By Justin Wilson and Don Brightsmith
Originally published in
Bird Talk Magazine July 2003
Amor is the Spanish word for love, but what a misnomer that turned out to be. There was a battle being waged at Amor and lives were at stake. Amor is a wooden nest box inhabited by a pair of wild Scarlet Macaws, deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The research team had been talking about it for four days already, and I needed to go see the spectacle for myself. I planned to observe and climb the nest to check the status of the two chicks but the morning was not looking too promising due to the lead-gray sky and heavy tropical rain.
The nest at Amor is one of many that are part of an ongoing project at the Tambopata Research Center in the Tambopata National Reserve at the border of the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park in southeastern Peru. The project aims to learn more about the nesting habits of the three large macaw species (Ara ararauna - Blue and Gold; Ara chloroptera - Green-winged and; Ara macao - Scarlet Macaw). At the same time, new techniques for artificial nests are being studied that can be applied to other sites with small or decreasing populations of these beautiful birds. The presence of the successfully nesting Scarlets at Amor is a testament to the success of the project.
The pair was first seen inhabiting the nest November 4th of 2001. Within four days the first egg was laid, and on the 25th a total of five eggs were noted. The first hungry, hairless, closed-eyed chick hatched December 5th. It was quickly followed by another mouth to feed on the 7th, and a third was added after only a few more days. By then the load on the parents to feed and preen their young was significant. On the 30th of December the researchers made a sad but expected discovery, the third chick was dead. This seems to be typical of the large macaws here, regardless of how many hatch, parental choices and sibling competition mean that only one or occasionally two chicks survive. The two older chicks were apparently the lucky ones, but how lucky were they?
In a tall emergent tree not too far from Amor, a pair of Green-winged Macaws (Ara chloroptera) was beginning their own family; but this pair was different. The male, named Ascensio, was born in late December of 1992. He was an unfortunate younger chick that would have died, but instead he became one of 25 macaw chicks that were saved and hand raised by researchers at Tambopata Research Center. From 1992 to 1994 researchers rescued chicks in an effort to develop techniques to increase the survival rates of the younger nestlings. What resulted were 'chicos', semi-tame macaws that frequently returned to the lodge (Tambopata Research Center) to snatch a pancake from someone's plate, steal the soap from the sink, or visit unsuspecting guests in their rooms. Despite retaining this interest in humans, all thirteen of the chicos that remain alive today have taken wild mates and get nearly all of their food from the wild.
At first all was fine. Ascensio was living in a wooden nest box named Cabezón, which incidentally is a wooden box that looks exactly like Amor. He and his wild partner laid their first egg on November 15. By the 25th two more eggs had arrived; but sadly when we returned to the nest on the 28th of the same month with hopes of seeing a new chick or two, all three eggs were broken. Our only guess was predation. Observations continued. Ascensio was seen on December 18th defending a natural tree cavity, another potential nest site, just 5 meters away from Cabezon in the same tree. Ascensio stayed in the area switching between the natural nest and the nest box for weeks. Finally the pair left the tree entirely on January 28th, and within 3 days things started to happen, things we never would have predicted.
Battles at nests between large macaw species have been noted in the past, but not with any great frequency. In Manu national park two Blue-and-Gold Macaws were seen attacking a single Scarlet parent with two chicks. At one point the parent left the nest, giving free range to the attackers who kicked out the larger chick. The chick fell to its death 17 meters below, and the second was 'forced to fledge prematurely' (Munn, National Geographic Jan. 1994). Strangely the new occupants of the nest only stayed for a few days then left.
Another battle occurred at the Tambopata Research Center sometime before November 1999. All we know of this event is that a pair of Scarlets was made to leave their nest by a pair of Green-wings. Whether or not there were chicks present is unknown. What is known is that Green-wings are much larger than Scarlets, making a nest battle rather unfair. The Scarlets weigh about 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) while the Green-wings may weigh as much as half again as much (1.5 kg or 3 lbs).
The battle at Amor is documented to have begun the 31st of January when project
assistants Hans and Daphne went to the nest to take measurements of the two
Scarlet chicks. When they arrived, Ascensio was perched on top of the nest and
the parents were loudly squawking from a nearby branch. From another branch,
Ascensio's wild partner was quietly watching. The parents, with the help of
another scarlet, possibly a chick of a past year, began to fight with the fearless
chico for their home and more importantly for the little ones peacefully waiting
inside. Soon two more Scarlets arrived and instead of helping their species
relatives, began to attack the parents. Twice, the Scarlets were seen fighting
with each other in the air - their feet apparently locked together in a spin
of red wings resembling a crashing helicopter. Ascensio, still perched on top
of the nest, watched quietly, that is until Hans began to climb the rope to
retrieve the chicks. The chicks were lowered and all necessary data was taken.
Daphne then raised the chicks back to Hans and they were gently returned to
the nest. At this time Ascensio returned with a fruit in his mouth and entered
the nest.
Hans rappelled to the forest floor and the parents returned to resume fighting.
On February 2nd Hans and Daphne again went to the nest to examine the chicks.
Ascensio was seen inside the nest with the chicks who appeared to be unscathed.
At one point while Ascensio was outside the nest, the parents began to fight
with him. One got the attention of the aggressive chico, while the other entered
the nest; but this victory was short-lived.
The next day in the morning Ascensio was again seen on top of the nest. He did
eventually leave and a Scarlet stuck its head out of the nest hole. Later in
the afternoon when a photographer returned to take pictures of the fighting
macaws, all was quiet. Upon his return, he informed the research team that 'it
looks like the Scarlets have given up.'
By the time I arrived on the 4th, I assumed I would find two dead Scarlet chicks and two new nest owners. The latter appeared likely and the former was an unfortunate inevitability. When we approached, Ascencio, as always, was perched on top of the nest. As I began to climb I noticed there were a total of 5 Scarlets and 4 Green Wings in the area. Upon opening the bottom door of the nest, I was overcome with sadness. The two chicks were clearly afraid, which is not usually the case, and very thin as they had not been fed in days; but they still lacked any cuts or wounds. While I was hanging at the nest, Ascencio was close by in a neighboring tree and twice fought off the parents.
As I watched moments later from below, two Scarlets returned to the nest without
any objection from Ascensio. In fact, at one point while Ascensio was perched
at his usual spot, a Scarlet entered the nest and another sat quietly with Ascensio.
Was there hope for the chicks? Apparently not, as these were not the parents,
but presumably the two Scarlets that had joined Ascencio in ousting the original
parents. He was quick to object when the real parents returned. As to why Ascensio
permitted the others to enter, I have no idea; but clearly the battle for Amor
has been lost by its original owners. As for the chicks…
we can easily assume what would have happened to them. Three days before the
documented start of the battle, the weight of both chicks was around 900g. By
the 3rd of February, six days later, their weight had dropped to a mere 650g.
A continued decrease was an obvious trend; but one that maybe could have been
altered if the project decided to intervene.
The morning of February 6th had an air of urgency when Dr. Donald Brightsmith, the project's coordinator, discussed the plans for the chicks' rescue and the means of their possible safe return to their parents. One team quickly headed to Amor to save the dying chicks, while another went to retrieve an unused PVC nest box from a distant tree.
The chicks were very dehydrated and full of parasites. They were cold and would not eat, and their weights had dropped to 570g. Researchers began the slow, often frustrating process of trying to bring the chicks back to health.
The PVC nest box was to become part of an experiment. In order for the chicks to return to their parents, something would have to be done with Ascensio. Give him the nest he had been successfully dominating, and place a different style nest, one of PVC, in the same tree for the parents to find. Could it work? Would the chicks even survive long enough to be returned to their parents? So many questions were asked, but all we could do was wait.
On February 8th chick 1, given the name, Sinbad, died. He never ate well and never recovered. Chick 2, Lola, was doing better. She was eating well and her weight was increasing. She was responding to macaws flying close to the lodge and eventually she perched on her box. Her return to the wild was soon to come and it appeared that it would be a successful one.
Brief observations at the battle sight after the chicks' removal showed only silence and a general absence of Ascensio. So on February 9th the new PVC nest was hung on a branch in the same tree about 20 ft from Amor and Lola was placed inside. The goal was twofold, one to save the chick that everyone had fallen in love with, and two to see if this technique could be used to move a Scarlet Macaw chick to a new nest and have the parents follow it. If successful, this experiment could give researchers another tool to use to help save macaws throughout the tropics.
The researchers climbed twice a day to feed Lola in the hopes that her presence and audible begging would attract her parents back to feed her, but the parents were defeated. Although they were seen in the area they were unable, or unwilling to approach the nest and save their bedraggled chick. Ascencio had not given up and remained in the area jealously guarding Amor. Meanwhile the other pair of Scarlets moved in and took possession of the new PVC box with Lola inside. Then on Feb 13th Daphne discovered a key piece of the mystery of why the other Scarlet pair was tolerated by Ascencio. As she climbed to the box she exclaimed "the Scarlet has a band; it's a chico!!" This was the first time the researchers were close enough to see the shiny steel band around the right leg of the bird. But which one was it? Daphne tried to see the small number stamped in to the band but to no avail. As a last ditch effort Don sent her up the digital camera and asked her to take photos to see if this would give any indication of the identity of the mystery bird.
Back in the office Don fired up his laptop and downloaded the photos. As he looked at the head and beak for characteristic marks Daphne chimed in and said, "look you can see the band." And could you ever. Zooming in on the band showed that the number side was visible, one more zoom and there it was. Clear as day, "004." This was the chico known as Macario. This chico had not been seen since before 1998 and was presumed dead. Also the researchers quickly realized that this chick was born on almost the exact same day as Ascencio and the were raised together as part of the group of 17 birds at Tambopata Research Center in 1993. These two birds obviously had a long history.
For the chick, the history meant nothing. The reality was that the combination
of Macario, Ascencio and their mates were too much for the parents to overcome.
The fate of the chick was sealed it was just a matter of waiting. Fortunately
the wait was not a long one: on February 15th, the rain started and wouldn't
stop. For two days it rained. When the researchers finally climbed to the box
on the 17th they found Lola cold, wet and dead on the bottom of the box. It
was a sad day for all of us at Tambopata Research Center.
What is even sadder is that we have no explanation as to why this strange battle
took place. Macaw egg laying typically ends in December or early January with
chicks fledging sometime during February and March. Why did Ascensio want to
take over an occupied nest in late January? If he was so eager to take over
the nest why did he and his mate abandon the nest by late February without ever
laying eggs? Why were two chicks lost at the battle for Amor? Simple questions
with very elusive answers.
Biographies
Justin Wilson has a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Idaho. He first arrived to Peru in early 1998 to do work as a guide at the Tambopata Research Center. Later he became part of the Macaw Project, as well as projects focusing on frogs and nocturnal primates. He greatly enjoys writing and traveling.
Dr. Don Brightsmith is a Research Associate in the Duke University Department
of Biology and runs the Tambopata Macaw Project in southeastern Peru. His research
has focused on wild Brotogeris parakeets in Miami and Peru; natural history
and conservation of Scarlet, Green-winged and Blue-and-gold Macaws in Peru and
macaw reintroduction. He is also the Scientific Director for Rainforest Expeditions,
the owner and operator of Posada Amazonas Lodge and the famed Tambopata Research
Center. For more information on wild parrots or how to visit Peru feel free
to contact him at Parrots@rainforest.com.pe