Holding and Cuddling Birds of Prey in Northeast Brazil
By Karin-Marijke Vis
PercÃllio loves his birds. Within minutes of our meeting in Areia Branca, Northeast Brazil, I am drawn into his world in
which his strong movements, intense gestures and warm facial expressions demonstrate his one and only passion: rescuing, loving, and caring for birds of prey.
It is easy to see that the birds are well taken care of – by the softness and cleanness of the feathers, the shiny eyes and heads held up high.
This morning, my partner Coen and I had driven up a rough road into Sergipe’s interior. We left civilization behind us and wound through vast sweeps of prairie-type grasslands that alternated with patches of forest.
On our left we spotted the aviaries we had been looking for, parked the car and clapped our hands to make our presence known.
Meet José PercÃllio and Tito
A lean man with a goatee and mustache appeared from the veranda and shook my hand. “José PercÃllio,” he said while stroking the head of a bird that sits on his shoulder, “and this is Tito,” introducing his 28-year-old gavião caracara.
There are dozens of aviaries and as we check them out, PercÃllio tells his tales. Most of his birds were shot at and came with broken wings or part of their wings missing.
Other birds were captured and mistreated. If possible he trains the animals so they can return to the place where they were found, or close to it. If they are unable to survive in the wild due to their injuries, he keeps them at the park for breeding.
IBAMA (Brazil’s organization in charge of protected flora and fauna) and the Police Ambiental (Environmental Police) have brought other animals to the park as well, for no other reason than that there’s nowhere else to turn to.
Few people have such a passion for animals, as well as healing hands, as PercÃlio does. During our visit José is treating a baby deer and a tamandua (giant anteater).
Many animals have been confiscated from traffickers. Sometimes the mothers have been killed and the young are brought to the park to be looked after until they are big enough to fend for themselves. José tells us about a porcupine that kids had been throwing stones at. IBAMA brought it to the Falcon Park and when the porcupine’s wounds had healed, José released it back into the environment.
We arrived unannounced, not knowing that reservations are mandatory. Had we done so we would have seen one of PercÃlio’s presentations on how he trains birds of prey to return to the wilderness. But being on our own has its advantages as well: we are handed numerous birds to hold.
PercÃllio takes an adult spectacled owl out of the cage, whispers to it and sets it on my arm. The claws are not as sharp as I had thought they would be, and the bird is totally undisturbed by the move.
Throughout our walk I’m handed different owls and instructed to stroke and cuddle them. “They love that, they want attention,” PercÃllio emphasizes. I had no idea that birds and men could bond so strongly. Birds lean towards PercÃllio, simply asking for a kiss.
From one Falcon to a Sanctuary for Birds of Prey
PercÃllio fell in love with birds when he was seven when he was given an egg. He put it in a hen’s nest and, on his birthday, Tito was born – the falcon we met at our arrival.
PercÃllio’s second-oldest falcon is a quiriquiri falcon called Véia. These falcons are the second smallest falcon in Brazil. PercÃllio was nine years old when someone shot the bird’s mother.
PercÃllio took the dead bird home and found that it had an egg inside it. He cut the bird open, removed the egg and used three different pigeons to help to hatch it.
A pigeon egg takes about fifteen days to hatch, for that reason he had to use more than one pigeon. The chic finally hatched in PercÃllio’s hand 30 days later. Vèia is now 25 years old.
PercÃllio’s hobby grew into a way of life and today his life is dedicated to birds of prey. Parque dos Falcões (Falcon Park) falls under the supervision of IBAMA, which not only brings him birds and other animals, but also checks whether PercÃllio operates according to the law.
Bird Stories
I love the creativity with which José works to heal his birds. He claims that no bird in his care has ever died and that he has no need for a veterinarian. He will continue to search for a solution until he finds one. For example, Percilio attempted to breed Perna Longa falcons for eleven years before they finally reproduced. They now produce regularly.
On one occasion, a mico or saguim as they are called here – small monkey – got into the cage with a nest, ate one of the eggs, and cracked the other. Percilio put a band-aid over the crack and put the egg back in the nest.
He didn’t expect it to hatch but after 35 days he was surprised to find that it had, and there was a young chic in the nest.
“So, who pays the bills?” I ask him after he has explained that he receives no government funds. He needs 120 kilo of food on a weekly basis to feed all animals.
“Enterprises hire me and my birds to help them out,” says PercÃllio. “Many birds, among which herons, sparrows and pigeons cause trouble. They destroy crops, disrupt activities at factories, or cause aircraft accidents near airports.”
In fact, when I emailed PercÃllio later on, I had to wait for an answer since he was on a mission to get rid of swallows that were invading an installation of Petrobras – Brazil’s oil company. PercÃllio offers environmental control of pests while he himself has found a way to pay his bills.
The sanctuary is a place to stay for hours, days even, but it’s clear that PercÃllio has a busy schedule. After two hours of talking, and holding and cuddling birds of prey, it is time to go.
PercÃllio has work to do: feeding chicks, bathing birds, and going to the forest to train one of his recently healed birds to return to his natural environment. We wish PercÃlio the best of luck and set off to explore another of Sergipe’s wildlife sanctuaries: the sea turtle protection program of TAMARA along the coast of Pirambu.
Further Information:
To see more of Parque dos Falcões and PercÃllio at work, check out this video made by Peter J. Ellice.
You can visit the sanctuary daily between 8-11am and 13-16pm, but note that reservations are mandatory. On the website of Parque dos Falcões you will find specifics such as a telephone number and contact page.
How to reach Parque dos Falcões
Parque dos Falcões lies near Areia Branca, along the road to National Park de Itabaiana (BR 235), which lies about 34 kms north of Aracaju, the state capital of Sergipe in northeast Brazil. The sanctuary is another 11 kms farther inland and signposted.
– At the tourist office of Emsetur downtown Aracaju, the staff speak some English and can tell which agencies organize day trips to the Falcon Park, but also about other day trips in the area, such as watching sea turtles in Pirambu, visiting the colonial town of São Cristóvão and the São Francisco Canyon.
View videos of the falcons on YouTube
Park website
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