Uchi birds

There are some incredible birds around Carmen Pampa, called crested oropendulas. They are related to oriels, and they make fascinating hanging nests.




Here they are called uchis, and our student Maritza Yanarico studied them for her graduation project. She followed their life cycle and eating habits in Carmen Pampa, examining ten groups of nests.




They are highly social birds, working as a team to find food and protect their nests. Unfortunately, their food source sometimes happens to be a farmer's crop, so understanding more about them helps farmers know how to keep them out of their fields. (Maritza suggests reflective tape and scarecrows.)

Maritza defended her project yesterday, and became our most recent graduate.

Maritza said that her first order of business was to visit her grandmother in Sorata, north of La Paz, and share the good news with her -- she hasn't seen her in 5 years! She wants to develop a conservation project for the Yungas, helping farmers work in concert with the environment, to promote species conservation and make farming more sustainable. She will use traditional knowledge that is getting lost as the last generation dies, and combine it with modern knowledge.

Here stands Maritza proudly (center) with her sister Sonia, mother-in-law Goya, son Daniel, brother Richard, Mother Julia and husband Julio, holding their daughter Dana.



Maritza received help from a lot of different people, including Dr. Kent Jenson at SDSU, and lots of moral support from our Board President Ann Leahy, and our Foundress Sister Damon. Her thank you speech lasted five minutes! Her gratitude reminded me of an old saying: What you are is God's gift to you; what you become is your gift to God. Well, Maritza's graduation is a great gift to this work of God, and we are very proud of her.