It's all go in world of Bonaire's loras. Chicks are hatching out from their eggs and the parrot team have been rushing around trying to work out who is hatching on which days. With the help of project volunteers we found lots of new tree nests but many of them are difficult to see into. We are however, persistent and ingenious (even if I do say so myself!), and by using one of our fancy "night vision" cameras on the end of a pole we can see what is going on deep inside the cavity.
Part of the parrot team's work involves visiting nests to weigh and measure the chicks and generally record how they are developing. At this point the female stays in the nest and broods the chicks. When we wish to check the chicks we have to be in the area before dawn and then wait patiently for the male to arrive. He then calls to Mrs Parrot, who is dependant on him for food. She will leave the nest and that's when we spring into action. Temporarily removing chicks to conduct a nest inspection might only involve walking to a tree and putting your arm in a hole. It could however involve abseiling (rappelling) off a 40meter (120foot) cliff, contorting your body into a odd position and using a ladle to extract the chicks.
Olivia our parrotwatch.org superstar is now busy with four chicks. Being able to see what goes on inside the nests is amazing and we even have a movie showing the second chick hatching. One of the parrot team field assistants suggested the chicks were ugly, but dear reader do not be fooled for this is certainly not the case! At this age baby parrots are beautiful tiny pink bundles of joy. Their eyes and ears are not open and they are have only a few wisps of white down on their bodies. One chick that was checked recently weighed only 17grams, that's barely more than a wet tea bag! It is amazing to think that in two months this "tiny pink bundle of joy" will be a colourful and parrot about to fly from the nest into the big wide world.
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