Chapter 8- Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan's species revelation shock
A day after Susan had sent Tulio Monteiro the email with the picture of Levi, Aurora, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, D'Artagnan, Sunset and Travis (with Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan marked with arrows) attached, requesting him to identify what species of Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan were, Susan Lucy, Blake, Drake, Jake, Veggie, Dash and the eleven parrots were up and about. There was no lecture today so the owners did not need to get ready to leave to go to the university, but Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had a lot of studying to do. While Lucy and the triplet brothers studied and the eleven pets including Dash and Veggie were reading some books, Susan booted up the laptop to check her emails to see if Tulio had replied. As she opened up the internet, Phoebe looked up from reading a book about insect ecology. Susan then logged into her Gmail account and once she was in, she checked her inbox. As soon as she had done this, she called the other four owners over.
"Guys," she said, "Dr Monteiro's got back to me."
Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake put down their pens and books and walked over to Susan. Dash, Veggie and the eleven parrots also put down their books and gathered around Susan.
"Here we go," said Phoebe. Aurora, D'Artagnan and Levi wore nervous looks on their faces.
"Right, let's hear it," said Athos.
"What did Tulio say about Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan?" asked Lucy. Susan opened up the reply email sent by Tulio and read it. As she did so, she was filled with utter surprise.
"Dr. Monteiro says that he had looked at the picture of our eleven parrots I had sent him," she replied, "And he says that Levi is a glaucous macaw, Aurora is a Spix macaw and D'Artagnan is a Lear's macaw and that they need to be transferred to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as soon as possible for conservation purposes, especially Levi since he is a male and that he (Dr. Monteiro) and his team had been searching high and low for a male glaucous macaw for the female they had recently found..."
As Susan's words were taken in by Lucy, Blake, Drake, Jake and the pets', especially Aurora, Levi and D'Artagnan's, brains, they recoiled with utter surprise.
"Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan are WHAT!?" cried out Drake.
"B-b-but we were told those three were hyacinth macaws like Phoebe," said Blake as he looked at the group of pets.
"How are we going to get those three birds to Brazil?" asked Jake. Susan then continued reading Tulio's reply.
"Dr. Monteiro has said that he has sent one of his employees, Dr. Francisco Abilio over to the UK to come and see us about that," said she, giving the answer to the question. As she said this, Levi gave his owner a bewildered face. Hearing that he was a species of macaw that was believed to be extinct in the wild and not a type of hyacinth macaw had blown him away and he couldn't believe it. D'Artagnan and Aurora were also equally shocked, as were some of the other pets including Veggie and Athos. Phoebe, however, was unsurprised.
"Told you so, and you also were correct all along, D'Artagnan," she said in a low voice to the other pets, especially to a certain macaw.
"But... when Blake, Drake and Jake's parents purchased us when we were chicks," said Aramis, "We were convinced that D'Artagnan was a hyacinth macaw. The same applied to Levi and Aurora when Susan and Lucy's mother purchased them as chicks from another pet store."
"Well, now we know the truth," said Athos, "The experts have confirmed that Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan are of three extremely rare and critically endangered species. That means that they will have to be ready for a trip to Brazil anytime soon."
The other pets apart from two of them nodded in agreement. Aurora and Levi, however, remained silent. They were also overwhelmed, just like D'Artagnan who had also suspected that Levi and Aurora might not be hyacinth macaws and was also struck by the revelation that he was also not one either, by that news, and Aurora and Levi were also bewildered by the news that they were, in fact, part of two extremely rare species of macaw, the glaucous macaw (Levi) and the Spix macaw (Aurora).
"I knew that Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan might not be hyacinth macaws like me all along," said Phoebe, "After all, they are too small to be hyacinths and Aurora and Levi's blue feathers are too light, with Levi's also having a hint of green, a trait NOT found on a hyacinth."
"Wait, didn't Susan say that Dr. Monteiro has sent one of his employees over to the UK?" asked Sunset.
"Yeah, she did," said Phoebe. Aurora shot the hyacinth macaw, a TRUE hyacinth, a worried gaze.
"Would that mean that he might just come and take us to Brazil?" she asked.
"It might mean that," said Athos.
"What!?" retorted D'Artagnan in disbelief.
"But we're under the ownership of Susan, Lucy and Blake, Drake and Jake," said Levi.
"As I've said before," said Athos, "Animals of very rare and critically endangered species, if found under the care of an owner, must be taken away from the owner and transferred to a conservation area, and since you three are of three ultra rare species of macaws, especially Levi, you will have to face that."
Levi, D'Artagnan and Aurora just glared back at the scarlet macaw in worry.
"He's right, you know," said Porthos, "No doubt about it."
He then turned to Levi. "And for all we know, if that female glaucous macaw in Rio de Janeiro is apparently the last female of her kind, you might be the last male glaucous macaw alive as well."
"Me, the last male of my species?" replied Levi, "How? Why?"
"Well, we have not seen other macaws like you, D'Artagnan or Aurora all our lives as pets, Levi," explained Dash, "Until yesterday when Drake showed us all that article about the Spix macaw family, the two other Spix macaws recently found and also the Lear's and glaucous macaws."
"We'll have to wait and see until that person by the name of Dr. Francisco or whatever his name is arrives here," said Travis, "I can see Susan's telling that to the other four owners."
"I think that's a good idea, folks," said Athos. Just then, the eleven pets heard Susan say, "Then it's settled. Dr. Abilio should be arriving in the UK around about tomorrow but it may take a few days for him to eventually find our address. Anyway, let's wait for him to turn up and then we'll take it from there."
Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake nodded and returned to their desks to continue studying while Susan closed down her laptop. The eleven pets looked on.
"Well, looks like another wait ahead of us," said Veggie. Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan only sighed and flew off to return reading the books they had been reading while Dash left for his bed. Then Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Phoebe left remaining until only Veggie, Travis and Sunset.
"It's going to be a difficult time for Susan and Lucy if they have to give up Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan, folks," said Travis sadly.
"Well, it's for the good of their species, especially the glaucous macaw," said Veggie, "Since that is extremely close to becoming entirely extinct with only two individual birds left alive, the female in Rio, and Levi."
"Let's return to reading a book," said Sunset and with that, the sulfur-crested cockatoo, the Major Mitchell's cockatoo and the tabby cat all left to join the other ten pets.
One week later
Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake and their eleven pets were up to their usual activities of studying and in the case of the five owners, attending any lecture that was assigned for them to attend. Today, the weather outside was not very good. The skies were completely overcast and rain was falling heavily, and alongside the falling rain, the sounds of thunder can be heard. The weather forecast had predicted thunderstorms and today seemed to be one of those days for one such as this. Not very many people were out in the streets outside the house because of the weather and anyone that was wore coats and had umbrellas to keep themselves dry, but they still hurried on to their next destinations in a desperate attempt to escape the heavy rain. In the road, puddles had formed and any car that drove had their tyres run through the mini-lakes, sending a wave of rainwater erupting from them and breaking onto the paths immediately next to them. Lucy glared at the miserable weather outside.
"What a dull, miserable day today," she muttered, "It looks like Dash's daily walk is cancelled."
Dash sighed when he heard Lucy say this. It was clear that he was not going to walk out in such dreary weather. The last time he had got caught out in such heavy rain when Jake was walking him, Dash and Jake had to hurry back to the house and Dash had caused a right mess by shaking his soaked fur dry. As he did that, drops of rainwater had scattered everywhere, many of them landing on the carpet and some of the macaws much to their annoyance.
Dash then lay back down in his bed. Veggie was in his own bed as well, not very happy about the weather either for he had planned to go out for a walk today, only to realise that it was just too wet. On the table, Drake, Blake and Jake had placed a large bowl of fruit and parrot food for the eleven parrots including Travis and Sunset the cockatoos to eat. After the parrots began to dig their beaks into the food, the triplets left. Aramis the great green macaw eyed the weather outside.
"There's no way any of us are going to go out in that," he said, "Glad our owners don't have any lectures today."
"I'm glad that we birds don't have to go outside either," muttered Phoebe, "Our feathers would become soaked and we'd probably not fly very well."
"I wonder what the weather in Brazil is like," said D'Artagnan as he ate a piece of apple.
"I don't know," said Athos, "Probably warm and sunny quite a lot I should think."
"Brazil is most likely to have rain too," said Porthos, "If it were sunny all the time, the Amazon Rainforest would probably not thrive very well without the rain to balance the hot, sunny rays that cause a drying effect."
"The plants would shrivel and wilt if they received too much sun," said Phoebe, "Due to a loss of water through their leaves, a process known as transpiration."
"Absolutely," said Travis, "So it seems that rain is like a counterbalance to the sun."
The other parrots including the rather sad looking Levi and Aurora and also D'Artagnan nodded in agreement. Levi and Aurora had been rather quiet lately, and D'Artagnan was still racked with stun. The revelation of their species and that they were part of three rare macaws had completely shocked them, and now they were waiting for the ornithologist to turn up and see Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake about these three and possibly take them away to Rio. Speaking of that, where was the ornithologist that was supposed to be meeting the group? Blake had been keeping an eye out for him during the week and had seen no signs of him at all. Might he have got lost trying to find Susan and company's address? London was an enormous city, the largest in the UK, so it wouldn't be surprising that Dr. Abilio might have lost his way. However, the group might not have to wait much longer.
While the other ten parrots continued eating their meal, Sunset flew over to the window to have a closer look outside at the weather and the dismal scene. It truly was pouring with rain and there was not a sliver of sunshine anywhere. Just grey clouds saturated with rain. Sunset never liked weather like this, especially if it were in excess and it sometimes was in some parts of the UK. When it was sunny, she sometimes went outside into the back garden to soak up the sun, especially during summer but when it was rainy, especially for so long, Sunset often wore a grumpy look on her face. She continued glaring at the miserable weather outside but she was about to be surprised by something. While Sunset continued gazing into the street cloaked with the overcast weather and the rain, she saw a man make a mad dash towards the house's front door and garden across the road. The man cried in shock as he avoided one or two cars, which stopped or swerved out of his way and continued on their journey, the drivers honking their horns at the man to tell him to watch his step. The man then rushed for the curb closest to the house but his foot snagged on the curb. The man fell forward as he tripped on the curb and landed flat on his face onto the wet path, yelping as he did. Sunset flinched when she saw this, her brilliant pink-white, red and yellow crest erected from the shock. The man's yelp was heard by Blake, so he went over to the front door, opened it and looked out. He then saw the man struggle onto his feet just outside the front garden's gate. When Drake saw this, he seized his raincoat coat, put it on and rushed outside to help him. Drake, Jake, Susan and Lucy also walked towards the front door and watched Blake as he helped the man onto his feet. Sunset and the other eight parrots looked on while Dash and Veggie, who had also heard something outside, walked towards their owners curiously.
"Are you alright, sir?" asked Blake as the man struggled to regain his balance after the fall.
"Yes, I'm fine, thanks. I'm Dr. Francisco Abilio, the ornithologist that had been sent by Dr. Tulio Monteiro to you guys to see about three of your parrots," said the man. Then Blake quickly took the man through the garden and both entered the house through the door. After Lucy closed the door, the man, named Francisco Abilio, took off his soaked coat and gave it to Drake. Drake took it and left to put the coat into the dryer.
"Do you want a cup of tea?" asked Susan.
"I could do with that please, thanks," said Francisco as he wrung some of his soaked clothes of rainwater. Athos and his group looked on as Susan left to make the man a cup of tea and while Lucy, Blake and Jake led him to sit into a chair. Then after Susan had made the cup of tea and had handed it to Francisco while Drake handed him a towel for him to dry his soaked hair, he began to complain.
"British weather, honestly," he muttered as a thunderclap was heard outside, "It seems to be quite wet most of the time. This is the fourth day in a row that it's been raining like this. I had to find my way around this giant city to your address in this after I spent a couple of days getting used to the time zone..."
"That's British weather for you, I'm afraid," said Susan sadly. Francisco then dried his hair and gave the towel back to Drake who took it away. He then took a sip from his tea.
"It's been forecasted thunderstorms for most of the week," said Blake. Francisco sighed and then reached into his jacket. After a moment of fumbling, he produced a card and handed it to Susan.
"I'm Dr. Francisco Abilio," said Francisco, "Doctor of ornithology and the conservation of rare bird species. But please, called me Francisco."
Susan looked at the card and then gave it back to Francisco.
"So, Francisco," she said, "I believe you've come to see us about three of our macaws, Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan?"
"That's right," said Francisco, "I've seen the picture of your eleven parrots you've sent us by email, and I could not believe what collection of birds you've got, so where are they?"
"It was the only recent picture we had of Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan," said Susan and with that, she showed Francisco the nine birds. The birds had lined up to greet Francisco. Francisco's eyes widened when he saw the collection of birds with his own two eyes.
"Wow, you certainly do have a collection of parrots, you five," he said, "So which macaw and cockatoo is which?"
"This is D'Artagnan," said Susan gesturing to the dark navy blue and teal bird. D'Artagnan jumped up slightly in a greeting to Francisco. Then Susan introduced Aurora, who also did a small jump to greet Francisco and raised a wing. Then Susan moved onto the other macaws and the two cockatoos.
"And this is Athos, he's a scarlet macaw," said Susan, "and Porthos the blue-and-gold macaw, Aramis the great green macaw, Phoebe the hyacinth macaw, Levi and these are our two cockatoos. The sulfur-crested cockatoo is called Travis while our Major Mitchell's cockatoo is called Sunset."
Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, Levi, Travis and Sunset all raised a wing to greet Francisco. Francisco smiled at Sunset while Veggie and Dash smiled, at the moment unnoticed by Francisco.
"A Major Mitchell's cockatoo," crooned Francisco as he admired Sunset, "They're one of my favourite birds. I and my wife used to have one before I joined Tulio's team. It died of old age, sadly."
"Oh, that's sad," said Susan sympathetically. Francisco nodded in agreement. It was then that Dash and Veggie jumped onto the table behind the row of parrots.
"Oh, and this is Veggie, our cat and Dash, our dog. He's a greyhound," said Lucy. When Francisco saw Veggie and Dash, he became surprised.
"Wait, you have some birds and a cat?" he asked in disbelief. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake all nodded. Francisco then frowned slightly.
"Well, it's a bit odd to have a cat AND some birds at the same time," he said, "Often they don't mix."
"That is true but Veggie here has never even killed a bird all his life," explained Lucy, "Neither has he killed and eaten a fish or mouse, and he absolutely refuses to."
"Well, that is an unusual cat you've got there," said Francisco, "All the other cats I've come across have often stalked birds to eat."
Veggie just replied to this with a shrug. Francisco continued admiring Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake's collection of birds before finally moving on to the serious business. As he prepared to explain why he had come all the way from Brazil to London, Francisco stood up and continued drinking from his tea.
"Well, I am impressed by your collection of birds, you five," said Francisco, "But it is time to move on to the main reason why I have come all the way here from Brazil. It is about the three of your birds, Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan. Out of your entire collection, those three birds are the ultra rare gems of the lot."
"I can see why," said Susan, "D'Artagnan's a Lear's macaw, Aurora is a Spix macaw and Levi is a glaucous macaw."
Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan stepped forward as Jake said, "When we received them as chicks when we were kids, we thought they were hyacinth macaws like Phoebe."
"Those three macaw species do look like hyacinth macaws at first glance," said Francisco with a smile in understanding to this rather common mistake, "Especially the Lear's macaw since it has dark blue feathers like hyacinths do, but I can tell you for a fact, they are not hyacinth macaws. They are different species to the hyacinth."
He then walked over to D'Artagnan. "Let's start with the Lear's macaw."
Blake, Drake, Jake, Susan, Lucy and the other ten pets including Dash and Veggie then began to pay attention as Francisco launched into a mini-lecture about the Lear's macaw.
"Now the Lear's macaw, known by its scientific name Anodorhynchus leari, is one of the three species of macaws that is critically endangered," said the ornithologist, "In fact, there is a flock of Lear's macaws living on the far east of Brazil but we did not expect to find a Lear's macaw in the jungle just outside of Rio. However, that individual macaw is the only one we have ever found in that area. It is a female and she is currently being held in Tulio's Aviary in Rio de Janeiro at the moment and we had been sent out to find a male Lear's macaw to pair her up with so that they could breed and have chicks, and hopefully establish a small Lear's macaw population on the sanctuary near Rio."
"Was the Lear's macaw population affected by poaching and logging activity?" asked Blake.
"Yes," said Francisco, "In fact, logging and poaching drastically affects the population of any animal, not just macaws, and it often leads to animal species being pushed closer to the brink of extinction."
He then eyed D'Artagnan with a smile. "And now that I have found this male Lear's macaw in your care, which you have alerted us to first through your email with that picture of your birds attached, I now hope to bring D'Artagnan to Rio and pair him up with the female Lear's macaw so that they can breed."
D'Artagnan shook his head in surprise. He cannot imagine himself with a female Lear's macaw and chicks. Besides, having chicks had never really occurred to him anyway. However, it seemed likely due to the rarity of his species. Francisco then moved onto Aurora and began to explain about the Spix macaw.
"The next ultra rare species of blue macaw," he said, "Is the Spix macaw or Cyanopsitta spixii. In fact, this species is precariously close to the brink of extinction. We only have seven known individual macaws over in Rio, Brazil: the family of five and the two we had recently found. Before we found the next two Spix macaws, only Blu and Jewel were the last known Spix macaws alive. That is until they had their chicks, Carla, Bia and Tiago."
"We read on that article that the two other macaws you caught were a male and a female," said Susan, "And you'd hoped that they would breed but when you did DNA tests on them and found out that they were brother and sister, you were met with disappointment and hoped to find another macaw for either of them that is not too closely related."
"That's true," said Francisco, "In biology especially population genetics, we call the mating of closely related individuals of a population, also known as incest, 'inbreeding' and that is bad for the fitness of a population of a species, especially those with small numbers of individuals. Inbreeding increases the chance of faulty gene alleles being passed on and affecting the reproductive fitness of the next generation. That was what we wanted to avoid with that pair of macaws we had recently found. If those two bred and had a clutch of eggs, the chances of those eggs and/or chicks being inviable were high."
As he explained inbreeding, Veggie was a little confused.
"Inbreeding? What a deep concept," he said in a low voice.
Francisco then turned to Aurora and said, "And now that I have found a female Spix macaw which I hope isn't too closely related to the male and his sister, which I should imagine isn't, I want to bring Aurora to Rio, pair her up with the male and hopefully they will have a clutch of eggs that is viable. We've had success with the first pair of Spix macaws, Blu and Jewel. Now, I hope that we'll have the same success with the second pairing and have more Spix macaw chicks."
Aurora gave a slight smile at this. She had never seen other macaws like herself all her life and this might be an opportunity to meet more of her species, now that she knew that she was a Spix macaw and not a type of hyacinth macaw. Then Francisco turned to Levi last of all.
"And speaking of success with getting the first pair of Spix macaws to breed and have chicks," he said, "this brings us to the final, and truly, TRULY, critically endangered species of macaw, the glaucous macaw."
Francisco then launched into explanation about the glaucous macaw. "The glaucous macaw, also called Anodorhynchus glaucus, is what I sometimes call the extremely rare diamond of macaws. It is possibly rarer even than the Spix macaw and is believed to be extinct in the wild just like the Spix macaw. In fact, the species was thought to be completely extinct since the 1960s until we've found that female glaucous macaw a while ago."
"And you've been hoping to find another macaw like her," said Drake, "Most importantly a male."
"That is true;" said Francisco, "And now that you have alerted us that you have one also in your care, we now must get Levi over to Rio and pair him up with the female glaucous macaw. Hopefully they will mate and have chicks and give the glaucous macaw species another chance in life."
He then gave the five owners a serious look. "And it's important that we do. The sooner the better in fact because if we don't take the opportunity to save the glaucous macaw from going extinct, the species might become just that."
Francisco then looked at Levi. "And I hate to shock you but Levi could well be the last male of his species."
"Really?" Susan said in surprise. Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake looked on in shock as did the other ten pets.
"Yes," said Francisco, "That's why it is important that we get him to Rio and pair him up with the female glaucous macaw. The same applies to Aurora and D'Artagnan who must pear up with the male Spix macaw and the female Lear's macaw."
"B-but we've just started a degree in ecology," replied Drake, "We might not have time to travel to Brazil."
"Look, I know you have a lot to do, but this is important," said Francisco. Then he thought. After thinking, he said, "I know, I'll let your lecturers know that you have three parrots that need transferring to Rio because you see, we can't afford to miss this opportunity, as it's the only one we've got, especially regarding Levi's species."
Drake then left to get a list of the lecturers' names so that Francisco could contact them. Francisco then looked outside at the weather. The rain seemed to have eased off.
"Well, I'd better get back to my hotel," he said, "while the rain's light."
He then reached into his jacket and gave Susan his contact number while Drake returned with the sheet of paper with the list of lecturers for him to contact. Jake left and returned with Francisco's coat which had been in the dryer. Francisco took it, said thanks and put it on.
"We'll have to have a serious think about this," said Susan as she looked at the contact card.
"Then make sure that you do," said Francisco as he prepared to leave. He finished the rest of his tea and gave the empty cup to Lucy who took it to the sink for washing. Then as soon as Francisco was ready, he said goodbye to the five owners.
"I'll see you five again as soon as you make your decision," said Francisco. Then he realised that he had not learned their names yet.
"Sorry, I never asked you five your names," he said, "What are each of you called?"
"I'm Susan," said Susan, "The other lady here is my younger sister Lucy and these three guys are our triplet cousins Blake, Drake and Jake."
Blake, Drake and Jake each raised a hand in a greeting. Francisco smiled.
"Well, it sure is fitting for a trio of identical triplet brothers to have rhyming names," he said, "Reminds me of Donald Duck's triplet nephews in Disney's Donald Duck franchise, Dewey, Huey and Louie."
Blake, Drake and Jake smiled in amusement at this as Francisco then checked that he had everything.
"Right, the next thing I'm going to do is contact your lecturers and let them know of what we have just talked about," said he, "And then after that, I am going to go back to my hotel and wait for your reply. I'll see you guys soon and it sure is nice to meet you."
And with that, he left and Lucy closed the door behind him. Silence as Susan walked up to the other four owners.
"Well, what next?" asked Lucy, breaking the quiet.
"We'll commit this to prayer tonight," said Susan, "This is a serious decision to make. Anyway, let's get take a break."
And with that the five owners dispersed. Athos and the others watched as the owners left to have a break from studying and Francisco's visit. D'Artagnan walked up beside the large scarlet macaw.
"I cannot believe that I might be the last male of my species," he said.
"Well, that ornithologist did say that your species was declared extinct in the wild since the 1960s," said Athos.
"Well, then, it's now up to our owners," said Porthos.
"Guess so," said Phoebe.
"You know, I would love to go to Rio," said Aramis with a smile, "And meet more macaws like myself if our owners decide to take us as well."
"So would I," said Phoebe with a smile, "I would love to meet other hyacinth macaws as well."
"And me with other blue-and-gold macaws," said Porthos.
"It would do Levi, Aurora and D'Artagnan good to meet macaws of their species too," said Athos. Levi and Aurora just gazed at him. Then Travis, Sunset, Veggie and Dash interrupted.
"Well, I think we should relax and see what decision our owners reach," said Veggie.
"I should it imagine they have little time in reaching it," said Sunset, "Since after all, this is a one-time opportunity like that ornithologist said."
"Let's find something to do," said Travis. Dash then looked at the weather outside. It was still raining lightly.
"Well, even though the rain's eased off," he said, "I still don't think Lucy's planning on taking me out for a walk."
"Probably not," said Veggie, "That rain might increase to heavy once again."
And with that, the eleven pets dispersed to find something to do.