A new flight training pre-release protocol to increase adult survival probability of reintroduced green-winged macaws Ara chloropterus

Reviews on Psittacine reintroduction discuss flight training as a pre-release procedure. However, they do not quantify their direct effects in the success of reintroduction programs nor do they provide details of more convenient techniques. When flight training was used, persons, using hand nets, made birds fly repeatedly inside the cage. As part of a reintroduction project of Green-winged Macaws (Ara chloropterus) in the Iberá marshes, (Corrientes, Argentina), we designed a pre-release training program that considers individual motivation and cognitive ability, without direct contact with the handlers. We worked with nine adults from Zoos with no previous training. We carried out, for each subject, daily sessions, spending not less than 15 minutes, in an outdoor cage (25x4x4 m). Each session consisted of at least 38 flights of 25 m each (approximately 18 km/h flight speed), reinforced with sunflower seeds and peanuts, covering 35% of the daily energy requirements for flying macaw (88/355 kcal.). We administered reinforcements with a control remote operated feeder, designed for this project. We used vegetation obstacles to control the flight height and changes in direction. The feeders had perches with variable shape, width and stability to exercise landing. After release, we observed the macaws feeding from natural sources and/or distant controlled feeders. We suggest that this kind of pre-release training can increase survival probability of reintroduced captive-reared macaws, thus contributing to the conservation of the species.