Juliet flies free but seeks romance
Some have claimed she’s indulging a forbidden romance. More likely, loneliness compels her to seek company at Rio de Janeiro’s zoo.
Either way, a blue-and-yellow macaw that zookeepers named Juliet is believed to be the only wild bird of its kind left in the Brazilian city where the birds once flew far and wide.
Almost every morning for the last two decades, Juliet has appeared. She swoops onto the zoo enclosure where macaws are kept and, through its fence, engages in grooming behaviour that looks like conjugal canoodling. Sometimes she just sits, relishing the presence of others. She is quieter — shier? More coy? — than her squawking chums. Blueand-yellow macaws live to be about 35 years old and Juliet — no spring chicken — should have found a mate years ago, according to Neiva Guedes, president of the Hyacinth Macaw Institute, an environmental group. But Juliet hasn’t coupled, built a nest or had chicks, so at most she’s “still just dating.”
“They’re social birds, and that means they don’t like to live alone, whether in nature or captivity. They need company,” said Guedes, who also co-ordinates a project that researches macaws in urban settings. Juliet “very probably feels lonely, and for that reason goes to the enclosure to communicate and interact.”
Aside from Juliet, the last sighting of a blue-and-yellow macaw flying
They’re social birds, and that means they don’t like to live alone, whether in nature or captivity. Neiva Guedes, president of the Hyacinth Macaw Institute
free in Rio was in 1818 by an Austrian naturalist, according to Marcelo Rheingantz, a biologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and there are no other types of macaws in the city. Being boisterous with brilliant plumage helps macaws find each other in dense forest, but also makes them easier targets for hunters and animal traffickers. They’re often seen in other Brazilian states and it is suspected Juliet escaped from captivity. Biologists at Bioparque aren’t sure if Juliet’s nuzzling is limited to one caged Romeo, or a few. They’re not even certain Juliet is female; macaw gender is near impossible to determine by sight, and requires either genetic testing or examination of the gonads. “We don’t want to project human feelings. I look at the animal, and see an animal at ease,” biologist Angelita Capobianco said. “Who am I to decide it should only stay here? I won’t. It comes and goes, and its feathers are beautiful.” — AP