We have an amazing team of parrot conservationists in the La Moskitia area of Honduras. I finally had a chance to work with them again in person after a long time of Covid-19-related travel restrictions. After 11 years of working in this area, my admiration for these indigenous people continues to rise. May these following photos show you a small piece of the courage and commitment of these people, and their work.
We work for the wild parrot flocks of La Moskitia - the birds are a fierce team,
as are the human conservationists
Parrot ranger from the community of Suhi - he bikes tens of kilometers a day
Parrot ranger of Rus Rus - he motorcycles tens of kilometers every day
Parrot ranger from the community of Wahabispan
- he walks tens of kilometers every day
Parrot rangers of Rus Rus and Mabita - part of the women's program. This day they are in the project truck, but normally they walk, you can guess, right? Many kilometers a day!
Here the women rangers organize before going out into the field. The women's program, managed by One Earth's NGO partner INCEBIO, and funded by the USFWS, supports them with stipends, a day care center, and regular meals for their children and for themselves.
All our coordinators have to meet for hours when not in the field to organize the work
and to record data, but at least they can dress more comfortably!
The two teams, women and men, work closely together, such as the two lead coordinators, Santiago Lacuth and Caren Lacuth, shown here weighing a wild macaw chick after conducting a physical exam and banding the bird.
Some of our parrot rangers are also tree climbers, so they can inspect the condition of macaw chicks in a nest. But first they have to get to the tree!
Our parrot ranger from the community of Pranza reviews pictures
of a macaw nest he has just taken
While his father from Pranza is up in the tree, his son, our youngest parrot ranger,
waits patiently below
Our lead coordinator from Mocoron continues to work, even though he cannot walk after a motorcycle accident. He's not walking kilometers a day, but his team (pictured below),
who he directs, does.
Our parrot team extends all the way to Puerto Lempira and ICF (the forestry service). They do all kinds of work for conservation, including helping us monitor nests and arranging for military check points (pictured below). The military and the police are also on Team Parrot.
Narciso Montoya, one of our parrot rangers, is buried here. He was murdered in March 2021, and his spirit will walk with us, and fly with the parrots, forever