Dear Supporter ,
The incredible joy of young Macaw families is evident all over Costa Rica. This year’s breeding season is one of great success for parrot conservation, especially at The Ara Project. Here’s a little peek!
Most of the young pairs in Punta Islita have been doing their best to take their love to the next level. At the breeding center it’s been raining eggs over the last months. Fifteen Scarlet and Great Green Macaw couples have made breeding attempts. Despite the fact that many of the pairs have only been together for one or two years, seven eggs have hatched into beautiful pink babies. One pair struggled to figure out what to do with the two tiny creatures who just appeared there. What to do when you don’t have anyone to seek advice from? As these first hours are critical to the survival of a newborn, the Ara expert team had to jump in and give them some help. But within a few days this was no longer needed as mom and dad learned and took over.
Monitoring of the parents’ and chicks’ behavior is a crucial part at this time of year. Trained eyes have to balance giving new moms the space to work things out and careful observation that ensures the survival of each and every chick. It is sensational to see! With a little help here and there, all of these parents eventually learn and make great parents.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple when it comes to the wild birds. Jack, Tom, Duaro and Mario, our field biologists in Punta Islita and Manzanillo are having a challenging job to do. Early mornings, endless hiking through dense forest, many hours of observations and climbing 180 foot trees. All this gets rewarded by seeing healthy chicks, but some challenges are heartbreaking.
In Punta Islita, Jack had been intensively monitoring little Mary-Ann, a healthy Scarlet Macaw chick who hatched in a dead palm (see photo). She was about 6 weeks old when a storm hit the area. The palm fell and poor little Mary-Ann was a passenger as her home rattled and smashed to the ground. The team were alerted by a local family who had been very cooperative during earlier monitoring. Despite great efforts to reunite her with her parents, unfortunately it didn’t work out. Mary-Ann is now being looked after at our center and we will release her in the future.
Luckily we have more cheerful news of Great Green Macaws from Manzanillo. Sixteen of our released birds have been very excited about the artificial nest boxes and they have laid a total of 30 eggs! We have low expectations with first time breeders but still a fantastic ten of these eggs hatched and have all turned into healthy, adorable little featherless chicks. Although they are still young, the six successful pairs have already proven to be caring parents, looking after their precious babies from dusk till dawn.
The most amazing story is this one very dedicated pair, aiming high earlier this year. They laid three eggs. Unfortunately all three eggs disappeared, we believe taken by a Toucan. The team lost hope for the pairs’ chances of breeding success this year. But, we were wrong! Months later, when our field team were doing their monitoring activities they noticed a single Great Green being all young-parent like. It turned out him and his partner had three healthy chicks in their nest. Check the photo. Aren’t they adorable?
We are extremely excited about all these family expansions. Because of the help of all our wonderful donors we believe the magnificent Macaw species have a bright future ahead.
Thank you for everything you do to help!
Best wishes,
Sarah Williams
Communications Director
The Ara Project
P.S. By becoming a monthly donor, you can help us care for a chick! DONATE NOW and secure a newborn life.