- Scientists and conservationists have deployed lightweight satellite backpacks, containing transmitters, to study and understand the migration patterns of thick-billed parrots.
- Teams from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in the U.S. and conservation NGO Organización Vida Silvestre in Mexico have gathered more than 70,000 data points over four years.
- The data helped them identify corridors that are critical for the birds’ movements; they also served to justify the designation of protected areas that are important for the birds.
- Thick-billed parrots, known for their raucous calls, are an endangered species endemic to Mexico; illegal logging in recent years has led to the degradation of their habitats.
When James Sheppard set out to deploy tiny backpacks fitted with satellite transmitters to track endangered thick-billed parrots in 2019, doubts abounded. His colleagues were concerned it wasn’t going to work. A vendor he worked with refused to sell him the transmitters, worried it might be a futile attempt.
The concerns weren’t unfounded.
Thick-billed parrots (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) are named after their large and sturdy beaks that they use to break open pine cones and nut shells. “They have a can opener for a face,” Sheppard, a scientist in recovery ecology at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA), told Mongabay in a video interview. “We thought they would just rip it [the transmitter] straight off.”
However, Sheppard saw an opportunity when a lone bird was brought into SDZWA from another facility. While the bird was under quarantine, he put a backpack on it. Much to his surprise, the bird “ignored it and went on to feed on some pine nuts,” he said. “It stayed on for several weeks.”
Four years on, the team at SDZWA along with its partners at Mexican conservation NGO Organización Vida Silvestre (OVIS) have deployed the backpacks on 57 thick-billed parrots. So far, the technology has yielded more than 71,000 data points that have helped the team understand the birds’ migratory patterns and identify habitats that are crucial for protection.
“It opened up a whole new world of good decision-making for us,” Ernesto Enkerlin-Hoeflich, scientific director at OVIS, told Mongabay in a video interview. “We were able to confirm, in some cases, areas that we were already trying to protect, but we were also able to detect additional areas.”
The data trove has led to tangible results on the ground. In January 2024, the Mexican government announced the formation of 43 new protected areas, including a sanctuary that protects 418 hectares of breeding and nesting habitat of the parrots. The data from the trackers played a key role in defining the boundaries of the sanctuary and bolstering the argument to preserve the area. The real-time data also helped the team at OVIS with a population survey, which found a 10% increase in the population of the birds in Mexico.
Thick-billed parrots are temperate birds that today occur naturally only in Mexico, although their historical range once extended into the southwest U.S. Within Mexico, their current home range is restricted to the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. Highly social, these birds move in flocks and are known to be noisy and raucous. “It’s a species that carries a lot of optimism as part of their charm,” Enkerlin-Hoeflich said, referring to their calls that resemble human laughter.
However, illegal logging and timber extraction have led to a decline in their habitats over the last several decades. As a result, areas that were central to different stages of the birds’ whole life cycle, including nesting and feeding, have rapidly diminished.
While SDZWA and OVIS have collaborated for more than three decades to work with local communities to help preserve the remaining habitats, the team had been in want of more data to make better-informed conservation decisions. While the researchers and local community members knew where the birds spent their time during the breeding season, they knew little about where they migrated out to, given the remote and inaccessible nature of the terrain.
“We realized we could capitalize on how transmitters have shrunk, both in size and weight, to safely deploy them on these birds,” Sheppard said.
The solar-powered backpacks weigh 9 grams, or about the same as a pair of Apple AirPods, and contain transmitters that receive data from the Argos satellite system and, more recently, from the GPS/GSM system. Using the data gathered over the last four years, the researchers have been able to map the movements of the birds as they fly down the Sierra Madre Occidental to their overwintering habitat. They’ve also created models that have helped them visualize the migration corridors the birds use. The models have also helped the team get insights on population levels, seasonal home ranges, and how the birds are interacting with one another.
Sheppard said the data did throw up some surprises.
The birds were all found to fly away together and follow the same movement paths along their migration. “Everyone uses the same stopover sites and everyone arrives at the same overwintering area,” he said. “The other big take-home message was that less than 20% of their current home range is given any kind of formal protection.”
Both organizations are now working to use the data to advocate for the protection of the birds’ habitats. “We know much more about the daily patterns of the birds,” Enkerlin-Hoeflich said. “With this technology, we’re even able to know exactly how many kilometers they fly every day and so we’re able to intervene in a much better way.”
While the technology and the broader collaboration focus specifically on the parrots, Sheppard said their work goes beyond just the birds. Attempting to protect the habitat of the thick-billed parrot, he said, will subsequently lead to habitat protection for other species, like pumas, skunks and bobcats. “It’s a key function that the species plays,” he said. “Which is why we’re putting so much effort into its recovery.”
Banner image: Data from transmitters helped the team identify corridors that are critical for the movements of the thick-billed parrots, which are endangered birds endemic to Mexico. Image courtesy of Ernesto Enkerlin-Hoeflich/OVIS.
Abhishyant Kidangoor is a staff writer at Mongabay. Find him on 𝕏 @AbhishyantPK.
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