Nyala and Simba are a Scarlet Macaw couple who have been together for years and are experienced parents. Regardless, they had a slow start into the 2021 breeding season and didn’t lay their eggs until the middle of the season. To make matters worse, their first clutch wasn’t even fertile! Now, Nyala is a great mother and seems to really enjoy the experience of raising a chick, so I was a little sad that it seemed like she wouldn’t have any chicks this year. Until…
Across the hall, Buzz and Irene (another Scarlet Macaw pair) were having an even more difficult season. They had been parents once before in 2019. They had done well with their first two chicks, ET and Ouray. But this year they couldn’t seem to get things right. Their first clutch produced one chick, but had some issues clearing its crop and died soon after hatching. Surely, they had learned from this experience and figured out what they did wrong. They tried again.
The second clutch produced three fertile eggs! An accomplishment for sure. Chicks one and two hatched on time and Buzz and Irene fed them as they should. But alas, their parenting woes were not over. After an accidental injury and an impacted crop, it seemed that Buzz and Irene had a lot to learn about parenting. I decided that they would get another chance next year, and that this year the most important mission was to make sure their third chick made it without problems. I decided another couple should foster the egg – can you guess who I gave it to?
On June 29th, little Alvin hatched into a much safer environment than his previous home. Nyala and Simba (yes, of course, I gave the egg to them!) seemed overjoyed at the opportunity to be parents again and raised Alvin like a well-oiled machine. No problems for this family at all!
Alvin hit mile marker after mile marker. Surviving one week, two weeks, and getting an identification ring at week three. Then he started growing magnificent feathers, slowly but surely. He hated inspections, and so did Nyala. She didn’t want him out of her sight for even a second and was super protective. This assured me I made the right decision in entrusting Alvin’s care to her and Simba. Eventually, Alvin began peeking out of the nest box. One week later, he fledged on September 19th!
Alvin’s siblings, unfortunately, did not survive the breeding season, which was devastating for Buzz and Irene. But because of our intuition, ability to intervene, and the love he received from his foster parents, Alvin did survive! And he lives as a testament to the outcome of hard work and not giving up. There may not always be a solution to the problem, sometimes things aren’t meant to be. However, there is always, always something to learn in the process. And for that, we have Buzz and Irene to thank.
Help Alvin get to the wild! You can be part of his journey, learn more here!
By Carey Wentz
Bird Manager
To learn more about Life at the Breeding Center, watch this video!
