Scarlet macaw chicks that may have otherwise died in the wild are getting a second chance at life through a hand-rearing program managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Guatemala.
The scarlet macaw’s (Ara macao) conservation status is classified as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List, primarily because of its broad geographic distribution, WCS Guatemala scientist Rony García-Anleu told Mongabay by email. However, the Central American subspecies, Ara macao cyanoptera, has a limited range and few breeding sites in Mesoamerica’s Maya Forest, which includes parts of Guatemala, he added.
This subspecies is considered critically endangered in Guatemala, primarily due to poaching for the pet trade and habitat loss through fires lit to clear forested areas for pasture. Within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, where García-Anleu and his colleagues work, only a few hundred individuals remain.
“Over the years, we have consistently observed that, although nests typically contain four to five eggs during routine inspections, only one or two chicks usually survive to fledge — three fledglings are rare,” García-Anleu said.
He added that after the first two eggs hatch, the parents start leaving the nest more frequently to bring food for the newly hatched chicks, leaving little time to incubate the remaining eggs. “[As] a result, the remaining eggs — when they do hatch — produce smaller, weaker chicks. These late-hatching chicks often struggle to compete for food and parental attention, leading to high mortality.”
To help the neglected chicks, WCS’s field technicians collect the third or fourth eggs from macaw nests and bring them to a field laboratory “equipped with solar-powered incubators and brooders that provide the necessary warmth and conditions for the chicks’ early development,” García-Anleu said.
The chicks are hand-raised, and when possible, released to foster nests in the wild, “a strategy that has proven very successful,” he added. “Scarlet Macaws are excellent foster parents and generally don’t distinguish between their own chicks and newcomers. As soon as a foster chick is placed in the nest, the adults begin feeding it almost immediately.”
When there are more hand-raised chicks than foster nests, the team implements a “soft-release” program, wherein the chicks leave once they can fly and feed independently.
WCS works closely on the program with the local Q’eqchi’ community of Paso Caballos, near key nesting sites. While some community members used to be macaw poachers, years of engagement and collaboration with WCS and the Guatemalan Park Service has turned them into strong conservation allies, García-Anleu said.
Since 2011, WCS has released 131 scarlet macaw chicks to the wild, representing 36% of all chicks recorded in Laguna del Tigre National Park within the Maya Biosphere Reserve over the past 14 breeding seasons. “By increasing fledgling survival rates and supplementing the wild population, our work has helped stabilize numbers in key nesting areas. Additionally, community involvement and ongoing monitoring efforts continue to support long-term conservation outcomes,” García-Anleu said.
Banner image of scarlet macaws in Guatemala by Rony Rodriguez.
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