Abstract
On February 22, 1992, a tangible part of a long awaited and worked for project, was about to start. It was in late 1989 in McAllen, Texas during a meeting of conservationists when Mario Vasquez of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (UAT) in Mexico, requested help in dealing with parrots that had been confiscated
in Mexico. He also reported some sad figures on the status of, and illegal trade with, the Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix). He too was trying to establish a network to establish an education and conservation program. It was only a matter of time before Mario Vasquez, Ernesto Enkerlin (a graduate student at Texas A & M University studying parrot ecology) and Jack Clinton-Eitniear (President of the American Federation of Aviculture and Director of the Center for
the Study of Tropical Birds) joined forces in what was to become PROYECTO
LORO (Project Parrot). The final partner was the Mexican wildlife authorities SEDUE recently changed to Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL). During one of the many meetings Vasquez, Enkerlin and Eitniear would have in Mexico, a three pronged approach was decided upon including development of the techniques
required to successfully release Amazon parrots into areas of safe, suitable habitat, education of the public and scientific research. Enkerlin was conducting doctoral research on the ecology of the parrots of northeastern Mexico so that areas were already in progress with funding achieved from the World Wildlife Fund. Education and the release of the confiscated birds was another matter. The sixty, or so, chicks were being housed in less than satisfactory conditions at UAT. The need for construction of a facility to deal with confiscated birds seemed evident. An appeal went out to the avicultural community for support. With little difficulty financial support was received from the Avicultural Society of America, American Federation of Aviculture, Long Beach Bird Breeders, Orange County Bird Breeders, Arizona Seedcrackers and the Arizona Avicultural Society. With the funds obtained it was only a matter of designing the facility and construction. During this time the parrots confiscated had develped into healthy sub-adults. It was time to begin with the development of the techniques required to return them to the wild. In the spring of 1991, a nest box program was started. We also began preparing for an experimental release of confiscated birds. The release should be monitored to establish success and improve techniques. It should be viewed not in terms of numbers of birds released per se, but more as an educational and research tool to heighten awareness and streamline the techniques under the Mexican reality. In the future and under the right circumstances, these experiences could be used for translocation and supplementation of wild populations. The two most important abilities for an organism to survive in the wild are finding food and avoiding predators. For birds that have never been in the wild or have been removed for a long time to accomplish these requires learning and conditioning. This process took seven months. The techniques to do this are known in general but they still need refining and especially fine tuning to the species you are working with. First, parrots are put in a cage large enough that they can exercise and maneuver well. In our case, a 4'x 4'x 30' flight tunnel-cage was constructed of I x 2' wire mesh and suspended 4' off the ground in a patch of forest on the release site. This seemed a reasonable compromise in size and cost. It did not allow birds to come in contact with their droppings which fall to the ground. In addition it is easily disassembled and can be erected again....