Parrots are a well-studied, diverse group of birds distributed mainly in tropical
and subtropical regions. One-third of
their species face extinction today, mainly due to anthropogenic threats. High global
and domestic demand for
parrots as pets, and consequent removal from the wild for the illicit trade have significantly
contributed to their
severe decline worldwide. Emerging tools in genetics have made major contributions
to understanding basic and
applied aspects of parrot biology and conservation in the wild and in captivity. In
this plenary, I show how genetic
methods have transformed the study of parrots by summarizing important milestones
in the advances of genetics
and their implementations in research on parrots. I will mainly focus on describing
how genetics helped to further
knowledge in conservation genetics through examples from the literature and my collaborative
research projects.
The application of genetic techniques to the study of parrots has far-reaching implications
for addressing diverse
research aims in a highly threatened and charismatic clade of birds.
