I absolutely love exploring with Baby Ruth. 

 I was thrilled to check out Macaw Mountain because I have always loved birds. My grandfather and I used to feed the birds in our front yard when I was a little girl.

The story of the bird park and nature reserve is an interesting one because it involves the interest and excesses of the expat community.  

The Scarlet Macaw is the national bird of Honduras and it is a glorious and majestic bird with bright and beautiful colors.  

Many expats become enchanted with the birds and want one as a pet.

 An American named Mandy Wagner started taking care of parrots and macaws tossed away by expats on their way out of the country.  Mandy eventually had over 30 birdds on the island of Roatan.  Like ex-pats before her, Mandy eventually headed home and entrusted the birds to Lloyd Davidson, the “Bird Man of Roatan”.

Eventually the needs of the park outgrew Roatan and the park and reserve were establish in Copán Ruinas to:

(1) Care for unwanted captive birds

(2) Educate people

(3) Restore bird populations

Ruth is a toddler so I wasn’t expecting her to learn the names of species or even be interested beyond the first  5 minutes, but I did want her to see the birds.  Per her norm, Ruth surprised me.  She payed close attention to the various birds.   I was thrilled.  I know many of these birds may be extinct by the time Ruth is an adult and I wanted her to see them once in her life.  I also hope that as she grow she will develop a fierce sense of conservatorship over the amazing animals that inhabit our planet. I want her to fight for their right to exist in their natural habitats.  I want her to know how important they are to our overall ecosystem.

The park is definitely a must visit if you are in Copán. 

Share this post: