One of the main reasons I chose Pousada Xaraés was to see the hyacinth macaws. And see them I did! A large group resides on the farm, and one reason being that the owner is a long participant in the program that seem to have saved this gorgeous species from extinction.
I remember seeing a documentary on them many years ago where the conclusion was that this species was beyond recovery. Fortunately they were proved wrong.
Not that it wasn’t a close call. People with minds and hearts far away from reality desired this unique bird as a token of their wealth and success. And because it was and still is so rare, the price was astronomical!
To further complicate matters, couples separated would die shortly after separation as some humans would do when their loved one dies. They would not form a new relationship either.
Fortunately the rescue program found ways to track the macaws using microchips, and most of them landed in the countries on the Arabian peninsula. Many countries there still collect falcons, by the way. None of which belong to their fauna!
As a result of this the recovery process is well underway, with some assistance of nesting boxes (as the preferred softwood manduvi tree (Sterculia apetala) is becoming rare), and cooperation from cattle farmers that are now aware of their food requirements and how they can protect they young palm trees from being trampled to pieces by cattle, so that regeneration of their food is secured.
On Pousada Xaraés the macaw/cattle co-dependency is obvious, but their peaceful nature is really wonderful to experience. They are not afraid of humans, and I could watch them, indefinitely.
Here they’re eating the palm nuts (mostly from the acuri palm (Attalea butyracea and phalerata among others)) that have passed through the cattle’s digestive system, removing the outer layers that are of no interest to the macaw.
This is the dry season, so water is less abundant, but food is abundant. In the rainy season, finding easy pickings from the cow’s dung, is a different matter.
Here I felt like this was a common bird, but this is very much not the case. The hyacinth is only one step away from critically endangered! That’s why the cooperation from farms like Pousada Xaraés is so important.
In fact the owner wants to expand and purchase neighboring farms or at least cooperate with them, but one of the largest neighbors hates jaguars, and hates the idea of accommodating tourists. He simply wants to do cattle farming until he dies! Hopefully his children will have a better understanding.
It sounds like this:
Last updated on 7 December 2020
