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Mission:
Maroon-fronted Parrot (Rhynchopsitta terrisi)
Sierra
Madre Oriental,
Mexico
February 16, 2001
Clouds
left over from a winter storm cover the tops of the Sierra
Madre, which reach 12,000 feet. Lower, the rugged valleys
and canyons are open to the Spirit of Alejandra, the Wings
of Change aircraft flying the mission.
The mission,
in partnership with the Centro de Calidad Ambiental at ITESM
(Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores en Monterrey
- Monterrey Tech) and Pronatura
Noreste began with the fitting of the Alejandra with special
radiotelemetry antennae beneath each wing. These will enable
"Tech" biologist Claudia Macias Caballero to locate
threatened Maroon-fronted Parrots by receiving signals from
radio collars put on ten of the parrots months earlier.
The Maroon-fronted
Parrot occurs only in northeast Mexico. When they are nesting
their whereabouts are well known, as they move within a narrow
area of about 6,000 km2. When they are not nesting, their
range and habitat requirements are not well documented. They
migrate to the south of the Sierra Madre looking for food
in a more extensive area of approximately 12,000 km2. By locating
where the birds go, Monterrey Tech will know what areas need
protection as habitat for the birds.
Previous
flights failed to locate any birds, either because the antennae
weren't working well or the searchers didn't get close enough
to receive the transmissions. The antennae, and thus the aircraft,
need to get within 10 kilometers of the transmitting collars
to have a chance of receiving a signal. We're hopeful.
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Claudia
Macias uses a radio direction finder to locate the Maroon-fronted
parrots.
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The cloud
cover may help us. It forces us to fly low, under the clouds
down in the valleys and canyons. While we won't be able to
fly large scale aerial transects, we'll be in the valleys,
therefore close enough to receive a signal if there are birds
in the valleys where we fly.
Field
biologist Jose Luis Manzano Loza and Claudia review the maps
with Wings of Change Founder and Chief Pilot G.L. Scarborough.
They pick a series of narrow valleys to fly. The search begins
250 kilometers from takeoff, probing this valley, that canyon
in sequence. Two hours into the flight we get a positive contact
from a radio-collared parrot. "Si! Aquí hay uno!!"
We've found one of the ten!
The habitat
is approximately 130 kilometers from the known nesting grounds
and gives Monterrey Tech and Claudia Macias the needed information
on the habitat use of the species, where they spend the winter,
and what portions of the Sierra Madre need to be preserved
to protect the threatened Maroon-fronted Parrot.
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