After more than 200 years, macaws get a new chance in Rio de Janeiro

After more than 200 years, the vibrant colors of Blue-and-yellow Macaws have returned to the state of Rio de Janeiro, with the arrival of four of them at the Tijuca National Park, right in the heart of Rio’s metropolis. These birds mark the beginning of the species’ reintroduction process in Rio, where the last recorded sighting of them dates back to 1818. The macaws arrived on a friday night in early June (6th) and are now housed in an acclimatization enclosure built for them within the park. They will spend four to six months there, training and adapting to life in the forest until they are ready for release.

The reintroduction of the Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) is an initiative by Refauna, an organization that has already brought back animals like agoutis, tortoises, and howler monkeys to the park’s forest. Each of these species – like the macaws – plays an important role in maintaining the forest, especially in seed dispersal.

“It’s a hope that we can have more diverse and richer forests, which is what we originally had but no longer do. We hope to somehow recover that and restore the overall functioning of the ecosystem,” says Marcelo Rheingantz, a biologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the executive director of Refauna.

The four macaws – three females and one male – came from the Três Pescadores Park in the municipality of Aparecida, São Paulo, about 270 kilometers from Rio, where a bird sanctuary works to rehabilitate animals that were seized, most of which are victims of the illegal wildlife trade, with a focus on conservation.

In their first two days, the newcomers have already explored their enclosure, fed well, and even dipped into their water bowl. A promising start to their acclimatization process.

Veterinarian Gerson Norberto, technical manager of the Três Pescadores Park, explains that three of the macaws are from seizures and victims of mistreatment, rehabilitated in the sanctuary, while the fourth one has no defined origin and was likely voluntarily surrendered to an wildlife rehabilitation center.

The birds underwent a battery of health exams – including tests for circovirus, bornavirus, chlamydia, and avian influenza – as well as behavioral tests to ensure they are more likely to survive in the wild and are less accustomed to human contact.

“We observed their ability to fly, to access food, and their aversion to human presence,” details Gerson Norberto.

The preparation for the macaws took around nine months, from selecting the animals and conducting initial exams to observing their behavior in the enclosure (ethogram) and gradually transitioning them to a more natural diet.

Among the newcomers, there is already a mated pair – which, in the case of macaws, means a lifelong bond due to their monogamous behavior.

Three other macaws from Três Pescadores Park, including two males, are currently under evaluation as potential candidates for future releases. “It will depend on whether they pass the exams,” Gerson notes. “That’s the role of human care – supporting conservation,” he adds, with a promise that partnerships with the Aparecida’s park, created less than two years ago, are just getting started.

“Ideally, we would like to release at least 40 to 50 macaws within the next three years, but we know that’s difficult because this process takes time. However, we want to release as many as possible and populate not just Tijuca National Park but the entire city of Rio with macaws flying across the skies, adding color to the city,” says Marcelo Rheingantz, the executive director of Refauna.

A long-standing dream

Blue-and-yellow Macaws have been on Refauna’s radar since 2018 when the species was included as one of the priorities for reintroduction in Tijuca National Park. The reasons go beyond their charismatic nature; they also play an important ecological role, especially in relation to large fruits and palm trees, where they prey on and disperse seeds over great distances.

From planning to execution, it took a long wait to obtain all the necessary permits – delayed further by the pandemic – followed by an equally long search for animals suitable for release. The biggest challenge, common in captivity, was obtaining the macaws’ health clearance.

“Given the context of an urban forest, where the macaws will live alongside other animals both in the city and in the forest, there was a risk of some disease transmission. So we needed to ensure these animals were healthy,” explains Marcelo.

The four macaws will undergo one final phase before being released: acclimatization. Researchers expect them to spend four to six months in this enclosure, built inside the forest, adjusting to the sounds, humidity, temperature, and familiarizing themselves with the fruits that will be part of their diet in the wild, such as jerivá, juçara, and araçá. The expectation is that they will be able to feed on between 90 and 400 species of plants in the park.

The acclimatization period will also be crucial for strengthening their muscles and training their flight skills to ensure they can cover long distances.

“We hope the city will be the starting point for them to return to the whole state,” says Marcelo Rheingantz. From other forest fragments to urban environments – which is common for macaws in cities within regions where they naturally occur. “We face the challenge of coexisting [with people], and that’s why we plan to work hard on sensitization and awareness campaigns. We also want the public to contribute through citizen monitoring, helping track their locations,” he adds.

The abbreviated history of the macaws in Rio

In the 16th century, the Frenchman Jean de Léry, a Calvinist pastor who lived among the indigenous Tupinambá along the shores of Guanabara Bay, described the common presence of Blue-and-yellow Macaws. “Their chest feathers are yellow like fine gold; their back, wings, and tail are a beautiful blue,” he details in his book with stories from the “Antarctic France,” as the French colony in Rio was known.

“He wrote that he found these birds in large trees around the indigenous villages, where the indigenous people would regularly pluck them for ornaments. Some would sleep in the forest, while others in the indigenous’ homes. Jean de Léry even describes a Tupinambá song in honor of the macaw,” says biologist Lara Renzeti, field coordinator for Refauna and responsible for the reintroduction of the macaws to the park. “All we know from the report is that it’s around Guanabara, but for a macaw it doesn’t make much difference, in terms of distribution, where exactly it was, because they fly a lot,” she explains.

During her master’s degree, Lara delved into historical records of Blue-and-yellow Macaws not only in Rio de Janeiro but across the eastern portion of the Atlantic Forest, finding records of the species as far south as Santa Catarina, where they are now regionally extinct.

In Rio, the last known sighting of the macaws was in 1818 when the renowned Prussian naturalist Johann Natterer collected two individuals, one in Rio itself and the other in probably in Niterói, a city nearby. After that, there are no further records known.

Reports of isolated macaws spotted in the skies of Rio are typically attributed to irregular releases or animals that escaped captivity.

“What we aim for with the reintroduction is not the release of isolated individuals, but rather a population-focused effort. Since 1818, we have had no evidence of Blue-and-yellow Macaw populations in Rio de Janeiro,” explains Lara.

Everything indicates that the species went extinct in the region sometime during the 19th century. While it’s impossible to be absolutely certain about the cause, Lara suspects it was due to the degradation of Rio’s forests and the loss of large trees caused by extensive deforestation during the early stages of colonization.

“Macaws are resilient to certain disturbances, but they have one critical requirement that might have made it so difficult for them to remain here: nesting. Macaws usually nest in cavities of dead palm trees. They burrow into them to build their nests. They need this resource. And the Atlantic Forest has gone through a process of secondary succession, significantly reducing the availability of palms large enough for this purpose. The palm trees need to have a diameter greater than 30 centimeters, and we don’t have many of those around here,” Lara contextualizes.

While palms do exist in the forest, like the jerivá (Syagrus romanzoffiana), they aren’t large enough. So, alongside the reintroduction effort, Refauna has installed four artificial nests throughout the forest that will be monitored.

“Macaws need large palms to shelter both the pair and their chicks. We have no records of palms of this size in the forest, and for them to reproduce, this is necessary,” explains biology student Luisa Paiva, a Refauna researcher responsible for the nest structures.

Looking for the long term, the solution is to plant more palm trees and wait for them to grow. However, artificial nests could be a short-term solution to ensure reproduction and the establishment of this population back in Rio. “While the birds are in the enclosure, we will familiarize them with the nests so that when they come across them in the forest, they’ll be able to recognize and use them,” Luisa clarifies.

The nest boxes have been placed within a 150-meter radius around the enclosure to make it easier for the macaws to find them once released. “Over time, we plan to spread them throughout the forest and even across Rio de Janeiro, especially in areas with many palm trees, like the Botanical Garden,” she adds.

“After Refauna successfully reintroduced howler monkeys, agoutis, and yellow-spotted tortoises, we’re now proudly welcoming the Blue-and-yellow Macaws. They also represent a higher flight for all the species that still have a chance to return to our forests,” says Breno Herrera, regional manager for ICMBio Southeast, environmental agency responsible for federal protected areas.

This is just the beginning of a new chapter for the Tijuca National Park and for the skies of Rio de Janeiro, which will soon be brightened with the colors – and sounds – of these magnificent birds.