The Dance of Death

i American Birds, Summer 1992 A Falcon Is Laughing In The Jungle By MichaelTennesen t wasabout 7 a.m.when Megan Parker, a youngraptor biologist, climbed downfrom her 75-foot-high tree blind. The treeprotrudes above the jun- glecanopy in Guatemala'sTikal NationalPark which lies on the low, rolling,limestone hills near the Mexican and Belize borders. In 1990,the governmentdeclared Tikal andits adjacent territories a "biosphere." Today,its 221 squaremiles of densetropical forest, along with similarly protected zonesin adjacentparts of Mexicoand Belize, comprise the largestcontiguous protectedarea in all of CentralAmerica. Tikal NationalPark is to Guatemala what Banff National Park is to Canada or Yellowstone is to the United States. Longprotected, the wildlife within its boundaries isboth plentiful and oblivi- ousto humanintruders. Coatimundis cross the trails in troopsof 50 or more, haltingall humantraffic, while spidermonkeys climb in the treesabove. Everywhere,there are birds: OscillatedTurkeys, Red-lored Parrots, Aztec Parakeetsand toucans. It is not impossibleto goout in an afternoonand add 50 speciesof birdsto yourlife list. Parker'sspecialty is the LaughingFalcon, which she had been observing since dawn.Now, dressed in shorts,t-shirt and sneakers, she moved out of thejungle to themuddy dirt roadthat tunneledthrough the densegreen foliage, and turned north.Then, shesaw a flickerof yellow. Up ahead,just aroundthe bend,near a poolof water,a LaughingFalcon dancedin the road.The bird is a moderate-sizedraptor with a richbrown back, buff-and-black banded tail, and a cream-coloredbreast and head. A broad, black maskcovers the eyes, narrowing as it wrapsaround the head.Its appearancehas earnedthe bird its nickname,the Lone Ranger. AsParker drew nearer, she realized that the bird wasn't dancing alone. Its dead- ly partnerwas a fer-de-lance,a pit viperwhose poison attacks the vascular system, causingmassive hemorrhaging. The snake's black, gray and brown diamond pat- Volume 46, Number 2 ß 197 leon I: Lauching In Th• Jungle tern helpsit blend perfectlyinto enticingthe snaketo strike,like a andclamped its broad, deep, bolt- the forest leaf litter. Unlike most matador would a bull. The for-de- cutter-likebeak behind the writhing venomoussnakes whose poison lancehas poor visionbut usesan rcptilc'sneck and severed its spinal attacksthe centralnervous system, infraredeye or lorcalpit aboveits cord. the fcr-dc-lancc's victims bleed to nose to sense body heat and Becauseit feedsexclusively on death. The only hospital in this motion. But when the snake did snakes,the LaughingFalcon occu- ruralpart of Guatemalacan't afford not lungefor theLaughing Falcon's pies a specialniche in thisjungle to stocka supplyof the expensive cape-likewing, the raptorstarted a and enjoysa specialrelationship anti-venom required to treat the moreactive pursuit. with its people.Its feedinghabits makeit betterreceived by the locals who understandits unique ecolog- ical role. It is only oneelement of thediverse raptor community within thisbiosphere. In this pristinejungle, Megan Parker works for the Idaho-based PeregrineFund's Maya Projectto completeher Master'sdegree in raptor biology. Sheis energetic, enthusiastic, and devoted to her work.The project'sgoal is to inves- tigate the raptor community in thisprotected jungle tract. So far, it hasstudied the Orange-breasted Falcon, the Bat Falcon, the Barred Forest-Falcon. the Mottled Owl, andthe Ornate Hawk-Eagle. In 1990 Parker spent her first seasonobserving the little-known birds,which are found in thetrop- ical lowlands that stretch from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Though its English name is the Laughing Falcon, Herpetotherescachinnans is not of the genusFalco, to whichthe Pere- Displayingher characteristicmask, this adultfemale Laughing Falcon grine Falcon,Gyrfalcon, Merlin, almostdares you to look away.Photograph/Craig J. Flatten. and AmericanKestrel belong. It does not have the stiff, narrow snakebite. So, researchers either Flappingits wings,the falcon wingsof a true falconand does not carry their own or follow the cus- lifted up into the air andjumped engagein the aerial displaysfor toms of the country: "The high overthe deadlysnake, land- which Peregrinesand Gyrfalcons Guatemalanssay the remedyfor a ing on the other side.The reptile arefamous. Instead, its wings are bite by a fer-de-lanceis to cut off turned,following its everymove. short;it usesits longaccipter-like the bitten limb with a machete," Graduallythe bird built the tempo tail to navigatethrough the dense saysParker. of the dance,jumping backand forest.Phylogenetically, it is closest But the Laughing Falconwas forth,until on the fourthpass, the to the Micrasturs--the Barred not afraidof the snake.Finding snaketurned a little too slowly. Forest-Falcon and the Collared the snakebasking on the road,the The LaughingFalcon extended a Forest- Falcon. bird spreadits wings and began to sharptalon, and with lightning The LaughingFalcon is known brush them againstthe ground, speed,pulled the snakeunder it not only for its ability to capture 198' American Birds, Summer 1992 A Falcon Is Laughing In The Jungle snakes, but also for its suite of unique calls that, in some instances,resemble a humanlaugh. Parkerand herresearch team study thesecalls using a recorderand directionalmicrophone. "When the birds are in the nest and undis- turbed, they havea low chuckle that sounds like ha ... ha ... ha.' When a mated pair is out hunt- ing,it usesshort laughs 'ha, ha'to locateeach other. But when they aredefending their nest, the birds usean hystericalcackle--short harshlaughs interspersed with descending laughs that are extremelyloud." Nestingbirds often greetboth dawn and dusk with a duet that startswith the femalecalling '•u- au-auuu"andthe male answering with a distinct 'Svah-koh, wah-koh, wah-koh" that builds in volume andtempo to a harmonicsong that can be heard for miles. In fact, the localname for the bird is "guaco," which in Spanishis pronounced "wah-koh." Parker'sjungle day beginsat 4 a.m. She heads out and dimbs into oneof the blindsbefore first light bringsthe jungleto life. Parkeris Withthe averageLaughing Falcon nest being 60-90 feet highin the tree, Parkerhas a nowin herthird yearof study,and hard climb in front of her. Photograph/CraigJ. Flatten. stayswith thebirds from February to earlyAugust. and early March. The Laughing miniature bears. In "Animal LaughingFalcons usually nest in Falconsproduce only one mottled, Kingdom" in 1960, the well- thejungle's tallest trees, the average reddish-brownegg. Birds in gener- known ornithologistAlexander beingabout 120-150 feet high. al tendto layfewer eggs in tropical Skutchreported studying a nestof The nestis a fairly casualmatter climateswhere the competitionfor LaughingFalcons "near the foot with epiphytes,bromeliads, and foodis greater,although one egg is of a forested ridge in southern barkproviding the substratenear not the norm. Parker thinks the CostaRica." There, he sawa tayra the top of the tree.According to LaughingFalcon may compensate attack and kill a nestlingfalcon. Parker, one nest was "simply a for the singleegg by increased He watchedas the tayraascended trampledarea of epiphytesringed parentalattention in the single the nesttree and was fairly amazed by freestandingleaves that provide young. at the bird'slack of defense."Only the only concealment,shading, Despite careful supervision, whenthe tayrawas on theverge of andprotection for the chicks." bothegg and chick are susceptible entering the hollowdid the guaco The singleegg is usuallyplaced to predatorssuch as spider mon- (LaughingFalcon) bestir herself," within the crook of a branch or keys,snakes, and tayras--mem- he wrote."Uttering a low,excited someother open cavity, and is laid bers of the weasel family that cry, [the bird] darted directly sometimebetween late February resemblepint-sized wolverines or toward the beast, but when it Volume 46, Number 2 ß 199 MarioLima and Megan Parker banding a San Antonio Laughing nestling in 1990.Lima may take over researching theLaughing Falconwhen Parker leaves at theend of thisyear. Photograph/Craig J. Flatten. snarledand showed its sharp white back,drawing blood. On a num- would just suckthem down like teeth,she dropped away without ber of occasions, the birds struck spaghetti."In Parker'sfirst year of havingtouched it." her head, an experience she studyshe confined her work to six But aside from Skutch's obser- remembersas a loud, unnerving nestsin primary-growth forest. vations,little was known. Many of "thud." Whatshe found was a uniquerap- Parker'sfindings have been firsts. Thefemale Laughing Falcon incu- tor which existed on a diet of 21 With over 2500 hours of observa- batesthe eggalone, and when the differentsnake species. tion, Parker has found the birds chickhatches, in earlyto mid-April, Parkerobserved the Laughing very defensive.Several times she themale feeds the female and young Falconspreying on sevendifferent hasbeen attacked by both male solelyon a diet of snakes,which he species of venomous snakes-- and femalewhile climbing the oftenbrings back alive to the nest. includingcoral snakes, fer-de-lance nest trees to weigh the chicks. "I sawmales delivering five-foot- and otherpit vipers.Parker even They stooped at her head and long,one-half-inch in diametertree sawthe birds bring in three-and-a- shoulders; once, a bird raked her snakes,"says Parker, "and the female half-foot-longboas that weretwo 200- American Birds, Summer 1992 A Falcon is Laughing In The Jungle inches

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