Chapter 27- Travis and his family warn Eduardo
Meanwhile
Tulio and his team continued trekking through the forest in the direction of the glaucous macaw tribe and the Navyfeather hyacinth Clan's territory. As the group continued walking through the vegetation, stepping over logs, rocks and seedling plants, Tulio kept his eyes on the above canopy. He watched the canopy like a hawk for any flash of turquoise and grey, occasionally stopping to listen. Behind Tulio, some of the team members were talking. Jack, Jill and Fernando walked alongside Susan, Lucy and Linda. Linda may be pregnant with her and Tulio's first baby and Fernando's adoptive sibling but she continued to help her husband in his important conservation work. And though Fernando looked forward to seeing his adoptive sibling's birth, his face was laced with concern, and Jack and Jill's faces were no different.
"Did you feel something fishy about that man at Tulio's Aviary before we came here?" asked Jack in a low voice, being careful of where he planted his feet with every step.
"I really wanted to go after that guy when he left us to meet someone else," said Fernando in a whisper, "But Dad (that is, Tulio) wouldn't let me."
Jill then glanced behind with a frown.
"Ever since that guy joined us claiming to be an ornithologist with a qualification with some masters in bird ecology, I've never felt right about him at all," she said.
"Look, you three, let's just focus on finding that flock of glaucous macaws," said Linda firmly. Fernando, Jack and Jill obeyed and continued walking on. Close behind Tulio, some of the men carried the tree climbing equipment while the rest carried clipboards and paper ready to note down the data the group will collect from the glaucous macaw flock. However, none of them were aware that the man Jack, Jill and Fernando were suspicious about, Ernesto, was in progress with poaching macaws with his group led by Lysandre. Furthermore, the group was being watched.
Athos, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia had managed to find Tulio and his team after a while of searching in the undergrowth. Once or twice the scarlet macaws almost lost each other in the process but now, they were prepared to alert Tulio and his team. As the scarlet macaw family of five watched Tulio and his group pace through the undergrowth in search of the glaucous macaws, Ruby murmured and scratched her head with a wing tip.
"Are you sure this is gonna work, Athos?" she asked uncertainly. Alexandre and his sisters kept silent but wore agreeing faces. Athos's face, however, had a different expression.
"We have no choice," he said, "Those poachers have already started their search for the rare macaws in this place and will have got down to poaching them by now. Let's go."
And with that, the red macaw opened his wings and prepared to fly out toward Tulio and his team. Ruby and the three chicks also prepared themselves. The humans continued stepping through the undergrowth when Tulio stopped the group with a hand gesture. The others behind him stopped and then Tulio turned round, raised a finger to his lips, telling them to be quiet, and then pointed to a tall tree. All eyes followed the point's direction until they landed on a small cluster of soft teal and grey gathered under a large covering of green leaves. It was some of the glaucous macaws, the flock of birds Tulio and his team were looking for. Tulio smiled at the fact that he and his team were now close to the glaucous macaws' living space and waved to his group to continue.
"We're getting closer to the heart of the glaucous macaws' habitat," he said to the others, "Not far to go now."
Linda, Susan, Lucy and some of the others also smiled but Fernando, Jack and Jill looked nervous. They were not nervous about seeing the glaucous macaws again, but they were nervous for something entirely different.
"Are you three ready with your clipboards?" asked Susan firmly. The teenaged boys and girl nodded, snapping out of their uncertain stares.
"We are," said Fernando, producing a slab of red plastic with a metal clip and a piece of paper on its top. Jack and Jill did the same but Jack's was blue and Jill's was light green.
"We're nearly at the heart of the glaucous macaws' home now," said Lucy. Fernando, Jack and Jill nodded and continued walking with the group. In the tree, the group of glaucous macaws looked down at Tulio and his team and smiled before resuming their conversation. Two or three glaucous macaw chicks played nearby. However, Tulio and his team were about to be met by another species of macaw.
As Tulio continued leading his team through the undergrowth in the direction of the central home of the glaucous macaws' habitat, a loud squawk was heard. This stopped Tulio and his team in their tracks.
"Did you hear that?" asked one of Tulio's equipment handlers.
"Yes," said Tulio, "But that's definitely not from a glaucous macaw."
"Maybe it's another species of macaw that lives in this part of the Sanctuary de Amazon?" asked Linda. Tulio then began to look around when suddenly, a red form with a pair of brown eyes and a black and white beak surrounded by a mask of white skin appeared and perched on a branch low enough so that its beak was level with Tulio's nose. Tulio, at first, did not react but when his brain registered what was in front of him, he yelped and jumped back, startled. The others behind him also gasped and stopped as Tulio managed to regain his balance. Then four more scarlet macaws, an adult female and three chicks, touched down beside the first one, a tall red male and perched on either side of him. Susan and Lucy immediately recognised the male macaw.
"Why, it's our former pet scarlet macaw, Athos," said Susan.
"What is he doing here with his family?" asked Lucy. Tulio then glared at Athos, Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia for a bit before moving his face away, one project in mind overruling the importance of Athos and his family's presence.
"Well, it's nice to see those scarlet macaws again but we have more important things to do," he told the others behind him. Gazing back to Athos and his mate and chicks, Tulio said firmly, "Now why don't you five return to your newfound friends? I'm sorry to cut you off but we have an important task to complete…"
Athos, seeing that his and his family's mere presence was not working, then moved onto Plan B. He opened his wings, took off from the branch and began to flap around the group's heads, squawking frantically. The group covered their heads as Athos then latched onto Linda's hair and began to gently pull on it. Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia joined in and began to tug at either some of the equipment carried by the equipment handlers or the hair of some of the other humans. Ruby had taken hold of Tulio's hair and had begun to gently pull on it while Alexandre and his sisters went from one human to another, pulling on their hair or the equipment, chirping and squawking frantically. Groans, shouts and mutters of annoyance and frustration then uttered from Tulio and his group as they began to try and drive Athos and his family away. It was obvious that the five scarlet macaws were trying to drag them back to the direction of Tulio and his group's copter but Tulio was not having any of it. He and his team had an important project to focus on but they did not realise an even bigger and more important reason why Athos and his family had come to them.
Linda continued shaking her head in an attempt to get Athos to release her but Athos only took hold of her hair with his beak again and gently pulled on it.
"Get off my hair, you naughty scarlet macaw," snarled Tulio's pregnant wife in irritation and with that, she yanked a lock of her red hair out of Athos's beak and swiped her hands at him in an attempt to drive him away.
"Get outa here, go on!" she shouted. Athos dodged each hand swipe and continued squawking frantically. He added gestures with his talons and wings in an attempt to communicate with Linda but Linda still thought that he was being silly. Nearby, more human hands swiped at Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia as well, and more words were fired at them to get them to leave. A woman swiped at Poinsettia and Spinel, shouting, "Get outa here, get out!" as the two chicks tried pulling on her hair and chirping. Three more men tried driving off Alexandre as he flapped around their heads. Tulio was also trying to drive Ruby away.
"Look, we don't have time for this fun and games, red macaws," shouted the leader as he grabbed Ruby and heaved her away, "We've got work to do!"
Ruby returned and tried squawking to him but Tulio grabbed her again and heaved her away a second time. Amidst the commotion, Jack, Jill and Fernando watched Athos's gestures and squawks.
"I think this scarlet macaw and his family's trying to alert us to something, Tulio," called Jack. Tulio did not hear Jack and continued trying to shove Ruby away while the others tried driving away Athos and the three chicks. Then Susan intervened. As soon as she stood before Athos, she glared at him with a very angry look on her face. Athos stopped and hovered before her. This was the same look he had received from Susan every time he had done something naughty or had been in a dangerous situation when he and the others had lived under her care in the UK.
"Now listen up, Athos," barked Susan in a rebuking voice, her hands on her hips and her face twisted into a rebuking scowl, "We have a very big important task to do and we're NOT gonna tolerate this nonsense any further."
Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia returned to Athos's sides as more annoyed eyes from Tulio's team then pierced them. Around the group, several animals, mostly monkeys, small reptiles and small birds had gathered to watch the scene having been attracted by the noise of the commotion, their eyes glinting with curiosity. However, a few turquoise and azure blue birds with grey heads and yellow facial markings had also gathered.
"What on earth was that about?" asked one, a young male. Two of the macaws replied with a shrug as if to say, 'we don't know'.
Athos then tried to communicate with Susan about the poachers by using gestures. He pretended to be a cat and even managed to imitate a loud meow noise of one, using his vocal imitation talents, before switching to pretending to be a falcon, letting loose a falcon squawk while Ruby posed as a poacher using a vine to bind Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia to simulate the poachers catching birds. Susan looked on with a confused frown while Fernando, Jack and Jill watched as they made out Athos and his family's gestures. However, the rest of the group was not going to tolerate Athos and his family's presence any longer. Tulio stormed up to the scarlet macaw family and eyed them with a furious look on his face. Alexandre and his sisters immediately dived behind Ruby while Athos stopped his gestures the moment he was met by the thunderous look on Tulio's face. Tulio then began to communicate with them with an angry squawk. Athos and Ruby looked on in confusion as did Susan, Lucy, Jack, Jill, Fernando, Linda and the others.
"Do you have any idea of what he is saying, Athos?" asked Ruby perplexed. Athos did not reply and continued watching Tulio as he squawked at them and gestured to them to go away. Then after releasing a finishing screech at Athos and his family, Tulio returned to the front of the group.
"What was that supposed to be, Dad?" asked Fernando as Tulio stepped by.
"It's an angry squawk parrots make when they want you to leave them alone," replied his adoptive father, "I just did that to Athos and his family to tell them to go away."
"'Go away'?" asked Alexandre perplexed.
"He just sounded like a bird that made no sense whatsoever," said Spinel.
"Yeah, he sounded like he was talking gibberish and gobbledegook," put in Poinsettia. Linda was also perplexed. This was the same technique when Tulio attempted to use to communicate with Blu moments after first meeting him but Blu had no idea of what he was saying. Then Tulio commanded the group to follow him and the group left, leaving Athos to look on with a disappointed sigh. Jack and Jill shot a glance back at Athos and his family but one of the men, Francisco, came in and tugged them each by the arm, making Jack and Jill obey and leave with the other humans, leaving the scarlet macaw family to gaze after them.
"That went well," said Alexandre flatly.
"They just assumed us to be nothing more than mischievous birds," said Spinel.
"Now what are we gonna do?" asked Ruby. Athos then shot her a determined look.
"Well if they won't listen to our warnings about those smugglers," he said, "Then we'll have to find another way to make them."
Athos then stole a glance at a brief flash of turquoise, azure and grey through the trees. "But rather than stand here lamenting on our failed attempts to alert Tulio and his team, let's warn the glaucous macaws and Flavio's clan of the danger of the poachers while we're here. Let's go."
And with that he, Ruby, Alexandre and his sisters all opened their wings and took off into the trees in the direction of the glaucous macaw tribe's home patch which was right next to the Navyfeather hyacinth macaw Clan's grove.
Meanwhile
The falcons continued flying through the Amazon rainforest in search of the target flocks. Bryony and Xerosic, two of them, had chosen to search for the Spix macaw tribe. The two falcons were flying high over the trees, having decided to search from above rather than at the level of the canopy or the treetops. Xerosic had discussed this with Bryony and told her how it would give them a better bird's eye view of the habitat and pick out any Spix macaws, to which Bryony thought was an excellent idea. As the two falcons flew along, Xerosic scanned the green sea of trees with his keen eyes for any spots of blue.
"Remember, Bryony," he said as he continued scanning the trees below, "We will only be able to catch up to two Spix macaws each and secondly, they may fight back so make sure you aren't tempted to hurt any of them."
"Roger, Xerosic," said Bryony as she began to search the green canvas below. She wore an uncertain look on her face.
"Are you sure this is where those Spix macaws live?" she asked, "I have a feeling we may be flying in the wrong direction."
Xerosic was about to answer when his eyes picked out some specks of pale blue flying over the green canvas of trees.
"Looks like we may have found some, Bryony," he replied, "Come on, let's prepare to swoop down on them and capture some of them."
And with that, he banked to his left and descended, Bryony following.
As the two peregrine falcons then planned their position of attack, the blue spots, which were indeed a group of Spix macaws, were flying through the trees. Among the group were Roxie, the Spix tribe's Pit of Doom scoremarker, Maximillian and his daughter Turquesa, and Nuvem with his girlfriend and an in-training tribe nurse macaw, Cassia. The group was on an outing and Maximillian wanted to join them after a hard day of helping the green macaw tribe's patrollers on their daily update of the border to the flying fox colony's territory, and also take his daughter Turquesa out.
"So how are things with the green macaws, Max?" asked Roxie as she flew alongside a male macaw named Zenon. Zenon was Roxie's boyfriend and the two had been dating for about two months now.
"Oh, the green macaws are just fine, Roxie," said Maximillian with a smile, Turquesa flying beside him, "Alonso has told me that his tribe and the Lear's macaws are now getting along very well."
"That is very good news after their feud before the most recent fire," said Nuvem.
"Furthermore," said Maximillian, "No flying fox activity to report, which is excellent. Looks like Cicatriz and his colony are keeping within their boundaries and not planning to intrude into our home areas."
"Well, that's good, I hope it stays that way," said Cassia firmly, "If there are any bats behaving suspiciously close to the border of the Sanctuary de Amazon, we would like to be kept informed."
Maximillian nodded in agreement.
"I wonder how Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil, their parents and friends are doing in Rio," squeaked Turqeusa as she flew alongside her father, "I would love to visit that city someday when I'm old enough."
"We'll see," said Maximillian firmly, "At the moment, you're too young."
Turquesa sighed. She was a very inquisitive macaw and wanted to explore the world outside the Sanctuary de Amazon. Then Maximillian called to the leader of the small group at the front, "Where are we, Santos?"
"We're approaching a river, Max," replied Santos. Then soon, the group of Spix macaws emerged from the canopy and were over a stretch of glistening silver flowing below. The macaws then flew over the river and began to look for a place to rest and have a chat. However, they were unaware that they were about to be attacked. As the group of macaws flew parallel to the wall of trees above the water, Xerosic and Bryony hovered directly above them. The two had picked out their target macaws and were ready to make the pounce.
"Right, Bryony, here goes," said Xerosic, "Head directly to your chosen macaw and grab it."
"Roger, Xerosic," said Bryony and with that, she got prepared to attack. The group of Spix macaws continued searching for a suitable spot to perch. Turquesa flew alongside Maximillian, keeping close to him at all times. As inquisitive as she was, she daren't stray too far from the adults and end up getting lost. At the back of the group, Nuvem and Cassia flew with Roxie and Zenon. The four were talking about trivial things as adult macaws sometimes did. Turquesa did not listen to the chat of the four macaws behind her and her father and just continued flying on. Then soon, Santos led the group to a large tree and the group perched there. Maximillian then examined the surroundings and noted that they were on the border of the Spix macaws' territory and that of the Navyfeather Clan and glaucous macaws. Smiling, he turned to the other macaws in the group while Turquesa flew off to explore some plants.
"Don't go too far, daughter," called Maximillian as Turquesa then began to examine a butterfly, before turning to face Roxie and Zenon to talk with them. As he did, Turquesa continued fluttering after the butterfly as it flitted through the air, coming to rest on a bromeliad flower. This butterfly had metallic blue wings fading to charcoal black along the edges. Sprinkled at regular intervals of the black areas were flecks, white on the forewings and red on the hindwings. Turquesa smiled with intrigue. She remembered Bia and Poinsettia telling her that this butterfly species was called a 'Blue Morpho'. 'Blue Morpho', thought Turquesa, 'That would be a wonderful name for a chick when I grow up and have kids of my own'.
As she continued gazing at the iridescent blue shine on the Morpho butterfly's wings, the butterfly batted its wings and flitted off into the green canopy in search of its favourite flowers. Turquesa looked on with a smile. However, she was unaware that something was heading for the group. As Turquesa continued gazing after the Morpho butterfly, her father chatting with the other adult macaws and Santos examining the surroundings, a slate grey and ivory arrow headed directly towards her. A small bird, a motmot with a yellow front and orange back like the Coin Toss Bird in the Pit of Doom, now renamed the Pit of Games for the arena was no longer used for territorial dispute soccer games and was instead used for friendly games instead, landed on a nearby perch and chirped, but then it bolted, making Turquesa flinch and wonder why it had fled so abruptly. Then suddenly, her name exploded from the beak of one of the adult macaws, "TURQUESA!"
At this shout, the turquoise chick looked up and before she even knew it, a grey and ivory blur flew in, making her jump violently. Turquesa let loose an ear piercing scream as the slate grey and ivory form, a peregrine falcon with its talons outstretched in an attempt to grab her. However, the falcon missed by inches as Turquesa dodged. The falcon then crashed into the perch as Turquesa tried to fly away towards the adult macaws but then a yellow blur swept in and grabbed her. Immediately, the chick's father Maximillian's wings shot out into the air and he took off. Turquesa continued squirming in the falcon's talon as the falcon, a female with a sneering look on her face, glared at her.
"Hah, bad move, little chick," cackled Bryony to the squirming Turquesa in her talon, "Now you're gonna be taken away and caged."
Suddenly, a cerulean blur flew in and tackled Bryony in the side, making the falcon release Turquesa. Turquesa flew toward Nuvem who swept her up in his talons as Bryony the falcon shook her head in shock. Then Maximillian jumped on her back and began to fiercely attack her, his paternal instinct to protect his daughter having flared up.
"Are you okay, Turquesa?" asked Nuvem to the whimpering chick. Turquesa, who wept and shed tears of fright, nodded when suddenly, someone shouted, "Look OUT!"
The group, especially Roxie and Zenon turned in time to see another grey and ivory bird swoop in. Alarmed, the Spix macaws dodged but the falcon, named Xerosic, managed to catch Roxie and Zenon by the necks in his talons.
"Gotcha!" he shouted nastily as he glared at the two Spix macaws in his talons, "Now to haul you back to our owners to be caged."
Roxie and Zenon writhed in his talons but Xerosic kept a firm grip. Then suddenly, several blue comets dived in and began attacking Xerosic. In his shock, the falcon released Zenon and Roxie and they joined in the attack, while Bryony struggled with Maximillian. During the skirmish, Nuvem took Turquesa to a safe place amongst a cluster of green leaves. He then turned back and watched his friends attack the falcons in an attempt to drive them away.
"What sort of birds are those, Mr Nuvem?" asked Turquesa. Nuvem managed to get a glimpse of Bryony as Maximillian continued beating and clawing her. However, he could not identify what sort of species the falcon was. These two birds were not any falcon Nuvem had ever seen but he knew that these two had to be driven away for they were a danger to them. Turning to Turquesa with a firm glare, Nuvem commanded, "Stay here, Turquesa."
And with that, he opened his wings and threw himself into the fight, leaving Turquesa to hide among the cluster of leaves to watch the skirmish for she was too young and vulnerable to participate.
Bryony continued lashing her talons to grab Maximillian but he dodged and retaliated with claw swipes of his own. Maximillian's eyes were raging caramel fires and his talons were swiping at Bryony with aggressive force each time she tried to approach. Bryony yelped as one of Maximillian's claw swipes caught her torso, opening a small scratch. Nearby, Xerosic was submerged under a cerulean and blue cloud of Spix macaws as they also threw claw swipes at him.
"Xerosic," shouted Bryony as she continued dodging Maximillian's swipes, "What shall I do?"
"Grab it," yelled Xerosic as he dodged a claw swipe thrown at his face by Cassia. Then another Spix macaw jumped onto his back and began to throttle him. Santos had pounced onto Xerosic from behind and had wrapped his wings around the falcon's neck while the others continued lashing their talons at him. Xerosic then began to bolt and writhe in an attempt to get Santos off his back but could not. From her hiding spot, Turquesa continued watching, caramel eyes full of terror. Then one of the adult macaws flew over to her, breathing heavily.
"Mr Nuvem!" shouted Turquesa. Nuvem shot her a look while breathing in and out from exhaustion. His feathers were flattened from fright and the adrenaline rush from the skirmish and he had a few scratches dotting his plumage.
"Nuvem," shouted Santos from the fighting cloud of blue, cerulean, grey and ivory, "Get Turquesa to safety and report to Eduardo at once about this!"
Suddenly, Maximillian's shouts ripped through the air.
"Let me go, you pesky birdbrain! Someone HELP MEEEE!"
The blood of the blue macaws freezing to ice, all their heads shot gazes in the direction and to their horror, Bryony was flying off with Maximillian in tow, held by the neck. With their focus briefly broken by this distraction, Xerosic lashed a talon at two more Spix macaws, Roxie and one of the other macaws, and grabbed them by the necks before flying off after Bryony. Roxie and the other macaw shouted and screeched help to the others as they were carried away, prompting the others apart from Nuvem and Turquesa to fly after Xerosic. Zenon flew the fastest and had managed to latch his beak onto Xerosic's wing. However, Xerosic jerked to one side and shook Zenon off, but not before crying out in pain as Zenon's beak tore out one of his flight feathers. Zenon was sent careening into a cluster of leaves and the others also found themselves losing Xerosic and Bryony.
"Don't worry about us!" cried Roxie as she and the other macaw were carried away by Xerosic, "Just go and alert Eduardo at ONCE!"
Santos immediately halted the other macaws, breathing heavily as they watched the two falcons recede into the distance with their catches in tow. Zenon then emerged from his crash site with a grey feather in his beak as Nuvem flew in with Turquesa. Turquesa then wailed for her father but the two falcons had already disappeared from view.
"Just what sort of forest falcons were those two?" asked Cassia.
"They weren't any of the species of falcons I've seen before," said another macaw, a female.
"Never mind about what sort of birds those two were," said Nuvem, "Let's get outa here and find Eduardo RIGHT AWAY!"
And with that, the group took off from the area and rocketed away in the direction of the Spix macaw tribe's ravine, Zenon taking the feather with him.
Later, at the Spix/blue-and-gold macaw territory boundary
Eduardo was talking with three of the other clan or tribe leaders, Soleado from the blue-and-gold macaws, Demetrio from the Bluewing Clan of hyacinth macaws and Alonso from the green macaw tribe. Around them, cerulean and blue flashes of some of the Spix macaws and the aqua blue and yellow flashes of the blue-and-gold macaws decorated the trees.
"So, an update on the daily reports on any flying fox activity at the outer border to the colony's territory, Soleado," said Eduardo.
"Nothing thereof," said the blue-and-gold macaw patriarch, "We did get a few glimpses of some of the bats from the colony in the distance but they appeared to be up to their usual activities."
"That's good," said Eduardo, "As long as they remain in their area, then that's brilliant."
"We'll keep you informed as time goes by," said Demetrio. Eduardo smiled at the assuring news. Then suddenly, commotion began to emanate through the air hanging over the Spix macaws' side. The four leaders turned and saw some of the blue birds gather.
"What's going on?" asked Alonso. Eduardo was about to answer when one of the Spix macaws flew over.
"Eduardo," she said, perching before her patriarch, "There are two odd parrots with crests here. One of them is white with a yellow crest and the other is pale pink with red and yellow bands in its crest. They also have three chicks in their talons."
Demetrio frowned and cocked his head to one side.
"A white parrot with a yellow crest and a…?" he began confused. However, Eduardo and Alonso immediately knew who the Spix macaw was talking about.
"Why, they sound like…" began Alonso.
"Travis and Sunset," said Eduardo, finishing Alonso's sentence. Demetrio and Soleado then looked through the air of the Spix macaws' space and saw a white and a pink form fly in the four tribe or clan leaders' direction. They were indeed Travis and Sunset and they had Eustace, Milo and Rosa in their talons.
"Excuse me, is Eduardo here?" asked Travis to a group of Spix macaws. Two of them pointed in Eduardo's direction.
"Thank you," said Sunset and with that, the cockatoo couple made a beeline for Eduardo, Demetrio, Soleado and Alonso. The four patriarchs blinked in surprise and confusion as Travis and Sunset approached them and then perched before them.
"Travis and Sunset," said Eduardo in surprise as the two cockatoos began to gasp to catch their breath back.
"You both look like you've been in a hurry," said Demetrio.
"What are you doing here?" asked Alonso, "I thought you were back in Rio with the others including Esmeralda and her family."
Travis and Sunset continued to pant until finally, Travis found something to say.
"That's true, Alonso but we've come here to bring you a warning," said Travis. Worry and confusion welling within them; the four tribe and clan patriarchs exchanged glances.
"A warning?" asked Eduardo.
"Yes," said Sunset, "There's a group of poachers afoot in the Sanctuary de Amazon and they've sent falcons and some crows out to catch you macaws. You Spix macaws, the Lear's macaws and the glaucous macaws are their primary targets…"
This was met by shock from the patriarchs.
"Excuse me?" asked Demetrio.
"Poachers?" asked Soleado.
"But this is a protected reserve now," said Eduardo, "Blu's two human friends had set up our homes as a sanctuary. There can't be any poachers about."
"But this group of poachers have managed to find a way to infiltrate the sanctuary to steal macaws," said Travis, "They've disguised themselves as ecologists and have sent falcons out to catch you macaws…"
He blinked in stress when he saw Eduardo smile as though he was kidding. That same look was written on Soleado, Alonso and Demetrio's faces as well.
"A group of poachers catching us with falcons?" asked Soleado with a smile, "How can we possibly be threatened by such nonsense?"
"Sounds like a fabricated story," said Demetrio.
"I-i-it's not fabricated," insisted Sunset, "This group of poachers is afoot in this sanctuary. We have seen them with our own eyes and have heard their plans. You have to believe us."
Eustace, Milo and Rosa backed their parents up with nods.
"They have already caught some of our friends including Mr Blu and Mrs Jewel and for a short while, Carla, Bia and Tiago though those three have been freed already," said Eustace. Eduardo flinched as horror swept through him but the other three patriarchs remained unconvinced.
"But, there are surely no poachers, Travis," said Demetrio firmly, "All the humans we have seen in our territory have been well-meaning humans since Blu's two human friends had set up our home as a sanctuary. There's no…"
Suddenly, some more commotion sounded in the air, drawing the attention of the surrounding Spix and blue-and-gold macaws toward the source. The four tribe and clan leaders and Travis and his family also turned in the direction of the focal point of the attention.
"Now what?" asked Travis with a frown. It was then that a group of blue rockets zoomed into view. The Spix macaw at the front, Nuvem as he carried Turquesa in his talons, looked this way and that until his eyes landed on Eduardo with Demetrio, Soleado and Alonso. The moment he found the first one, he shot off for the four, the others including Cassia and Santos behind him. The macaws in this group were clearly saturated with panic and they were propelled by it.
"Eduardo!" called Nuvem. Eduardo looked on in surprise as the group of Spix macaws landed clumsily before him and the other three leaders. Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo and Rosa walked in; balancing as the Spix macaws shook the branch by landing on it so hard all at the same time. Then the Spix macaws began to breathe heavily due to flying so fast, Zenon appearing last. He must have been left behind during the rush for he was not a very fast flyer.
"What's happened?" asked Eduardo, the others looking on in wonder. Then as soon as the group had calmed down, they began to tell Eduardo about what they saw. However, because all the macaws in the group were trying to explain what had happened at the same time, all they produced was a confusing cacophony of tangled words, rendering their receivers unable to understand what they were talking about. Then Demetrio took action.
"SILENCE!" he barked at the top of his voice, shocking Nuvem's group into shutting up. The bark was so loud that it echoed throughout the trees. Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo and Rosa had all flinched from the shock of the word exploding through them. Demetrio certainly did have a booming voice. He always used it to call for attention of his clan members when they were arguing or to break up a fight without using physical means. As soon as Nuvem's group had stopped their confusing babble, Demetrio put his wings on his hips and frowned.
"Right, one at a time please," he said in a calmer voice, "What happened?"
"We've been attacked by two falcons," said Nuvem, trying to contain the shock from the incident that had occurred earlier, "We tried fighting back but they managed to escape with Maximillian, Roxie and Elena."
The four tribe patriarchs all jerked their heads up in horror. Alonso then saw that Nuvem and his group were covered in a few minor scratches and cuts, evidence that they had been in a skirmish.
"We have no idea of what sort of species those falcons were but they weren't of a species we had seen before," said Cassia. Spix and blue-and-gold macaws gathered around to listen.
"Neither do we have any idea of why they are here," said another macaw. Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo and Rosa stepped in as Zenon produced a feather and gave it to Eduardo.
"I managed to tear a feather out of one of those falcons' wings," he said, "while trying to rescue Roxie and Elena."
Eduardo took it and examined it. Demetrio, Alonso and Soleado gazed at the feather as Eduardo turned it in his wing to take in its details.
"That feather looks like it's from a harpy eagle's wing," said Demetrio.
"Only the wings of harpy eagles are much, much longer," said Alonso.
"Let's have a look at it," said Travis. Eduardo gave it to the sulphur-crested cockatoo and he took it and examined it. However, he knew what species of bird this feather belonged to.
"It's from a peregrine falcon," he said. This was met by confusion from the surrounding macaws.
"A what?" asked Soleado.
"A peregrine falcon," said Sunset, "It's a species that is not normally native to the Amazon rainforest. They're capable of reaching speeds of well over 300 kilometres per hour in a single dive and they usually hunt in areas where there is plenty of space."
"This group of poachers has six of these falcons and they've been sent out to catch you macaws to haul back and cage," added Travis. He shot Nuvem and his group a look. "Looks like those macaws have been attacked by two of them."
The cockatoos, after Travis said this, were met with a dreaded silence. Then Demetrio broke it.
"I think it's time we returned to our respective tribes and clans to warn the others, Eduardo," said the Bluewing hyacinth Clan patriarch, "If this attack Nuvem and his group had experienced is connected to Travis's story…"
"Right, thanks, Demetrio," said Eduardo. Turning to Travis, he said, "I'll warn the others in my tribe and I'll round them up to initiate a rescue plan on Blu and the others. Thanks for letting us know."
And with that, he opened his large wings and took off.
"I'd better go warn Valentino and Rosalind as well," said Alonso, urgency saturating his voice, "The Lear's tribe are rare birds so they'll be targeted by these poachers as well."
And with that, he took off and headed in the direction of the Lear's tribe's territory. Soleado also left to warn the blue-and-gold macaws. Demetrio also left to warn the Bluewings and the blue-throated macaws but before leaving, he told Travis and his family, "You also go and warn Felipe's tribe as well."
"Okay, we will," said Travis and with that, Demetrio was out of sight.