Loro 31 and His Forest in the Making

Between aviaries #3 and #4 of the Fundación Loros, there is a corner that still smells of freshly turned earth and young leaves: the Bosquecito, as Alejandro named it — the Argentine founder who one day arrived on this Caribbean land with the idea of giving the birds something that resembled a home. The forest is barely learning to be one, but it already has a permanent resident: Loro 31, an Amazonian parrot of brilliant green, reddish patches on his wings, and a flash of yellow on his head that gives him away from a distance. Around his neck hangs his numbered tag, small as a medal earned the hard way. Omar Enrique Berdugo Cabeza knows this well, because Loro 31 accompanies him every time Omar makes his feeding rounds through that area. It is not simply that the parrot waits for food and nothing more — it is that he appears, settles nearby, watches. As if Omar's rounds were his own. Alejandro envisioned this sector with artificial nests for parrots and macaws, a work that moves forward through careful monitoring and gradual releases, allowing the birds to find their own way toward a sustainable wild life. Loro 31, with his tag around his neck and his habit of wandering freely among the young trees, is today the most living proof that such a path exists.