Capacidade de voo e suas relações com aspectos físicos, clínicos e comportamentais em aves do gênero Amazona (Lesson, 1830) (Psittacidae) em cativeiro

Abstract

The maintenance of parrots in captivity, caused by the illegal traffic and ownership of these animals, makes them lose essential abilities for free-living survival, such as flight capacity and human avoidance, which hinders the success of reintroduction programs. Here, we assessed the influence of physical, parasitological, and behavioral aspects and a training protocol on flight capacity and aversion to humans in captive parrots which were candidates for reintroduction. Therefore, 38 parrots were submitted to a flight training and human aversion training protocol for 10 weeks. The following variables were registered over time for each animal: human aversion score, flight score, flight time (in s), and latency to flight (in s). A GLMM was adjusted to analyze the flight performance of the parrots over time, as well as the effects of body weight, wing load, occurrence of intestinal parasites, and plumage condition. Pearson correlation coefficients were applied to evaluate the association of parrots' temperament with flight capacity and responsiveness to humans. We have observed a significant increase in the flight time and flight score, as well as in the human aversion score. Factors that significantly influenced the flight capacity were body weight, wing load, and plumage condition, besidesthe training itself, which also significant for human avesion. The temperament dimension neophilia was negatively correlated to the human aversion scores, whereas the risk-taking dimension was negatively correlated to flight capacity. Using the training protocol, it was possible to improve abilities essential for the animal’s survivorship in wild. Furthermore, we identified factors that must be treated cautiously and that aid in the selection of individuals who are suitable for reintroduction, an important process for the conservation of endangered species.