Macaw Conservation

Chris Castles has been operating rescue, rehabilitation and release centers throughout Costa Rica for over 20 years, including at Punta Islita in Guanacaste, and Punta Uva on the Caribbean coast. In 2014, Chris and the U.S. non-profit, Foster Parrots, Ltd., set up a new Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release Center in the Osa Peninsula in the South Pacific of Costa Rica, home to Central America’s last stronghold of at least 1,200 wild Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao).

The center, initially known as ‘Hatched to Fly Free’, constructed its first aviary in 2015, thanks to the generous support of sponsors such as Foster Parrots Ltd and the Vincent J Coates Foundation. Since then MCCR has received 51 birds from the Costa Rican government’s Ministry for the Environment (MINAE) and from local residents and businesses, and has been able to successfully rehabilitate and release 23 birds back into the wild so far, with several others pending release. The center also provides a sanctuary for former “pets” that are unsuitable for release and for birds that are too badly injured to be able to survive in the wild. Activities at the center are sustained thanks to unwavering support from donors and the efforts of volunteers and research assistants.

In 2017, Hatched to Fly Free was officially incorporated under its new permanent name, Macaw Conservation, and strategic alliances were established with several conservation organizations and research institutions, including the Laboratory for Conservation Genetics at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), Intertwined Conservation Corporation and the Wild Macaw Association.