Soaring past danger
Puerto Rican parrots weather Hurricane Maria

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El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico 鈥� They鈥檙e old, parenthood behind them, but that hardly means the two senior citizens serve no purpose.

They like to talk. Others, sometimes, show up to listen.

People here call them Egida, literally, a 鈥渉ouse for the elderly.鈥� The Spanish-to-English translation describing their function is not precise, but it鈥檚 close enough. The Puerto Rican parrots sit in a cage and call to their wild peers. It鈥檚 one way scientists assess how well the endangered species survived Hurricane Maria.

The couple is among about 240 birds that weathered the tempest when it struck Puerto Rico late last month. Most of them stayed in a reinforced-concrete building at an aviary owned and operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service).

While 150 mph winds ripped the jungle apart, two Service workers, Thomas White and Arelis Johnson, remained at the aviary to await the storm鈥檚 passage. With them were parrots in cages, brought inside before hell came howling.

The birds did well. None died during the storm, though nine succumbed to heat and stress afterward.

For that, Jafet Velez is grateful 鈥� pleasantly surprised, too.

鈥淚 was amazed,鈥� said Velez, a Service biologist with nearly 30 years experience working with the parrots. 鈥淚 thought they would have been more stressed.鈥�

Maybe the birds knew they were in the right hands. Service biologists have been working for decades to propagate a species that perched on the edge of extinction 50 years ago.

The three sites that support Puerto Rican parrots: (1) El Yunque National Forest, (2) Rio Abajo Commonwealth Forest, (3) Maricao Commonwealth Forest.

Though the bird is still endangered under the Endangered Species Act, it shows small signs of recovery with each clutch of chicks.

Still, Maria 鈥� and, before it, Hurricane Irma 鈥� tested the species as it hadn鈥檛 been tested in years.

Tested Service workers, too. The aviary here has been without power from the grid since the hurricane made landfall Sept. 20; a generator powers a refrigerator and freezer that keep bird food and other essentials chilled. Cell phones cannot find a signal. The only cool air comes from breezes off fog-shrouded peaks.

No one is sure when the aviary will be fully functional again.

No regrets

He began working for the Service as a young man wanting to set aside cash to pay for medical school. But something about the birds called to him. Velez, now 49, delayed med school for a year, then another, then a third.

鈥淎nd now, it鈥檚 28 years later!鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 regret it!鈥�

He may be Puerto Rico鈥檚 No. 1 parrot cheerleader. Velez sometimes wanders among the cages, thinking: Is that bird ready for mating? Should I change this one鈥檚 diet? Other times he鈥檚 a torrent of facts 鈥� that parrots can live to be 40; that they鈥檙e territorial; that they mate for life.

Well, not always for life. One couple recently had 鈥渕arital difficulties,鈥� Velez said. 鈥淚 separated them for counseling,鈥�

That doesn鈥檛 always work. He takes some feuding birds to a community cage where parrots get acquainted with others. Velez calls it the 鈥渓ove shack.鈥�

That shack must be working. Breeding operations have grown from one chick, born in 1979, to more than 100 hatched last year. They were born here and at three other aviaries in Puerto Rico. The Service is a partner with Puerto Rico鈥檚 Department of Natural and Environmental Resources in helping the species recover.

It鈥檚 a small step in a long journey to replenish a species that once numbered 1 million. That was 500 years ago, before humans began carving Puerto Rico鈥檚 fertile hillsides and valleys into plantations, ruining the parrots鈥� habitat.

In 1975, biologists counted 13 Puerto Rican parrots in the wild. 鈥淚t was probably the most endangered bird in the world,鈥� Velez said

Now? 鈥淲e are confident we will have an awesome 2018 breeding season.鈥�

鈥楲ike magic鈥�

Caa-caa-caaa! The cry echoed from 鈥渃ondo鈥� cages erected side-by-side to large mesh enclosures where scores of birds rested on perches, occasionally flying from one end of the Quonset-hut-style cages to the other, a 60-foot jaunt.

Velez didn鈥檛 flinch. He鈥檇 heard it before. The loud bird, he said, was acting as a lookout. If something unusual were to appear 鈥� a snake, perhaps, or an unfamiliar human tromping all about 鈥� Caa! The bird would alerts its peers. It鈥檚 how they鈥檝e survived.

They鈥檝e also made it from year to year with some critical human help. The aviary here has a hospital, with medicine and enclosures for ailing birds. On a recent day, a veterinarian visited the aviary and fixed a broken wing, then stitched an injury.

The Service also is repairing other enclosures to give the birds extra room. Falling trees rendered them uninhabitable. Even now, some are branded with ribbons whose warning is hard to ignore: KILLER TREE.

Yes, it鈥檚 a lot of work, said Velez, but the parrot deserves it. The species was fine, he said, until another animal began taking its habitat.

Now, he said, that species 鈥� Homo sapiens 鈥� owes it to Amazona vittata to give the parrots a chance to survive.

It鈥檚 a matter of national pride. Along with the coqui, the tiny frog that peeps every night, the parrot is one of the territory鈥檚 signature animals. 鈥淵ou see it painted on walls 鈥� everywhere around here.鈥�

On a more basic level: The parrot has a right to this world, too.

Velez knows. He remembers visiting El Yunque years ago. He was 16, unfamiliar with the forested folds of the rain forest.

He took it all in 鈥� the shadows, the mist, the feeling that he stood in a special place where something rare flitted in the green heights. 鈥淚t was like magic, like wow!鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was like the answer to a prayer.鈥�

So plans for a medical career made way for a life saving birds. For what it鈥檚 worth: His daughter is attending med school.

And the Egida, those two old parrots?

Perhaps they鈥檙e talking about that.