photo courtesy of Melanie Typaldos
In 2005, we received the ultimate Christmas gift.
My family and I were in Jaco, Costa Rica, a funky beach, surfing, fishing and tourist town on the Pacific Coast. We were on the last leg of a wonderful Caravan tour of the country that included rain forests, beaches, volcanoes, rivers, wetlands as well as cultural sites like a bananna processing plant, a green coffee plantation and museums in San Jose.
On Christmas day, we were staying in a hotel in Jaco overlooking the Pacific in the distance. My wife, Lori, called me urgently to the balcony where she had spotted several remarkable birds in flight. Together we watched in astonishment as a group of gaudy red, blue and yellow Scarlet Macaws flew directly overhead, squawking loudly in parrot tones as they passed over the hotel roof top. We were in a happy state of shock.
Later that morning during an outdoor breakfast, we saw and heard several more Macaw groups flying by. We pointed them out to the delight of other tour members. This was the first time that any of us had seen these remarkable and previously endangered birds.
The Scarlet Macaw is a strikingly beautiful representative of the parrot family that prefers rainforest habitat (another worry) ranging from southern Mexico through central America to the northern portion of South America. They are sexually dimorphic meaning that males and females look alike – both flat out gorgeous! Due to hunting, poaching, and habitat destruction through deforestation as well as pesticide use by bananna companies, Scarlet Macaw populations plummeted in the 1960s. They seem to have stabilized according to the World Conservation Union, which rated them a species of “Least Concern” in 2004.
This is hopeful news for the planet and for people, including those who wish for a perfect gift.
