In a city where parrots are as numerous as pigeons, feeding the parrots is not the biggest problem

What does a city look like with as many parrots as pigeons?

When it comes to birds in cities, most people think of pigeons or magpies, whose low-key appearance is as inconspicuous as the suits of office workers. However, in faraway South America, a group of colorful parrots have also settled in cities , bringing a touch of color to the daily lives of locals - they are the parrots of Caracas.

Parrots in Caracas | Erick Houli / flickr.com

Caracas is the capital of Venezuela. Venezuela is famous for its rich oil resources, but its ecological resources are also very rich. The Andes Mountains and the Caribbean Sea are in the north, and the Amazon rainforest is in the south. The diverse geographical environment has created rich species diversity, with about 1,400 species of birds alone.

Aerial view of Caracas | Márcio Cabral de Moura / flickr.com

Where do the parrots in the city come from?

The parrots in Caracas are originally from the jungles in the south, and as for why they migrated to the city, biologist Malú González of Simon Bolivar University believes that it may be mainly due to the pet trade .

Parrots flying between buildings | Ariana Cubillos / AP Photo

Parrots have long been popular pets in the area, with those that escape or are released establishing new populations in the city.

There are fewer predators in the city, and locals often feed them, so the population in the city is growing larger and larger. Gonzalez said there are 17 species of parrots in Caracas , including many parakeets and macaws.

Parrots frolicking in a roadside tree | Fernando Flores / wiki commons

Among the macaws in Caracas, the most numerous is the Glass Macaw (Ara ararauna).

According to legend, a local Italian immigrant, Vittorio Poggi, once rescued an injured glass macaw. After the parrot recovered from its injury, it refused to leave and often flew behind his motorcycle, making Poggi famous. Locals began to give him sick parrots for treatment, and even gave him parrots they wanted to abandon, and Poggi would release them on the spot.

Why is your face red? Radiant?

Macaws are long-lived and intelligent birds. They can grow up to 90 cm in length, often move in small groups, and have rich social behaviors .

A 2018 study found that captive glazed macaws blushed noticeably when their owners actively interacted with them, but scientists didn't yet understand what the behavior meant.

The blush of the glazed macaw (Ara ararauna) is so obvious that it is visible to humans | Bertin A et al. (2018) PLoS ONE 13 (8): e0201762

Due to their gorgeous appearance and rich behavior, macaws have become pets that many people want to have. However, as a species listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), they should not be kept privately, and their habits are really not suitable as pets .

Macaws are loud and talkative, and they are naturally curious and will tear things apart. If the environment is too boring, they will develop behavioral problems due to boredom. In addition, some macaws can live for decades, and it takes a lot of patience, responsibility and money to properly care for them.

The gorgeous appearance of the Glass Macaw ignites people's love of beauty and desire to compare, but also adds an uncertainty to their own fate｜Diego Bezerra / Wikimedia Commons

The large number of abandoned parrots in Caracas is proof that people are short-lived.

"Caracas Adventure"

Some locals will buy fruits and seeds and feed the parrots on the balcony every day. Although feeding wild animals should not be allowed from the perspective of ecological impact, it is more of a helpless reality in Venezuela. After all, these actions bring a touch of color to people's lives.

In Caracas, a macaw might actually land next to you and eat a few sunflower seeds from your hand｜picolusinchi / pxhere.com

However, the problems facing wild parrots in Caracas go beyond just feeding.

The city is home to four species of macaws : the Glass Macaw, the Chestnut-fronted Macaw from the central region, the Scarlet Macaw, which wears the colors of the Venezuelan flag, from the plains and the Amazon rainforest, and the Green-winged Macaw from the east and west.

Scarlet macaws (Ara macao, first from right), green-winged macaws (Ara chloroptera, second from right) and glazed macaws standing in a row are also a unique landscape in Caracas｜noticiascaracas.com

They may not have intersected in their original habitats, but now they live in the same city, which can cause interbreeding problems and threaten the survival of the population . Moreover, the survival status of many macaws is already poor due to habitat destruction and the illegal pet trade, which makes the impact of interbreeding on the population even more serious.

It’s hard to manage these beautiful urban birds like other wildlife, because we need more scientific data to guide our actions. But studying them is difficult—parrots are too strong and too smart to easily remove tracking devices from their bodies . And there are too many more important and urgent issues to be addressed in Venezuela than the plight of parrots.

In Caracas, many ordinary citizens have set up feeding racks to make it easier for parrots in the city to eat. | Ariana Cubillos / AP Photo

How to coexist harmoniously with wild animals appearing in cities is not only a problem that Caracas has to face, but also a problem that many cities in the world have to face.

References

[1] Paula Ramón (2022) Meet the beloved macaws of Venezuela's capital. Nationalgeographic

[2] Brian Ellsworth & Vivian Sequera (2019) Macaws offer feathered 'therapy' to suffering Venezuelans. Reuters

[3] Bertin A et al. (2018) Facial display and blushing: Means of visual communication in blue-and-yellow macaws (Ara ararauna)? PLoS ONE 13 (8): e0201762.

Author: Maya Blue

Editor: Old Cat

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