Endangered Species The Puerto Rican Parrot
Overview
The Puerto Rican parrot is one of the rarest birds in the world and is found only in Puerto RIco. The population dropped to only 13 in 1975, falling from hundreds of thousands when Columbus traveled to the island in 1493. Today, due to constant monitoring and management in Puerto Rico and a captive breeding program, there are 400 captive and wild parrots in Puerto RIco, with 58 to 80 of them in the wild. There are two forests in which the parrots can be found: El Yunque and Rio Abajo Commonwealth (Federal and State Agencies Reaffirm their Commitment).
History of Endangerment
The shrinking of the parrot population is related to the increase in settlers on the island over centuries. Needing large hollow tree trunks for nesting, the parrot lost its habitat during centuries of deforestation when settlers cut down trees for farms.
The parrots do not make their own cavities, but need to find old trees with natural cavities. During this period the parrots could find the large trees for their nesting only in El Yunque forest. Cutting down trees for use in charcoal production beginning in the early 1900s further added to the problem of the parrot's shrinking habitat. Parrot hunting also lead to the parrot population decline until 1968 when the bird was placed on the Federal Endangered Species List and many local and federal agencies began working together to save the bird from extinction.
However, even in the last fifty years, the parrot population continued to decline due to nest competition by the Pearly-eyed Thrasher, honeybees which occupied many Palo Colorado trees needed for the parrots, and other animals who preyed upon it, including the mongoose To help improve the potential of the parrot becoming extinct, The Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program began in 1968 in the Luquillo Mountains of El Yunque Forest when the population dropped to approximately 20, first to learn more about the birds and then to start a captive-breeding program in 1973.
Parrot Recovery Program
Support for this Program comes from the United States Fish and WIldlife Service, the United States Forest Service and the Puerto RIcan Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. The World WIldlife Fund also assists with this effort as programs for endangered species is its key mission. The Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program is designed to conserve, protect and manage wild and captive parrots in order to downlist the species from endangered to threatened. A captive flock began in 1973, while there were only 13 parrots in the wild. By 1989, there were 47 birds in the wild, until Hurricane Hugo came to the Luquillo mountains, resulting in only 23 birds. In the 1990s the numbers of parrots in the wild were still only at 39.
Teams of scientists are creating and managing nesting sites in the parrots' habitat for wild parrots, and they continue to research the flocks, and protect them from predators and nest competitors. Efforts include using rat-bat boxes at the bases of trees in nesting areas to discourage scavenging of parrot eggs from the nests. The scientists created alternate nesting boxes for the Pearly-eyed thrasher, an aggressive bird which will cover parrot eggs with its own, causing parent parrots to desert their eggs. The Forest Service sets mongoose traps in the nesting areas to ensure safe breeding while traps are also set for bees which are parrot nest competitors. After every breeding season, the Forest Service takes a census to determine if the flock size has changed and how effective thee additional protective efforts were.
Artificial nests
When it was realized that the parrots' natural nests were not able to protect eggs and the young parrots, scientists created artificial nesting cavities out of industrial-grade PVC, attaching them to hollowed-out tree trunks. These have proven to work to protect eggs and young birds and have been used by all wild flock nesting pairs since 2002.
Captive Breeding
The captive breeding aviary was opened in 1990 with a goal to produce parrots which could later be released to the wild. The captive parrots are located in two locations since 1993: the first was established in El Yunque Forest in 1973 and the second was established in 1993 in the Rio Abajo Aviary in the Rio Abajo Commonwealth Forest in western Puerto Rico. The ultimate goal is to keep the species from extinction. The successes are beginning to show with there being 400 parrots as of 2012. While not all captive bred parrots survive in the wild, the results indicate that this program may be the best way to reestablish the wild population outside El Yunque Forest (Cruz Welcome to El Yunque; FS USDA.gov; Federal and State Agencies Reaffirm their Commitment).
The Puerto Rican parrot is one of the rarest birds in the world and is found only in Puerto RIco. The population dropped to only 13 in 1975, falling from hundreds of thousands when Columbus traveled to the island in 1493. Today, due to constant monitoring and management in Puerto Rico and a captive breeding program, there are 400 captive and wild parrots in Puerto RIco, with 58 to 80 of them in the wild. There are two forests in which the parrots can be found: El Yunque and Rio Abajo Commonwealth (Federal and State Agencies Reaffirm their Commitment).
History of Endangerment
The shrinking of the parrot population is related to the increase in settlers on the island over centuries. Needing large hollow tree trunks for nesting, the parrot lost its habitat during centuries of deforestation when settlers cut down trees for farms.
The parrots do not make their own cavities, but need to find old trees with natural cavities. During this period the parrots could find the large trees for their nesting only in El Yunque forest. Cutting down trees for use in charcoal production beginning in the early 1900s further added to the problem of the parrot's shrinking habitat. Parrot hunting also lead to the parrot population decline until 1968 when the bird was placed on the Federal Endangered Species List and many local and federal agencies began working together to save the bird from extinction.
However, even in the last fifty years, the parrot population continued to decline due to nest competition by the Pearly-eyed Thrasher, honeybees which occupied many Palo Colorado trees needed for the parrots, and other animals who preyed upon it, including the mongoose To help improve the potential of the parrot becoming extinct, The Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program began in 1968 in the Luquillo Mountains of El Yunque Forest when the population dropped to approximately 20, first to learn more about the birds and then to start a captive-breeding program in 1973.
Parrot Recovery Program
Support for this Program comes from the United States Fish and WIldlife Service, the United States Forest Service and the Puerto RIcan Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. The World WIldlife Fund also assists with this effort as programs for endangered species is its key mission. The Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program is designed to conserve, protect and manage wild and captive parrots in order to downlist the species from endangered to threatened. A captive flock began in 1973, while there were only 13 parrots in the wild. By 1989, there were 47 birds in the wild, until Hurricane Hugo came to the Luquillo mountains, resulting in only 23 birds. In the 1990s the numbers of parrots in the wild were still only at 39.
Teams of scientists are creating and managing nesting sites in the parrots' habitat for wild parrots, and they continue to research the flocks, and protect them from predators and nest competitors. Efforts include using rat-bat boxes at the bases of trees in nesting areas to discourage scavenging of parrot eggs from the nests. The scientists created alternate nesting boxes for the Pearly-eyed thrasher, an aggressive bird which will cover parrot eggs with its own, causing parent parrots to desert their eggs. The Forest Service sets mongoose traps in the nesting areas to ensure safe breeding while traps are also set for bees which are parrot nest competitors. After every breeding season, the Forest Service takes a census to determine if the flock size has changed and how effective thee additional protective efforts were.
Artificial nests
When it was realized that the parrots' natural nests were not able to protect eggs and the young parrots, scientists created artificial nesting cavities out of industrial-grade PVC, attaching them to hollowed-out tree trunks. These have proven to work to protect eggs and young birds and have been used by all wild flock nesting pairs since 2002.
Captive Breeding
The captive breeding aviary was opened in 1990 with a goal to produce parrots which could later be released to the wild. The captive parrots are located in two locations since 1993: the first was established in El Yunque Forest in 1973 and the second was established in 1993 in the Rio Abajo Aviary in the Rio Abajo Commonwealth Forest in western Puerto Rico. The ultimate goal is to keep the species from extinction. The successes are beginning to show with there being 400 parrots as of 2012. While not all captive bred parrots survive in the wild, the results indicate that this program may be the best way to reestablish the wild population outside El Yunque Forest (Cruz Welcome to El Yunque; FS USDA.gov; Federal and State Agencies Reaffirm their Commitment).