As Dr Jamie Gilardi, exec-director of the World Parrot Trust said in his interview with us for Parrot Month, one of the greatest threats facing parrots today is habitat destruction. Most of us probably think of the Amazon basin when we think about deforestation on a huge scale, but sadly tropical forests across the world have been torn down for many years. Across the Caribbean, for example, huge areas of forest have been logged out completely or substantially degraded by conversion of native forests into eg banana plantations or farmland. This, along with hunting and collecting for the trade in wild birds and natural events such as frequent hurricanes which rip down large trees (researchers estimate that storms with sustained winds of 166 km/h or 104 mi/h occur at least every 50 years in northeastern Puerto Rico), has had a massive impact on the Caribbean’s parrots.

This latter species has had more money spent on its recovery than any another parrot species (funding coming mainly from the US), yet it still remains extremely rare. The early attempts to breed captive birds was almost wholly unsuccessful, and as long ago as 1984 Rosemary Low, writing in her book “Endangered Parrots” (Blandford, 1984), said of the original breeding programme that:

“[An] inauspicious start was to set the seal on a far from successful captive breeding programme which owed many of its problems to the fact that it was administered by personnel totally lacking in knowledge of aviculture. They gained experience with one of the most critically endangered birds in the world.”

Fortunately the situation has changed radically and the lessons that were learned on “one of the most critically endangered birds in the world” have resulted in numbers of this beautiful bird slowly climbing. This article is partly-written by Ricardo Valentin, a skilled aviculturalist who is Aviary Operations Coordinator at the Vivaldi (or Rio Abajo) Aviary in Utuado and is working with other skilled colleagues to build up this spectacular birds global population: he has provided us with some of the most up-to-date data available on the internet for which we are very grateful. The photos posted are all his and are used with his permission.

I’m also extremely grateful to Hector Claudio who lives in Puerto Rico and has been very supportive of our work and has written a Spanish summary which is posted below.

The Puerto Rican parrot

The Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona vittata (photo left copyright Ricardo Valentin) is one of the world’s rarest birds, and the last surviving species of parrot native to the United States (Puerto Rico became a US Territory following the Spanish-American War in 1898 and its residents became US citizens in 1917. It has been a US Commonwealth since 1952).

First described by Dutch zoologist Pieter Boddaert in 1783, the population of Puerto Rican Parrot was once estimated at around a million individuals. As of 2008 there are around fifty left in the wild, and around 220 in breeding programmes run by the multi-agency Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program (which originally involved scientists and managers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the US Forest Service and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, with added support provided by the World Wildlife Fund).

All the island’s wild parrots now use specially-designed artificial nesting cavities constructed of virtually indestructible, industrial-grade PVC for breeding: these are built deep enough to both protect parrot eggs and nestlings from predators and has stopped the Pearly-eyed Thrasher Margarops fuscatus from using the same cavities as the parrots which has been a major problem in the past (thrashers had actually been known to lay eggs on top of parrots’ eggs in the past and driving the parrots away).

How does a bird so populous disappear in such a short time though? Human population growth and deforestation - ie the removal of fruit-producing trees (the species is particularly dependent on the Sierra Palm during reproduction) and of trees large enough to hold nest cavities. Once clothed in forest, the European settlement of Puerto Rico resulted in catastrophic habitat change. As the trees came down and the human population grew, the Puerto Rican Parrot found itself squeezed out. It now occupies just 0.2% of its historical range…

• One of the key Puerto Rican researchers working on this beautiful bird is Ricardo Valentin, the Vivaldi Aviary Aviculturist, and 10,000 Birds is extremely grateful to him for providing both the text that follows and the (rare) photos of both wild and captive Puerto Rican Parrots that adorn this page…

“A head shot of a fledgling, the red beard is a characteristic of some juveniles though the significance is not clear: it is almost always lost after the first year.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

In prehistoric times the Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona vittata vittata was abundant and widespread throughout Puerto Rico, and was also found on the islands of Culebra, Vieques and
Mona. It has been estimated that at the time of arrival of Columbus (apparently on November 19, 1493) the island had a population of between a hundred thousand and a million Puerto Rican Parrots.

At first glance this might be thought of as an exaggerated number but if you look at the extant copies of Columbus’s diaries, his own words support the larger number. In his entry of the 21 of October 1492 (when he was sailing between some of the Bahama islands) he wrote of “flocks of parrots that blocked the sun and birds large and small of all kinds”. Columbus’s notes probably refer to the Cuban Amazon Amazona leucocephala [a species itself now numbering only around 10,000], but they emphasise the extraordinary abundance of parrots in the Caribbean islands even in relatively recent historical times.

 

Photo © Ricardo Valentin

“A pair of PR Parrot harassing a Hispaniolan pair in captivity. This PR pair decided to nest near the aviary. For unclear reasons they particularly targeted for harassment this pair of Hispaniolan Parrots Amazona ventralis [note the white foreheads of this similar and Endangered species], even though there were several pairs of nesting PR parrots only a few feet away from this spot. Contrary to what one may think, the aggressive interactions seemed to have been a positive and stimulating influence on both pairs. The Hispaniolans raised two PR chicks uneventfully and the PR produced three hatchlings.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

 

It is known that the indigenous inhabitants used the Puerto Rican Parrot as a source of food, and descriptions of how it was hunted are recorded in some of the oldest Spanish texts from the Conquista. In the 19th Century it was regarded as a crop pest and its abundance at certain locations was noted by historians.

Fossil remains of the Puerto Rican Parrot found in the islands surrounding Puerto Rico show that A. vittata used to be found in several islands of the Oriental part of the Caribbean, with an overall range of 400 miles (from Mona island fifty miles to the west of Puerto Rico to Barbuda island two hundred miles to the east). During the peak of the Ice ages most of the surrounding islands were geographically part of Puerto Rico (if only as the tips of mountains) and the overwater distance between the rest was not large. These populations have all now disappeared. The last of these small island Puerto Rican Parrots became extinct sometime around the start of the 20th century: in 1899 they were reported as common in Culebra island - the last report of parrots there is from 1912.

 

“A wild bird eating a guava, a favorite treat.”
Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

 

The population of Puerto Rican Parrots had started to decline on Puerto Rico by the middle of the 19th century, when the human population started to grow significantly and to deforest large parts of the island. At the start of the 20th century only a remnant population survived in the west (in the Rio Abajo – Guajataca area) with the rest of the population in the east of the island. In 1937 it was estimated that around 2000 parrots lived in the 28,000 acre (19,650 hectare) Caribbean National Forest, known locally as El Yunque.

By 1950 the population had fallen and it was clear there were no more than 200 parrots left. However even in the middle of the sixties it was still possible to see 70 parrots in a flock. Unfortunately in the 1970s the population suffered a catastrophic collapse, and in the 1975 breeding season only thirteen adults could be counted in the forest.

What caused the collapse of the parrot population? The most important causes were massive habitat destruction, hunting, the pet trade, and several major hurricanes hitting within a few years of each other [eg on September 18th 1989 Hurricane Hugo, a category 5 hurricane, smashed its way across the Carribean, roaring across the Luquillo mountains and destroying more than half of Puerto Rico's last wild parrots].

Because it was thought that the population was in danger of imminent extinction a recuperation program was started in 1971 in Luquillo. This program still exists and is run by the USFWS: a wild population of between 25 and 30 birds survives in Luquillo. A new captive population was started in the Rio Abajo forest in 1993: it now numbers 137 birds. A new wild population was started in 2006 in the Rio Abajo forest where 20-28 now live.

 

“This photo shows dominance interaction, a behaviour rarely caught on camera because it usually occurs deep in the vegetation and high in the trees. I stumbled on this pair quite by accident and took the photo with a cheap camera. I was about 30 feet away from them but they didn’t flee because they’ve known me since birth (these are released birds as you can tell by the radiotransmitters). The male is doing a dominance display and the female is appropriately submissive lowering her head and slightly lowering her wings.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

 

A summary of the history of the PR parrot, and the success at Rio Abajo:

• Before 1492 - Widespread and abundant, hunted by the Indians.
• 1650 - PR human population starts growing.
• 1800 to the second half of the 19th century - A large decline in the population of parrots was noted.
• 1940 - Disappears from most of the island, the only significant population remaining is in the Sierra de Luquillo.
• 1960 - Catastrophic population decline.
• 1970 - The wild population reaches its lowest point at between thirteen and fifteen individuals. A captive population is started in the Luquillo Aviary.
• 1980 - The wild population remains at between 25 and 40 individuals. Plans to build a new Aviary in the Karst area are made.
• 1989 – Hurricane Hugo, a category 5 hurricane passes over the Caribbean National Forest and reduces the parrot population from 44 to 25.
• 1990 - A new Aviary in the Karst region is opened.
• 1993- First PR parrots arrive in the RA aviary
• 2000 - Releases into the wild using birds from the captive population start in the Luquillo Area.
• 2006 - On November 19, 2006 a flock of 22 birds are released in the Rio Abajo Forest.
• 2007 - A wild population of 13 birds survives successfully in the Rio Abajo Forest.
• 2008 – The wild population in the Rio Abajo Forest now numbers between 20 and 28, around double that of the year before.
• 2008 - A further flock of nineteen birds is released on 27th Dec - story in Spanish is here.

 

“A wild bird looks at the photographer (me) speculatively. This photo was taken at close range only because the bird knows me.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

 

Some of the factors that helped to produce the catastrophic reduction in the population of the Puerto Rican Parrot:

1. Massive deforestation during the 19th century. Only 1% of virgin forest remains.
2. Several extremely strong hurricanes hit the island at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
3. Juveniles were captured and sold as pets. Their survival when kept as pets seems to have been extremely poor.
4. Illegal hunting.
5. Efforts to “improve” the forest where the last flock lived by removing all old trees with rotten trunks.
6. Competition for nest cavities by invasive species (eg Pearly-eyed Thrasher) that were not found previously on the island or were not so widespread before deforestation.

 

“The black spot in front of the eye of this male bird is a wound. These wounds to the face occur occasionally in captivity due to fights among birds. They are most common at the start of the breeding season when the males in the communal cage are feeling the surge of hormones caused by the changes in weather and daylight length and are at their most aggressive. It is very likely the wound in this bird face is due to a fight with another male bird..” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

 

Conservation Milestones

• 1960 - Reports from bird watchers, ornithologist and biologist suggest there has been a catastrophic fall in the numbers of individuals of the species.
• 1967 - Declared a species in danger of extinction by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the US.
• 1968 - The effort to breed this species in captivity is started with the cooperation of several government agencies.
• 1973 - A captive population is started in the Luquillo Aviary.
• 1993 - Another captive population is started in the Rio Abajo Aviary at Arecibo.

   

  
  
  “A baby in an aviary nest, a few days from fledgling.”
  Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin
  

   

• 2000 - A group of PR parrots is sent to Luquillo from the Rio Abajo Aviary for eventual release.
• 2000 - The first release into the wild is made in the Caribbean National Forest.
• 2001 - Second release of captive birds into the Caribbean national Forest.
• 2002 - Third release in the Caribbean National Forest.
• 2002 - First candidates for the Karst area release are selected.
• 2003 - A release cage is constructed in the ground of the Rio Abajo Forest
• 2004 - The birds chosen for the Karst area release are moved into the release cage.
• 2006 - Amid much public rejoicing the first group of birds are released into the Rio Abajo forest. The production of captive birds beats by the proverbial mile all other year’s production with 50 birds produced 31 in RA and 19 in LU.
• 2007 - The parrots in Rio Abajo have adapted successfully to their environment, another release of 24 birds is made.
• 2008 – In December an additional 19 birds will be released in the Karst area.

 

Population status as of 2008 – 25-30 in the wild in LU, 20-28 in the wild in RA, 89 in captivity in the Iguaca Aviary, 137 in captivity in the Rio Abajo (Vivaldi) Aviary.

“This photo shows the turquoise color characteristic of the wings of Puerto Rican Parrots.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

Text in Blockquote and all photos copyright Ricardo Valentin, Vivaldi Aviary Aviculturist

For more information:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/pr-parrot/puerto_rican_parrot_the_story_of_an_amazing_rescue.pdf

http://www.fws.gov/southeast/prparrot/pdf/PR_parrot_FS.pdf

“This unique photo shows the extremely rare headless variation of the PR parrot, Amazona vittata var. acephala. Reported in the early 19th Century by the Spanish Naturalist-Explorer Vebo de la Cerveza, the existence of this subspecies was met with total disbelief among scientists and biologist and people that could smell his breath. The fact that he reported having seen two of them side by side sure didn’t help! Actually the previous lines are a humorous interpretation of this photo which shows an illusion caused by the extreme flexibility of the Amazons neck. These birds can rotate their head toward their back and bend them downwards to preen their back, this creates the impression of headlessness from certain points of view. The fact that this bird is preening means that it feels particularly secure and relaxed.” Photo/caption © Ricardo Valentin

La Cotorra Puertorriqueña

La Cotorra Puertorriqueña (Amazona vittata) es una de las aves más raras del mundo, y la única cotorra nativa a los Estados Unidos que aún no se encuentra extinta (Puerto Rico es un territorio no incorporado de este país desde 1898).

Originalmente descrita por el zoólogo holandés Pieter Boddaert en 1783, se estima que la población de la Cotorra Puertorriqueña en algún momento alcanzó alrededor de un millón de individuos y ocupaba todo tipo de bosque en Puerto Rico, Mona, Vieques, Culebra y algunas Antillas Menores. Hoy día solo sobreviven unas 50 cotorras en estado silvestre en la Sierra de Luquillo en el noreste de la isla y en el Bosque de Río Abajo en la región kárstica norteña. Existen además 220 cotorras en cautiverio, estas últimas bajo el Programa de Recuperación de la Cotorra Puertorriqueña.

¿Cómo un ave que era tan abundante casi desaparece en un período de tiempo tan corto? El crecimiento de la población humana y la destrucción de hábitat que le acompañó fue un factor determinante en la disminución poblacional de esta especie. La deforestación de los bosques maduros alrededor de la isla para dar paso a la agricultura y la ganadería provocó la disminución de fuentes de alimento y anidaje para la cotorra. Esto último, sumado a la caza, el mercado de mascotas y la ocurrencia de desastres naturales como huracanes, provocaron el colapso de la especie. Hoy día sólo ocupa 0.2% de su distribución original.

La Cotorra Puertorriqueña se desplaza a través del bosque en parejas o pequeños bandos en búsqueda de alimento. Su dieta consiste de frutos, semillas, corteza, flores y hojas de más de 60 especies de plantas. En estado natural la Cotorra Puertorriqueña utiliza cavidades en los árboles para anidar. Sin embargo, sin intervención, los huevos y polluelos pueden ser depredados por ratas y zorzales pardos o parasitados por moscas. El Zorzal Pardo (Margarops fuscatus), puede además, competir por las mismas cavidades para construir sus nidos.

El Programa de Recuperación fue creado en 1971 para restablecer las poblaciones silvestres de la Cotorra Puertorriqueña mediante su reproducción en cautiverio e introducción en bosques en localidades donde originalmente habitaba. La última liberación de individuos se llevó a cabo en diciembre del año 2008, cuando fueron reintroducidas 19 cotorras en el Bosque de Río Abajo (más información aquí). El programa además se encarga de asistir la reproducción de la especie en estado silvestre proveyendo nidos artificiales especialmente diseñados para proteger sus huevos y pichones de depredadores y de su utilización por otras aves. Tanto los nidos como los individuos adultos son monitoreados constantemente. Originalmente este programa incluyó personal del Servicio Federal de Pesca y Vida Silvestre, el Servicio Forestal Federal y el Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico. Hoy día todavía existe, y ha sido fundamental para la lenta, pero sostenida recuperación de esta hermosa ave. Gracias a este esfuerzo las generaciones futuras de puertorriqueños tendrán la oportunidad de conocerla y disfrutarla.

Spanish text provided by Hector Claudio

Produced in association with BirdLife International and edited by Erik Hirschfeld, the excellent “Rare Birds Yearbook” (RBYB) series looks in detail at each of the 190 Critically Endangered bird species on the planet - including the Puerto Rican Parrot.

We gave the Rare Birds Yearbook 2009 a very enthusiastic review, describing it as “beautifully presented, lavishly illustrated, comprehensive, and superbly written” amongst other things. No other publication available is so up-to-date, is so crammed with data, and has so many outstanding photographs of the world’s Critically Endangered species, and it is highly recommended.

STOP PRESS: Erik is generously offering a 25% Discount from the cover price to all 10,000 Birds readers! Simply visit the Rare Birds Yearbook website at RBYB - Order, place your order, enter the discount code facrusp, and the total will be automatically adjusted before you go to the checkout.

Like to see for yourself how good this book is?
To download a full colour .pdf of the pages relating to the Puerto Rican Parrot click Species Account: Puerto Rican Parrot