Cooleo, did you know that those wonderful Hyacinth Macaws are no longer at DAK? Look where you snapped his picture; they wouldn't stay in their area, so they got shipped to the Central Florida Zoo. Seems like there might have been a better solution than getting rid of them...
the parrots that were in the lobby of the polynesian resort for many years were always imho, one of the great features of staying at that resort, i was quite dissapointed when they were moved
I couldn't agree with you more Gary! I so miss those parrots. Kiki & Cooleo, wonderful color in these shots. They are great!
I missed those macaws at DAK in January - I went specifically to shoot them, and instead got an empty enclosure. I did get a lovely waterfall shot, but miss the birds.
Well, the Hyacinths were naughty and got sent to the Zoo. I think when you have a pair of birds that beautiful (and expensive!), and were as much beloved as those Macaws were that you would make a better effort to keep them. They could have enclosed their area in aviary cloth, which is what they use on the tops of the two walk-through aviaries in the jungle trek and forest trail. They could have left the birds fully flighted and visitors could have seen them flying between several perches and acting more "normal" rather than just sitting in one spot for hours every day. It's normal that they would try to fly and move around. Their normal range would be hundreds of miles in any given day. It must be horribly frustrating for them to sit and be able to feel "free" and see the things that their brains tell them they should be able to get to, but they aren't supposed to. It is a beautiful setting by the falls, but for a bird that intelligent and that large, the perch they were provided just isn't enough.
Kiki - I was not aware of that as I missed seeing them on this last trip. Very sad that they would just move them like that instead of making a concerted effort to keep them @ DAK. Here is another & my favorite with the waterfall in the background.
