Behavioral responses of Vinaceous-breasted Amazon parrots to anti-predator training

Abstract

Conservation translocations have a low success rate mainly due the lack of skills of introduced animals to survive in the new environment, such as naivety facing a potential predator. Pre-release training based on classical conditioning may allow those animals to identify threats. Here we evaluated the behavioral responses to anti-predator training by an endangered tropical species, the Vinaceous-breasted Amazon parrot (Amazona vinacea). We investigated the hypothesis that anti-predator training of captive parrots can stimulate aversive behavior towards predators, also investigating whether animals habituated to the training. Eleven parrots were submitted to anti-predator training using four different predator models (jaguar, bird of prey, dog, and human) and a chair as control. During training, the predator models were associated with an aversive stimulus, represented by a disguised person chasing the animals. All training sessions were video recorded and parrots’ behaviors were collected through footage analysis. Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were adjusted to evaluate the animals’ behaviors during training and to evaluate changes in behavior according to the predator model. We also carried out a Time Series Analysis (TSA) through a Temporal Autocorrelation to identify signs of habituation. Parrots escaped more in training with all predators than in training with the chair. Parrots also walked in the presence of the dog, the human, and the bird of prey, which is a mild response than escaping but also suggests a risk perception. The behaviors eating and preening were most observed in training with the chair. The parrots showed behavioral changes throughout the training sessions, with a decrease in the frequency of the behavior walking and an increase in the behavior alert, which is an indication that parrots did not habituate to stimuli used during training. The results obtained by TSA also corroborated this finding. Overall, our results demonstrated that anti-predator training can elicit proper behaviors in captive animals, which, after release, may contribute to the animals survival in the wild. Thus, anti-predator training should be applied as a pre-release technique in parrot conservation programs.