Rose Parade 2018 "Gift of Time" float picturing parrots with the Maya calendar
January marks not only the start of the year in the Americas, but the time in many regions where parrots are laying eggs and the conservation field season cranks up in earnest. Of particular interest to One Earth Conservation are our projects in Central America, and the sun parakeets of Guyana where we are heading to on National Bird Day, January 5, 2019. In these regions, parents are looking for nests, and some have already laid eggs, sitting tight on their nests waiting for the hatching.
The parents commit much time, and face hardship and risks to their lives, as predators are looking to take not only eggs, but perhaps also might catch the female in the cavity, cornered as she protects her eggs or young chicks. Predators include iguanas, snakes, birds of prey, and humans.
Our patrollers and conservationists must also face hardship and risks to their safety. If you ask them why they do this, you will get a variety of answers, which includes respect, employment, teamwork, and having the opportunity to do meaningful work that protects what they cherish.
Santiago Lacuth, our field coordinator in Honduras wrote a song about his beloved ancestral lands. In this video, sung in Miskito, he tells us and all who would listen...
These are our riches that we have to care for and defend, from children to men like our ancestors did giving their life for these animals.
So we begin this year with a song in our heart, the song of the earth, and all its beauty.
Let's make this year, and every year, the year of the parrot, by giving parrots the gift of more time on this planet, and ourselves as well.