Macaw Mountain, Copan Ruinas

We are now in Honduras and today we visited Macaw Mountain near Copan Ruinas.

The Scarlet Macaw is the national bird of Honduras and this bird has frequently been taken as a pet or for that matter featured in movies (often accompanying a pirate or two). The Macaw Mountain project was set up to care for previously captive or injured birds and where possible reintroduce them to the wild. The project was setup in 2001, supported by the World Parrot Association and has been releasing Scarlet Macaws into the wild since 2011.

The conditions for the captive birds was excellent (much better than at bird parks in UK) with very large cages which gave them plenty of room to fly about. The photos below are all of the birds held captive within the park.

However, I was really here to see the free-flying birds of which there were many since this was a release site for bred Macaws. All the photos which follow (not those above) are of free-flying birds. The habitat was a lovely forest set beside a fairly strong river.

Whilst walking around the park we saw several woodpeckers, enjoyed the singing of Clay-Coloured Thrushes and also saw a small flock of Black-Headed Saltators. The presence of so many Macaw’s seemed to invite the wild birds in and to be more confiding enabling some good photos. Either that or the generous quantities of fruit on feeding tables attracted them!

It wasn’t just birds on display, Squirrels, Butterflies and Flowers were all showing well.

Before long another couple of beautiful birds caught my eye – First a pair of Altamira Orioles and then a single Turquoise-Browed Motmot. I have seen both before but these birds offered excellent photo opportunities compared to my previous sightings.

We kept seeing the distinctive profile of Montezuma Oropendola’s flying overhead (yellow surrounding outer feathers on tail). Before long we found out why as there was a large nesting colony nearby. These birds build incredible nests which reminded me of the African Weavers.

We heard and then saw some Plain Chachalacas, these birds are incredibly noisy and characterful. One guide book says they move through the forest with all the grace and poise of a large bulldozer. We also spotted the woodpeckers again this time coming for food from the fruit table.

But really it was the Macaws flying all about us and coming back for food at the fruit tables that were the stars of the day. These birds blend the definition of wild (not a criticism, it is kind of built into the purpose of the place to support Macaw’s after release). They are free to come and go and they include breading pairs which are adding to the population. But the majority have been bred in captivity and released.

As if to illustrate this last point two Macaws got friendly on a nearby tree and at one point seemed to be mating upside down before the branch collapsed under their amorous activities.