James Smith
There were 56 wild and endangered Puerto Rican parrots living around El Yunque National Forest before Hurricane Maria in 2017. After the storm, there was only one survivor.
“I admit I cried a few times,” said Tom White, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who has worked for 30 years to reestablish a wild population of Puerto Rican parrots in El Yunque.
The parrot is one of the most critically endangered birds of the world, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
About 60 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the parrot as a endangered speciesa legal status that resulted in an ongoing and challenging effort to rebuild a healthy population of birds in the wild, which continues to this day.
“If humans caused this, it’s basically up to us to fix it,” White said.
Jose Sanchez/CBS News
But the Puerto Rican parrot is also one of many species whose habitat and survival are threatened by hurricanes, which are becoming increasingly dangerous. increasingly destructive because of Climate Change.
Hurricane Maria killed almost 3,000 people, causing historic floods and landslides. Researchers found Maria extreme rainfall it was 5 times more likely because of climate change.
Battered by 180 mph winds, White and his wife weathered the storm inside a hurricane shelter with 190 pairs of captive breeding parrots, sheltering them from the storm. They then went out to assess the damage.
“We were speechless,” he said. “It went from green and lush to brown and leafless in a matter of hours.”
All of the captive birds White had at the hurricane shelter survived the storm. But due to heavy debris, crews were unable to reach the 56 wild birds that had been released earlier and were living in remote areas of the forest.
Although some of these wild parrots were killed by the hurricane’s winds, many others starved to death after the storm, with the island’s forests stripped of vegetation.
“There was nothing for them to eat,” said Marisel López Flores, leader of the Parrot Recovery Program.
Birds in crisis
All over the world, birds are in crisis – and not just exotic ones. Over the past 400 years, nine species of birds in North America have become extinct, according to the National Audubon Society. This century, the group estimates that 314 species are threatened with extinction.
Some of the Biggest Drops, According to One Milestone to study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, are happening in the most common types of birds. The study analyzed population decline between 1970 and 2019 and found large losses of:
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Thrushes, found in the eastern US; 60% of them disappeared.
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Baltimore orioles, also an eastern bird; two-fifths were lost.
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Western meadowlarks, prevalent in the central and western US; three-quarters disappeared.
Some of the main threats for birds it comes from the loss of habitat and the increase in global temperature. But more intense hurricanes also play a role.
Although many birds are adapted to survive large storms, they can have difficulty overcoming the damage to their habitats that are necessary for nesting, foraging and roosting – which has happened to many Puerto Rican parrots.
White explained that protecting parrot habitats can also protect the habitats of thousands of other species.
“By doing this, you protect the world for many others at the same time,” he said.
Giving birds a better chance
Since Hurricane Maria, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been successfully reestablishing a wild population of parrots, now with a new twist.
Before the hurricane, the birds were released in remote corners of El Yunque. Now, scientists and staff use behavioral techniques that encourage birds to remain near the aviary complex.
Essentially, this combines wild and captive birds into a single community in the aviary. In future disasters, this could give birds a better opportunity to be rescued and fed when the forest is impassable.
Biologists developed this technique at a sister parrot aviary in Puerto Rico, in the Rio Abajo State Forest, where, after Maria, they were able to feed 90 birds and save their lives. Since then, the techniques developed in Puerto Rico have also been used successfully to release endangered animals. macaws in Brazil.
Tom White, an American Fish and Wildlife biologist, said birds survive better in larger flocks.
“Flocks defend themselves against predators and also to better find food resources,” said White.
In January, the El Yunque aviary released 22 birds from captivity. Between three aviaries in Puerto Rico, there are now about 300 parrots living in the wild, a sign that parrot recovery efforts here are working.
“When I’m old and I die, I can say I did something for my country. This is how I think I am contributing to my island,” said López Flores.
