Abstract
"If conservation is concerned with the survival of endangered species of birds, then private aviculturists must be recognised as an invaluable asset in the realisation of the goal. The general public is led to believe that conservation is the saving of rare species, but rarely told that many species living under the threat of extinction could be saved simply by the application of sound avicultural techniques.
"At a time when natural habitats are being systematically destroyed, due to an understandable desire of people to realise the full commercial potential of their land, it is essential that aviculturists should also be allowed to show their full potential. Failure to give aviculture a fair chance to prove its worth will be to deny certain species their best chance of survival'.' Blackwell, 1982, Cage and Aviary Birds, November 6: 1
When I read the above statement by Chris Blackwell several years ago, I nodded my head in agreement; this view is still with me for now, more than ever, aviculture will have to figure in conservation programs if a large part of the parrots now extant are to remain so when it is time to greet the next century.
The Hispaniolan conure, Aratinga cbloroptera, is just one such species. A largely green conure, which could easily be confused with the whiteeyed A. leucophthalmus or Mexican green A. bolocblora, it is not considered attractive by most. Indeed, had I not become familiar with this bird, I probably would have been of the same belief. However, it is very different from either the white-eyed or Mexican green; its bill is of a different shade, the orbital ring is very white, but the eye lids are greyish, it has red under wing-coverts (not accompanied by yellow as in leucopbtbalmus, or yellowish-green as in holochlora), and is far shyer and quieter. It is also endangered, whereas the Mexican green and white-eyed are common, sometimes very common, in parts of its range.
Forshaw (1978, Parrots of the World, Lansdowne Press) gives two subspecies under cbloroptera, nominate chloroptera and subspecies maugei. However, this needs revising, for Storrs Olson concluded, after analyzing the bones of both, that they differ sufficiently, especially in the shape of the bill, to be considered separate species.
Prior to 1976, Aratinga maugei was known for certain to have occupied Mona Island. That year Olson identified bones as belonging to that species in caves in central Puerto Rico. Much speculation existed prior to this evidence because, while such distinguished ornithologists as Juan Gundlach and Alexander Wetmore wrote of the conure, none were able to collect or observe it in the wild. The situation was described by Wetmore (1927, The Birds of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands, volume 9, parts 3 and 4, New York Academy of Sciences) thus: "In 1912 I was told by a number of persons that paroquets were still in existence, but always at a distance point that ever receded before me; so that I never entered what were, according to popular accounts, their haunts'.'
On Mona Island the situation was very different. Before it became extinct in 1892, three specimens were collected, the last by Wilmot W. Brown. I examined the immature female in the Field Museum of Natural History collection. At the time I wrote in my notes: "Poorly differentiated and probably invalid subspecies. Until measurements of both subspecies are taken and analyzed, perhaps by a computer, the true status of maugei cannot be determined'.' Things have certainly changed.
The factors contributing to the decline and subsequent extinction of maugei which, despite now being classified as a separate species closely related to cbloroptera, are unknown. Bond (1946, Notul Nat., no. 176, pp. 1-10) suggested that pigeon hunters which regularly traveled to Mona Island in the last century extirpated the conure there. On Puerto Rico, where it is reported by Greenway to have disappeared by 1883 though it probably met its end sometime later, even less is known about its disappearance. One can conjecture that lumbering of timber during the 1800s and early 1900s attributed to the ebb, or, like cbloroptera on Hispaniola, it had difficulty adapting to living commensally with man.
Sadly, nothing can now be done to reprieve this species, but the future of cbloroptera need not necessarily follow the path of maugei.
On Hispaniola, the second largest island in the Greater Antilles and which is composed of Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east, the Hispaniolan conure is found from sea level to 3,000 meters (9,842 ft.). Its habitat there is varied, ranging from arid scrub to lush forest in the mountains, where it is most numerous. Seasonally it is present on the islands of Beata and Soana, off the coast of the Dominican Republic, but even then it is not plentiful. Its status on the mainland seems to vary considerably from area to area.
Haiti has been largely deforested and there the conure is very rare, possibly even nearing extinction. This is a clear indication of the ebb, because Danforth (1929, Auk, 46:366) encountered thousands daily in early July in the region between Mirebalais, Haiti, and San Juan in the Dominican Republic.
In the Dominican Republic it has traditionally been more plentiful, although several devastating hurricanes, loss of habitat and shooting when it raids corn crops have had a negative impact. Further, a dam was constructed earlier this decade in the region of San Juan de la Maguana, where it was particularly plentiful; its effects on the population are as yet unknown (Annabelle Dod, in litt., 1980).
Given the likeliness that man will continue to make inroads into its habitat, one can expect the decline to continue, perhaps at an accelerated pace. To establish a foundation stock in captivity to safeguard the species would be a positive step in its preservation.