Satellite telemetry reveals complex migratory movement patterns of two large macaw species in the western Amazon basin

Abstract

Understanding avian movement patterns is important to ensure that conservation decisions are made on a scale that is relevant to the species. The family Psittacidae (macaws, parrots and allies) is one of the most endangered large bird families in the world, but due to a variety of technical and logistical difficulties our knowledge of their movements is limited. The scant evidence that exists suggests that parrot populations exhibit a complex mix of migratory and sedentary movement patterns. We obtained location data from 14 Argos satellite transmitter deployments on six Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) and four Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) from 2008 to 2016 in lowland tropical moist forest of southeast Peru. The collars provided data spanning 317 ± 61 days (N = 14 deployments). The data allowed us to document spatial use during the end of the breeding season, the whole non-breeding season, and into the subsequent breeding season. About 30% of individuals in the study, all marked in 2009, did not show large seasonal changes in spatial use. However, the remaining birds moved up to 150 km from their nesting areas and averaged a 24-fold increase in range size during the non-breeding season. During the non-breeding season most members of both species engaged in exploratory flights of about 20 km perhaps to gather information on food availability at the landscape level. Surprisingly, range sizes, range shift timing, and most other movement parameters did not differ between the two macaw species studied. In addition, most individuals of both species moved outside the 1.36 million hectare protected area complex during the non-breeding season, highlighting the need for large protected areas to conserve these macaws in the forests of the western Amazon basin.

Keywords

• argos satellite telemetry
• exploratory behavior
• home range
• protected areas
• psittacidae