The Scarlet Macaw

Splendid and spectacular - embodiment of grace,

Colorful and powerful - they occupy a space

Above the rank and file of birds.

Royalty personified, the Macaw takes its place.

Lifetime partners groom and preen and care for one another.

Every other year or so, they make two eggs together.

Then 28 days the female sits and incubates the eggs,

Meanwhile, the male protects in fair or stormy weather.

After hatching, the macaw chicks remain within the nest

Coming to the time when they can pass the test

and spread their growing wings to fly.

Winging their way up in the sky, surpassing all the rest.

For one whole year the young chicks stay by their parents' side...

So much to learn to face the wild, whatever may betide.

They must learn when to stand their ground...

and when to spread their wings and glide.

Sadly, some chicks meet a terrible fate before they have grown enough

To spread their wings and leave the nest, where the going will be tough.

Poachers come with burlap bags and place the chicks inside.

They've never been touched by human hands or felt anything so rough.

The chicks may struggle and resist and wish for their parents to come,

But their parents are out searching for food to bring back home.

By the time they come back, taking their chicks,

the poachers have come and gone.

As any human parent would, the macaw Mom and Dad

Will search in vain and be filled with grief for the loss of what they had.

Silently they'll fly around looking for their young

Then at last they seek their nest, feeling lost and sad.

Why do the humans steal the chicks and take them far away?

Placing themselves at risk of an awful price to pay.

What right do they have to take what's not theirs,

If you asked them, what would they say?

Some poachers have just opened up and told their reasons why.

They had no work available to earn money to buy

food to feed their children

so they wouldn't die.

They took the beautiful, stately birds because they were afraid

their families would face starvation while they delayed.

So they took the work that was offered

Despite the price they paid.

As time went by, the word got out...the chicks were being stolen,

and many caring humans found their hearts were being broken.

They came together to make a plan

to keep the chicks at home by words that could be spoken.

People who lived in the land with the birds could find a brand new way

to make a living protecting the birds and receiving regular pay.

Areas were set aside for national protection

To make sure the scarlet macaws are protected every day.

Trees in the rainforests where macaws nest are given legal protection

from the ravages of deforestation and resulting devastation.

The mighty trees of the canopies where vegetation abounds

can now be spared the ravages of greedy molestation.

How did this happen, and when, and why?

Who decided the animals should not die?

Many humans decided...

and put their lives on the line.

The chicks can help the people have a better life.

The people can save the chicks from overwhelming strife.

The grand trees can continue to grow and thrive

and together keep nature, itself, alive.

We are truly all in this together. The ecosystem is fragile and has taken too much abuse. So many unseeing, uninformed people do not know that the future of the planet is tied inextricably to the fate of tiny endangered chicks and tiny seedling trees and endangered mammals and amphibians.

Those of us who do understand must get involved now. We must do what we can, in every way we can, anywhere we can to make a difference!