What magnificent creatures these birds are. No protective coloration. No creeping about trying to blend in with the countryside. Macaws--the largest of the neotropical parrots--are dazzlingly colored in jackets of bright yellow and blue, green, or scarlet. Their harsh, raucous voices are filled with authority. "Even moving from branch to branch in the treetops," says one writer, "they seem arrogant and proud as emperors."
Although macaw is the common name for any of 15 species of these large, long-tailed birds found throughout Central and South America, only two species inhabit Costa Rica: the scarlet macaw (lapa roja) and the great green or Buffon's macaw (lapa verde). Though the scarlet ranges from Mexico to central South America and was once abundant on both coasts of Costa Rica, today it is found only in a few parks on the Pacific shore, and rarely on the Caribbean side, which is the home of the Buffon's macaw. Both bird populations are losing their homes to deforestation and poaching. The scarlet macaw population has declined so dramatically that it is now in danger of disappearing completely: there are only three wild populations in Central America that have a long-term chance of survival--at Carara Biological Reserve and Corcovado in Costa Rica, and Coiba Island in Panama--although macaws can also be seen with regularity at Palo Verde National Park, Santa Rosa National Park, and other forested parts of the Gulf of Nicoya and Osa Peninsula. There are an estimated 200 scarlets at Carara and 1,600 at Corcovado, where as many as 40 may be seen at one time.
As they fly overhead, calling loudly, their long, trailing tail feathers and short wings make it impossible to confuse them with other birds. They are gregarious and rarely seen alone. They are almost always paired male and female--they're monogamous for life--often sitting side by side, grooming and preening each other, and conversing in rasping loving tones, or flying two by two. However, it is impossible to tell male from female. The scarlet's bright red-orange plumage with touches of blue and yellow does not vary between the sexes or with aging.
Macaws usually nest in softwood trees, such as jallinazos, where termites have hollowed out holes. April through July, you might see small groups of macaws clambering about the upper trunks of dead trees at Corcovado, squabbling over holes and crevices. In Carara, nesting season begins in September.
Many bird books mistakenly describe macaws as feeding on fruits--they get their names because they supposedly feed on the fruits of the macaw palms. In fact, they rarely eat fruits, but prefer seeds and nuts, which they extract with a hooked nutcracker of such strength that it can split that most intractable of nuts, the Brazil nut.
0 comments:
Post a Comment