The Mattie Saunders Series and its link to Ara Manzanillo
Mattie Saunders, the protagonist in my five book Mattie Saunders Series, loves birds but has little time for people. A childhood spent in one foster home after another has made her wary of commitment as evidenced by an absence of close friends and difficulty with intimate relationships. Instead, she’s filled her life rescuing and rehabilitating exotic birds people buy as pets and then abandoned.
Her lifelong companion has been one of her rescues, a Blue and Gold Macaw named Pickles. Over the course of the first four books, Pickles has stood by her through triumphs and tragedies, but how natural is it for a bird to live its entire life in captivity when that life can be as long as 50 years.
At the beginning of book 5 (The Flock – available on Amazon), Mattie has decided to rewild Pickles. However, rewilding involves more than opening the cage door and letting the bird out especially if it has only experienced life as a pampered pet.
To understand what’s involved in breeding, raising and rewilding Macaws my research led me to Ara Manzanillo and their amazing program to reintroduce the Great Green Macaws their native habitat in Costa Rica’s Caribbean corridor.
Starting in 2010, Ara Manzanillo has contributed approximately 100 Great Green Macaws to the free flying population, increasing the country’s Great Green populations by 40% and the population by 10%. Few conservation projects have had such significant impact on the comeback of a species in grave danger of extinction.
This breeding season they welcomed to the world seven new chicks!
Ara Manzanillo is a Costa Rican licensed, non-profit organization with government oversight. The project was also designated as being of national public interest in Costa Rica. The project is professionally staffed and works in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment.
For more information visit their website at https://aramanzanillo.org/ or their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075604910711
#macaws @aramanzanillo #parrots#romance#action#birds
