You may also send a check payable to: 

AFA Research Grants Program
American Federation of Aviculture, Inc.
P.O. Box 91717
Austin TX 78709-1717

If you would like to support a particular project, indicate that on the memo line of your check.

The Red-fronted Macaw Project, Asociación Armonía, Bolivia
Summary by A. Bennett Hennessey

The survival of the red-fronted macaw in the wild is threatened by three main factors: illegal capture for the pet trade,  habitat loss, and conflict with farmers.

▫       Illegal capture. Capture for the illegal pet trade continues to pose a serious threat to the survival of the Red-fronted Macaw. Young are taken from nests and adult birds captured with traps or by using sling-shots to stun them.

▫       Habitat loss. Much of the Red-fronted Macaw’s native foraging habitat has been converted to agricultural land and remnant patches of native forest are severely degraded through overgrazing by goats.

▫       Conflict with corn and peanut farmers.  During the non-breeding season, the macaws congregate in large foraging flocks (up to 250 individuals) that feed on corn and peanut crops. This puts them at risk of being captured or shot by angry farmers.

Armonía’s Red-fronted Macaw Conservation Program has an integrated approach that includes three principal lines of action.

▫       Awareness raising and education. Most Bolivians do not know that the Red-fronted Macaw is an endemic species endangered of extinction. Through presentations in communities, activities with school children and poster campaigns we are raising local awareness of the macaw, which in turn is generating community pride in the species and support for its conservation. A wider public is reached with television spots and newspaper and magazine articles.

▫       Sustainable community development assistance. Sustainable conservation of the Red-fronted Macaw depends on the integration of conservation needs with community development needs. The local people are very poor and therefore do not have the luxury of supporting conservation actions unless these generate direct economic benefit in the short term, which is sustainable in the long term. The two main areas we are working in are community ecotourism and honey production (bee keeping). The Red-fronted Macaw Ecolodge built by Armonía directly benefits three communities and promotes the protection by local residents of a key nesting site. Community honey-production projects generate income for local people and promote the protection of native forests.

▫       Investigation and monitoring. We conduct an annual population census, monitor key nesting sites, and monitor wild bird traffic in Bolivian pet markets. Studies are needed to determine the extent of crop loss caused by the Red-fronted Macaw and to identify practical and sustainable measures to reduce conflict with farmers.

See BirdLife International’s webpage on Armonía at http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/national/bolivia/

See more pictures of red fronted macaws and pictures of the red-fronted macaw ecolodge at http://www.birdbolivia.com/Red-fronted%20Macaw%20Lodge.htm

Project Abbotti - Indonesian Parrot Project

Summary by Stewart Metz and Bonnie Zimmerman

Parrots are the most endangered bird family. A number of the parrots threatened with extinction are found only in Indonesia. Four of the five cockatoo species listed on the highest category of protection by the CITES Species are found in Indonesia. The continuing magnitude of the illegal trade in wild psittacines in Indonesia is perpetuated by a lack of awareness and pride in local villagers concerning their endemic avifauna as well lack of training and facilities by government officials for conservation programs.   

Of these cockatoo species, the Yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea) are the most imperiled. This species contains four subspecies, with three of them being fairly well studied. However, one (C. sulphurea abbotti) has remained largely a mystery until now.  It was known to be at great risk if not already extinct.

Recently, this fourth subspecies was rediscovered in the wild, when ten individuals were sighted on the island of Masakambing in the Masalembu Archipelago in the Java Sea. The Indonesian Parrot Project has initiated Project Abbotti  to help protect this rare bird and to work towards its conservation.

Project Abbotti includes working with local authorities to interdict trapping and smuggling; promotion of pride, education, and conservation awareness among the adults and schoolchildren of Masakambing; and provision of alternative, sustainable sources of income to former parrot trappers.

Rediscovery of the Abbott’s cockatoo
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/abbotts-cockatoo.html

Website of the Indonesian Parrot Project
http://www.indonesian-parrot-project.org/

Recent recipients of AFA Avian Research Grants:

2008

• Slender-billed conure nesting ecology
  Drs. Jaime E. Jiménez of Universidad de Los Lagos in Osorno, Chile, and Tom White of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

• Proventricular dilatation disease research
  Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center, Texas A&M University

• Spix’s macaw project – captive propagation in Brazil
  IBAMA

• Cuban parakeet conservation – artificial nest boxes
  Maikel Cañizares - Joint project with Loro Parque Fundación

2007

• Niau Kingfisher Conservation
  Pacific Islands Conservation Research Association (PICRA)

• Puerto Rican Parrot (PRP) Reintroduction
  Puerto Rico Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program

• Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program (HEBCP)

2006

• Nest-box Program to Help Protect the Critically Endangered Blue-throated Macaw in Bolivia.  J. Bennett Hennessey, Asociación Armonía (Joint grant with Loro Parque Fundacion)
• “AFA Scholar” grant to Brandeis University work-study intern in avian intelligence studies.  Dr. Irene Pepperberg, The Alex Foundation
• Blue Headed Macaw Conservation Assessment and Census in the Tambopata Area of Peru.  Dr. Donald Brightsmith, Texas A&M University
• Support for Equipping the New Puerto Rican Parrot Breeding Aviary for the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program. Jafet Velez, US F&WS 

 2005

• Establishment of a Breeding and Research Center for the Red-browed Amazon, Amazona rhodocorytha, at the Curitiba Zoo in Paraná state, Brazil.  Louri Klemann Junior,  Institute of Research and Nature Conservation (Idéia Ambiental)  (Joint grant with Loro Parque Fundacion)