Save a Magnificent Macaw from Regional Extinction

Your help this nesting season was important to give the endangered cyanoptera macaw a fighting chance. Thank you!

With your help, we were feeling very hopeful that we would have a successful season. We set up encampments near to the nests in order to ensure round-the-clock protection and we also began to conduct regular monitoring of the nest using tree climbing skills. 

Soon, we were looking a a nest with two chicks and a second nest with a single chick. We were so excited about the potential for these three birds to contribute to the population.

Just a couple of weeks after we confirmed the first two chicks, we noticed a collared forest falcon visiting the area. Soon, the parent macaws were not visiting the nest. We inspected the nest and found evidence that the macaw chicks had be predated by the falcon.

After our hopes were dashed, we shifted our attention to the second nest, the one with the single chick. We carefully measured the chick and set up a camera on its entrance to deter any poacher. The community rangers set up camp and began their vigil to protect the nest. Yet, once again, our hopes were dashed, the bird disappeared but there are no images on the camera trap of a poacher. The forest falcon was seen in the area before its disappearance and so we suspect it was the cause. 

We are devestated. We take comfort in the one chick that fledged the last year thanks to your support, but we also know for the species to survive in western Central America, we must contribute more chicks to the wild population.

Protecting species does not always have a happy ending, but we are not in this business just for the feel goods. We do it because we value the cyanoptera macaw and the beauty and diversity it brings to our world and the way it helps to rebuild forests. 

We will be out again next season and hope that you will be a part of this effort by once again donating so that we can continue with this program. Thank you in advance for your generosity. 

Sarah