Wild-Born Nestlings in Better Body Condition Than Captive Parrots; Heavier Birds Likely To Survive [Study]

The survival of endangered juvenile orange-bellied parrots depends on their nestling body condition. When they are heavier upon release, they are likely to survive.

Nestling Condition Matter For Orange-Bellied Parrots' Survival

Only two parrot species move their entire populations back and forth between their wintering areas in southeast Australia and breeding ranges in Tasmania every year. They cross Australia's perilous Bass Strait, which is 240 kilometers (150 miles) wide, as part of their migratory journey. These parrots must risk their lives to cross this choppy section of water.

The swift parrot, Lathamus discolor, and the orange-bellied parrot, Neophema chrysogaster, are two migratory parrot species classified as Critically Endangered species. As a result, both species are the focus of extensive captive breeding programs to help boost their dwindling populations, Forbes reported.

Conservation scientist Laura Bussolini, a doctorate candidate at Australian National University, studied the parrots' survival by comparing the juvenile survival rates for both wild and captive-bred parrots. By examining useful research questions, tools, and methodologies that could directly support the management of endangered species and recovery efforts, Bussolini hopes to close the gap between scientific research and conservation management of severely endangered species.

Surprisingly, she discovered that both groups had an equal chance of making it through their first migration. But whether they came from the wild or a confined group, birds who were heavier as nestlings were considerably more likely to survive because they had better body conditions.

The wild population's chick body condition varied a bit from year to year, which is to be expected given that they are responding to various changing factors such as the amount of food available, predators, and wild weather.

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Wild-Born Nestlings Are Almost Always In Better Body Condition

The body condition of the chicks is also affected by the sequence in which they hatch, with the earliest hatchings having the best body conditions. However, wild-born nestlings were typically in superior physical shape than captive parrots; this has revealed a new study objective to raise the standard of cage-reared parrots.

Several hundred birds are involved in the captive breeding program for orange-bellied parrots, distributed among five facilities. But it can be challenging and hard to decide which young parrots should be released into the wild as it involves various considerations.

The study demonstrates that a useful measure for determining which animals have the best chances of surviving after release is nestling physical condition. It might also make it easier to spot the birds having trouble.

Even if one's physical health is at the lower end of the bell curve, that doesn't mean they aren't important to the population as a whole.

Although our study shows that captive-bred animals can survive equally as well as those born in the wild, the researchers are aware that individuals raised in captivity can differ dramatically from their wild conspecifics. According to the study, an age-corrected mass-to-size relationship may be a practical and simple technique for identifying potential releases, enhancing post-release survival, and boosting the viability of animal reintroductions.

The study has been published in Animal Conservation.