Puerto Rico parrot births mark comeback
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Two endangered Puerto Rican parrots were born in the wild in a natural nest found outside a national forest in the U.S. territory for the first time in 144 years, officials said Tuesday. Scientists discovered the nest in May near the Rio Abajo Nature Preserve in western Puerto Rico and monitored it with cameras until they saw the parrots take flight in late July, according to Natural Resources Secretary Carmen Guerrero. "The historical importance of this makes your hairs stand up," she said in a phone interview. "They're one of the top 10 most endangered birds in the world." The two parrots were born to birds that had been reintroduced into the wild by scientists in the Rio Abajo Nature Preserve, one of two breeding centers in the island located in western Puerto Rico. Parrots had previously been born in natural nests in 1973 and 1993 in El Yunque, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. National Forest system that also serves as a ...