Blue and gold macaws released in Pointe-a-Pierre

THE Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust continued its breed and release programme of endangered species with two recent releases of blue and gold macaws into the Pointe-a-Pierre environs.

Once found only in the Nariva Wetlands, these beautiful birds are endangered and were close to extinction in Trinidad due to the destruction of habitat, of their food trees and trapping for the illegal pet trade. Reduced to 15 birds left in the wild in 1959, the trust has since the 90s bred and released blue and gold macaws back into their natural home, the Nariva Wetlands, a media release said.

These birds are bred at the trust and reared by their own macaw parents as a part of the trust’s continuing breed and release programmes. The birds were prepared from hatching to fully-flighted young adults with minimal interaction with people for release into the wild.

There are 315 species of the parrot macaw family (psittacidae) in the world. Most, in the New World, South America, Amazon Basin and TT. In Trinidad there are two species of macaws, the blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) found mainly in the Nariva Wetlands and their food include palm seeds especially the moriche palms and sand box seeds. The other one is the red-bellied macaw (Ara manilata) also found in the Nariva Swamp but mainly in the Aripo Savannah. It feeds mainly on palms seeds.

Previous releases of the macaws were done in Nariva and central Trinidad. Some species of this family live 50 to 100 years.