Biparental care and reproductive success in reintroduced and captive populations of the Critically Endangered Puerto Rican Parrot <i>Amazona vittata</i>

Summary Parental care is a fundamental aspect of bird behaviour and is crucial for offspring survival. In species exhibiting biparental care, the differing strategies employed by each parent can significantly influence the reproductive success of the breeding pair. For threatened species in captive breeding programmes, the impact of captive conditions adds further complexity and importance to understanding the dynamics of parental care and their effects on reproduction. Our study examines the relationship between parental care behaviours and reproductive success in the Critically Endangered Puerto Rican Parrot Amazona vittata , specifically investigating how these behaviours may differ between captive and reintroduced populations and female and male parents. We hypothesised that parental care behaviours influence reproductive success and predicted differences based on sex and population. Using video recordings, we quantified key metrics, including the number of feeding bouts per visit, the mean feeding bout duration per visit, and the duration of a nest visit. We examined the relationship between parental care behaviours and reproductive success and analysed factors that affect parental care behaviours. Our findings indicate that parental care behaviours are independently influenced by both sex and population, with no evidence of an interaction between these factors. Furthermore, parental care behaviours are associated with reproductive success. Males spent less time inside the nest than females, while captive birds exhibited fewer and shorter feeding bouts, suggesting that captivity influences parental care strategies. With multiple factors impacting wild populations, captivity may become a resource to avoid extinction for many species. By documenting potential challenges for species with biparental care, video monitoring could help to refine captive breeding programmes and conservation efforts for other threatened bird populations.