Macaws nesting late due to heavy rains |
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During
the breeding season
we climb nests to check on the nestlings. We climbed several nests in
March, however instead of finding the feathered nestlings we usually
find at this time of year, we found eggs and the only nestlings we found
were several days old. This was strange as the macaws have been nesting
since December/ January and by now some nestlings should be ready to
fledge. Initially we considered the possibility that chicks had been
poached from the nests so the macaw pairs had re-laid eggs. However
after finding so many nests with eggs, this seemed unlikely, especially
as we were hearing that the macaws in the Osa Peninsular also seemed
to be behind schedule. Eventually we concluded that the macaws were
nesting late due to the unusual weather in the 2005 wet season. Between August and December over 25 hurricanes hit the Carribean area, one of which was the well documented hurricane Katrina. Although Costa Rica is too far south to have been seriously affected, it did receive heavier rains than usual. The efects of this were first noticed in the Osa Peninsular, where four monkey species, toucans and other animals were found dead. It is generally agreed that this was because the heavy rains had not allowed the trees to flower and produce fruits, therefore predominantly fruit eaters had starved. Although few macaws were found dead, it seems they were weakened by this food shortage and therefore produced eggs several months later than usual, when they had built up reserves. Unfortunately this could have serious consequences for the Costa Rican populations in 2006. The rainy season is now beginning in Costa Rica, therefore nests may fill with water - drowning the nestlings inside.
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