Blue-fronted Amazon
Breeding Ecology Project by Sarah Faegre
Do You Love Amazon
Parrots?
Learn about
their wild relatives
Please help the
study of the reproductive ecology
of the Blue-fronted Amazons of Chaco, Argentina;
a conservation
effort
to prevent their future exploitation
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Blue-fronted
Amazons (their distribution and status):
Blue-fronted Amazons are one
of the most popular pet birds in all of North America. Their
flamboyant, interactive personalities, talking ability, and striking
coloration are some of the qualities that can make them wonderful
companions.
In the wild, Blue-fronted Amazons inhabit the tropical and sub-tropical
forests, in regions of Northern Argentina, Southwestern Brazil,
Western Paraguay, and Eastern Bolivia. The export of wild specimens
has been banned in all countries except Argentina, where their
populations are being threatened by the legal capture and exportation
of thousands of chicks and adults every year.
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It is important for citizens of the U.S. to understand the potential
impacts of Argentina's "Sustainable Harvest Management Plan"
on both the wild parrots themselves, and the parrots and people
of the United States.
In Argentina, Blue-fronted Amazons inhabit only the mid-north
to northeast, many breeding in the dry, "Chaqueño"
type forests, with lesser numbers breeding in the wetter, cooler
regions of low altitude sub-tropical rainforest. The Blue-fronted
Amazon Breeding Ecology Project is studying the Blue-fronts that
breed in the Chaco. Thus, the following information is based
on these sub-populations and may vary to some degree from the
Blue-fronts breeding in other areas of Argentina or it's neighboring
countries.
A Short Life History
of Argentina's Blue-Fronts:
Blue-fronts arrive at their
Chaco breeding grounds in late September and pairs begin to scope
out natural nesting cavities in Quebrachos (a tall hardwood),
often re-using their cavity from previous years. Eggs are laid
between October and December, and the last chicks are usually
fledged (though not weaned) by late-February. A clutch consists
of an average of 4 eggs with a 69% hatch rate. The average productivity
per pair at fledging was 1.1 in the 2003-04 breeding season.
Blue-fronted Amazons are highly
mobile. All but a few of those breeding in Chaco leave their
breeding grounds in flocks after their chicks have fledged and
the season of fruits and seeds is ending. Exactly where these
flocks of Chaco Blue-fronts go is unknown, though it is likely
that they move northwest, where ripe fruit is still available.
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Argentina's Parrot Industry
Argentina's parrot industry
peaked during the mid-80s, with 263,000 Blue-fronted Amazons
harvested from the wild during a five-year period. The dramatic
population decline caused by this unregulated capture was finally
addressed in 1992 when the export of Blue-fronts was temporarily
banned. It began again, with far reduced quotas, in '93.
Between '94 and '96 Proyecto Elé was designed by the government
with the intention of harvesting parrots sustainably. In 1997
Proyecto Elé was officially implemented, as a governmentally
run project. In respect to the Blue-fronts, while less than five
thousand Blue-fronts were exported in each of the first two years
of Proyecto Elé's control, their numbers have risen steadily
since then, due to an increase in nest searching and added areas
of harvest. In 2005 the export quota for Argentina's Blue-fronts
was 6,700. Proyecto Elé also regulates the harvest of
5 other parrot species. In 2005 the quota for all six species
totaled to about 50,000 wild caught parrots.
In the harvest of Blue-fronts, Proyecto Elé harvests chicks,
free-flying juveniles and adults from an area of approximately
200,000 square kilometers. This is the range in which they are
"abundant" in Argentina, and half of their absolute
range (in Argentina). In contrast, the three small reserves,
from which parrots cannot be harvested, has a total area of 467
square kilometers, only one quarter of one percent of the collection
area. Proyecto Elé was created with noble goals: to harvest
parrots using science-based, sustainable quotas. They used a
certain percentage of the profits to create and maintain a reserve
for the Blue-fronted Amazons breeding in Chaco.
In the
harvest of Blue-fronts, Proyecto Elé harvests chicks,
free-flying juveniles and adults from an area of approximately
200,000 square kilometers. This is the range in which they are
"abundant" in Argentina, and half of their absolute
range (in Argentina). In contrast, the three small reserves,
from which parrots cannot be harvested, has a total area of 467
square kilometers, only one quarter of one percent of the collection
area. Proyecto Elé was created with noble goals: to harvest
parrots using science-based, sustainable quotas. They used a
certain percentage of the profits to create and maintain a reserve
for the Blue-fronted Amazons breeding in Chaco. |

Parrot exporter's holding facility |
The Major Pros and Cons of Proyecto Elé:
Pros
· Local landowners, with important parrot habitat, have
incentive not to clear-cut their land (The timber can be sold
and land used for agriculture).
· A percentage of the profit from each parrot is used
to create or maintain reserves.
· It is a vast improvement from the prior, uncontrolled
harvest.
· Under the control of a single organization, there is
a higher in-country survival rate for harvested chicks.
Cons
· The quotas are not science-based and the future impact
on the species is unknown.
· Many exporters do not have the knowledge or resources
to provide proper care to parrot chicks, reducing their strength
and quality as pets.
· Measures to prevent a double-harvest (of both chicks,
and later adults, from the same flock) are lacking, creating
a serious threat to the Blue-fronts breeding in Chaco.
· The basic population dynamics of Blue-fronts in Argentina
is unknown, including an estimate of population size and it's
rate of decrease.
The Blue-fronted Amazon
Breeding Ecology Project:
This will be the 3rd year
of PhD student Igor Berkunsky's Blue-fronted Amazon Breeding
Ecology Project (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Universidad
Nacional de La Plata, Argentina). This project aims to gather
basic information on the reproductive ecology and population
dynamics of Blue-fronted Amazons. This knowledge can then be
used to revise the current standards of Proyecto Elé,
to ensure a truly sustainable harvest program (if such harvest
can indeed be sustainable.)
Igor's team consists of a project coordinator and three technicians
from Buenos Aires, as well as a select group of volunteers from
around the world. In the past two seasons volunteers have come
from New Zealand, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, England,
and the U.S. Members of this team work in the field during the
breeding season, September through February (spring and summer
in Argentina),
and again for a shorter period during the winter. Camp is located
on the Blue-fronted Amazon reserve, the largest and most valuable
of the three reserves, located in the "impenetrable forest"
of Chaco, an essential breeding habitat. All nests within this
reserve, and many outside of it, are studied to make comparisons.
Basic Project objectives:
· Determination of nesting site characteristics and availability.
· Determination of survival rates for eggs, chicks and
fledglings.
· Determination of the incidence and intensity of parasitism
and its effect on chick growth rates and survival.
· Determination of the relative contribution of each sex
to parental care and the incidence and contribution of a third
party.
· Determination of effects from harvesting on the chicks
that remain (one per nest), through comparison of reserve and
non-reserve nests.
Fieldwork includes:
· Daily nest checks:
a variety of measurements are taken from the chicks, and adult
behavior is observed
· Blood samples are
taken once from each chick for the analysis of endoparacites.
· Ecto-paracites are
sampled when chicks begin to feather and feces are collected
regularly for the inspection of internal parasites.
· Parrot Censuses are
completed at dawn and dusk from a canopy platform.
· Vegetation Transects
are completed every 2 weeks to measure the amount and type of
flowering or fruiting plants near nest and non-nest sites.
· Chicks are banded
(when in the reserve, or remaining in the nest after harvest).
Adults are banded when possible.
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Climbing up to the platform |

Measuring toe #3
Why is this project important?
With so little known about
the reproductive ecology or population dynamics, the current
level of chick and adult harvest could eventually devastate Argentina's
wild Blue-front population. A group of 97 scientists from around
the world, writing to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressed
their opposition to the bill (currently pending) to approve the
importation of Argentinean Blue-fronts to the United States.
In a multi-page explanation of their concerns with Argentina's
"Sustainable Use Management Plan", they state:
"We see no sound biological
basis for the harvest quotas in this Proposal, nor does the Proposal
or the management plan (Argentine Wildlife Office 1997; hereafter,
the Plan) provide sufficient detail for evaluating whether the
level of the proposed harvest is 'sustainable' as required under
the WBCA (Wild Bird Conservation Act). In the three years since
this Proposal was submitted to the Service, the Argentine CITES
(Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species)
quota for this species has continued to grow each year; in fact
it has nearly doubled to 5,980 birds in 2003, based on no apparent
science
To predict the impact of the planned harvesting all-but-one chick
from parrot nests, one must have detailed knowledge of key demographic
parameters
From studies of other harvested species, we know
that all these factors are fundamental to an understanding of
population dynamics, and ultimately the impact of harvesting.
Data supporting such parameters are not included in the Proposal,
nor apparently were they used to any degree to set the quota.
Moreover, we are unaware of any such modeling effort for any
species of parrot with a similar life history to that of A. aestiva."
The Blue-fronted Amazon Breeding
Ecology Project is beginning to fill some of the gaps in this
lack of knowledge. Blood samples were taken for the first time
last season, but not all chicks could be sampled because the
project lacked funding for sufficient supplies. Volunteers access
between 50 and 100 nest cavities throughout the season, which
requires the use of ropes and harnesses. Many of the ropes are
wearing out and knots must be tied for their continued use. Radio-telemetry
experiments have never been carried out for this species and
would be extremely useful in preventing a "double-harvest"
of the population breeding in Chaco. Thousands of adults and
juveniles are captured each year from citrus orchards northwest
of Chaco, with the assumption that this is not the same population
from which chicks were already harvested, several months earlier
in Chaco. This issue is also addressed by the 97 scientists in
the letter to the USFW:
"In contrast to the assumptions
of the Proposed Rule, the deleterious impacts of the harvest
on these two age groups are likely shared and additive, rather
than independent. Attempts therefore to control so-called "pest"
populations in the citrus orchards will further impact the populations
already harvested in breeding areas; a population this program
presumes to promote and conserve
In a long-lived species
like the Blue-fronted Amazon which has a relatively low reproductive
rate, such take of reproductively valuable individuals has dramatic
and long term impacts on productivity."
And their conclusion:
"
The Proposal demonstrably
fails to satisfy a number of other essential requirements set
forth in the Act such as a stable or increasing population, rigorous
monitoring, controlled domestic trade, minimizing disease risks,
and the humane treatment of the traded animals. The Service's
Proposed Rule overlooks the appalling lack of science behind
the Plan and its quotas
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Who I am and how I am involved:
My name is Sarah Faegre. I
have been fascinated by animals all my life, and my heart was
forever captured by parrots when, at age 11, I got my first cockatiel.
I went on to raise several broods of cockatiels and to own an
African Grey parrot. One year ago I graduated from Hampshire
College with a Bachelor's degree in Animal Behavior/Biology after
studying with Raymond Coppinger (Animal Behavior) and Donald
Kroodsma (Ornithology). I spent the summer of 2004 at the Klamath
Bird Observatory trapping, banding and studying birds, and training
volunteers. I then headed off to Argentina where I spent 3 months
working on a horse ranch and 4 months volunteering with three
different parrot conservation projects, each working to help
a different Amazon species (Blue-front, Alder, and Vinaceous-breasted).
I am nearly fluent in Argentinean Spanish.
The most impressive project, and the one that seemed to need
the most help, is Igor Berkunsky's Blue-fronted Amazon Breeding
Ecology Project. I volunteered with Igor's crew for the last
2 months of the breeding season (Sep 15- Feb 15). An amazing
amount of work and energy was being put in by all involved, but
it was clear that the data was suffering for lack of funds and
equipment. This part of Argentina is severely economically depressed-there
is no electricity, let alone TV or Internet access. The parrot
harvest is an important source of income to some of the families
in this economy. However, there is little funding or support
by the government for scientific research because more essential
human services come first.
I returned home to Oregon in mid-April, vowing to raise money
and return to Chaco for the full breeding season, September 2005
through February 2006. Currently, I am working part time in Portland
and spending the rest of my time fundraising for the Chaco Blue-fronts.
Those baby Blue-fronts are always on my mind and literally, I
dream about them almost every night.
I
will never forget the thrill of watching a full nest of chicks
fledge from the reserve, the parents feeding their begging fledglings
on the nest tree. Nor will I forget the sadness when one of the
farmers returned from the forest with a burlap sack full of baby
parrots, some of which I recognized, and handed them over to
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How You Can Help:
In sending this booklet to
people who have a love and respect for parrots, be they domestically
bred companions or their free-flying ancestors, I hope to find
the help these wild Blue-fronts need. I am asking for donations
in an effort to raise at least $6000 by September so that I can
return to help the study for another breeding season (six months).
Blue-fronted
Amazon Breeding Ecology Project Pledge Form
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Initial Breakdown of Costs:
Three thousand dollars will
cover my plane ticket, travel insurance, and in country travel
and living expenses. The other three thousand will be used for
equipment for the project. Some essential items include: scales,
GPS's, climbing equipment, bird bands and pliers, tents and food
for volunteers, equipment for blood, feces and ecto-paracite
samples, lab tests for the aforementioned samples, bicycles (we
use them to access more distant nests), bicycle repair equipment,
and an emergency medical kit for technicians and volunteers.
Some non-essential, but very
important, items not included in the $6000 budget are: digital
cameras (to see contents of a nest hole without disturbing the
nest, help with parrot census, documenting behavior, etc.), a
truck (better access to farther nests and ability to transport
equipment), and radio telemetry tags or collars and tracking
device.
All who donate to this project
will be presented with a certificate of their donation and be
thanked in the end-of-season Newsletter, which I will write and
circulate widely to interested parties. Donors will also receive
periodic e-mails (as access to town allows) updating my work
with the Blue-fronted Amazons throughout my six-month stay. Before
my departure to Argentina and after my return I will be available
to provide a slide show and discussion of my work for a donor's
employees, members, or customers. I would only ask for travel
assistance to your location from Portland, Oregon. I have a great
slide show of last years work and will have an even better show
available when I return!
To Sum Up, an Entry from
my Chaco Journal:
15 January 2005
This place is flooded with
butterflies. I lie on the tarp in the shade of a deathly hot,
humid afternoon by the pond in the Dry Chaco, middle of nowhere,
Argentina. Sweat collects behind my knees, between my thighs
and calves, on my chest. Butterflies flock around me, drawn by
the beads of sweat that have quickly merged into a single layer
of sheen and are now running in tiny rivulets across the contours
of my body. The rivulets of sweat leave twisted paths of white
skin amid streaks of dirt turned to mud by my sweat. The butterflies
land on me while I sleep, clustering on my feet and hands, then
my cheek-they are licking my sweat and it tickles. I open my
eyes and watch them moving on my fingers, probing my skin gently
with their proboscises. My watch beeps in my ear-time to check
nests.
When I stand the butterflies flutter around me in a cloud. I
change into my work-clothes, stiff with sweat and dirt, wake
up George, asleep in the hammock, and begin to gather the equipment
we'll need. We're checking nests on Camina de la Vivora (Path
of the Snake) and the Far Route. George and I pack the rope and
harness, birdbags for each nest, several liters of water, and
the data book and measuring equipment.
We set off down the dusty dirt road, the afternoon sun beating
down on us. Within minutes we're drenched with sweat-another
one of those 115-degree days. Twenty minutes later we turn off
the road and head up Camina de la Vivora. Our eyes are peeled
for the occasional red-ribbons that mark the way through the
thick, dry forest, as well as for the resident Yarara, a deadly
snake which was encountered mid-trail the first three times we
checked these nests.
Before approaching the first nest we stop to discuss the plan.
These chicks are climbers. To have any hope of getting them out
of the nest cavity we'll have to approach and climb the tree
silently, remove the mud and wooden plug quickly, and reach in
to grab them before they can climb above our access hole. "I'll
climb this time," I tell George.
At the nest George attaches the climbing rope to the already-in-place
string and pulls it slowly. If the chicks hear the scraping sound
of the rope against the tree they'll be out of reach before I
even start climbing. I put on the harness and clip on a birdbag.
When the rope is tied and ready I attach the two ascender loops,
and begin the seven-meter climb, trying not to touch the tree.
At the nest hole, I use a knife to pry off the mud and wooden
plug all at once, immediately reaching my hand into the hole,
and down into the nest cavity. I am greeted by growls and bites-Yaaay,
success! The chicks don't bite hard enough to draw blood and
I pull them out with no problem, putting the two of them into
the cloth bag, which is lowered to George.
George sits cross-legged on the ground, puts the two parrot chicks
on his lap, and lays out the calipers, ruler and scale. As I
look down at George and the chicks I try to get comfortable in
the harness-already my legs are tingling with lack of circulation.
The two mostly-feathered chicks calm down and make no effort
to leave George's lap. They peer quietly at the world around
them, nibbling at everything in reach with curious beaks and
tongues. The chicks are quiet while George takes measurements,
objecting with a few sharp growls only when he restricts the
movement of a foot to measure the tarsus and toe 3. Their crops
are examined and, like so many of the chicks this time of year,
they are bulging with magenta-colored Ucle cactus fruit. "What're
their wing chords?" I ask. "One-fifty and one-fifty-five
(mm)," is the reply. They're getting big, but still be a
few more weeks till fledging. They usually fledge around 200
mm (flattened wing).
George puts the chicks back in their bag and I raise them up
to the nest where I still hang in the harness. I place the chicks
back in their nest hole where they immediately begin to growl.
George makes balls of mud, which he throws up to me and I seal
the access hole, first with the wooden plug, then mud. As soon
as the nest is closed I hear the chicks, scrabbling up the cavity
to hide out, mid-tree, until after we've left.
As we are leaving I notice the parents, sitting silently in a
nearby Quebracho, watching. What do they think, I wonder. Each
time they see us come and go they return to find their chicks
unharmed. But what will they think, I wonder, when a different
man comes and they return to find only one chick in the nest.
Contact Information:
Address
Sarah Faegre
13200 Fielding Rd.
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Phone
503-312-1418
E-mail
sfaegre@hampshire.edu
Photos contributed by George
Olah,
Igor Berkunsky, and Sarah Faegre
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With your support, I will
perform the following activities:
1. Assist in Igor Berkunsky's
project on site in Chaco, Argentina, October 2005 - February
2006 to further the scientific knowledge needed for the wild
Blue-fronted Amazons' health and survival.
2. Perform my own research
project, working on methods of parrot-census to determine population
size. I will also record Blue-front vocalizations in a pilot
study, considering what might be learned from this behavioral
measure.
Thank you for taking the time
to read about the wild Blue-fronted Amazons of Argentina and
the efforts being made towards their conservation. Please call
or e-mail any time with questions or to arrange a meeting time.
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