Re-introduction of vinaceous Amazon parrots in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Summary

The vinaceous Amazon parrot (Amazona vinacea), Endangered with fewer than 2,000 birds left in Brazil due to deforestation and the illegal pet trade, was reintroduced from July 2011 onward to the privately protected Lymington Foundation reserve in Sao Paulo state, within the species' historical range where it had been locally extinct for at least 30 years. Confiscated ex-pet birds of undetermined age were quarantined, health-screened, and gradually acclimatized through flights of increasing size, trained to recognize and handle wild food branches, then released in small groups of three to four for easier monitoring, with nightly access back to the flight enclosure and supplemental feeding tapered over time. By June 2012, 16 of 21 released birds were still tracked in the area, having joined a large flock or smaller groups feeding independently on wild food. Breeding activity was observed in three pairs; one clutch failed and one nest in a dead palm hollow successfully fledged three chicks. Major difficulties included territorial aggression from established birds toward new arrivals, nest-box invasion by Africanized bees, and predation by opossums and crab-eating foxes lacking natural predator control. The project rates itself Successful, citing confirmed local establishment, observed breeding, and successful fledging of wild-born offspring as evidence the reintroduction is taking hold in its historical range.