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May 8th, 2025
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Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
animal behavior and cognition
biorxiv

How monitoring behavior can inform conservation? The case of Spix's macaws under human care

Marcuk, V.Open in Google Scholar•Purchase, C.Open in Google Scholar•Scholtyssek, K.Open in Google Scholar•Amador, J.Open in Google Scholar•Crosta, L.Open in Google Scholar•Crosta, P.-S.Open in Google Scholar•Gupta, B. K.Open in Google Scholar•Hofer, H.Open in Google Scholar•Courtiol, A.Open in Google Scholar

The Spix\'s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), a Brazilian endemic psittacine formerly native to the north-eastern part of Bahia state has been classified as extinct in the wild since 2019. The entire ex-situ breeding population is currently managed by program-associated holders in Germany, Brazil and Belgium. Breeding efforts increased the global population under human care from a historical low of 53 individuals in 2000 to 364 individuals as of January 2025. The first two cohorts were released in the wild in June and December 2022 and the first wild-born offspring fledged successfully in May 2024. As part of the pre-release program, we studied the behavior of 123 birds in 2018-2019 within the German facility of the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots e. V. (ACTP) with the goal to optimize general husbandry practices as well as pre-release and post-release protocols. We compiled an ethogram consisting of 75 non-sexual behaviors, monitored the time activity patterns of ten pairs during the daytime period, and analyzed the breeding output between 2014 and 2024. Our results reveal that the time activity patterns were relatively consistent across individuals. Nonetheless, each female was more in synchrony with its mate than with any other male. Moreover, breeding readiness and breeding success were strongly influenced by the synchronicity of the pairs. We discuss how the conservation of monogamous parrots could benefit from behavioral monitoring, drawing insights from the historical improvements in the reduction of behavioral disorders and in the increase in breeding success of the Spix\'s macaw.

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