The Golden Conures at the End of the Rainbow By Tara Tuatai

My devotion to Golden Conures began several most of the world over the past 20 years (literally years ago. I was on a trip to the USA (from every country except Libya and East Timor), I was Australia) and visited a specialist bird store in well prepared to venture into the rainforests, Florida, Golden Cockatoo, which is near Miami. savannahs and other habitats of wild parrots. For the first time, I was able to see them up close Avian eco-tourism became my passion. I spent and hold them. I was smitten, not just because hours online researching the best places to see they were beautiful but they were also gentle, wild parrots and how I could get there using intelligent and airline miles and hotel affectionate. At this points for gateway cities so time, I was spending a the bulk of my tourist lot of time in bird dollars would go to the local groups online and had communities. The eco- recently joined the lodges, restaurants, tour Parrot Society of operators, private guides Australia and was (some of whom were attending meetings. converted poachers), My pampered handicraft artisans, boat companion birds were drivers—all these people the catalyst that kept were benefitting from eco- driving me to learn more and more about parrots tourism. They knew their jobs depended on which eventually led me to the World Parrot getting more and more people to visit and see Trust. I had purchased several of their magazines their precious native wildlife, especially the at a PSOA “Parrots” conference and joined soon parrots. afterwards. To my utter shock and horror, I In 2008, I launched my website learned how many wild parrots were being cruelly www.featheredandfree.com, which was devoted stolen out of their natural homes to be sold as pets, including my dream bird, the Golden exclusively to promoting conservation of wild parrots (and other birds who shared their Conure. My captive bred parrots had given me habitats) through avian eco-tourism. It included a the greatest joy of my life; now I was determined to give something back to help their wild cousins forum that later evolved into a popular Facebook group with members from all over the world. who were fighting for survival in a world that Sharing knowledge, inspiring people to visit seemed determined to rob them of their homes parrots in the wild and support the local either by poaching or deforestation. communities so they would realize their parrots What could I – a simple accounts clerk at the time are more valuable being left alone in the wild is possibly do? I was not a research scientist or the main focus of Feathered and Free. My own biologist, no letters after my name, no political travels led me (with patient husband in tow) to power and very little money. My main skill is exotic places such as the Pantanal, the Macaw “thinking outside the box”, a skill that allowed me clay licks of Peru, the Amazon, the Magoebaskloof to manipulate frequent flier programs to gain free of South Africa, Palawan in the Philippines, India, airline tickets all over the world. Having seen Nepal, Central America and several islands in the

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South Pacific and Caribbean. I am not a check-list to get into the other places reputed to have type of birder who sees a bird, ticks it off a list and populations of Golden Conures-the Ferreira Penna moves on. Once I find wild parrots, I like to spend Scientific Station at Caxiuanã National Forest and time just watching them-enjoying their antics, the Paragominas area south of Belem. Roelant admiring their beauty and observing their Jonker of City Parrots sent me links of some other behaviour. I also love to photograph them. I research articles and a survey by Sociedade have been privileged to see many different parrot Brasiliera de Ornitologia and a link to a blog by a species in the wild over the years such as Hyacinth birding group in Joinville who claimed to have and other large Macaws, Rimatara Lorikeets, seen Golden Conures way outside their range in Alexandrines, Philippine “Katala” Cockatoos, lots Joinville. If they were there, they were most likely of Conures and Amazons and of course my own escaped pets. Aussie neighbors-Galahs, Cockatoos, Lorikeets I finally got a break during an email conversation and Rosellas to name a very few. with Bradley Davis, owner of Birding Mato Grosso The one species that I longed to see but had and a highly respected birding guide who eluded me until now was of course the Golden specializes in birding tours to the Panatanal, Conure. Not for lack of Chapada dos Guimaraes trying, it was just that and Cristalino. Since I there was so little was planning to go there information on how an as well, I had been eco-tourist can visit seeking his advice and them. I was able to find started reading his articles in back issues of website and discovered a PsittaScene by research trip report he wrote scientists and biologists about a trip to Amazonia such as Toa Kyle, Thiago National Park near Orsi and Carlos Itaituba in Sept 2010. Yamashita and an article Finally! Recent practical by Glenn Reynolds who information about how to founded the Golden Conure Survival Fund in 1999. get to an area known to be a habitat of Golden Google, usually an easy source of information for Conures! He gave me the email of Maria Lucia me, found very little about people who had seen Carvalho, director of the Amazonia National Park Golden Conures as eco-tourists/birders. I found a (later moved to Piauí -Parque Nacional Serra da trip report from a UK Birdtours group going back Capivara). I had used Google Translate to to 2003 and a blog by a knowledgeable Brazilian communicate with her in Portuguese but luckily guide-Gil Serique, who is based in Alter do Chao she spoke English and was happy to issue me and near Santarem and who wrote about seeing the my husband, Ina with permits to visit the park and Golden Conures in the forests of the remote arrange for Gilberto Nascimiento Silva, a park Cupari River. ranger, photographer and guide to be our guide. She even gave me detailed information about All made for fascinating reading but none were how to get to the park from Itaituba (car hire) and practical for me to replicate in my own quest to travel onwards to Santarem by boat. The pieces see this beautiful bird. I wasn’t able to spend were falling into place, all that remained was to months doing research like the biologists, I didn’t figure out how to get from Alta Floresta/Cristalino have the money to hire a private boat and guide to Itaituba. The tour agency who managed down the Cupari and didn’t have the connections

2 Cristalino gave me the names of the bus he was waiting for us in Urua. We took a taxi to companies and I quickly found their websites and the car hire place but it was a Saturday evening schedules and was able to complete the itinerary. and it was closed until Monday. Our only options to get to Urua were a bus at 11am or taxi. It was My husband and I set off for Brazil on 10 Sept, too late to go that evening, so we got a room at 2012 with a plan to use rental cars to get to the Juliana Park Hotel and set an early alarm for Linhares/Vale do Rio Doce (home of Blue-throated the next morning. Despite having printed Google Conures), the Panatanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes maps, it was really hard to communicate with the and then a bus from Cuiaba to Alta Floresta to taxi driver who insisted on going to Ibama first as visit Cristalino Jungle Lodge, one of the world’s he was afraid to drive the 65 kilometers to Urua. greatest birding destinations. We were very The guard on duty at Ibama inspected our permits successful in all these places and saw many and assured the taxi driver it was OK to drive us parrots and other birds. Cristalino is in a there and gave him directions. The road went spectacular setting surrounded by pristine past the small airport, then turned into a rough Amazonian rainforest. The accommodation is in dirt road. I was afraid the taxi driver would attractive, sustainable bungalows, there is a chicken out and turn back but he persevered and library, buffet meals and a bar with the best we got to Urua around 9am and were greeted by caipirinhas I had in Brazil. They have several well- Gilberto who had heard us drive in. qualified guides, which are assigned to people who arrive independently without a group and Gilberto led us to the small bunkhouse that several boats to take us to trailheads on the river visitors stay in. It has 2 bedrooms, each with a and best of all, two single bed and two bunk Canopy Towers, which beds, a central dining area, let you be either face a kitchen with a gas cooker level or above the forest and a laundry tub outside. canopy and get closer to We dropped our stuff in the birds. Most tourists one of the bedrooms, then fly into Alta Floresta via Gilberto led all of us, taxi Cuiaba but there are driver included to the also several buses a day. Mirante, a lookout pavilion My observations of this with a stunning view over extremely well-run eco- the Tapajos River. Much lodge would be an to my delight, we saw our inspiration later in the first parrot sighting of the trip. day-White-eyed Parakeets as they swooped over the river and disappeared into the trees. The taxi Three days later, we left Alta Floresta on a driver seemed as enchanted as I was but gruelling 20-hour bus ride that was mostly on reluctantly had to get back to work so we paid unsealed roads to get to Itaituba. The website him and he took off. Gilberto doesn’t speak had said we would arrive around 2:30pm-ish. We English, but I had a few words of Portuguese and didn’t get in until after 4pm. I immediately tried managed to communicate with him using lots of to phone Gilberto but there was no answer. I mime to fill in the gaps. He brought out a thought it was his cell phone, it was actually his Portuguese-English dictionary that a former visitor home phone but he was at his guard post in Urua had left behind which helped a lot. There was no and I waited an hour for his wife to get home, fridge in the hut but Gilberto took our water answer the phone and tell us via a translator that

3 The Golden Conures at the End of the Rainbow – Tara Tuatai bottles to put in the guards’ fridge. The generator they were perched, they tended to take off as we only operated for 3 hours around midday and 3 approached. I’m actually glad they have this habit hours at dinnertime. since there is a danger of poaching. They can’t know which humans want to capture them, shove Maria had already told Gilberto that I really them into tiny cages and ship them all over the wanted to see Ararajubas (Portuguese for Golden world and which humans just want a photo of Conure) but since we had arrived late, it wasn’t them. likely we would see them that first day. He used a bird field guide-Avifauna Brasiliera by Tomas After our “gourmet” dinner, I took out my Sigrist to point out what species we were seeing netbook and showed Gilberto some of the photos throughout our visit. I took photos of the parrot I had taken of other parrots we had seen on the pages so I would later remember them all. I had trip. He brought over a portable HDD and showed been hoping to find the book in Sao Paulo later on me some of his photos taken in the area-some of but failed to do so. Gilberto took us on a very Golden Conures. He also had videos of a Brazilian challenging (for us) hike on the Açaizal trail. I was TV show that featured Amazonia National Park excited and hopeful because I knew Bradley Davis and had footage of Golden Conures. I borrowed had seen Vulturine Parrots here a couple of years his copy of Avifauna Brasiliera so I could note ago but unfortunately we weren’t so lucky. It’s a down what species we saw. There were White- 4.5 kilometre hike in primary rainforest, Gilberto eyed Conures (Aratinga leucophthalma), Pearly had to hack away some Conures, (Pyrrhura branches that had fallen lepida), Santarem over the path and Conures (Pyrrhura fashion impromptu amazonum), Tui Parakeet walking sticks to get us (Brotogeris past a slippery steep sanctithomae), Blue- portion. We did see headed Parrot (Pionus some small birds and a menstruus), Short-tailed trogon but no parrots. Parrot (Graydidascalus We arrived back at Urua brachyurus), Festive a couple hours later, Amazon (Amazona dirty, exhausted and festiva); he also showed ready for lunch. There me various are no restaurants or shops anywhere near Urua hummingbirds, toucans, kingfishers, tanagers and so you have to bring food from Itaituba. We a trogon but I didn’t get them all written down. I brought tinned corned beef, cocktail sausages, do have the feeling that some of them would be rice, noodles and biscuits-nothing perishable. on many birders’ life-lists though! My policy has Let’s face it, you don’t come to Amazonia National always been “shoot first, ask questions later” with Park for the cuisine! my camera of course! Power went out at 8pm so we crashed out, anticipating an early rise and After lunch we had siesta time as per usual for hopefully Golden Conures in the morning. birders. Later we went back to the lookout because in the afternoon, lots of birds fly over the The next day, we were up bright and early. We river and it’s relatively easy to get photos of them waited at the lookout until Gilberto came over against the river while in flight. I should point out and told us that we would have a better chance that throughout this trip, most of the parrots we for Ararajubas if we moved closer to the road. Ina saw were in flight, very few were perched…and if brought a couple of chairs and we sat there all

4 morning, me with the camera and 400mm lens, range from $400-600 a night for a double room Ina with the binoculars. We did see quite a few including meals and guided birding hikes. Urua’s parrot species and other birds. Gilberto would bunks are free at time of writing, it costs around point at them in the book and I would try to get a $25 for a guided hike and you have to bring your good shot. By lunchtime, no Golden Conures had own food and cook it. I couldn’t help thinking shown up and it was pretty clear they weren’t what a waste it was to not develop Urua along the going to; they would have been there in the lines of Cristalino. It was disheartening to see a morning if they were so inclined. The day guestbook going back to the late 90’s and only proceeded much the same as the previous day- halfway full. Most recent entries seemed to be lunch-siesta-back to the “mirante” to look out day visitors, perhaps school groups? over the Tapajos for birds. The benefits of establishing an Ararajuba Eco- I reflected on the basic similarities between Lodge at Urua or elsewhere in the Amazonia Cristalino and Amazonia/Urua. Both had similar National Park are obvious-jobs for locals, money infrastructure-small airports with only a few to protect the Golden Conures’ breeding grounds domestic connections. Cristalino has Alta Floresta with full time guards, and tourist activity, which which foreign tourists access by a flight to Sao scares off poachers. There is easily enough space Paulo from their home for several cabins on the country, then flight to premises. Many Cuiaba and connection Brazilians already have a to Alta Floresta. Itaituba fondness for Ararajubas has service to Santarem as they sport the official and Manaus, which can colours of the Brazilian be reached domestically flag and sports team-gold via Belem, Brasilia and and green. They already Sao Paulo. There are flock to eco-lodges in the even direct flights to Pantanal, Chapada and Manaus from the USA. Amazon-Manaus area, Once you get to the they would most certainly airport, the similarities come here. Foreign continue. You reach Cristalino via a dirt road and birders would want to see the Golden Conures boat trip that takes about 90 minutes all up. You and other endemics. All we need is someone with reach Urua via a 65 kilometer dirt road, about 90 the money to invest in this worthy project. minutes all up. Both are surrounded by pristine The sky clouded over and my thoughts drifted rainforests with a wide variety of bird species, many of which are endemics and/or back to the task at hand. A slight drizzle was enough to discourage most birds but fortunately endangered—major attractions to birders it didn’t last long and as dusk approached, the worldwide. Cristalino has its Canopy Towers, Urua has the Mirante-lookout. Both have trails in flocks of smaller parakeets returned. I snapped away as much as possible knowing that Gilberto the rainforest. Both are located on rivers. But would identify them for me later on, and then I that’s where the similarities end. saw it. Faintly visible through the darkening sky Cristalino has a world-famous eco-lodge, was a rainbow! Legend has it that there is a pot charming bungalows, the buffet restaurant, bar of gold at the end of every rainbow, but the only and library and is marketed world-wide by gold I wanted should be flying through the specialist eco-tourism travel agencies. Prices Amazon sky. I made my wish as the rainbow

5 The Golden Conures at the End of the Rainbow – Tara Tuatai faded away. It grew dark and I dejectedly went and pointed to the left. “OMG, Ararajubas?” I back to the hut where Ina had been heating up exclaimed! He nodded and kept pointing to some rice and sausages. Two years of planning, where they would appear out of the distant trees. scrimping and saving and no Golden Conures to I grabbed my camera, pointed it and started show for it. I knew nothing is guaranteed in snapping away in burst mode, peering anxiously nature but it still hurt. over the camera. Then there they were in all their glory! They flew past in small groups, glowing in The next morning, it was time to start heading the bright sunlight and disappeared into the trees back to Itaituba to catch the boat to Santarem. on the right. I could hear their gentle calls as Transport is irregular in this area; buses can be opposed to the raucous Aratinga calls. It was delayed so you never over just as quickly as it know when one may pass began. I stood there in by. We dragged a couple stunned silence, did I just of chairs up to the road dream this or did I really and Gilberto stayed with see a flock of wild us to help us find a ride. Golden Conures? The There was nothing camera told the story. around except a By some miracle I had bulldozer doing roadwork snapped 6 photos that so we sat there looking had the proof they were for birds and watching real! Zooming in, I could the road for any vehicle see the gold and green headed to Itaituba. A of several birds as they family of Toucans were in flew over the trees! Gilberto said there had been a tree nearby and some Santarem Conures flew about 27 or 28 in the entire flock; some had been overhead, then some more White-eyed Parakeets. obscured by trees but he could tell by the calls I was devastated to have come all this way and they made. My dream had come true! Overcome didn’t get to see my beloved Golden Conures but I with emotion, I collapsed back onto the chair, tried to make the best of it and took photos of tears of joy streaming down my face, and then it what birds were there. dawned on me. The flock of Golden Conures had I got up to follow the Santarem Conures into the flown from the area where yesterday evening, I forest when all of a sudden Gilberto made a had seen the rainbow. “Hush” gesture, cocked his ear, smiled broadly

*****

I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people and resources who helped me achieve this journey of a lifetime (in approximate chronological order): World Parrot Trust, PsittaScene Magazine, Glenn Reynolds, Toa Kyle, Carlos Yamashita, Thiago Orsi, Simon Allen’s Trip Report, the members of Feathered and Free Facebook Group, Roelant Jonker, City Parrots, Sociedade Brasiliera de Ornitologia, Gil Serique, Bradley Davis, Birding Mato Grosso, Criatalino Jungle Lodge staff members, Pompom and his Golden Conures International Facebook Group, Maria Lucia Carvalho and last but far from least-Gilberto Nascimiento Silva.

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