son adultos y el resto son pre-reproductivos, lo que indica poca o nula regeneración, característica de poblaciones en declive, lo que pone en riesgo a la especie. Los individuospre-reproductivos se establecen a cielo abierto y bajo otras plantas perennes, principalmente arbóreas incluyendo conespecíficos, posiblemente debido al patrón de dispersión de diásporas y factores tanto bióticos como abióticos. Se presentaron porcentajes bajos de extracción en los árboles de mayor talla, sugiriendo que no hay sobreexplotación de la corteza y que el uso responde al conocimiento de los pobladores.

The Military Macaw (Ara militaris) faces a number of serious conservation threats. The use of genetic markers and assignment tests may help to identify the geographic origin of captive individuals and improve conservation and management programs. The purpose of this study was to identify the possible geographic origin of a captive individual using genetic markers. We used a reference database of genotypes of 86 individuals previously shown to belong to two different genetic groups to determine the genetic assignment of the captive individual of unknown origin (captive specimen) and five individuals of known geographic origin (as positive controls). We evaluated the accuracy of three assignment/exclusion criteria to determine the success of correct assignment of the individual of unknown origin and the five positive control individuals. WICHLOCI estimated that eight loci were required to achieve an assignment success of 83%. The correct geographic origin of positive controls was identified with 83% confidence. All of the analyses assigned the captive individual to the genetic group from the Sierra Madre Oriental. Bayesian assignment tests, tests for genetic distance and allele frequency tests assigned the unknown individual to the locations from the Sierra Madre Oriental with a probability of 71.2–82.4%. We show that the use of genetic markers provides a promising tool for determining the origin of pets and individuals seized from the illegal animal trade to better inform decisions on reintroduction and improve conservation programs.