An Endangered Red

Does the Scarlet Macaw know what a marvel it is? How desperate humans are to restore the populations that were ravaged by those greedy and ignorant? They say the Scarlet Macaw is intelligent, but how can anyone or anything hope to grasp the disappearance of a species, a community, a family? Do they know the way they are hunted for their colors, the very same that they trusted adaptation to keep them safe with?

Do they know what a cruel twist of fate it is, the irony laced violence? Do they know the greed and heartbreak and hope in the disparity of humans? How some steal the Macaws from the rainforests that allowed them to live and thrust them into a confusing world not intended for the fragile beauty they possess? How other humans gently nourish injured Macaws to allow them to go back home if possible, how humans will foster abandoned Macaw eggs? Do the Macaws think these humans are different species, so distant in nature that they could not possibly be related? Do people?

Do they know how large the Earth is? The rainforests may be their home, but the world was not made for Macaws. The concrete mazes choke the saturation out of their feathers. The greens and browns of nature are all they know, all they could hope to comprehend once they hatch. When they know the vivid reds, blues, and yellows to be kin, is it fair to introduce them to the purples, magentas, and other human manufactured colors not so common to those familiar rainforests? How can the world outside their rainforests be so unbelievably massive and foreign yet so confined?

Does the Macaw know what happened to it when it finds itself trapped in a cage too small, for no enclosure can compare to the vastness of the rainforest? Does it think it is the only one of its kind left alive when it can no longer find its flock? How lonely a life to lead, what an indignant fate for a creature so intelligent. Do Macaws start to mimic human speech just to feel a sense of belonging, so far from home?

Does the Scarlet Macaw feel betrayed when their feathers made them a target, so naturally unnatural in hue? The Scarlet Macaw was never intended to camouflage, to hide, they were not meant to conceal themselves. They are communities, colors so distinct and patterned that together they’d confuse and stagger predators. They adapted and grew into these colors, just as their beak became intended to eat fruits. Adaptation takes hundreds of years, how are the Macaws meant to keep up and keep out of human hands? If the Macaws grew out of their colors, selective breeding lending to something less distinct and treasured, would they even still be the Scarlet Macaws?

Does the Scarlet Macaw know how special it is? Capable of mimicking human speech, words and patterns and phrases, and that is only how people measure the birds’ intelligence. The Macaw can live for decades, longer than many humans do. Do Macaws witness the cycle of life, death and rebirth constantly, and think of how much its witnessed? Do the days blend together immeasurably, or are the birds content with their routines, eating the same fruits and nuts their entire lives? Do they conceptualize the passing of time in a way that matters to them, or do they simply live day-by-day?

Does the Scarlet Macaw know it is truly unique? That they possess a shade, a hue, a specific red? Humans may attempt to recreate it, simulacrums inadvertently made instead of fascimiles, but nothing could ever compare to the creations of nature. Perfectly imperfect shades of red. Do the Macaws know that if they were to be gone, that the world would be infinitely less colorful? Do humans?

Does the Scarlet Macaw know any of this?

They say its a smart bird.