Parrot conservation in the Caribbean

I was living and working with Echo's field team for 12 weeks this past summer in Bonaire, and it was a truly formative experience. As an undergraduate student, I received funding from my university to conduct research which would culminate in a 10-page academic paper.

We would wake up at 4:30 in the morning every weekday to get to the field. I loved adapting to the schedule of the parrots: napping in the middle of the day (when it's hottest) and returning to the field in the afternoon after lunch. The weekends were free for resting, grocery shopping, and exploring the nearby town and beach. We met the locals, built relationships with them, and learned some Papiamentu in the process.

I gained so many skills from working with the field team. Just to name a few: data collection, GPS navigation, building natural anchors for rappelling, carrying out health checks on parrots in and out of the field, and installing camera traps. My research was subject to the kind of work we were doing as the season progressed, but I focused on careful data collection throughout my 12 weeks there (according to the strategies that my supervisor already had in place from previous seasons). We fostered some chicks in July in order to increase survivability, and this ended up being the focus of the paper that I wrote upon my return to the States.

Never had I worked in conservation before, but my passion for adventure and the important work we were doing with Echo was what kept me going during the long, hard work days. Make no mistake, the field work is exhausting -- but it is incredibly rewarding for those who are highly motivated. I highly recommend this role for anyone who is excited to immerse themselves in a communal-living situation, dive into meaningful field research, and get poked by cacti every day. The parrots are cool too!

Last year around this time I was doing an internship at Echo on the efficacy of invasive herbivore exclusion zone (Roi Sangu) to restore dry forest biodiversity. Together with Echo’s staff and fellow interns I went out into the field multiple days a week to measure, count and identify vegetation. Later, I compared my data with that of 2017 to conclude the efficacy of the fences around Roi Sangu to protect its’ vegetation from invasive herbivores such as goats and donkeys (of which, you might have noticed, are a good few on Bonaire). My internship consisted of around 50% parrot husbandry and 50% of my own research into the biodiversity of Roi Sangu.

Although, at times, I really needed to rely on my discipline to get out into Bonaire’s dry forest jungle to do the repetitive work of my study, and I got sweaty and scratched up a ton in the process, I would not have traded my experiences at Echo for the world. I had never worked with birds before, but I quickly made friends with Echo’s loras and I loved feeding them in the mornings. It was a nice routine that I miss.

Before my internship, I had visited Bonaire twice already, but it was only last year that I really got to know Bonaire in and out. The island and Echo’s staff will forever have a special place in my heart and I often think back on it with a smile on my face.

Working at Echo for a summer was truly life changing. The parrots are adorable and I miss them, but the impact of my summer with Echo extends far beyond that. Getting a first hand view into conservation, living in a different country, and working with people I would never have met otherwise. I came into this experience with limited information on bird care and all the things that came along with the summer and by the time I had left I had developed a handful of applicable and useful skills. I highly recommend this program to anyone that wants to travel, work with animals, work in conservation, or experience living off grid!