parrots are magic
they make my day
the French say that love begins with a
coup de foudre or a thunder fight mine
began with a hurricane 1992 my daughter
and I heard the call of a well macaw and
the mangrove across the street we
dropped in and save the bird and that
bird became the love of my life I didn’t
know I was a parent lover until Big Bird
landed so to speak into my life right
now it’s a little bit like admitting to
you no statue of alcohol in the garage I
have six large macaws and what happened
was every time there was a macaw meeting
a home I said yes in addition to the
birds that I live with I am so blessed
to have these wild macaws come into my
backyard every single day
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you know the first day they arrived I
was cleaning cages out in the patio and
the funny thing was is my blue and gold
macaw gave out the macaw greeting call
but then she said for good measure hello
pretty Birds I guess in Miami and pays
to be bilingual the first time I ever
saw a blue and yellow macaw in Miami as
I was driving along I saw this flash of
electric blue above my car and it blew
my mind
it was my first-ever week in Miami and
really introduced me to what fabulous
places there was Mentor lied it was even
rang home to talk about it the great
thing about Miami right is that those
things keep happening the non-native car
community in South Florida is absolutely
wild there’s more than 10 species which
are fairly abundant and easy to observe
they all interact with each other and
with native species it’s really a unique
situation
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blue and yellow macaws come from Central
and South America most large parrots
range quite widely across the natural
forest ecosystems where they occur and
move between fruits in trees and take
advantage of those trees where the fruit
is particularly right to eat at that
time in Miami that can be replicated
fairly well because there’s a lot of
ornamental tropical plants scattered
across the city you know where the
almond trees are they know where the
point Fianna trees are they know where
the feeders are if it’s nesting season
I’ll get them in pairs or one a couple
of times a day but this time of year
that I can get as many as 11 or 12
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it just makes my day to see them flying
free and that’s why I’m so distraught
that this magnificence is going to be
lost that these birds are not going to
be anymore if the birds do not come I am
petrified
I am so terrified that they are being
poached because so many have disappeared
in the eight years since 2010 they’ve
gone from 44 down to 12 there are ads in
Craigslist parrots wanted it’s a big
business down here it is a vile horrible
big business the major means they use to
to get these birds is that they climb
the trees with either cleats or ladders
and they take the baby birds the other
not that they use is they buy $300 net
bonds on eBay and they shoot in that 35
feet in the air and they sell them
broken feet and Paul
I can’t even use the word poaching
technically it’s not illegal to take
parrots according to Florida Fish and
Wildlife as a non-native species it’s
not illegal it’s taken but
philosophically I don’t think it’s a
great idea
not all non-native species are
necessarily invasive an invasive species
is a non-native species that enters an
ecosystem and presents a direct threat
to a native species the macaws in Miami
have been here a few decades and they’ve
also been observed to nest in South
Florida but they’re so reliant on urban
ecosystem within Miami that I think it’s
unlikely that they’re going to become
invasive throughout South Florida these
are wild birds whether they’re in the
native range or not these are wild birds
they have grown up in the wild and they
eat they nest in the wild I will use the
word poaching because what else is it to
take something a magnificent wild animal
from its mates from its flock from its
habitat and lock it into a cage usually
for breeding and never let it out again
it’s it’s cool beyond belief
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the public is our eyes and ears report
poachers if you see somebody with a
ladder and a neck gun you need to call
the police
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Coral Gables Pine Crest Coconut Grove
Key Biscayne
we all have bird sanctuary laws that
protect the parents we should enforce
the bird sanctuary laws they aren’t
being enforced
why was one of the best places in the
world there’s tropical lizards there’s
tropical birds or tropical plants and I
definitely think Miami would lose part
of his charm if the macaws were to
disappear
parents should be parents and that means
that if they are a pet parrot they have
a loving caring home but if they’re wild
parents that they should be free
these birds are my life they are and my
love I must have a strong maternal
instinct that I just want to keep them
safe and keep them salaried and keep
them fed if you don’t shine
I want them flying free
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you
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