The excitement of …waiting
On 15 January, 27 days after the laying of the egg, the first chick of the 2022 breeding season hatched
January is a slow month for our team in Costa Rica. The majority of the macaw nests we monitor as part of the conservation and research partnership with the Punta Leona Hotel (https://hotelpuntaleona.com/) have pairs incubating eggs. During this sensitive incubation time we don’t climb the trees to check the nests to avoid disturbing the nesting pair. We just wait for 26 long days . . .however, we are fortunate as we can still check remotely what is happening inside the nests. Through our video cameras we can continue to monitor when and how many eggs are laid, and of course…when the little chicks hatch!
First chick of Ceibo Bajo nest during its very first health check up. Picture by Roshan Tailor & The Macaw Society 
View of Ceiba Bajo nest and the first chick of the 2022 breeding season
Last week, the wait ended. On 15 January, 27 days after the laying of the egg, the first chick in Ceiba Bajo, hatched. The chick weighed in at an impressive weight of 23g, which is pretty big for a “just hatched” chick. The chick looked very healthy with a good amount of fat, and in 3 days, it has already over doubled its weight. It now weighs just shy of 50g.
The camera inside the nest has shown us that the chick has parents who are clearly not first-timers. The nesting male is regularly feeding the female, then she feeds their chick. And the female is doing a great job brooding the chick, keeping it nice and cozy in the nest.
There are two more eggs in the nest . . . will our little tiny chick be the older sibling soon?
