Rio Abajo State Forest is the home of the most successful population of the extremely endangered Puerto Rican Parrot. Because El Yunque National Forest in eastern Puerto Rico’s highlands was the last place the parrots survived in the wild, biologists had long believed the parrots should be reintroduced there. But after years of frustrating attempts to establish a healthy population at El Yunque, they decided to try another site, selecting Rio Abajo, a region of rugged terrain 60 miles to the west. Parrots disappeared from Rio Abajo in the 1920s following the loss of primary forests, but today the area supports dense second-growth woodlands suitable for the birds. In 2006, scientists introduced a new flock to the region, and since then, “the population in Rio Abajo has taken us by surprise,” says Tom White, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist with the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program. “We had no idea it would work so well.”

The Rio Abajo flock numbers at as many as 160. At least this past year, around 60 birds have fled from wild nests, a record! Many continue to settle around the aviary cages, creating a flock of captive and wild birds. The sight of wild parrots wheeling through the forest and the sound of their clown-horn squawks stimulate captive birds to lay. A member of the team who works daily with them will show us how they do their excellent job.