Year: 2019

On the drive to Corcovado National Park our guide from Ficus Tours, Jenkins, pointed out an adult and adolescent Caracara (a type of falcon) perched on a roadside fence. As we slowly drove past I snapped photos, all the while hearing a loud cawing sound that didn’t appear to be coming from either of the birds on the fence. That’s when I noticed a rustling in the grass at the bottom of the fence and saw a second adult Caracara looming with lethal intent over a grounded parrot.

To our great relief, Jenkins said we should intervene since this was a highly unusual situation, and not a very ‘natural’ one since it was taking place at the edge of a farm field rather than the nature preserve.

The Caracaras flew away as we approached. Jenkins managed to coax the parrot onto a stick and transfer it to safe perch across the road in a tree on the edge of a dense forest filled with the calls of other parrots.