Abstract
What makes the ASCS Halfmoon
Project unique isn't the structure of
the consortium nor the species being
bred. Indeed, the pet trade almost
regards Halfmoons as a junk species,
and the zoological community has
had great successes in organizing
group efforts based on the consortium
concept. What sets the ASCS
project apart is that this appears to
be the first time a small, local bird
club has taken on a project of this
magnitude. The project is intended
to maintain a viable , genetically
diverse population of Halfmoon Conures
in captivity over a minimum
period of SO years. During this period
we hope to supply surplus birds for
the pet trade and interested aviculturists
who wish to work with this species
outside of the closed population
under consortium management. In
spite of numerous ' ' interesting challenges"
that have included both
avian TB and macaw wasting syndrome,
in just over a year the project
has gone from brainstorming sessions
to producing its first offspring.
Probably the best place to begin is
with a bit of background on ASCS,
then answering the obvious questions
of ' 'Why Halfmoon conures?"
and ''What's a consortium?" Arizona
Seed Crackers Society is a small, local
bird club that meets monthly in
Mesa , Arizona . The membership is
around 100, consisting primarily of
" backyard" breeders who take a viculture
seriously even though it isn 't
a major part of their income. ASCS
does care about conservation and, as
a club, began to feel the need to ''do
something" ourselves rather than
simply raising money for someone
else to throw at the problem.
Some things were obvious from the
beginning. No one in the club is a
competent field biologist, few if any
members could afford to travel out of
the country to do field work, but
most members had experience raising
small hookbills. A long-term
breeding program seemed the ideal
choice as something ASCS could do
that would utilize the experience and
abilities of its members. The only role
models we could find were the AFA
Red Siskin project and the AAZP A
Cuban Amazon Consortium. We
borrowed heavily from the Cuban
Consortium in structuring our group
and how it would operate, then
began the task of determining a
species to be the subject of our
efforts. We finally settled on the Halfmoon
Conure Aratinga canicularis
clarae.
We considered a number of factors
in choosing the Halfmoon Conure,
particularly the A. c. clarae subspecies
as our subject. We wanted a
species that was common enough to
be available, yet rare enough to have
an uncertain future in American aviculture.
We did not limit our consideration
to those species immediately
challenged by dire threats in the wild.
Price of initial stock was also a consideration
as we were and still are
operating with limited funds. Obviously
the cheaper the bird, the more
we could afford. We felt it mandatory
to select a species that at least some
members had direct experience with
breeding, just as we felt the selected
species must be one with which we
stood a reasonable chance of successful
breedings. We felt we had to
choose a species that would allow as
many members as possible to participate,
that is we ruled out anything
with unusual dietary or maintenance
requirements as well as particularly
loud species. Many of our participants,
for instance, could not accommodate
a breeding pair or p_airs of
large macaws without seriously
offending the neighbors.
We contemplated African finch
species, Gold-capped Conures, Redthroated
Conures, Sierra Parakeets,
parrotlets, Goffin's Cockatoos and a
few other suggestions, but finally
determined the Halfmoon Conure
came closest to meeting our requirements.
We felt we didn't have sufficient
experience nor interest among
our membership to work with the
finches, nor enough room and
money for cockatoos. Some of the
parrotlets appeared to be at least
barely established, others unobtainable.
Several of our members had
experience with Halfmoon Conures,
and a few still worked with the species.
We also noticed a few more
things about Halfmoons. They have
lost popularity in the pet trade, being
displaced by more colorful and more
glamorous species such as suns and
jendays.
Halfmoons are also a popular species
with the smugglers; there are
usually a number of Halfmoons available
at auctions when USDA sells
confiscated birds. An examination of
the literature from years gone by
revealed the Halfmnoon's popularity
when huge numbers were legally
imported from Mexico, and most
authors were quick to praise the species'
pet qualities. When Mexico
halted exportation, other inexpensive
species were imported to fill the
void in demand but few aviculturists
took an interest in breeding Halfmoons.
The result has been a steady
decline as the years have gone by.
The ASCS Consortium has found that
price averages around $100.00 per
bird, and that stock is available periodically
if one is willing to hunt for it.
While A. c. clarae doesn't appear to
be facing serious threats in the wild
at this time, no one knows what the
future holds. In captivity, we feel our
consortium will be the determining
factor that ensures long-term survival
of this species in the U.S. Once we
have obtained enough founder stock
and generated enough first generation
pairs to bring our total population
up to a stable size, we expect to
generate surplus birds yearly. We
expect to sell this surplus into the
pet trade to help fill a market demand
that is currently being met, at least in
part, by smuggled birds.
Having covered a little background
on ASCS and "why Halfmoons?" the
next areas to address are ''What is a
consortium?" and "How can other
groups start one?" A consortium is
basically a cooperative group effort
towards a common goal. In the case
of the ASCS Halfmoon Project, the
Consortium is a little bit like a corporation
wholly owed by the club
and operated as an independent subsidiary.
ASCS owns the initial founder stock
and the Consortium, the Consortium
owns half the progeny. The Consortium
is operated and managed by its
participants rather than the ASCS
Board of Directors. Participants elect
a management group who makes
decisions regarding the operations of
the project. All birds in the population
are under the direct control of
the management group, though participants
are free to do as they wish
with their share of the offspring. This
is perhaps the most critical issue to
the successful management of a captive
population. The population
must be group owned rather than
being a collection of privately owned
birds.