Rehabilitation of captive-bred macaws during the pre-release stage

VOLPE, NOELIA L.; DI GIACOMO, ADRIÁN S; BERKUNSKY, IGOR

Vancouver

Conferencia; 27th International Ornithological Congress; 2018

The Red-and-green Macaw (Ara chloropterus) reintroduction project aims to restore this species to the savanna of the Iberá Wetlands, northeast Argentina, from where it became extinct in the 19th century. The project works with individuals, donated from zoos, rehabilitation centers and private pet owners. Working with captive-bred macaws involves challenges, as they have often not developed basic skills needed to survive in the wild. In order to tackle these challenges, we developed a program to rehabilitate the birds focusing on three behavioral aspects we identified as important for survival: 1) wild diet, 2) recognition of potential predators and 3) flight skills. The macaws were also trained to fly to feeding platforms in response to a whistle. This helped us to promote site fidelity by allowing us to call the macaws back to the release site. At the same time, it gave us a tool to promote controlled exploration of the surroundings, through the use of feeding stations placed at increasing distance from the release cage.