Breeding the Red,browed Amazon Parrot: Chronicles of a Paradise Lost? (Amazona dufresniana rhodocorytha) byPaul R. Reii/o, Ph.D., Curator The Rare Species Conservatory Loxahatchee, Florida As tropical avifaunas have become found in Forshaw (989) and Stoodley from humid lowland forests to mon­ increasingly imperiled through human and Stoodley (990). tane forests to estuarine mangroves, activities, the imperative for conserva­ where they may be associated with tion practices in aviculture has NaturalHistory Orange-wing Amazons (A. amazo­ become increasingly clear. First­ Once a common parrot in south­ nica) during winter foraging trips. breedings and subsequent propaga­ eastern Brazil (Pinto, 1935), the Red­ Red-brows prefer to roost and feed in tion of rare species are important first brow is now altogether extinct across the tops of primary forest trees, and at steps toward maintaining captive pop­ most of its original range due to one time were found in large flocks in ulations, from which natural popula­ deforestation and human encroach­ the forest canopy. Pinto (935) tiOFtS may ultimately be restored. ment (Forshaw, 1989). Remnant pop­ described raucous congregations Recent limited conservation successes ulations are very locally'distributed in .along the banks of the Gongogy River with psittacines like the Puerto Rican fragmented forests between Alagoas near Boa Nova, Bahia where birds Amazon (Snyder, et al., 1987) and the and Rio de Janeiro, although it is could be heard each morning; these Thick-billed Parrot (Beissinger and doubtful that any birds survive in the populations have been extinct for at Snyder, 1991) are testimony to the effi­ latter state (Low, 1984; 1986). Within least 12 years (Ridgely, 1981) and cacy ofaviculture in preserving certain Espirito Santo it is known only from probably much longer. taxa. Sadly, for others the hope of res­ the Sooretama Reserve and Monte cue is fleeting, and the prospect for Pascoal National Park and adjacent Aviculture recovery of natural populations even areas (Ridgely, 1981). Habitat prefer­ The first captive breeding of A.d. in the distant future is essentially nil. ences vary seasonally, and extend rhodocorytha occurred in Peterbor- For these desperate species, captive culture has taken on a sobering new light - occasional breeding successes 700 GROWTH RATE FOR HAND-RAISED may be all that stem the inevitable tide A. DUFRESNIANA RHODOCORYTHA of extinction. It is with this perspective that we report the first successful 600 000000000000000 North American breeding of the Red­ 00 00 browed Amazon Parrot (Amazona 00 00 dujresniana rhodocorytha) in eight sao years. o+- RED BROW PROMINENT o """III o Description E ...ell 400 0'- PRIMARIES ERUPTING The Red-browed (a.k.a. Red-topped Cl or Red-crowned) Amazon is a large '-' I- Amazon, 35 to 40 cm in length and :c 300 450 to 650 g in adult weight. The obvi­ ~ i:jj ous feature of the species is the red ~ o forehead and crown, which fades o ...- PIN FEATHERS ERUPTING 200 o toward the nape to a reddish-purple o~ EYES OPEN tinged with blue. As with its nominate 00 species, the Blue-cheeked Amazon o 100 o (A.d. dujresniana), the lores are o yellow-orange with cheeks and neck 00 0 00 blue. Other distinguishing features 0000 include a horn-colored upper mandi­ a 10 ble that becomes pink at the base, an a 20 30 40 SO orange-brown iris and grey legs. AGE (days) Further details of plumage can be 34 October / Nuvember 1993 >- Other birds have been rumored to (; ;;; be in private collections for years, ~ Q) en although only a single male, currently oC o outside our collection, has been veri­ en Q) fied. Hence, as of this writing, there U Q) a. exist 12 adult birds in our program, specializing in: en Q) four of which are males. As a founder <;; White-bellied a: population for genetic diversity, this is o certainly a bare minimum. Ironically, Caiques en>­ ~ also :; the last bird to be fledged in the U.S. o U in 1984 is the mother of the babies Australian King en o Parrots (5 described here, which, maternally, r: Cl. represent second-generation domes­ and tics. Mutation Princess of Wales Mutation Lady Gouldian Finches Husbandry The breeding pair is housed in a 4' x (818) 703-1112 5' x 12' suspended cage made from l"x I", 14-gauge galvanized wire Ralph Lima mesh. The nest box measures l' x l' x P.O. Box 6496 2' and is made from 3/4" plywood Woodland Hills, CA 91365 lined with galvanized flashing throught. The box is hung from the OUR 47TH BIRDMART top center rear of the flight, with the EVERYBODY'S longest dimension in a vertical aspect, the entrance hole near the top of the BIRD MART box. The only access to the box is from a hinged flap-style door at the November 28, 1993 back near the bottom. Since Red­ L.A. County Fairplex Bldg. #4 brows at our avialy have never used Pomona, California the box except for sitting eggs, the 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. box is inspected only weekly during Admission: $4, Youths 5-15: $1 the non-breeding months and is left The Bird Mart has become the on the cage year-round. Soft pine marketplace for buyers and sellers. shavings are changed monthly (mini­ BIRDS • CAGES. FEEDERS • NESTBOXES mum) during the breeding season and VITAMINS. SEED. PERCHES • GIFT ITEMS PARKING $3.00 Hand-reared chick at 13 days, weight as required during the fall and winter Use White Ave. parking lot 152.6grams. months. (Tram service from parking lot to building G) a diVision of Diet consists of a mixture of various J. Williams Financial Services Inc. ough, England in 1980 (Mann, 1982). types of sunflower seeds, parrot mix, P.O. Box 794, Acton, CA 93510 The first - and prior to this writing ­ Zupreem monkey biscuits and fresh (805) 269-0424 only documented, captive breeding fruits and vegetables offered once a The Original, The #1 Bird Mart success in the USA was by Ramon day, with seeds constituting roughly Noegel in 1984 (Noegel, 1984). The 30% of the daily ration by volume. entire collection, including offspring Spray millet is offered weekly. Nek­ and adult birds compiled from various ton-S vitamin supplement (Nekton­ The Avicultural Society sources prior to the 1984 breeding, Produkte, 7530 Pforzheim, West Ger­ of America, Inc., was purchased jointly by Dr. John many) is dissolved in the drinking V~Telcomes new members. Vaughn (Rare Species Conservatory, water which is proVided fresh each Florida) and Mr. Charles Osterbrink day. Food and water bowls are (Night Flight Farms, Mississippi) in washed and disinfected daily. 1988. To our knowledge, this repre­ sents the only significant collection of Breeding Red-brows in the United States (ISIS The breeding hen is known to have Bird Abstract, 30 June 1992), compris­ been hand-raised in 1984 by R. Noe­ FoundeJ 1927 ing three adult males and seven adult gel, and the male is of unknown ori­ We publish a monthly bulletin on all females, plus the progeny described gin, but is probably Wild-caught and aspects of aviculture. For member­ here. An additional adult pair that was significantly older than the female. ship information please contact: confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wild­ After retreating to the nest box for five Helen Hanson, (714) 780-4102, ASA, life Service in 1982 and main~ained at consecutive days, the hen's first egg Inc., P.O. Box 5516, Riverside, CA Miami Metrozoo has been loaned to (ever) was laid on 20 April 1992, after 92517. Yearly dues $20. Foreign members please add $5 to cover post­ The Rare Species ConservatolY to be which she immediately left the box. age (U.S. funds only). included in our breeding program. We were experiencing cool evening afa WATCHBIRD 35 Outdoorflight atRSC's aviary. ten1peratures (45°P) and feared if the egg -were fertile and she did not sit within two days it would die. Hence, we ren10ved the egg for altificial incu­ bation on 22 April; the hen had o1ade no attempt to return to the box. Visi­ bly indistinguishable fro111 the eggs of other larger An1azons like the Blue­ front (A. aestiva), it was placed in a Roll-X incubator calibrated to 99.0 oP and relative hun1idity roughly 60%. The egg was hand-turned six times per 24 hours with 60 to 90 degree rota­ tions each turn. After six days, can­ dling revealed the presence of a healthy en1bryo. The hen laid the remainder of her three-egg clutch on 23 and 27 April 1992, and the whole clutch proved to Parent-hatched chicks at 18and21 days (left, weight 283.2grams and260.2grams) with hand-reared chick at 24 days, (right, weight 44.5grams). Breedingpairoj' A.d. rhodocorytha. 36 October / ovember 1993 be fertile. During this time she ren1ained in the box and, to our amazen1ent, stayed there for the next 46 days. Both artificially and naturally incubated eggs hatched on the 25th days of their respective incubation calendars, though the artificially incu­ bated chick was assisted because it pipped early below the air-cell line. We initially left the two younger chicks with the hen to see how well she would feed thein and because removing then1 without injury would be difficult. She ren1ained with the chicks, without leaving the box, until Photo courtesy of Graham Taylor, Avicultural Breeding and Research Centre, N.S.W., Australia Attention: breeders and collectors SOLOMON ISLAND ECLECTUS guaranteed live shipping PAIRS - $1,850.00 FEMALES - $1,200.00 each MALES - $1,050.00 each ~ ·RLD BIRDS 7519 S.