Mexico program
Singing Quail and shared forests in Mexico
In the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve of Tamaulipas, the Center has studied Singing Quail and worked with residents on forest friendly livelihoods. The program linked field counts with community projects and a public festival for parrots.
A forest reserve in the clouds
El Cielo covers a range of habitats in southern Tamaulipas, from lowland forest to cloud forest. The reserve is home to many bird species, including quail that are difficult to see and even harder to count.
The Center's Mexico work began with a practical question: how do you track a secretive forest quail without disturbing it? The answer in the record was a set of repeated censuses along fixed routes.
Counting Singing Quail
The Center's Singing Quail work in El Cielo began in 1997. Four fixed transects near the ejido Lazaro Cardenas were surveyed each quarter, giving the project a repeatable way to follow change over time.
Singing Quail are part of a larger group of tropical forest quail that receive far less attention than their temperate relatives. The Center's work aimed to change that by building a baseline and sharing the methods with other researchers.
Palms and local livelihoods
The radicales palm is harvested for its leaves, which leave the reserve for the flower trade. That work can pull collectors deep into the forest, where they may cross paths with wildlife.
A 1999 Center program offered horticultural training so families could raise the palms closer to home. The record suggests that mature household groves could reduce the need for long forest trips, easing pressure on the reserve while supporting local income.
A festival for parrots
Parrots are popular as pets, and several species in northeastern Mexico are threatened by trapping and habitat loss. Aldama, Tamaulipas, has hosted an annual parrot festival since 1998. The Center helped start Dia de los Loros with the Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, using music, art, and local pride to shift how people value parrots.
The idea behind the festival is simple: people are more likely to protect what they know and value. The Center's record presents the event as part of a longer effort to shift public attitudes toward parrots and their forest habitat.