The Macaw Society (formerly known as the Tambopata Macaw Project) is a long-term research project on the ecology and conservation of

macaw Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many differe ...

s and

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

s under the direction of Donald Brightsmith and Gabriela Vigo of the Schubot Center for Avian Health at the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. The project has been working with wildlife and local communities since 1989. The long-term research and monitoring have provided many insights into various aspects of parrot and wildlife of south-eastern Peru.

Macaw Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many differe ...

s are among the most effective

flagship species In conservation biology, a flagship species is a species chosen to raise support for biodiversity conservation in a given place or social context. Definitions have varied, but they have tended to focus on the strategic goals and the socio-economi ...

for ecosystem conservation in the

Amazonian rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

Location

The main operation of The Macaw Society focuses on a large uninhabited track of primary tropical lowland forest surrounding the Colorado Clay Lick, which is situated in the

Tambopata National Reserve Tambopata National Reserve ( es, Reserva Nacional Tambopata) is a Peruvian nature reserve located in the southeastern region of Madre de Dios. It was established on September 4, 2000, by decree of President Alberto Fujimori. The reserve protects se ...

on the upper

Tambopata River The Tambopata River is a river in southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia. Most is in the Madre de Dios and Puno regions in Peru, but the upper parts of the river forms the border between Peru and Bolivia, and its origin is in La Paz departmen ...

, very near to the

Bahuaja-Sonene National Park Bahuaja-Sonene National Park () is a protected area located in the regions of Puno and Madre de Dios, in Peru. Geography The park comprises river terraces, hills and mountains, with elevations ranging from 500 to 2450 m. The main rivers in the a ...

, in the

Madre de Dios Region Madre de Dios (, en, Mother of God) is a department and region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian departments of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali, in the Amazon Basin. Its capital is the city of Puerto Maldonado. It is als ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. From 1989 until March 2020 the project was headquartered in the Tambopata Research Center (TRC), a tourist lodge operated by the company Rainforest Expeditions. The

hosts a unique forest environment, with the highest concentrations of avian clay licks in the world. A range of animals comes to satisfy their need for salt along the river banks of the region. Sometimes hundreds of

s can be seen at the Colorado and Chuncho clay licks near to the Tambopata National Reserve. Colorado Clay Lick

History

The project, which was established by Peruvian Eduardo Nycander, grew out of and was based on previous research by Charles A. Munn III done in the nearby Manu National Park. In 1991 and 1992, the researchers accelerated the formation of natural dead palm cavities by cutting off the crowns of 23 live maurita palms (''

Mauritia flexuosa ''Mauritia flexuosa'', known as the moriche palm, ''ité'' palm, ''ita'', ''buriti'', ''muriti'', ''miriti'' (Brazil), ''canangucho'' (Colombia), ''acho'' (Ecuador), or ''aguaje'' (Peru), is a Arecaceae, palm tree. It grows in and near swamps and ...

)'' in a natural monoculture of thousands of these palms in a 0.5 km² swamp near the Tambopata Research Center (TRC), as

blue-and-yellow macaw The blue-and-yellow macaw (''Ara ararauna''), also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with mostly blue top parts and light orange underparts, with gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the la ...

s in the region almost exclusively nest in dead mauritia palms. Decapitating these palms began the process of rotting the interior of the trunks, which eventually provides nesting sites for these macaws. With the aim of providing nesting sites for large macaws in 1990, nest boxes made of palm (''Iriartea ventricosa'') were hung on branches of ''Dipteryx micrantha'' trees.Nycander, E., Blanco, D. H., et al. (1995). Manu and Tambopata: nesting success and techniques for increasing reproduction in wild macaws in southeastern Peru. Page: 423-443. In: The large macaws: their care, breeding and conservation. B. L. S. J. Abramson, & J. B. Thomsen, eds. Raintree Publications, Fort Bragg, California. Between 1992 and 1993, a total of eight wooden boxes made of tropical cedar (''

Cedrela odorata ''Cedrela odorata'' is a commercially important species of tree in the chinaberry family, Meliaceae, commonly known as Spanish cedar or Cuban cedar; it is also known as cedro in Spanish. Classification The genus ''Cedrela'' has undergone two m ...

'') and 21 artificial nests made from large PVC pipes were built and hung around TRC. Based on field experience working with wild macaw chicks, researchers were able to determine which nestlings would die. These nestlings were removed, handfed for months and released, thereby increasing the reproductive output of the wild population. Between 1992-1994 breeding seasons a variety of methods of rescuing and hand-raising of otherwise doomed nestlings were tested. In the period of 1992–1995, 6 blue-and-yellow macaws ('' Ara ararauna''), 5 red-and-green macaws ('' Ara chloropterus''), and 21 scarlet macaws ('' Ara macao'') were hand-raised and released into the wild population. These individuals later were called "Chicos" (the kids). These birds fledged and gradually integrated themselves into the wild macaw population. In November 1999, Donald Brightsmith became the director of the research project. Under his leadership, a broad spectra of scientific research has been carried out by the project. Since 2006 the project's leading patron is the Schubot Center for Avian Health, College of Veterinary Medicine,

. Gabriela Vigo joined the project's leadership team in 2005. In 2020, the name of the project was changed to The Macaw Society (Sociedad Pro Guacamayos in Spanish).

Research objectives

The principal aim of The Macaw Society is to study the various aspects of the ecology of large

macaws Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many differe ...

and

parrots Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genus (biology), genera comprising the order (biology), order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropics, tropical and subtropics, subtropical regions. The order ...

in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

to help better understand the interactions among clay lick use, food supply, breeding season, breeding success, abundance, and movements. This information can aid conservation-focused projects on parrots worldwide. A great interest to the project was that clay lick use by large macaws at the Colorado Clay Lick was very low in 2009 due to the changes in vegetation and soil conditions. However, in early 2010 the Peruvian government, together with the members of the research project managed the clay lick to help restore the large macaw usage. As a result, there was a unique opportunity to study the same populations of macaws both with and without clay lick use. Scarlet Macaw chicks

Another important aim of the project is to help train new generations of conservation scientists. As a result, the project works closely with young Peruvian and foreign assistants and helps them gain the skills they need for conducting research. Students interested in conducting their own independent studies as parts of independent study classes, or theses at the undergrad,

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

levels are encouraged to apply to study one of the many aspects of macaw and parrot biology at the sites.

Studies

The staff of The Macaw Society monitors year round the clay lick activity at the Colorado Clay Lick, conducts parrot census in the forest, collects data on foraging of wild macaws, and records climate data in the

. For more than a decade, the project has systematically recorded breeding biology data from large macaws. This study is carried out during the reproductive season of the macaws between November–March, by climbing natural and artificial nests in the region. Since 2009, extensive veterinary research was carried out during the breeding seasons on adult and young macaws under the direction of Sharman Hoppes. These studies determined the health status of adult and young parrots to use this information to help manage parrots in captivity. Studies on psittacine diseases were also carried out with avian vets including Ian Tizard, David Phalen, and Jeff Musser. In 2008, with the support of Janice Boyd, the project started a satellite telemetry study on captured macaws in the wild to investigate their home-range use and seasonal movements. George Olah studied the ecology and

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...

of large macaws in the Tambopata-Candamo region. Gustavo Martinez studied phenology, interaction between climate, food availability and parrot abundance in Tambopata. His study determined how large macaw nest success varied with relation to food supply and climate. Gabriela Vigo studied the nesting ecology and nesting behaviour of scarlet macaws, and proposed recommendations with implications for their conservation management. From 2017 to 2019 (three breeding seasons), as part of Vigo’s PhD research, the project started the "wild macaws as foster parents" program by testing wild macaws to increase chick survival. The technique was categorically successful, as all relocated foster chicks were accepted by their foster parents (as of 2019).

Ecotourism and voluntarism

The presence of

in an area destined for ecotourism in tropical America greatly increases its value. The presence of clay licks and nests where macaws are predictable and can be habituated to human presence increases the value of each macaw and therefore of the whole area. Wild macaws habituate readily to noisy, exposed groups of tourists and are excellent subjects for wildlife photographers. Until 2018, the project has worked closely with Rainforest Expeditions, an ecotourism company that hosted the project at their TRC eco-lodge, and provided the project with partial salaries, transportation, food, lodging, and logistics. In March 2020, The Macaw Society has moved out of the Tambopata Research Center, and it is no longer working with the commercial company Rainforest Expeditions nor using the name Tambopata Macaw Project. The project also has attracted over 800 national and international volunteers, many of whom are now associated with the project on an ongoing basis. The project has been also serving as an effective mechanism to find and train talented young conservation professionals and activists.

Media coverage

Since its beginning as The Tambopata Macaw Project, it has received substantial magazine and media coverage within Peru and internationally,Munn, C. A. (1994). Macaws: winged rainbows. National Geographic(185): 118-140. thanks to its volunteers, the visiting tourists, tour operators, journalists, photographers and filmmakers. The work of the project was featured in the documentary movi
''The Macaw Project – Biologists, Ecotourists and Local Communities for the Amazonian Rainforest''
produced by Wildlife Messengers. The 26-minute documentary was made with the aim to direct public attention towards the problems that macaws and other creatures face in their natural habitat and the importance of scientific conservation research in this region. The film differed from previous nature documentaries because it was filmed mainly by the researchers themselves, something that is rarely seen on the screen. It explained the newest methods of conservation biology and presented up-to-date findings of the project in a comprehensible way.

References

{{reflist , refs = {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald, last2=Bravo, first2=Adriana, date=2006, title=Ecology and Management of Nesting Blue-and-Yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) in Mauritia Palm Swamps, journal=Biodiversity and Conservation, language=en, volume=15, issue=13, pages=4271–4287, doi=10.1007/s10531-005-3579-x, s2cid=9719125, issn=0960-3115, url=https://www.academia.edu/4939613 {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald, last2=Hilburn, first2=Jenifer, last3=del Campo, first3=Alvaro, last4=Boyd, first4=Janice, last5=Frisius, first5=Margot, last6=Frisius, first6=Richard, last7=Janik, first7=Dennis, last8=Guillen, first8=Federico, date=2005, title=The use of hand-raised psittacines for reintroduction: a case study of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) in Peru and Costa Rica, journal=Biological Conservation, language=en, volume=121, issue=3, pages=465–472, doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2004.05.016, url=http://vetmed.tamu.edu/macawproject/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/03/brightsmith_et_al_2005_macaw_reintroduction.pdf {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Hobson, first2=Elizabeth A., last3=Martinez, first3=Gustavo, date=2018, title=Food availability and breeding season as predictors of geophagy in Amazonian parrots, journal=Ibis, language=en, volume=160, issue=1, pages=112–129, doi=10.1111/ibi.12515, url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318475957 {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Munoz-Najar, first2=Romina Aramburu, date=2004, title=Avian Geophagy and Soil Characteristics in Southeastern Peru, journal=Biotropica, language=en, volume=36, issue=4, pages=534–543, doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2004.tb00348.x, issn=0006-3606 {{Cite journal, last=Brightsmith, first=Donald J., title=Parrot Nesting in Southeastern Peru: Seasonal Patterns and Keystone Trees, date=2005, journal=The Wilson Bulletin, language=en, volume=117, issue=3, pages=296–305, doi=10.1676/03-087A.1, s2cid=32563692, issn=0043-5643, url=http://vetmed.tamu.edu/macawproject/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/03/brightsmith_2005_parrot_nesting.pdf {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Taylor, first2=John, last3=Phillips, first3=Timothy D., date=2008, title=The Roles of Soil Characteristics and Toxin Adsorption in Avian Geophagy, journal=Biotropica, language=en, volume=40, issue=6, pages=766–774, doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2008.00429.x {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Villalobos, first2=Ethel M., date=2011, title=Parrot Behavior at a Peruvian Clay Lick, journal=The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, language=en, volume=123, issue=3, pages=595–602, doi=10.1676/09-109.1, s2cid=83776119, issn=1559-4491, url=http://vetmed.tamu.edu/macawproject/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2019/03/brightsmith_and_villalobos_2011_clay_lick_behavior.pdf {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Cáceres, first2=Aimy, date=2017, title=Parrots consume sodium-rich palms in the sodium-deprived landscape of the Western Amazon Basin, journal=Biotropica, language=en, volume=49, issue=6, pages=921–931, doi=10.1111/btp.12479 Brightsmith, D. (2008). Rainforest Expeditions and Earthwatch as funding partners for Macaw (Ara spp.) research in Southeastern Peru. Ornitologia Neotropical(19): 173-181. {{Cite journal, last1=Brightsmith, first1=Donald J., last2=Stronza, first2=Amanda, last3=Holle, first3=Kurt, date=2008, title=Ecotourism, conservation biology, and volunteer tourism: A mutually beneficial triumvirate, journal=Biological Conservation, language=en, volume=141, issue=11, pages=2832–2842, doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2008.08.020 Munn, C. A. (1992). Macaw biology and ecotourism, or “When a bird in the bush is worth two in the hand”. Pages: 47-72. In: New World Parrots in Crisis: Solutions from Conservation Biology. S. R. Beissinger and Snyder, N. F. R., eds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. {{Cite journal, last1=Olah, first1=George, last2=Butchart, first2=Stuart H. M., last3=Symes, first3=Andy, last4=Guzmán, first4=Iliana Medina, last5=Cunningham, first5=Ross, last6=Brightsmith, first6=Donald J., last7=Heinsohn, first7=Robert, date=2016, title=Ecological and socio-economic factors affecting extinction risk in parrots, journal=Biodiversity and Conservation, language=en, volume=25, issue=2, pages=205–223, doi=10.1007/s10531-015-1036-z, s2cid=17282072, issn=0960-3115, url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291389176 {{cite thesis, last1=Olah, first1=George, title=Ecology and Population Genetics of Two Large Macaw Species in the Peruvian Amazon, type=PhD thesis, hdl=1885/101511, year=2016

External links

Website of Schubot Center for Avian Health
Bird conservation organizations Nature conservation in Peru Animal welfare organisations based in Peru