Macaws Released in Nicoya Peninsula

Recently, a group of 15 pairs of scalet macaws was released in the Nicoya Peninsula, thanks to the support of the Scarlet Macaw Conservation Association (ASOPROLAPA) and as part of a project that this group has been conducting for the past 13 years.

This is the second release of this endangered bird species conducted by the association, and this time the colorful feathered creatures were outfitted with chips so researchers can follow up their movements, even if they happened to be taken into captivity. The first release done by ASOPROLAPA took place in 2007, when five pairs of macaws were returned to the wild.

ASOPROLAPA’s goal is to release a total of 200 macaws so that their population can increase and have a chance at survival.

Scarlet macaws have the greatest variety of colors of all macaw species. They live from Mexico to South America. Two sub-species inhabit forests from Mexico to Costa Rica: Ara Macao Cyanoptera, which has a large yellow stripe on its wings, and Ara Macao Macao, which features small yellow spots on its wings.

In Costa Rica, macaws are part of two main populations, both on the Pacific coast: one in the Osa Peninsula, where some 700 scarlet macaws still exist in the wild; and a smaller population in the surroundings of the Carara National Park and the Guacalillo Mangrove Research. Scarlet macaws can also be found, in smaller numbers, in the Palo Verde National Park and in the La Amistad Conservation Area in Guanacaste.

In addition to ASOPROLAPA, the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) is promoting a series of scarlet macaw conservation strategies in the Central Pacific area.

This project began in August 1990 with the monitoring of macaw populations that traveled from their overnighting site (Guacalillo mangrove) to the Carara National Park and surrounding areas. In 1994, after 555 counts during 58 consecutive months, experts calculated that the population of almost 300 birds there was declining by about eight individuals per year. Such a decline was attribute to illegal poaching of youngsters for the exotic species trade. However, between 1995 and 1996, researchers noted an increase of 37 birds. Since 1996, the scarlet macaw population in the Central Pacific has remained stable.

In 1995, the LAPPA conservation organization was created by 25 community leaders, local business people, local government officials, academicians and park rangers in the Central Pacific region. Since then, LAPPA has coordinated macaw conservation efforts along with state and private officials. Two regional conservation workshops in 1995 and 1996 helped set the goals, conceptual model, objectives and other activities that would guide this initiative. LAPPA has utilized the knowledge obtained about natural history of macaws to implement applied management (nesting, growth of hatchlings, habitat use, annual patterns, diet, etc.) together with local human populations.