Hello! Hola!
I’m D and I have been a husbandry volunteer since February at the breeding centre in Punta Islita. I have spent the last few months working at the centre conducting tasks such as cleaning of aviaries and feeding birds here at the recovery project. As part of this I have had the great opportunity to work with an amazing team and help prepare 14 Scarlet Macaws for their upcoming release.
Ensuring the birds are prepared for the wild is important; the pre-release process is beneficial because any behavioural or physical concerns will be identified in the observational period. As the pre-release assessment concludes, we will have a more accurate idea of how the flock will perform in the wild.
To ensure these behaviours are picked up on, and negative behaviours worked on to change, various things have to take place, such as regular flight training and behavioural observations. We must also find ways to make it easier to identify the birds to ensure we know which birds are doing well, which ones may be struggling, and which perform specific behaviours. This makes it a lot easier for us to work with the birds to improve and make progress.
Flight training helps us see which birds can fly well and which not so much and might need more time to improve. This is done by two people on opposite sides of the social aviary with a bird net. We chase the birds to encourage them to fly back and forth quickly and efficiently, without quickly losing breath or landing on the floor. These flight drills last for two minutes, with a one-minute rest and then another two minutes of flight encouragement. This also takes place each morni ng before feeding. One possible problem this technique could cause is the birds becoming more ‘lazy’ or ‘less scared’ if the same people are constantly performing this each morning. Therefore, to minimise the chances of this happening, different people may do it each day so there’s no visual consistency from humans whilst the birds are flying to ensure they’re always on the ball and reaching full potential.
During behavioural observations, three of us stand outside the aviary with two people observing the birds’ behaviours, communicating with the third person which behviours are occurring and which birds are involved. The third person records all observations, keeping track of which minute they occurred in and for how long. Each observation period is 15 minutes long, done three times a day, for three days in a row.
Prior to the observation week, each bird gets a unique nail varnish colour combination on their beak to make them easy to identify. Behaviours we may record include, pair preening, auto preening, possible human interactions (approaching the fence where we were standing), flying, eating, any fighting, and vocalisations. Doing these observations highlights to us which birds may need more encouragement on performing natural behaviours and which are succeeding the most. Starting these observations early to the release is important so we can have an indication on what work needs to be done and what changes may need to occur so they are more than ready when it comes to being released.
Part of the pre-release process also includes taking blood samples and doing physical exams with the vet. This is so we can check for any possible diseases the birds have picked up. The samples get sent to a laboratory and then any that come back positive with diseases have to be treated and even separated from the rest of the flock for a short period of time to avoid spreading to other birds. This is an important part of the process as they cannot get released testing positive with any diseases.
As a whole the process can take lots of time and observing to ensure these birds are ready to be released and thrive in the wild. Having this opportunity to work here in this environment with these animals is amazing and a great opportunity to help expand a part of Costa Rica’s biodiversity.
-Diarmaid Frost
Conservation Volunteer
To find out more about how you can be part of this process, visit our Mighty Cause page.