| Scarlet Macaws, part #1 |
[29 Mar 2006|04:04pm] |
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We saw more scarlet macaws than any other parrot in Costa Rica. In fact, we saw 69 of them, most of them flying. I didn't understand one thing about the macaws before I saw them in nature...they live high in the canopy, and they fly high in the air. And sometimes they fly *incredibly* high in the air, to boot.
Which makes Karen's photos all the more awesome. My husband had a magnifying lens on his digital camera, and Karen had one on her professional camera equipment. When our page is up, you'll be able to appreciate the incredible job Karen did, because you'll have our photos for comparison.
Costa Rica is a balance between agriculture and nature. One of the win win situations they have there is that they have land where they cultivate teak for the wood. The macaws tried the teak seed, and they LOVED it. Now all of the macaws in Costa Rica eat the seed, and it's an added food source for them.
Which brings me to Carara. The scarlets roost in the mangrove swamps outside of the preserve, and daily they fly to the preserve to feed and nest. At dusk, they fly back to the mangrove swamps. Scarlets fly in pairs, which I'll discuss in a bit. You want to see scarlet macaws in Costa Rica, you just have to be on the bridge over the Tarcoles River at dawn or dusk. Unlike most bridges in Costa Rica, this is a long, well made bridge, and you can see tourists hanging on the side of it all day long. There are large crocodiles down in the river, and periodic pairs of macaws flying overhead. What more can you ask for?
We attended a lecture on the Scarlet Conservation Project at Carara, and I'm happy to report that there are now only 12 known poachers of macaws in the area, down from hundreds. They have made a concerted effort to educate the local school children about the natural beauty of the macaw, and how vital the bird is to ecotourism. This has worked. Most young people in Costa Rica are in the tourism business, rather than the bird poaching business.
Scarlet macaws are difficult birds in captivity. Guess what? They are difficult birds in nature, too. Mated pairs fight with each other, pairs fight with other pairs, and the whole flock squabbles. They apparently hate with a passion, and love, too. It was really funny, also. After we had learned this, we were out looking at macaw nests, and a pair flew right across the sky over us, fighting like nobody's business. He'd angrily squawk, she'd angrily squawk back, and they carried on like this the entire time they were in sight. Of course, we translated the argument into something about asking for directions.
Some scarlets have also been known to cheat on their mates, too.
Another interesting thing about the scarlet macaw life cycle is that the youngsters stay with mom and dad for a couple of years, and then they find a friend to pair with. It's basically the buddy system, and they use it as a survival mechanism. They stay with their buddy until they meet the parrot love of their life, and then they move into the adult parrot bond relationship we all know about.
Whereas the scarlets on the Atlantic side were nesting way off in seclusion, the scarlets in Carara on the Pacific side, had nests not far from the main highway. The conservation folks had tried the scarlets on scenery blending artificial nest boxes that worked well for the scarlets in Peru, but the scarlet macaws of Carara prefer large, bright blue plastic garbage cans with holes. They also use natural nest cavities, but if they aren't available, they like the blue plastic tubs. The Puenta Leona resort, also in the vicinity, had another type of nest box up on their property, and some of the scarlets were using those, too.
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