Genetics applied to the conservation of neotropical psittacids

Many Neotropical psittacid species are considered endangered in various levels. The main threat for their survival is habitat loss but capture of wild birds for the illegal pet trade is also intense. Genetics can provide important data to help plan conservation strategies: 1) identification of species using forensic samples that cannot be identified morphologically, such as unhatched embryos and remains of birds involved in collisions with aircrafts; this is important in cases of illegal trade of wild eggs and plans to avoid such collisions; 2) identification of management units (populations) within species; this can help to decide if and how translocations and reintroductions should be made; 3) identification of the origin of apprehended birds belonging to species that present population genetic structure; 4) sex identification, that is important for captive reproduction programs and to estimate sex ratios in natural populations; 5) identification of natural hybrids; and 6) estimation of genetic similarity to recommend best couples for captive reproduction programs and to help interpret reproduction associated behaviors.