Behavioral Observations of Free-Living Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) in Costa Rica, to Inform Ex Situ Management

The scarlet macaw (Ara macao) is a charismatic species that is native to Central and South America and commonly housed in captivity. Gaps in knowledge about these birds’ behavioral ecology in the wild hinders both in situ and ex situ management and conservation efforts for this species. We conducted seventeen days of observations of free-living scarlet macaws in two locations in Costa Rica, in February 2022, with the aims of (1) advancing our knowledge of this species’ natural behavioral ecology, and (2) generating data for comparison with captive macaws to help to inform their ex situ management (e.g., enclosure design and enrichment). Routes were walked within two locations—Bosque Escondido (BE), release area for captive-bred reintroduced individuals and no extant wild population, and Punta Leona (PL), an area of natural habitat within a resort inhabited by wild scarlet macaws—and focal interval sampling of multiple scarlet macaws in a group was used to record behavior and space use. The macaws at both locations were generally active, spent most of their time high in the tree canopy, relied on climbing to move within it, and used a wide variety of supports. The macaws at PL spent significantly more time feeding and locomoting, and less time perching, than those at BE, possibly due to differences in resource availability, rearing conditions, and age. Furthermore, the wild scarlet macaws at PL exhibited a variety of foraging strategies to acquire and manipulate food items within the tree canopy, including frequent use of their feet during manipulation. Despite limitations caused by a small sample size, a short period of observations, and differences between the two populations observed, this study provides insights into the behavioral ecology of scarlet macaws in the wild, which can be used for behavioral assessments of captive macaws while informing their ex situ management, with applications to animal welfare and captive breeding programs.