Behavioral plasticity of a threatened parrot in human-modified landscapes

Abstract

Behavioral plasticity is a strategy employed by many species to cope with both naturally occurring and human-mediated environmental variability. Such plasticity may be especially important for long-lived and wide-ranging species, such as parrots, that likely face great temporal and spatial variation within their long lifespans, and are often disproportionately affected by anthropogenic habitat change. We used radio-telemetry and roost counts to assess ranging patterns, habitat usage, and roosting behaviors of the Yellow-naped Amazon (Amazona auropalliata) at two sites in northern Costa Rica with different degrees of anthropogenic habitat alteration. We compared behaviors for residents at the two sites and for experimentally translocated individuals to test the hypothesis that this species would employ behavioral plasticity in response to habitat differences. We found that individuals in the region with dispersed vegetation recorded ranging movements and communal roosting behavior ten times larger than the region with concentrated vegetation. Translocated individuals showed flexibility in these behaviors and matched the behavioral patterns of resident birds at the release site rather than maintaining behaviors characteristic of their capture site. Our results illustrate a generalized rapid plastic response to human-induced changes in habitat for a number of behavioral traits in the Yellow-naped Amazon. Such plasticity is directly relevant to reintroduction efforts that are commonly employed as a conservation tool in parrots. Our study provides an example of how behavioral plasticity may allow some wild populations to withstand anthropogenic change.