Early last year we ran a series of posts on parrots (Parrot Month on 10,000 Birds) which included articles on wild parrots, the threats they face, the pet trade, and the heroes and heroines (and I use the words deliberately) who work so hard to look after ‘rescued pets’ and to educate the public about the realities of what owning these hyper-intelligent and long-lived birds can entail.

It’s not quite the same as being there yourself of course, but it’s not a bad second best…

In March 2010, my partner, Rachel, and I travelled with a small group to Guyana for a 10-day holiday of bird watching in this amazing country. We stayed at four eco-lodges; simple but very pleasant accommodations in rural central and southern Guyana.

The tour was organised by Marc and Karen Johnson of Foster Parrots, Ltd., Boston USA. Marc and Karen run a large, accredited sanctuary, mainly for ‘unwanted’ ex-‘pet’ parrots. They have been working hard to convert some of Guyana’s bird trappers into eco-guides and our trip proved how eco-tourism can really be the way forward for Guyana.

This article explains how this trip came about and describes the birds and other wildlife we saw.

Background:

Foster Parrots, Ltd is associated with the Avian Welfare Coalition (AWC), an umbrella body for genuine bird welfare groups, which has contributed notes on this website last year [and whose National Bird Day we fully support ~ Charlie Moores/10.000 Birds].

Through the AWC, Marc has been keeping us informed of their work in Guyana and for three years he has been encouraging local Amerindians to adopt eco-tourism to boost their economy. These people are also under some pressure to adopt other less ecologically benign methods of generating income. There is pressure to exploit the country’s mining and oil reserves for the ‘quick bucks’ this can deliver. The Amerindian people live very simple lives, almost in a cash-free economy. They typically have no access to electricity and very few use cars. They grow (or catch) most of their own food and still live, to a good extent, in ecological harmony with the natural forest and savannah environment that is their home.

Although their way of life is changing, their day-to-day living is much as it has been for thousands of years. We are hopeful that by adopting small-scale eco-tourism projects, run as they are at present by village co-operatives (not merely private individuals), that true sustainable development will grow in Guyana; developments which strengthen the chances of the forest remaining intact. This is the aim of these eco-tourism ventures.

Juvenile Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja. Photo © Michael Schindlinger

The Birds! And Other Wildlife:

We saw hundreds of species which were totally new to us; at least as ‘wild’ birds.

We would wake up in the morning to the sounds of Green-winged and Scarlet Macaws flying overhead; Mealy Amazon parrots and Hawk-headed parrots were seen regularly, too. We had amazing views of Harpy Eagles. A juvenile at Rewa and an adult near Maipaima Lodge (the first seen in this vicinity for 19 years). We saw Toucans, Nun-birds, Fork-tailed Kites, Hummingbirds, Plumbeous Kites, Savannah Hawks (common) and Northern Caracaras; these were almost as common as carrion crows are in the UK.

Travel by small boat is the main means of getting about where there are no roads. We saw countless birds, giant otters and big Black Caiman from boat trips like the one in the photograph below. Black Caiman are common on the rivers and grow to a very large, scary size! We would drift past Jabiru Storks, see Wood Storks flying overhead and Bat Falcons perched casually in the riverside trees. We saw groups of Giant River Otters playing around in the water, barely disturbed by our presence, and Oropendulas with their fluty warbling song were common and we watched them nest building at Sarama eco-lodge.

We had many encounters with monkeys, mainly Capuchins and Spider monkeys. The latter are quite ‘territorial’ and sometimes they threw branches at us, telling us in no uncertain way to leave them alone!

Jabiru Jabiru mycteria

Guianan Cock-of-the-rock Rupicola rupicola

We also saw several Cock-of-the Rock and visited the impressive Kaiteur Falls, by a small plane on the way back to the capital, Georgetown.

The Feel of the Place:

You get really immersed in the forest; many of its sounds are elusive, but the guides we had were very good. Knowing the calls of most of the birds (and frogs and insects), they knew what to look for and how to spot it for us. For someone who knows most of the northern European birds by sound as well as sight, the bird-calls of South America can be confusing! Almost all of them were new to me. But with a good guide, and keeping quiet as you walk through the forest, you get good sightings of many species.

The vast open space of the savannah is in contrast to the enclosed feel of the forest. Here you have big horizons, giant termite mounds, rough roads and big birds! Caracaras hang about the roadsides, Turkey and Black Vultures soar above, and Savannah Hawks are frequently seen.

Golden winged Parakeet Brotogeris chrysoptera
prospecting for a nest hole in a termite mound

Northern Caracara Caracara cheriway

The Amerindians, who run the eco-lodges for the benefit of their communities, are a very softly spoken, gentle people; it can be hard to hear them sometimes, they never seem to raise their voice at all. They are a self-reliant people. They grow their own food and build their own small, simple, palm-thatched houses. They have a minimal impact on the environment and have little reliance on money.

Guyana is about the same size as the UK, but instead of a population of over 60 million, it has less than one million inhabitants. Even then, most of these live near the coast and the capital, Georgetown. So the interior really is pristine and unspoilt. You will fly over miles of virgin rainforest, and this gives you some idea of the extent of this valuable habitat.

The Facilities:

The eco-lodges all have running water, flush toilets and showers. You sleep under mosquito nets in beds or hammocks. The food is much the same as the local people eat. You will be offered delicious dishes of cassava, rice, edo (a root veg like potato) ‘bakes’ (like warmed dough-bread) and for meat eaters there is chicken and fish etc. There is a range of fruit drinks from fruit grown locally. Drinking water is bottled and carried in for you.

Travel between the lodges is by small planes, boats, 4 WD drive trucks or larger Bedford ‘troop carriers’. Roads are unpaved and rough but ok in the dry season (December to early May) but more tricky – or altogether impassable- at other times!

Cost for UK travellers is about £2,500 each, for 10 to 14 days. We flew on Delta airlines from London Heathrow to New York and then to Georgetown. Total flying time was 13 hours, but we had a wait in NY.

Three-lined poison arrow frog

Summary:

We are not frequent, long-haul travellers, and we are aware of the environmental effects of frequent air travel. But a trip like this is a special one-off event for us. Having had a lifelong interest in both birds and environmental issues, this journey showed us a way forward for a country which, without tourism, would make other less environmentally-benign choices of how to ‘exploit’ its ‘resources’. No activity is entirely without its environmental effects, but compared to open cast mining, small-scale eco-tourism is benign, and provides a greater incentive to retain the habitat and its wildlife in its pristine condition.

Guyana could be compared with Costa Rica and that country’s early development of wildlife tourism. If you want to see birds (there are about 800 species in Guyana!) and if you want to support local people, their economy and their environment, Guyana is a great place to visit.

You will not be disappointed and any photos you bring back will be lifetime memories for you.

For more info on Marc and Karen’s work see www.fosterparrots.com and go to “Guyana Project” or email: marc@fosterparrots.com

Marc is planning another trip this October; be there!

Greg Glendell
March 2010.
(http://www.greg-parrots.co.uk)

• Photos in this post copyright Karen Windsor and Marc Johnson unless captioned otherwise

Foster Parrots, Ltd. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue and sanctuary of unwanted, languishing and abused captive parrots and other displaced exotics. Through educational initiatives we seek to bring wider public awareness to captive parrot issues and to help raise standards of care for domestically kept parrots. A staunch advocate for parrots as wild animals, Foster Parrots has established a conservation project in the South American country of Guyana that has helped protect parrots and other wildlife since 2004.

Foster Parrots, Ltd. is a TAOS accredited sanctuary facility. We are a proud member of The Avian Welfare Coalition and are honored to be a WSPA Society member.