U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Ecological Services Field Office

All photos USFWS (top to bottom) ■ Coordinated interagency recovery Caribbean National Forest efforts and developed strategies to deal with predators, competitors, Endangered Puerto Rican parrot nest guarding techniques and Following released Puerto Rican survey methodology. Parrots using radio telemetry ■ Exchanged technology and Monitoring captive nesting activity. technical assistance with the Río Abajo Aviary managed by the Station Facts Puerto Rico Department of Natural ■ Established: 1990. and Environmental Resources (DNER). ■ Number of staff: 11. ■ Managed captive population to Station Goals assure production of individuals ■ Coordinate management and to be released into the wild, wild research/recovery efforts for the nest manipulations, and facilitated endangered Puerto Rican Parrot surrogate parents for double (Amazona vittata), one of the 10 clutches of active wild nests. most endangered birds in the world and the only native parrot in U.S. ■ Designed and coordinated research territory. projects to develop and refine techniques for the reintroduction of ■ Promote the conservation of captive-raised parrots into the wild. habitat for the Puerto Rican Parrot and other endangered, native, and ■ Promoted international technology migratory bird species. interchange with neighboring Caribbean nations including ■ Promote international technology the training of biologists and interchange to assist other island technicians from different countries nations in the Caribbean in the and conducting workshops on the management of their natural techniques used in Puerto Rican resources. Parrot Recovery Program. Services provided to Questions and Answers ■ Private individuals. What are the functions of the Puerto ■ Federal agencies and local Rican Parrot Recovery Program? government and non-government The Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery organizations. Program is responsible for the coordination of all activities involved ■ Public schools and municipal in the conservation and recovery of governments. the Puerto Rican Parrot. Recovery activities include interagency Activity Highlights coordination of management and ■ Released captive-reared parrots research projects, the protection into the wild at the Caribbean of wild nests from predators and National Forest. competitors, the management of a Marisel Lopez ■ Field efforts have included captive flock, and evaluating and Project Leader the restoration of nest cavities promoting the conservation of habitat Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery and field infrastructure in the for the future reestablishment of Calle García de la Noceda #38 Caribbean National Forest after more wild populations. P.O. Box 1600 the devastation of the Puerto Rican Río Grande, PR 00745 Parrot population and its habitat by Phone: 787/887 8769 hurricanes. Fax: 787/887 7512 E-mail: [email protected] U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

I have seen parrots about everywhere How do the Puerto Rican Parrots National Forest. Radio transmitters in Puerto Rico. Is the Puerto Rican make their nests, when do they were used for the four releases of parrot really endangered? and if so, reproduce, and how long does the parrots to track their movements and why is it endangered? family stay together? determine survival. The Puerto Rican Parrot is one of the Puerto Rican Parrots are secondary 10 most endangered bird species in cavity nesters. It means that they Following the first release of 10 the world and the only native parrot nest in cavities, but they can not Puerto Rican parrots on May 2000, under United States jurisdiction. excavate them on their own. They 90% of the individuals survived However, many other exotic parrot require large trees old enough to for two months indicating that species have been introduced to form natural cavities. Females make the parrots were in good physical Puerto Rico mostly because of the pet some modifications to form cup condition and capable of locating food. trade. shaped depressions at the bottom of Released parrots were documented the cavities, where they lay from two using areas historically occupied by The only known wild population of to four eggs. The breeding season wild parrots, as well as traveling with Puerto Rican parrots survives at usually starts in January and lasts wild birds. The survival trajectories the Caribbean National Forest (El until May or June. Puerto Rican after three releases indicate that 45 to Yunque) in eastern Puerto Rico. As Parrot pair bonds last until a member 50% of released Puerto Rican parrots with many other endangered species, of the pair dies. During January, the survived at least until the radio a major cause of the plight of the pair selects the nest cavity, typically, batteries quit working (6-9 months Puerto Rican Parrot has been the the pair use the same nest every year. after the releases). conflict between human population When the female lays eggs and starts The results, to date, indicate that growth and land use practices with incubating, the male brings her food. the conservation of wildlife habitat. releases of captive-reared birds are The Puerto Rican Parrot requires The female incubates the eggs for a promising technique to speed the mature cavity forming trees for about 26 days, and the chicks remain recovery of this critically endangered nesting. Agricultural practices in the nest for about 9 weeks. After parrot, especially with respect reduced the amount of mature the chicks fledge, the family remains to reestablishing a second wild forest areas available in Puerto together until the next breeding population outside the Caribbean Rico, thus affecting the parrot season. Sometimes the yearling National Forest. population. This reduced population parrots return to the nest sites with Are there plans to release more became susceptible to the impact of their parents, but the adults regularly captive-reared birds? natural and introduced predators, expel them from the territory. The plan is to use captive-reared birds competitors, and the effects of to establish other wild populations hurricanes. If they are endangered in the wild, why do you have Puerto Rican and supplement the existing wild How many Puerto Rican Parrots Parrots in captivity? population in El Yunque. To establish exist, and where are they? The captive flock was established a second population Puerto Rican As of April 2007, close to 200 Puerto in 1973 to assure the survival of the Parrots will be released in Río Rican Parrots exist. Of those, species should a catastrophic event Abajo for the first time in 2006. Río 159 parrots are in captivity and eliminate the wild population. In Abajo is located within the rugged approximately 30-35 individuals are in 1975, only 13 parrots remained in the topography of the Karst region of the wild. The captive population was wild. In addition, the captive flock has Puerto Rico, area with the most divided into two flocks in 1993. The provided the opportunity to enhance extensive continous forest canopy Puerto Rico Department of Natural wild nest productivity through in the island. In 2007 and 2008 more and Environmental Resources fostering and double clutching. parrots will be released at the same manages one of the captive flocks at location where we hope the parrots the José L. Vivaldi Memorial Aviary Fostering has been a successful way will flourish. After 2008, the plan calls in the Río Abajo Commonwealth to supplement the wild population for alternating releases of parrots Forest. This forest is located in with birds produced in captivity. In on a yearly basis between El Yunque western Puerto Rico between the June, 2000, 10 captive-reared Puerto and Río Abajo. Scientists are already municipalities of Arecibo and Utuado. Rican Parrots were successfully working to identify potential locations The other captive flock in the Luquillo released. Over the next four years, for a third population. Mountains (El Yunque), is managed another 29 parrots were successfully released. Visit us on the web at: by the FWS Río Grande Field Office www.fws.gov/southeast/prparrot staff. What is the status of the released captive-reared birds? After conducting an extensive pilot study in the Dominican Republic using Hispaniolan Parrots (Amazona ventralis) as a surrogate ecological model, a protocol and methodology was developed for the released Puerto Rican Parrots in the Caribbean