Scarlet macaws on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast have made a remarkable comeback, the Tico Times reports. A project at Punta Leona in Garabito counted about 215 of the birds in the area in the early 1990s. Monitoring now puts the population at close to 800.
This season the programme has added three more artificial nests fitted with cameras, bringing the number of live-streamed nests to 11. Between 2017 and 2025, its monitored nests produced 98 eggs, 69 hatchlings and 46 young birds that flew the nest. The first eggs of the new season are expected in December or January.
Coordinator Christopher Vaughan says the 36-year effort now employs former chick poachers to build the nest boxes, turning old know-how to the birds’ advantage. The project also replants native trees that macaws feed and nest in.
Source: The Tico Times