Breeding birds in captivity may alter their wing shapes and reduce post-release survival chances

New research on critically endangered orange-bellied parrot finds 1mm difference in length of one feather – enough to reduce survival rate by 2.7 times

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Breeding in captivity can alter birds’ wing shapes, reducing their chances of surviving migratory flights when they are released to the wild, new research suggests.

A study of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot has found that in captive-bred birds, those with altered wing shapes had a survival rate 2.7 times lower than those born with wings close to an ideal “wild type” wing.

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