Why Are Wild Parrots Disappearing in Miami? | Short Film Showcase
[Music] Parrots are magic. They make my day. The French say that love begins with a coup de foudre, or a thunder fight. Mine began with a hurricane.
In 1992, my daughter and I heard the call of a well macaw in the mangrove across the street. We dropped in and saved the bird, and that bird became the love of my life. I didn't know I was a parrot lover until Big Bird landed, so to speak, into my life. Right now, it's a little bit like admitting to you, "No statue of alcohol in the garage." I have six large macaws! What happened was every time there was a macaw needing a home, I said yes. In addition to the birds that I live with, I am so blessed to have these wild macaws come into my backyard every single day.
[Music] You know, the first day they arrived, I was cleaning cages out on the patio. The funny thing was, my blue and gold macaw gave out the macaw greeting call, but then she said, for good measure, "Hello pretty birds!" I guess in Miami it pays to be bilingual. The first time I ever saw a blue and yellow macaw in Miami, as I was driving along, I saw this flash of electric blue above my car, and it blew my mind. It was my first-ever week in Miami and really introduced me to what fabulous places there were. I even rang home to talk about it. The great thing about Miami, right, is that those things keep happening.
The non-native macaw community in South Florida is absolutely wild. There are more than 10 species which are fairly abundant and easy to observe. They all interact with each other and with native species. It's really a unique situation.
[Music] Blue and yellow macaws come from Central and South America. Most large parrots range quite widely across the natural forest ecosystems where they occur and move between fruits in trees, taking advantage of those trees where the fruit is particularly ripe to eat at that time. In Miami, that can be replicated fairly well because there's a lot of ornamental tropical plants scattered across the city. You know where the almond trees are; they know where the pointy-anna trees are; they know where the feeders are. If it's nesting season, I'll get them in pairs once or a couple of times a day. But this time of year, I can get as many as 11 or 12.
[Music] It just makes my day to see them flying free, and that's why I'm so distraught that this magnificence is going to be lost. That these birds are not going to be anymore if the birds do not come. I am petrified; I am so terrified that they are being poached because so many have disappeared. In the eight years since 2010, they've gone from 44 down to 12. There are ads in Craigslist: "Parrots wanted." It's a big business down here. It is a vile, horrible big business. The major means they use to get these birds is that they climb the trees with either cleats or ladders and take the baby birds. The other method they use is they buy $300 net guns on eBay and shoot them 35 feet in the air, and they sell them with broken feet and paws. I can't even use the word "poaching." Technically, it's not illegal to take parrots according to Florida Fish and Wildlife, as a non-native species. It's not illegal to take them, but philosophically, I don't think it's a great idea.
Not all non-native species are necessarily invasive. An invasive species is a non-native species that enters an ecosystem and presents a direct threat to a native species. The macaws in Miami have been here a few decades and they've also been observed to nest in South Florida, but they're so reliant on the urban ecosystem within Miami that I think it's unlikely that they're going to become invasive throughout South Florida.
These are wild birds, whether they're in the native range or not. These are wild birds. They have grown up in the wild, and they eat and nest in the wild. I will use the word "poaching" because what else is it to take something, a magnificent wild animal, from its mates, from its flock, from its habitat, and lock it into a cage, usually for breeding, and never let it out again? It's cool beyond belief.
[Music] The public is our eyes and ears; report poachers! If you see somebody with a ladder and a net gun, you need to call the police.
[Music] Coral Gables, Pine Crest, Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne—we all have bird sanctuary laws that protect the parrots. We should enforce the bird sanctuary laws; they aren't being enforced. Why?
Miami is one of the best places in the world. There are tropical lizards, tropical birds, and tropical plants. I definitely think Miami would lose part of its charm if the macaws were to disappear. Parrots should be parrots, and that means that if they are a pet parrot, they have a loving, caring home. But if they're wild parrots, then they should be free. These birds are my life, they are my love. I must have a strong maternal instinct that I just want to keep them safe and keep them sheltered and keep them fed.
If you don't shine, I want them flying free. [Music] [Music] [Music]