Lear’s Macaw Research & Recovery
© Erica Pacífico
Over the last decade researcher Erica Pacífico and her team have worked with the last remaining Lear’s Macaws. Their latest expedition, supported by WPT, was one of discovery and renewed hope for these special birds. In the north-central Bahia region in Brazil these remarkable blue macaws, whose calls sound somewhat like American crows, live a challenging life. They nest in the deepest crevices of high cliffs, away from all but the most determined of predators, where they raise one or two chicks in a good year. They endure harsh, dry conditions, and are under threat from human interference and habitat loss. But in spite of all this, these tenacious birds have begun to recover. Since 2008 Erica Pacífico and her team have completed seven expeditions at the Canudos Biological Station of Biodiversitas Foundation, the last refuge of the Lear’s Macaw. There they have uncovered new information on foraging and breeding behaviour, and how the environment they live in affects these birds. In 2016 the team set out on a 45-day expedition with six volunteers, five researchers and three local guides to continue the work. Here is their story — and that of the macaws — in pictures. *
Photos taken on location at Canudos Biological Station, Biodiversitas Foundation.
Spring 2017
PsittaScene.org
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