Thick-billed Parrots on Thin Ice

A quarter of the world’s parrots are threatened with extinction and the thick-billed parrot Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha pachyrhyncha is a prime example. This gregarious species once ranged from the southwestern United States to northern Mexico but exists today only in the pine forests of the mountains of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental.

Thick-billed parrot populations are vulnerable due to a very limited geographic range and highly specialized diet of large pine cones. It is estimated that less than a thousand breeding pairs remain in the wild and current populations are on the decline. Reasons for this decline include habitat destruction and degradation which can be linked to human activity and climate change. Examples include logging, forest fire, and pine beetle infestations of coniferous trees all of which reduce nest site availability.

For the past five years, the San Diego Zoo has been involved with a collaborative multi-national effort to save the endangered thick-billed parrot.  This conservation effort has benefited greatly from over a decade of scientific research on the ecology of this species conducted by field teams from the university at Monterrey Tech and ProNautura Noreste. We have partnered together to support the long-term protection of the Madera Sanctuary in the state of Chihuahua which is home to half of the known breeding pairs of this species.

Additional conservation actions by the field team include the use of artificial nest boxes in prime breeding areas and agreements with local landowners to limit logging in thick-billed habitat. Scientists and veterinarians from the San Diego Zoo have initiated studies to evaluate the health of wild thick-billed parrot populations and to investigate whether disease is playing a role in population declines. This project is part of a larger conservation initiative that integrates health and genetic studies with existing ecological studies for the common purpose of preserving parrot populations and critical habitat.