First systematic sampling approach to estimating the global population size of the Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaw<i>Ara glaucogularis</i>

Herzog, Sebastián K.; Maillard, Z Oswaldo; Boorsma, Tjalle; Sánchez-Ávila, Gustavo; García-Solíz, Víctor Hugo; Paca-Condori, Anahí C.; Abajo, Marta Vaílez De; Soria-Auza, Rodrigo W.

doi:10.1017/s0959270920000283

Cited by 11 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…It is our opinion that these efforts should focus primarily on in situ conservation efforts such as habitat protection, enforcement of poaching repercussions, nest guarding, and gaining an improved understanding of population distributions and movements throughout the range. The blue-throated macaw, Ara glaucogularis, is a recent example of a species facing extinction that has begun to reverse its decline with the implementation and maintenance of in situ conservation measures [36][37][38]. An additional critical approach is enhancing community education and involvement through local pride [36].…”

Section: Implications For Conservation and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An additional critical approach is enhancing community education and involvement through local pride [36]. Dahlin et al [14] also write about their use of education programs as an added measure to teach children about why parrots are important [14,39]; similar programs have been implemented with the scarlet macaw, Ara macao, in Costa Rica [37]. More effort to promote eco-tourism would provide economic opportunities to members of the local community while bringing public attention to diverse and endangered wildlife.…”

Section: Implications For Conservation and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Range-Wide Population Assessment of the Endangered Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)

2020

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Yellow-naped amazons, Amazona auropalliata, have experienced a dramatic population decline due to persistent habitat loss and poaching. In 2017, BirdLife International changed the species’ status from threatened to endangered and estimated that between 10,000 and 50,000 individuals remained in the wild. An accurate estimate of the number of remaining wild individuals is critical to implementing effective conservation plans. Wright et al. conducted roost count surveys in Costa Rica and Nicaragua during 2016 and published their data in 2019; however, no population data exists for the rest of the range. We conducted roost counts at 28 sites across Mexico, Guatemala, and the Bay Islands in Roatan during 2018 and 2019. We counted 679 birds and combined our data with the published Wright et al. (2019) data for a total of 2361 wild yellow-naped amazons observed across the species’ range. There were fewer roosts detected in the northern region of the range than in the southern region. We found that roosts were most likely to occur in built-up rural and pasture habitat, with 71% found within 100 m of human habitation. Our results illustrate the need for immediate conservation action to mitigate decline, such as enforced legal action against poaching, nest guarding, and increased community education efforts.

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Section: Implications For Conservation and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Implications For Conservation and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Range-Wide Population Assessment of the Endangered Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)

2020

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“…Harvest for the pet trade in the 1960s and 1970s helped to push the BTM to the brink of extinction [20,21], and the location of its remnant wild population was unknown until its re-discovery in 1992 [20]. The species is endemic to the Llanos de Moxos ecosystem of the Beni, a 12,000,000-ha expanse of treeless grasslands, wetlands, cerrado-like savanna, palm savanna, and palm forest islands that is flooded approximately 6 months per year from October to May [22][23][24][25]. BTMs require forest islands that harbor one of its preferred feeding and roosting trees, the Motacú palm (Attalea princeps) [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The species is endemic to the Llanos de Moxos ecosystem of the Beni, a 12,000,000-ha expanse of treeless grasslands, wetlands, cerrado-like savanna, palm savanna, and palm forest islands that is flooded approximately 6 months per year from October to May [22][23][24][25]. BTMs require forest islands that harbor one of its preferred feeding and roosting trees, the Motacú palm (Attalea princeps) [22]. In the breeding season, it requires large tree cavities for nesting, demonstrating high nest site fidelity to both artificial and natural cavities [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the breeding season, it requires large tree cavities for nesting, demonstrating high nest site fidelity to both artificial and natural cavities [26]. Between 312 and 455 BTMs are thought to remain in the wild [22]. These are divided among three potentially isolated subpopulations in the northwestern, northeastern, and southern Beni [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Satellite Telemetry of Blue-Throated Macaws in Barba Azul Nature Reserve (Beni, Bolivia) Reveals Likely Breeding Areas

Davenport

Boorsma²,

Carrara³

et al. 2021

Diversity

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The Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis) is a Critically Endangered species endemic to the Llanos de Moxos ecosystem of Beni, Bolivia. To aid conservation of the northwestern population that utilizes the Barba Azul Nature Reserve during the non-breeding season, we set out to learn the sites where these birds breed using satellite telemetry. We describe preliminary tests conducted on captive birds (at Loro Parque Foundation, Tenerife, Spain) that resulted in choosing Geotrak Parrot Collars, a metal, battery-operated unit that provides data through the Argos satellite system. In September 2019, we tagged three birds in Barba Azul with Geotrak collars, and received migration data for two birds, until battery depletion in November and December 2019. Our two migrant birds were tracked leaving Barba Azul on the same date (27 September), but departed in divergent directions (approximately 90 degrees in separation). They settled in two sites approximately 50–100 km from Barba Azul. Some details of the work are restricted out of conservation concern as the species still faces poaching pressures. Knowing their likely breeding grounds, reserve managers conducted site visits to where the birds were tracked, resulting in the discovery of breeding birds, although no birds still carrying a transmitter were seen then. A single individual still carrying its collar was spotted 13 August 2021 at Barba Azul. The work suggests that the Blue-throated Macaws of Barba Azul use breeding sites that are scattered across the Llanos de Moxos region, although within the recognized boundaries of the northwestern subpopulation. We conclude that the use of satellite collars is a feasible option for research with the species and could provide further conservation insights.

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Breeding and global population sizes of the Critically Endangered Red-fronted MacawAra rubrogenysrevisited

Herzog

Boorsma²,

Saldaña-Covarrubias³

et al. 2022

Bird Conservation International

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Summary The ‘Critically Endangered’ Red-fronted Macaw is endemic to seasonally dry, rain-shadowed valleys in the south-central Andes of Bolivia. The remoteness and inaccessibility of most of this region have hampered the rigorous collection of reliable range-wide data on the species’ global, local and breeding population sizes. Such data are imperative, however, for effective conservation and management. Estimated to number up to 5,000 birds in the early 1980s, the most recent and thorough survey to date reported a total of only 807 macaws and a breeding population fraction of about 20% in 2011, disjunctly distributed across eight breeding and six foraging areas and divided into four genetic clusters. Ten years later, we reassessed the species’ population sizes and breeding distribution with increased survey effort and geographic coverage. Six teams simultaneously surveyed different sections of the species’ entire known breeding range in four watersheds focusing on nesting sites. We estimated a global population size of 1,160 macaws, a breeding population fraction of 23.8–27.4% (138–159 nesting pairs) and discovered four new breeding areas. Watersheds and breeding areas differed widely in nesting pair and total macaw numbers. The Mizque watershed held 53% of the species’ breeding and 41.5% of its global population and had the highest breeding population fraction of 30.7–34.9%; the Pilcomayo watershed obtained the lowest values (6%, 8.5% and 14.1–18.2%, respectively). Two of the four documented genetic clusters (subpopulations) each held well over 50 breeding individuals. Two of the eight breeding areas documented in 2011 were found unoccupied in 2021. Numbers of nesting pairs per breeding area in 2011 were poorly correlated with those in 2021, and timing of breeding activities also differed between years. Our new data indicate that the Red-fronted Macaw no longer meets IUCN Red List criteria for ‘Critically Endangered’ species and that it should be downlisted to ‘Endangered.’

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First systematic sampling approach to estimating the global population size of the Critically Endangered Blue-throated MacawAra glaucogularis

Cited by 11 publications

References 33 publications

Range-Wide Population Assessment of the Endangered Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)

Range-Wide Population Assessment of the Endangered Yellow-Naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata)

Satellite Telemetry of Blue-Throated Macaws in Barba Azul Nature Reserve (Beni, Bolivia) Reveals Likely Breeding Areas

Breeding and global population sizes of the Critically Endangered Red-fronted MacawAra rubrogenysrevisited

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