Bird Backpacks Could Help This Parrot Bounce Back

Short Wave

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

The thick-billed parrot is the only surviving parrot species native to the United States. These brightly colored birds once roamed across the American Southwest and as far south as Venezuela — but today, the only wild population remaining lives high in the forests of Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains.

For years, conservation organizations like OVIS (Organización Vida Silvestre) and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance have been working on a multi-faceted conservation project to save these birds. Host Regina G. Barber and producer Rachel Carlson dive into the details of that project — and how tiny "bird backpacks" are helping to make it all happen.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Side Note by ASAP Science, a podcast about the science behind controversial subjects.
0:06.6	Is marijuana addictive?
0:08.2	How will the universe end?
0:10.1	Hosts Mitch and Greg dissect a new topic every Wednesday on your favorite podcast app.
0:15.9	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:21.2	Hey, Short Waver is Regina Barbara here with producer Rachel Carlson. Hey, Rachel. Hey, Gina.
0:27.6	Okay, welcome again to the show. I love reporting with you. I love being here. And this time,
0:33.3	it's really exciting because we've been reporting a story together on thick-billed parrots.
0:38.6	And you've got to see these parrots in like real life.
0:41.0	Yeah, I got to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California.
0:45.8	I drove down from Los Angeles, pulled onto a dirt road, and met some parrots at the Bird Conservation Center.
0:52.4	It looks like they're cuddling.
0:55.5	They're kind of looking at me.
0:57.2	And I met their care specialists, too.
0:59.3	It sounds like they're laughing.
1:02.1	Maybe they're laughing at me.
1:04.5	Rachel, they're laughing with you.
1:06.8	I don't know.
1:07.9	I kind of feel like they were laughing at me.
1:10.4	But they're still so charismatic
1:12.4	and they look really cool too. They're bright green with little red splotches on their heads
1:18.1	near their beaks. They have big pupils and the adults have black beaks while the babies have
	...

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