Scientific happenings : The success story of the El Oro Parakeet

The success story of the El Oro Parakeet

The El Oro Parakeet (Pyrrhura orcesi) , endemic to Ecuador , is one of the 62 globally threatened bird species in Ecuador . First described only in 1988, it is still not well known. No study on the ecology and threats to the species has been carried out prior to this project that Fundación Jocotoco is realizing through Mery Juina, our resident biologist on the Buenaventura Reserve.

The species is classified as endangered, with a rough population estimate of 220 individuals. A steady decline of the population seemed to have occurred over the past decade along with loss of the humid cloud forest in its range. The El Oro Parakeet is restricted to a narrow strip, approximately 100 km in length and 5- 10 km in width, of humid montane forest between 600m and 1300m in the Azuay and El Oro Provinces (hence its name) of south-western Ecuador. Here, forest tracts continuously shrunk and became more fragmented due to logging and cattle ranching. In fact, after a deforestation rate of 57% per decade between 1950 and 1990, just 4% of the original forest remains. At present, forest is restricted to the most inaccessible slopes. “Currently, there is only one protected site where the El Oro Parakeet occurs, the Buenaventura Ecological Reserve owned by Fundación Jocotoco.” (Schaefer & Schmidt).

Our studies show that the parakeet nests in Copal and Walnut trees, species which were drastically disappearing due to local carpenters and lumber companies. They are also threatened by the competition with other parrots and parakeets and by tree-climbing mammals that patrol the nests for eggs and chicks, so by 2001 the population of the El Oro Parakeet was down to 160 individuals.

Mery Juina has installed nesting boxes and bought Copal and Walnut shavings from local carpenters to cushion the boxes. These shavings emanate a menthol odor, which we believe is part of the reason the El Oro Parakeet prefers these species of trees. The boxes have also been designed with a side door which permits Mery to check on the eggs. Once they hatch, she can weigh and measure the chicks on a daily basis, and can ring them right before they are ready to fly. The 60 boxes have proven to be very successful so far, and we recently received reports that at least 15 boxes are with chicks.

Our goal is to buy up to 5,000 hectares ( 11,000 acres ), which, based on our studies, is the extension we need to have a biologically viable population of the El Oro Parakeet.