Saving the Scarlet Macaws of Honduras

The biggest threat to wild parrots is loss of habitat. Logging of old forests, burning, and deforestation have eliminated food sources and nesting sites, decimating the numbers of wild birds and destabilizing the delicate economy between birds, nature and humans.

By Doña Bárbara
Our daughter recently took on a life partner -- she’s only 12, so fortunately the guy in question has feathers and a beak. Mango has become integrated into our family in ways I could never have imagined only a few short weeks ago. This sweet grey cockatiel is happiest when he’s perched on a shoulder or the top of our daughter’s head, and loves to have his beak in anything we’re doing. Just yesterday he really did eat my daughter’s homework, although I’m sure that excuse won’t fly with the teacher. Still a youngster, he is beginning to vocalize and already has several whistles in his repertoire, including a well-tuned C major arpeggio.

One thing leads to another in life, and it wasn’t long after we adopted Mango that I ended up on the website of the World Parrot Trust. From there it was a quick leap to various worldwide conservation projects and rescue programs, and then just a short hop to the latest developments in the parrot crisis in all of Mesoamerica, including Honduras.

Many birds in the parrot family are indigenous to Honduras, but the scarlet macaw is one of the most spectacular. It is the national bird of Honduras, and figured prominently in Mayan culture as the sacred sun bird. I have seen scarlet macaws several times in Honduras. They are magnificent and dramatic parrots, but the only place they still fly free is in La Moskitia, and even there they are at risk due to loss of habitat and poaching. The great green macaw, or buffon, is virtually extinct.

Although only 10 percent of poached wild birds survive in captivity, parrots are still trafficked in Honduras. In October, over 218 conures were confiscated at the Nicaraguan border. Dehydrated, injured and close to death, they were taken to the Tegucigalpa Metropolitan Zoo to see if they could be saved. Despite valiant efforts by the workers there, 65 percent of the birds died. Although it is illegal to sell wild birds as pets, there is a worldwide market for the parrots, so it is still a profitable venture. Poachers generally use machetes to hack into the nests and not only capture the fledgling birds but destroy the nest for other birds as well, causing even greater stress on the existing flocks.

The biggest threat to wild parrots is loss of habitat. Logging of old forests, burning, and deforestation have eliminated food sources and nesting sites, decimating the numbers of wild birds and destabilizing the delicate economy between birds, nature and humans. When parrots eat, they drop two thirds of what they eat, assuring that small ground animals have access to seeds, nuts and fruits found high in the trees, and assuring the reseeding of the forest floor. (At our house, we vacuum the fallen seed since I’m not interested in reseeding the carpet in my family room, so I expect almond trees and sunflowers will be sprouting out of the vacuum cleaner any day now.)

If you have yet to experience the amazing complexity and beauty of the brightly colored macaws, amazons, conures and other birds of the parrot family, you are in for a treat. These intelligent flock birds have life spans up to 50 years in the wild and mate for life. Outside of La Moskitia you can see scarlet macaws at the Copán Archeological Park and the Macaw Mountain Bird Park and Nature Preserve in Copán Ruinas, and at the Scarlet Macaw Reintroduction Project in the Gulf of Fonseca run by the Dinant Corporation/Facusse family.

Something as simple as a family pet has once again drawn our family back to Honduras. As my love and attachment to Mango grows, I can see how it could easily lead to a greater involvement in conservation and rescue of these amazing birds. But alas, it also poses an interesting paradox for someone who is now the keeper of a more-or-less caged bird native to Australia. 12/12/11) (photo courtesy Internet)