Research Summary
Tambopata Research Center, Madre de Dios, Peru — Macaws, the brilliant, long-tailed parrots of neotropical forests, are seriously threatened by both forest clearing and poaching for the pet trade. Young macaws sell for thousands of dollars, if they survive capture. Poachers cut down nesting trees for chicks and lurk at clay licks, where macaws and parrots congregate by the hundreds. Although increased ecotourism focused on watching macaws has helped reduce poaching, it may be causing its own problems by disturbing these birds that require century-old trees for nesting and have a slow reproductive rate. The data you help collect will help prevent these magnificent birds from being driven to extinction.
Meet the Scientists
Mr. Alan Lee
Manchester Metropolitan University
Alan Lee has a B.Sc. Honors in Zoology and Botany from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa as well as a Diploma in Computing from the Open University in the UK. He is currently earning his M.Phil. from the Manchester Metropolitan University, also in the UK. Alan has a diverse range of interests in neotropical animals, from frogs and snakes to mammals and birds. This interest began with work in Tambopata in 2002 with the Tambopata Reserve Society. Alan’s interest in parrots and macaws was fueled while working with the Tambopata Macaw Project as a volunteer in 2002. During 2006 he spent a full year in the field, mostly at Posada Amazonas and at Refugio Amazonas, collecting information for his thesis on the impact of clay licks on parrot abundance. Alan has run teams of long-term volunteers as part of the project at Posada and Refugio, and also conducted research with short-term volunteers with Biosphere Expeditions during 2004 and 2005.
Dr. Don Brightsmith
Texas A&M University
Donald Brightsmith holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Duke University, an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Arizona, and a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University. His interest in birds started at a young age with binoculars in the backyard and has led him to projects, presentations, teaching and advising in Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil, Indonesia, Spain, England, Australia and throughout the US. His specialties are tropical ecology, ornithology and wildlife conservation, especially topics related to wild parrots. He has worked on parrots in Peru since 1993 and has run the Tambopata Macaw Project since 1999. In 2000 the project began receiving support from Earthwatch volunteers through the Macaws of the Peruvian Amazon expeditions. Dr. Brightsmith is currently advising parrot conservation projects in Peru, Indonesia, and Brazil.