Save a Magnificent Macaw from Regional Extinction

Dear friend,

It's been somewhat quiet at our macaw project over the past few months as we monitor the parrot and macaw populations during the rainy seasion in the region near the Cosiguina peninsula in Nicaragua.

Your support made it possible for our biological technicians to go out three times weekly to monitor parrot and macaw populations. Collecting this data gives us important information about the critically endangered yellow-naped Amazon parrots in the area, but unfortunately, did not yield any cyanoptera macaws. We believe that this is because the macaws travel to inaccessible locations inside the Cosiguina volcano crater and across the Gulf of Fonseca to small mangrove-covered islands inside the Gulf (El Salvador and Honduras territory) and to the forested side of the Conchagua volcano in El Salvador. This makes our efforts to monitor the population of macaws more difficult, but also increases the intrigue with this unique subpopulation. This year, we are adjusting our monitoring plan to cover additional territories in hopes that we can pinpoint the destinations of the macaws during non-breeding season. 

In addition to parrot monitoring, your support made it possible for our team to do worthwhile tasks like cleaning up beaches near the Cosiguina volcano, checking artificial nests by removing invasive bees and leaf litter that could promote the growth of mold. Our local teammembers also participated in birding events like Global Big Day, and hosting educational events for the local school children.

In the last few weeks, have have returned to directly monitoring the macaw nests that were used last year by macaws. There we reposted signs to notify people that these nests are being closely monitored. We are excited to report that we are already seeing the macaws visit these potential nests. We expect that they will begin nesting within the coming weeks.

We will keep you posted as we work toward protecting these nesting macaws. Your support makes this possible. Each nest we protect is vital to the future of the species.

Thanks to your support, we continue forward with hope for the future of the critically endangered macaw.

Warmly, 

Sarah