October 23, 2024
We are counting the yellow-crowned parrots here in the center of town
Coming into Karasabai Village in Guyana in the late afternoon I could hear the yellow-crowned parrots in the cashew trees above me as our truck kicked up dust driving through the village looking for the Parakeet Rangers. The rangers told me that there were more parrots than usual in the village now because the cashew trees were ripe. That first day I saw not just this species, but also red-and-green macaws, brown-throated parrots, and red-shouldered macaws. It was clear that the abundance of food in the area had drawn them in, although they do visit the village in smaller numbers all year long because the village no longer traps or hunts parrots and in Karasabai they find sanctuary.
The Parakeet Rangers will be posting these metal signs throughout the region - in other villages, in the farming areas, and along rivers and roads.
The rangers are serious about their work!
During my first evening in Karasabai, we organized our schedule for the four days I would be there. We would inspect wild parakeet nests, conduct official counts, and as usual, we would hold a lot of meetings and training sessions. The parakeet rangers told me that there would be a local Agriculture Exhibition on Wednesday and that villagers would come from all around to sell and celebrate the production of their crops and also the food and beverages their agricultural pursuits yield.
As we moved through the villages counting birds before Wednesday arrived, we watched human families drain the cyanide toxin out of the cassava and prepare it to make various foods for the food exhibition.
We often work in farming areas because this is where we find sun parakeets. The birds like the edges where mountains meet savannahs and where there are creeks that flow at the base of the mountains. This is fertile farming soil, and the ecosystem also supports plants that sun parakeets eat. In recent years, the sun parakeets have increased the numbers of their nesting cavities in these farm areas because here, too, they receive sanctuary.
Food exhibition booth also spotlighting the work of the rangers as well as their art.
Though I had seen and slept in many farms, I didn’t know that they grew such an abundance and variety of food here. This was on display at the various booths at the exposition. I arrived early but a larger crowd came in later and danced and partied to loud music until 5a.m. At about this time, the parrots began their loud and numerous calls as they flew in and out of the cashew and mango trees. They are not quiet. They call incessantly. I often wonder what they have so much to talk about.
Willington Millington, one of the Parakeet rangers, showcased his wildlife art at the food fair
Perhaps the parrots are sharing not just information about the food, but their delight in it, much like the people below them at the fair. It is also perhaps a time for the bird families to come together and celebrate a time of abundance and ease, again, in much the same way as the people with whom they share this village area.
Rangers setting up their camera to inspect a wild sun parakeet nest (below).
Three sun parakeet chicks in the nest cavity - about 5 weeks of age.
Thank you, farmers – you humans who produce the food – and you, parrots – the farmers of the forest who disperse seeds wherever you go. We are better and healthier because of all. of you.
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