THE END OF SUMMER 2002

BIG BIRD AND POPEYE

Written by: Cecelia Reid

It is happening again.  Every year is the same. Just when we think that if it doesn’t rain soon we will all go crazier.  We are at this point now.  It is broiling hot and although I heard thunder yesterday we have not had a drop of rain yet.

There is a nice bird that comes around and sings at the end of every dry season.  She sings her little heart out asking for the rains to come.  I went out on my porch to see if I could see what she looked like but I only heard the lovely song.  All day long she sang and it was beautiful, brought thunderclouds, but alas no rain. Maybe tomorrow.

We are on our way to Punta Coral again this weekend.  Last time we were there we heard Big Bird flying around squawking ¨ hola¨ (pronounced ola and means hello).  He has successfully returned to the jungle, has a new wife and we are hoping to see baby Yellow Naped Amazon parrots soon.  Hearing him again made me think about the history of my pet parrots we had at Casa Calypso.

Long before Celiece was even a thought, we bought a Yellow Naped Amazon parrot and called him Big Bird.  He was the first ¨Big Bird¨.  Sesame Street was new to television and after seeing the fluffy giant yellow bird on TV, I thought the name Big Bird perfect for a parrot.  He learned to talk quickly and was a lot of fun.  This was during the first year we lived in Costa Rica and David was spending long hours at the dock working on the Calypso Yacht..  The phone would ring and it would be for David and I would yell, (third world intercom) ¨David telephone!¨ It wasn’t long before the bird could mimic my voice and yell all day ¨David telephone¨ too.David would come running up from the dock only to find out that it was the bird calling and not I.  We would laugh and laugh.

The bird also could mimic the whistle we used to call the dog, our Golden retriever, Camby.  The poor dog went nuts every time she heard the whistle looking for either David or me.  Big Bird soon became my bird and we spent hours together.  He was very jealous of David and if David got close enough he would attack and take bites out of David’s fingers.  David still has the scars.  I taught Big Bird all kinds of tricks.  He soon had a good-sized vocabulary too.  This of course was before we had cats.  Big Bird had a nice cage under the Almond tree and then one day escaped and I never saw him again.

I was very sad to have lost my pet parrot and soon we bought another.  This bird we also named Big Bird, but we didn’t have him long enough to teach him many words.  He fell into the estero or estuary one day and caught cold and died.  I was devastated.  I had someone from the states send me a book on parrots and David and I began to study birds.  It was then decided that we didn’t want to cage another bird, but would spend time looking and studying them in their natural state, free and wild.  David and I soon became avid bird watchers.

Costa Rica is a wonderful place to watch birds.  Not only do we have our own native birds, but we receive migrating birds from the United States and Canada in the north and migrating birds from South America in the south.

When we first bought Punta Coral it was called Punta Cuchillo. (means knife point and such an ugly name we changed it )  In a cage near the house  was a selection of animals.  The previous owner had left ducks, geese, turtles and birds and parrots all in the same cage.  We dismantled the cage and got rid of all the animals except for one bird.  It was another Yellow Naped Amazon parrot.

This bird was a lot smaller than the other two birds I had and we decided it must be a female. (the only way to really check the sex of a bird is to do an internal exam).  I really didn’t want to put another bird in a cage, but she had a broken wing and couldn’t fly.  Also if a bird is in a cage for a long time, and we weren’t sure how long she had been caged, they forget how to look for food for themselves and will die quickly in the wild if set free.

When captured, a bird never forgets its first contact with a human.  It made me cry to think about the trauma this little bird had gone through that broke her wing and made her a cripple.  I decided to take her to Casa Calypso where I could take proper care of her.  We called her Popeye after the cartoon character.

We built Popeye a nice cage and fed her well, but I was never able to make friends with her.  Unlike my other parrots, she would never sit on my finger.  I could tell she liked me, as she would come to the side of then cage and let me feed her sun flower seeds.  She never did trust a human again and would not let anyone touch her.  I did teach her to talk, but she mumbled and we were never able to understand a word she said.  This is how she became known as Popeye, named after the cartoon character because he mumbled also.

We had Popeye for years and she spent her days entertaining the tourists.  I kept a little sign on the cage explaining the only reason we had her in a cage was because she couldn’t fly.  Little Popeye would get all excited when she heard the hiss of the brakes on the bus and then sounds of the passengers arriving for the daily tour. She would whistle and then proceed to talk to the group as they passed her cage on their way to Yacht Calypso. ¨What is she saying?¨ they would ask , and we could only shrug our shoulders.

Popeye lived alone in her cage for years and then one day someone came to the gate with another parrot. There was always someone coming around trying to sell us a bird or animal. We always said ¨no thank you¨. This time it was different.

I went to the gate and found a man with a tiny cage and inside was a big Yellow Naped Amazon parrot. This poor parrot had been so badly treated that its feathers were brown and the wings clipped so short that I could see the whiteness of the bone. One of its toes was missing also. I started to cry and David came running to see what the matter was. David did not like buying animals either, we didn’t want to create a market and encourage poachers to catch the birds and animals.

I had to save this poor parrot. I never thought he (we figured it must be a he because he was bigger than Popeye) would ever have wings again and we would probably have the funniest looking parrot anyone has ever seen; but at least I could give him proper nutrition. Maybe he could be a friend for Popeye too?

We bought the bird and put him in the cage with Popeye. He was the third Big Bird. He and Popeye became friends and would sit together on the perch. It was funny. Soon the newest Big Bird started to talk. He spoke clearly and could also mumble like Popeye.  After a year with proper nutrition his feathers gradually changed into a brilliant emerald green and amazingly, his wings grew back also.

One day there was a tourist on the boat that was a bird expert. He gave me a drawing of a nesting box and I gave it to the carpenter. We installed the box inside the cage and hoped for years that we would one day have baby parrots; but nothing ever happened. The carpenter also made tiny wooden eggs that we painted white and put inside the nesting box to give the birds the general idea, but that didn’t work either. I thought they needed a movie on sex education; but the real reason is they didn’t have enough privacy. Both birds soon became a popular sight at Casa Calypso and entertained then tourists daily.

One day, while the gardener was cleaning the cage, Big Bird escaped. We were shocked because we thought he couldn’t fly, although we had never clipped his wings. All the employees and I spent the day looking in the neighborhood trees for the missing bird with no luck. As the day ended and the sky began to change colors into another perfect sunset, Big Bird flew back into the yard and landed on top of his cage. Popeye was thrilled to see her friend and after putting Big Bird back into the cage, the two birds preened each other and settled down for the night. They lived happily together for years.

Every morning we would listen to their mimics. We had had trouble with an old VW van we owned. It was hard to start and we had to push it out of the driveway to get the engine going. David would turn the key trying to get the car started and soon big Bird could mimic the sound. We eventually sold the van and bought another; but the bird never forgot the sound of trying to start the car. Every morning, as the dark sky turned into day, the bird would mimic the sound of trying to start the car. ¨Someone start that bird¨, David would yell, and then we would laugh. It was time to get up and start another busy day.

After living in Puntarenas for almost 20 years, we moved to San Jose. We needed to put Celiece and Bryan in a better school. We felt it was important for them to learn to read and write in English, our first language. I was tired of the thousands of people who went through the yard twice a day. The climate seemed to be getting hotter and I wanted a change. I was longing for cooler weather and more privacy.

As a family, we would go to Puntarenas every weekend and visit the animals. Now we had the two parrots, Leroy- our big old yellow and white tomcat and a dog Sake, an Akita. We did this for years. The kids got to see their friends and David and I would work.

One summer, the city of Puntarenas was plagued with rats. These rats were not ordinary rats, but the giant wharf rats seldom seen as they are usually hiding around the docks. These rats were the size of cats, with red beady eyes and sharp pointed teeth. It was terrible and there were weekly meetings with hotel, restaurant and storeowners trying to find a solution to this horrible plague. The city of Puntarenas was overrun with the horrible creatures. We really needed the Pied Piper.

At sunset every evening, these creepy animals would make their appearance and scurry out into the open. The rats were everywhere and didn’t seem to be afraid of humans. Poisons and traps were set; but it didn’t seem to work and the plague continued until Mother Nature came to the rescue. What did she do? She sent Boa Constrictors.

The natural predators of rats are snakes. We figured the Boa Constrictors were coming from the mangrove swamp. The estero or estuary is the body of water that separates the peninsula from the swamp. The snakes just appeared and moved into town. It took months, but gradually the rats disappeared.

Casa Calypso had its share of rats too. If Yacht Calypso arrived a little after dark, the giant disgusting rats would race through the yard crossing the path of the tourists as they got off the boat and walked through the yard on their way to the bus.

The rats were so big and fast that no one really saw them, and if they did, thought the rats were cats. The rats would run from under the rancho ( a thatched gazebo) and across the flagstone path and jump into the fish pond. Both David and I could see them; hairs stood on end as we watched the disgusting animals run through the yard as the sun was setting.

Finally two Boa Constrictors came to the rescue and set up housekeeping under the rancho. No one really knew they were there as they made their nightly appearance when the rats appeared and no people were around. Finally all the rats disappeared. We were grateful to Mother Nature for coming to the rescue.

We thought that after the rats disappeared, or all had been eaten by the snakes; the Boa Constrictors would leave too. Sadly to say, that didn’t happen. One evening, while we were in San Jose, the night guard at Casa Calypso heard the parrots squawking in their cage. He went to investigate and saw one of the snakes trying to get into the cage. The terrified birds tried to keep out of the way of the boa. Costa Ricans are afraid of all snakes and this guard was no different. He was too frightened to do anything; so he ran to the edge of the yard and called for the other guard who was on board the Yacht Calypso to come to the rescue. We had both boats at this time. Manta Raya was tied up to the dock and Yacht Calypso was tied to a buoy.

The other guard came quickly to shore to see what the matter was; but he arrived too late.

The Boa constrictor had gotten into the cage and wrapped himself around poor Popeye, squeezing the air out of her and was starting to swallow my beloved pet. Popeye, my friend for more than 20 years was dead. It wasn’t the snakes fault; he was only doing what comes naturally. Honestly, I never figured that the snake would go after the birds. If only the guard had taken a stick and just touched the snake it might have left and maybe never would have continued hunting……………..maybe. To make matters worse, the guards killed the snake.

As I sit here writing this; tears are running down my cheeks. Poor Popeye, some human broke her wing during her capture, she spent her life in a cage and then her life ended after being attacked and partially swallowed by a snake.

No one told us what had happened. We discovered the details be accident. Arriving at Casa Calypso on a Friday night, Bryan jumped out of the car to say hello to the dog and then went toward the birdcage. He looked inside and said; ¨Mom, there is only one bird in the cage¨. ¨Look again¨, I told him. When it gets cool Popeye likes to sit up on the top perch to keep warm¨. ¨No, mom¨, he replied, ¨she isn’t here¨. I went to investigate with David and Celiece. Bryan walked to the front of the house ¨I found the bird¨ he yelled. We all went to look. There lying on the ground was the dead snake with my friend Popeye stuck in its throat. It was horrible. I started to cry. I cried for days.

David fired the guard because I wanted to chop him into pieces. I was very upset and angry. It was then we decided to send Big Bird to Punta Coral to live, and hopefully teach him to hunt for his food and eventually set him free.

Big Bird and his cage were put aboard Yacht Calypso for the 1 hour ride across the Gulf of Nicoya to Punta coral. Now knowing the danger snakes are to birds, Mario the caretaker, covered the cage with a fine screen and this protected Big Bird from any snakes looking for dinner.

Every day at the same time, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, Mario would feed Big Bird. I figured, once free, the bird would know that there was always food at the same two times of the day. Big Bird would always be able to find something to eat near his old cage if he couldn’t find food in the wild.

The yard is always full of parrots eating the fruit from the trees and Big Bird soon became accustomed to their squawks and the noises in the Tropical Dry Forest. He began communicating with the wild parrots. We knew he could fly, because he had escaped years earlier. After living at Punta Coral for about 9 months, it was once again mating season. David and I made a cup of coffee and decided that it was the day to set Big Bird free. We thought all we had to do was open the door to his cage and the bird would fly away.

We walked to Mario’s house. This was where the birdcage was kept, close to Mario’s house so he could keep watch over the bird when we weren’t there. David opened the cage door and we waited. The bird didn’t move. After an hour of waiting, we had Mario take the wire off the cage and we waited again for the bird to fly away. Big Bird didn’t budge. Then we took off the roof of the cage, thinking if the bird could see the trees above him he would fly. He still wouldn’t leave. We did this all day. Finally at sunset, Big Bird flew off his perch and onto the branch of a nearby tree. It started to rain. David and I walked back to our house and it continued to rain all night. Oh poor bird, I worried all night.

Early the next morning David and I went in search of the parrot and found him still perched on the same branch. We had to leave later that day and Mario told us later that the bird stayed on the branch for three days and then one morning a flock of Yellow Naped Amazon parrots flew overhead and he joined them. Big Bird was free.

Big Bird has been free in the wild for years now. Every once in a while we hear him in the trees. He is the only bird that speaks English.  Even his squawk has an accent and is different from the other birds.  We heard him the last time we were out there.

Yellow Naped Amazon parrots are endangered of becoming extinct.  They are natives to the Tropical Dry forest and nest on the Negritos Islands that are close to Punta Coral. The islands are protected by the government and have become National Parks. It is on these islands that the birds can be found nesting.

It is now a requirement that people who have these birds in captivity obtain a license.  Lots of birds have been confiscated. It is illegal to sell parrots now, and although the selling of parrots here has lessened, there are still lots of poachers raiding nests and selling illegal parrots.

Every weekend we are at Punta Cora, as I listen to the sounds of the squawking parrots as they fly overhead or fight for mangoes and other fruits in the trees, I remember my pets.  I am glad that I we were able to have the experience of owning the lovely birds, but equally glad that we were able to successfully return one back into the forest where he belongs.  Free.

There is a National Park outside Puntarenas called Carrara.  It has been the home to the giant Red Macaw parrots for centuries. When we first moved to Costa Rica, in 1974, we would drive over to the park entrance at sunset and watch as huge flocks of these beautiful birds would fly overhead and return to Carrara National Park for the night.  There were hundreds of these lovely birds then.  They mate for life and fly in pairs.  There are only 17 pairs of these endangered birds today.

I think the reason we love Punta Coral so much is because we have a little part of Costa Rica that is still unspoiled.  Every year the size of the jungle and parks gets smaller leaving less and less land for the native animals to live and roam as they please.  We are the lucky ones, blessed with the task of keeping a small part of the planet safe for future generations and safe for the animals that call Punta Coral home.