By Nikki Buxton | Executive Director
April through June was quite the mixed bag with an increase in intakes as fires and drought impacted the breeding season before the much-needed rains finally came.
Our 132 intakes included 50 parrots, 12 raptors, 13 waterbirds, 43 song/forest birds and 9 aracaris. Exactly half of those were babies needing hand-rearing of some description. We saw 42 different species, which requires multiple different diets, habitats and rehab techniques. Three of them were BBR ‘firsts’ –a uniform crake, a white-necked puffbird and a limpkin bringing the total of different species treated at the centre to 254.
Of the 50 parrots we received this quarter, 42 were babies that failed to fledge due to ill heath or poor feather condition, or rescued from the illegal pet trade. This includes our 15 yellow-headed Amazon babies removed to protect them from certain poaching. We made 51 releases which included 20 parrots, 11 raptors and 18 song/forest birds.
As usual, most of our rescues come via members of the public, but the Forest Department, the tourism sector and other NGO’s were extremely busy with the rescues, mostly because of their amazing efforts in fire control. You probably heard about Belize’s wildfires this year. They were widespread, intense, and the worst for many years. It wasn’t an especially dry dry-season, but high winds, poor farming practices, deforestation and a lack of fire-fighting resources in Belize exacerbated the issues. So much wildlife suffered before the rains finally came in the second week of June, and a fair amount of our intakes were a result of the fires and associated displacement.
As is typical in Belize we went from one extreme to another, and from one collective National Complaint to another! Those first heavy rains met the hard-baked ground and brought flash flooding, washing away roads and crops and creating a whole different set of challenges for this resilient little country.
Despite the rains, our yellow-head monitoring team continue with their mammoth task counting overflights and roosts of yellow-headed parrots over more than 220 locations throughout the species range. The fires hampered their progress and changed the normal patterns of the parrot's daily migration, then along came the floods and mud to prevent them accessing many of the transect areas. Not to be deterred, they have remained responsive and flexible, choosing the drier locations between the rainstorms, and barely getting our precious trucks stuck at all.. barely! We are so fortunate to have such skilled and passionate individuals willing to battle on in far-from ideal conditions. Go team!
All in all, it’s been a challenging breeding season and I don’t mind telling you we are exhausted! One thing is for sure though, without the support of our GlobalGiving family, we would be in much worse shape. Your continued support is completely essential to the continuation of our work here in Belize, and especially to our core functions of rescue, rehabilitation and release. We never say no to birds in need, and it’s such a relief to know that you’ve got our back when it comes to keeping the trucks fueled, the fridge stocked and the enclosures and their precious occupants safe and healthy.
Thank you from the bottom of our heart for your continued support over these last 3 months. We simply can’t do what we do without you!
Our sincere gratitude,
Nikki & the BBR Team
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