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

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. Training with predator models were associated with an aversive stimulus, represented by a disguised person chasing the animals. All training was 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 but also walked in the presence of the dog, the human, and the bird of prey. The behaviors eating and preening were most observed in training with the chair. The parrots showed behavioral changes over training, 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 training. The graphics obtained by TSA also corroborated this finding. Our results showed that training accomplished its purpose in captivity and it is now necessary to monitor the birds after release to identify if training will contribute to the animals survival in the wild. Keywords: Amazona vinacea. Translocation. Psittacidae. Classical Conditioning. Conservation.