It has been nearly a year since Boss and Orange were released (Apr 2011). They both turned out to be uncomplicated birds, they adapted quickly and without problems.
Boss became independent within days. After release, he used the feeding station infrequently and looked very healthy. This implies he started foraging in a self-sustainable way from the moment of release. He lost interest in the release site after less than two months. Because he did so well the first weeks after release, we assume he took off and created his own home range, with a new partner from the existing flock.
left Orange & right Moe in a Tropical Almond tree in the release site
We have not seen him recently, but whenever we go on field expeditions away from the release site, we look out for him. We know from experience with previous release birds that it could be years before we see him again.
Orange on the other hand, turned out to be one of those birds (the majority) that include the release site in their new home range for up to a year after release, even though they too have learned to forage in a self-sustainable way.
Most days she still visits the feeding station in the afternoon. While she was inside the pre-release aviary, she was paired-up with Bob (Ross). She still is, although within days after release Scarlett O’ Ara joined the two of them and they are now a little sub-flock of three friends. They all get along, although Bob still seems to prefer Orange over Scarlett. Just the other day, while Bob was feeding, Orange got a new suitor, Moe (released in 2009) approached her and inspected her with great interest. Orange didn’t really seem to mind, but she wasn’t particularly interested either.
Enjoying Life in the Wild
All in all the 8th release was very successful! All birds adapted and are doing great. They had a few troublesome months during the rainy season when there was less food and it got very wet, but they managed, like expected, and we did provided them some extra food for some weeks (next rainy season that won’t be necessary anymore). The only one we haven’t seen recently is Boss, but again, we think he is just off having a good time in the jungle.
It has been two months since Boss & Orange were released. Like the other eight birds that were released around the same time, they adapted great to their new life as a wild Scarlet Macaw’s. They have foraged on a variety of wild food such as Guava, Jobo and Tropical Almonds, endured some serious tropical thunder storms and became agile flyers.
Following his release Boss would be in the release site only briefly, mostly in the mornings. His then release partner, Rogue, was the only one of the new macaws that disappeared once she was released. We worried she may not have made it, but hoped she would be surviving through her own instinct, and Boss was hanging out with her somewhere else further away from the release site. The second month after release Boss was seen only infrequently at the release site and only in the very early mornings.
Boss flying Wild
Just these last weeks, we found out that his former release partner Rogue is alive and well a few kilometers away from the release site and hanging out with Mulder, a bird released two years ago.
Mulder and Rogue
So Boss adapted well to his new life, although we are still not 100% sure exactly what is he is up to and with whom during the day.
As for Orange who disappeared briefly for a few days after her release, since then she has stayed in the release site with her partner from back in the pre-release aviary, Bob Ross, and six of the new release birds. She spends most of her time foraging in the trees right around the pre-release aviary and relaxing in a big Jobo tree with Bob Ross.
After a day of adventures, Orange and Bob Ross chillax on the top of the release aviary.
Now that the biggest hurdles have been overcome, the 10 new macaws can look forward to a “Wild life” in the forests of Tiskita and surrounding areas. The total number of Scarlet macaws reintroduced to the Tiskita forests is now 70 birds over the past 9 years, following a period of over 35 years of scarlet macaws being extinct in the area due to poaching and deforest station.
May they grace the skys and forests for many future generations to come, and have families of their own, in the effort to stop their species from becoming extinct.
Rogue
After a period of around 8 weeks in the holding aviary the group of 10 Scarlet Macaws including Boss and Orange are now ready for release into the jungle. The 8 weeks has afforded them the opportunity to learn all about how to survive once they are out in the wild. They have learnt all the new foodstuffs they require to survive, watched how the previously released macaws behave and watching them eat, plus having time to adapt to the sultry heat and different wildlife to be encountered in the Costa Rican jungles.
Within the aviary is a small release box which has a door opening into the aviary and a door on the outside, for several days before the first release the inside door is opened and a food dish placed inside. This allows the Macaws time to get used to using this space and being so inquisitive it is not a problem to get the macaws to come into this exciting new space!! The macaws are released in pairs using the bonds formed in the aviary which are noted carefully by the on-site biologists during the adaption period. Releasing the macaws in pairs helps reduce the stress of being released, meaning the pair can go through the process together and don’t have to be split from their companion/partner.
The 13th May is the chosen date for the first release and it dawns a hot sunny morning. All 10 birds are fed around 7 a.m. with a food dish placed in the release box. It takes patience to wait for the right pairing to be alone in the release box but at 8:45 a.m. the pairing of RM525 (Boss) and RM522 (Rogue) are in the box and the inside door is closed. Too busy eating to even notice the inside door is shut both birds remain calm. After a settling period of 30 minutes the outside door is open and this is it, FREEDOM. Both walked outside of the aviary and climbed onto the cage top and despite 2 wild macaws trying to sneak the remaining food the outside door was closed. No going back now, Boss is a wild macaw. Amazingly within 20 minutes Boss feeds on wild guavas in a tree close by using the knowledge gained from watching the wild birds. Both birds remain around the release site until around 3pm when they flew off and a whole new chapter of learning begins!
On the 15th of May it was the turn of RM530 (Orange) and RM529 (Bob Ross) who were closed in the release box at 8:15 a.m. Both macaws seemed nervous and were held in the release box until 9:15 a.m. until the outer door was opened and it was time to go! Both birds climbed on the roof of the aviary before doing their first wild flights around the site. The birds were unsettled as the cheeky squirrel monkeys came down to play with them, Boss was watching from a tree nearby with interest but didn’t join them. By 11:45 a.m. the squirrel monkeys actually chased them out of the release site for their first expedition into the forests.
This is the critical period now for Boss and Orange with so much to learn the shock of suddenly being thrust out into the wild is great. They have to learn to land in trees for the first time, to sleep outside in the rain for the first time and to flee from predators for the first time but once over this initial period they can enjoy all the forests and freedom has to offer.
How will they get on?
BOSS IS FREE MUCH TO THE AMAZEMENT OF HIS FORMER CAGE FRIENDS!
ORANGE TRIES OUT GUAVAS – HER FIRST TASTE OF WILD FRUITS
BOSS AND ORANGE WITH BOB ROSS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE AVIARY AVOIDING SQUIRREL MONKEYS!
By Alex Ash, field biologist
Boss and Orange have now been in the pre-release aviary at Tiskita for nearly five weeks and along with their eight companions are doing great. Their surroundings are very different from those at the breeding center in Alajuela and they are getting used to the sights and sounds of the jungle which now surrounds them.
One very noticeable new neighbour are the cheeky Squirrel Monkeys that are a daily sight around the aviary, these diminutive monkeys more than make up for the lack of size with their boisterous attitude and seem to treat the roof as their own playground. They jump from the overhanging trees, landing on the roof with a crash and then playfight and run all over the roof for an hour at a time before they move on to find food elsewhere in the forest. Boss and Orange were understandably a little confused by these hoodlums at first but now they merely tilt their heads and look skywards if there is a particularly loud crash and then carry on eating the next Beach Almond or seed pod that takes their fancy.
When the macaws are released they will have to learn to forage for themselves, being an intelligent, adaptable species they soon find out what they can and can’t eat, but we make it easier for them by foraging for seeds and fruit that the wild macaws love to eat and providing them daily. A particular favorite are the Beach Almonds which are plentiful on the coast here and we try and get our hands on as many other different food items as we can.
All good news from Tiskita and we are looking forward to the day when Boss and Orange will join the flocks of macaws flying free where they are supposed to be.
Boss eating a Royal Palm in the pre-release aviary
Squirrl Monkeys checking out on Boss from the pre-release aviary roof
Orange about to open an Inga seed pod
By Ilona Thewissen, Field Biologist
Arrival of Scarlet Macaws release group 8 at Tiskita
On Thursday the 24th of March 2011, Boss and Orange arrived with release group 8 at the Tiskita release site on the South Pacific coast of Costa Rica. They arrived after a smooth one hour flight donated by Carmonair. They were then transported in their carrier cages up the hill to the brand new pre-release aviary in the release site, that was donated by Beirute Refrigeracion Industrial, Ford Premios and The World Parrot Trust & Boss Orange.
Around 10 AM, the doors of the carrier cages were opened inside the pre-release aviary. It was hot and the macaws were pretty weary from the trip that had started before sunrise. A Toucan was singing nearby and they could hear the ocean in the background for the first time in their lives. A bit overwhelmed by it all, after about an hour, they finally decided to come out of the carrier cages. After some stretches and preening they started to look around and were absolutely amazed/shocked for the rest of the day every time raptors, vultures and especially previously released macaws flew over in the sky. Some of the previously released macaws landed on the pre-release aviary to check out the “newbies”. Busy processing the day and assimilating their new surrounding, the new macaws did not eat a lot the first day.
The second day the new macaws started to settle in and munched away on fresh Cashew fruit, Coconut, Inga pods, Mango, Papaya, Rose Apple, Star Fruit and Tropical Almond, while curiously keeping an eye on the wildlife they could see around the pre-release aviary. A troop of Squirrel Monkeys played around the pre-release aviary (playing a game of taunting the macaws in the pre-release aviary and testing the bounciness of the roofing) and later that night the Howler Monkeys howled, introducing the new macaws to even more jungle sounds.
Introducing the new macaws
Every day more shows of the new macaws’ personalities and friendships. The new macaws are 6 males (Boss, Hugo and yet to be named) and 4 females (Alice, Orange, Scarlet O’Ara and yet to be named). They are about two years of age, except for Hugo who is six. The ARA Project finds that the ideal age to release Scarlet Macaws and yield the highest survival rates, is between two and six years old.
Scarlett O’Ara ♀
Hugo ♂
Splice ♂
Rogue ♀
Boss ♂
Ford ♂
Alice ♀
Weasel ♂
Bob Ross ♂
Orange ♀
Scarlett O’Ara is a very sweet macaw. For now she gets along with most of the macaws in the pre-release aviary (the other “inmates”), although she does take a special interest in RM 529. The dots in the yellow of her wing coverts are actually heart shaped and have both blue and green in them.
Hugo is very good looking. He gets very excited about the previously released macaws that visit the release site. He is the one that spends most time climbing towards them and playing with them when they land on the pre-release aviary. It may not be a coincidence, because his brother Rigsby was released in Tiskita two years ago and stops by a lot. They seem to remember each other and play/quarrel ALL the time through the wire.
Boss is quite an explorative macaw. He can spend hours investigating objects in the pre-release aviary and testing their durability. He is also quite a cheerful macaw.
RM 527 likes to take her time eating all the new exciting fruit and seeds she gets in the pre-release aviary. Her boyfriend RM 528 usually gets a piece once he has begged for it long enough. RM 527 enjoys snapping on other macaw’s tails and then pulling them a little bit. She seems to do this to get attention but maybe also just for her own fun.
RM 528 loves his girlfriend RM 527; he prefers nobody else than himself allofeeds or allopreens her. However, RM 527 doesn’t mind a little attention from other macaws every now and then, so RM 528 is therefore always by her side “protecting” her.
Fore more descriptions, check back shortly.
Settling in & interaction with previously released macaws
A week on after the arrival of the new macaws, it is safe to say that so far they are adapting perfectly. They have established a daily routine around the morning and afternoon feeding of eating, playing, preening and socializing with each other.
Also, quite some hours each day, they are interacting with the previously released macaws. As soon as one or more of the previously released macaws flies in or over the release site, the new macaws all start calling frantically (quite possibly comparable to Howler Monkey loudness), fly excitedly through the pre-release aviary towards the macaws outside, then hang on to the wire facing the macaws outside and stare at everything they do while squawking along. This way the new macaws speed up their adaptation process through social learning. They become familiar with the behavior of the “wild macaws” and they will already have an idea what to eat from the trees around the pre-release aviary (Balsa, Guava, Jobo, Miconia, tropical Almond and more), how to navigate while flying between vegetation or high up in the sky and how the social hierarchy of the macaws functions out in the jungle. The longer a release site has been established the more pre-released macaws are around and the bigger this advantage becomes. The Tiskita release site already hosted 7 releases and a flock of around 60 macaws has established.
A nice side effect of having macaws in the pre-release aviary is that many of the previously released macaws start visiting the release site again more frequently. They stop by instead of fly over and check out what all the squawks from the new 10 macaws in the release site are all about. This way, macaws stop by that have not visited the release site for months or sometimes years. They can be identified and their survival and social status can be updated for The ARA Project’s research about the released macaws.
Next weeks
Over the next 6 weeks the behavior of the macaws in the pre-release aviary will continue to be studied to evaluate if they adapt sufficiently to the local climate, forage and wildlife and if they are well sociable and in good physical condition. Their release will start around May and then they will enter another exciting stage of becoming an independent Scarlet Macaw.
Check back shortly for more updates about release group 8 and specifically to see how Boss and Orange are doing!
The 10 birds selected for release in Tiskita this year were caught last week. Blood samples taken, health checks done, this included Boss and Orange.
We document the process to give an insight to the process. And how it sounds. The results were sent to Avian Biotech in the USA for disease screening http://www.avianbiotech.com/. The samples have been received and are now being tested for Polyoma, PBFD, Pacheco’s, Avian Borna Virus, New Castles disease, Chlamydia, Avian influenza. We will have the results back very soon.
Near-tragedy to triumph
There are two rescued macaws at ARA Project that have stories to tell – both came back from the edge and lived. Boss and Orange, male and female respectively, reside at the breeding centre and at the tender age of 2 years old each, command special attention. Boss and Orange, will join 10 other birds due to be released back to the wild, in May/June of 2011. This is their story…
Boss is taken from the wild by poachers
On May 28th 2007, Boss was taken from a wild nest cavity, at just 10 days old, eyes not open, and completely dependent on his parents, by a poacher, and sold to a person who had brought Boss, along with his brother aged just 8 days. After 2 days of trying unsuccessfully to care for the fragile chicks the person called The ARA Project Breeding Centre for advice on how to care for the rapidly fading young. The person was advised to bring the chicks immediately to the centre 2 ½ hours drive away, but refused as this was a long drive. One of the staff offered to come collect the chicks at which he hesitated and tried to discourage the idea of giving up birds as he was worried about ‘losing his investment’ and was ‘just wanting advice on how to care for them’. The person was then informed that if the chicks did not receive the correct immediate care, they would surely perish. After more discussion the person was eventually convinced to hand over the young, and agreed to meet in a location by a shopping mall on the coast 30 min from the coast. When staff arrived and eventually received the chicks, contained in a plastic margarine container and tissue, both birds were in poor condition, cold, very thin and close to starving to death. The person said he wanted them for pets and did not want them to die as he paid a lot of money for them.
The birds had been poached from Carara National Park on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Due to a combination of deforestation, poaching, culling for feathers, pesticides etc the numbers of Scarlet macaws in this region is only around 400 individuals with the only other population being on the Osa Peninsula with an estimated 800-1200 individuals. Historically the macaws would have thrived in over 85% of the country with numbers in the hundreds of thousands if not millions. All macaw species are now endangered many critically with the 
current major threat poaching.
In Costa Rica poachers often cut down nest trees in order to collect the young birds for the illegal pet trade. The felling of the nest tree not only destroys the tree but can kill or injure both the parent and young birds. The cutting of nest trees is a serious problem as suitable trees for nesting macaws are often scarce due to deforestation. These 2 birds were lucky to survive the fall and luckier still to avoid being sold into the black market where the majority die before reaching their intended destination in North America or Europe. In these countries macaws can sell for in the region of US $1000, despite new laws prohibiting the movement of wild birds the trade still continues. Without removing the demand for macaws it will be all but impossible to stop the taking of birds from the wild.
Moved to the breeding centre
After some persuasion the chicks were given to The Ara Project, and were transferred to a special heating portable brooder, with small heating pads, to help keep the young warm on the slow journey home, a storm had just broken, making driving conditions more difficult, arriving back at the breeding centre finally at 6pm.
Both young were weighed, treated for malnutrition and dehydration, both fed special macaw hand rearing formula, mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice and placed in the intensive care brooder at 95deg f and 90% humidity. The next 5 days would tell if the chicks would recover, or if they were to succumb to the stresses and trauma. Daily weighing first thing before feeding at 5.30am gave accurate true weights. For the next 10 days both birds were fed every 2 hours, and progress monitored closely and luckily they both pulled through.
For the next 3 months they were fed at regular intervals by hand, and developed rapidly, gaining 10% of body weight each day. By day 30 and weighing approximately 380g Boss had a specially designed ring band fitted with a unique identification number, RM525. By day 75 both birds began eating fruit and during this period feeding was reduced gradually from 10 feeds a day at day 14 to 3 feeds a day at day 80 and at day 90 they were eating independently and ready to take flight for the first time. He was transferred outside during the day into a special weaning aviary, brought back inside at night, eventually after 4 months both brothers were sleeping outside and mastering flying landing and becoming more agile (and refusing to be caught to be brought inside). At month 5 the two brothers were ready to be introduced into the juvenile flock, to live the next year and a half with other captive bred juveniles, socialising and forming bonds, awaiting the age of when they will be strong enough and wise enough to be released back into the wild.
Part 2 – The hatching of Orange…
Orange – an exciting start to life
Orange unknown to herself had an exciting start to life in the breeding facility at Alajuela. Initially she was one of 3 eggs in a clutch in a nest box laid by parent birds. After many years of experience with these breeding birds it is known that the parents would not raise 3 chicks. This is also commonplace in the wild with birds commonly laying 3 eggs and raising just one baby, sometimes 2. The eggs are laid 2 days apart and hatch the same, the parent birds often just feed the first born or alpha chick but if there is enough food available and they feel in suitable condition they will feed the second born or beta chick. Very rarely 3 chicks are raised.
After laying 3 eggs it was noted the bird in the next cage had laid just a single egg and was synchronised in her egg laying. This single egg was removed from the nest and moved into the other nest box where the female started incubating it along with her own immediately. On 15th September 2008 she hatched and was cared for by the parent birds, her mother called Mrs. No-wing.
After 16 days of caring for the orphan the female Mrs. No-wing stopped feeding Orange, and focused all food on her own chick. On day 17 Orange was removed from the nest box and hand reared in the ARA breeding centre nursery. Thriving on her new found care she grew to the grand weight of 1,300g, and at 5 months, was introduced in the flight cage with other juveniles from the breeding season, where she met Boss and his brother.
Incredibly, it took 4 adult macaws and plenty of human care to raise Orange to fledgling age and one of the many amazing stories related to the breeding birds at The Ara Project is seen in foster mother Mrs No-wing!
Mrs No-wing was brought to the breeding centre in May 1997 in extremely poor condition. She has a broken wing which had healed and was clearly giving her considerable pain. This unfortunately is a common injury as poachers attempt to take adult macaws by shooting them in the wing thus making them unable to fly and thus catchable, without killing the bird. The discomfort caused by the wing also caused her pluck her own feathers. It was decided to remove the wing in an operation undertaken with the help of the San Jose Vet school.
The operation was a complete success and although leaving Mrs No-wing with just her left wing it removed the pain and over the next few months and years her condition recovered completely and she is now an important member of the breeding group at The Ara Project. Her mate has a slightly less dramatic history however was rescued from poachers in 1997. Probably destined to be sold on the black market he was confiscated by MINAET the Costa Rican governments’ environmental branch and handed to The Ara Project to rehabilitate.
Getting ready for release
Boss and Orange are two of the ten Scarlet macaws have been chosen for release into the wild at Tiskita Jungle lodge in south western Costa Rica. The release will be the eighth undertaken at Tiskita and the 10 birds were chosen as they are the right age (approaching 3 years old) but primarily to increase the genetic diversity of the reintroduced population of the macaws.
Watch for more exciting updates coming soon!
Macaw Conservation in Costa Rica
The ARA Project is a licensed Breeding Centre and Costa Rican Non-Profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of the two native species (both endangered): The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and Great Green or Buffon’s Macaw (Ara ambiguus).
The Ara Project incorporates breeding techniques and aviary management in order to carry out controlled release programs in conjunction with Costa Rican wildlife laws imposed by MINAET (Ministry of the Environment, Energy & Telecommunications).
The breeding center is currently situated in Rio Segundo de Alajuela in the Central Valley. Its only purpose is captive breeding for release into the wild. Visits can be made by appointment. For news and updates go to The Ara Project’s blog.
90-day development of a hand-raised Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao). This bird was released in 2009, and is now thriving in the wild.
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