The Osprey is a large hawk-like bird that is always found near water. It feeds exclusively on fish, which it plucks out of the water with its feet. The bird then carries the fish away-always facing it head first-to a ledge or platform to eat.

During the northern summer, Ospreys nest on platforms throughout the northern hemisphere. In the United States, osprey nests can be found along the seacoasts and near lakes and rivers. In many places, man-made platforms have been constructed for them in likely nesting sites.

The birds build their nest using twigs, seaweed, corn husks and other debris from nearby. The finished nest can be very big and very messy. Ospreys will use the same nest site year after year, adding new material on top of last year’s nest. If you search along the sea coast or shoreline during the spring and summer, you may be able to find an osprey nest.

Once the nest building is finished, the female lays her eggs, usually three to a brood. Both she and the male take turns incubating the eggs until they hatch. Even after they’ve hatched, the nestlings depend on their parents for weeks afterwards to feed them.

With the arrival of the northern autumn, ospreys migrate south to Central and South America where they live from October until about April. In Peru, ospreys can be found during these months in the Amazonia lowland region and along flood plains.

Ospreys have a striking look. They are almost as big as eagles. When seen in flight, their bodies appear mostly white, while their long wings are streaked with black and white. At close range, you can see a dark line that runs through the eye to the back of the head.

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Iguanas live in tropical rainforest areas, generally in lower altitudes in areas near water sources, such as rivers or streams. They spend most of their time high in the forest canopy, about 40-50 feet above the ground. Full-grown green iguanas are usually between four and six feet, although they have been known to grow up to seven feet long. This includes the tail, however, which can make up about half the body length and, in addition to its green color, has black stripes. Green iguanas, not surprisingly, are green in color, but can be found in many different shades ranging from bright green, to a dull, grayish-green. Green iguanas lay many eggs, but only 3-10 babies actually survive to be adults. It takes green iguana eggs about 8-10 weeks to hatch, then takes baby iguanas about 2 years to become mature adults.

See past Critter Corners!

I was raised by my grandparents in the Peruvian Amazon village of Kokama since I was 4 years old. My grandfather was a powerful shaman, a brujo. My early life was like that of any Amazonian child, learning to paddle a dugout canoe, to make nets to fish, gather food, and study the healing properties of plants.

When I was 9, my grandfather took me deep into the jungle and left me alone for 30 days to learn from the forest. During this time, I was scared, and lived solely off the sap of the giant Ceiba tree, the most powerful tree in the forest. But learn I did... how plants heal, how to prepare them... how to be a shaman. I have been a shaman ever since.

In 1991, while working high atop a forest tree, I was startled to see on the trail below a gringo walking barefoot! It was my first introduction to Dr. Jim Duke who was in the Amazon studying medicinal plants and promoting a new conservation organization, the ACEER Foundation. This first encounter began a decades-long friendship. Jim Duke and I are spiritual brothers in an effort to save the rainforest.

In 1995, I accepted a full time position with ACEER as curator of their gardens, first along the Río Napo and more recently in the south at the new ACEER-Tambopata at Inkaterra.

I wait to teach you about these powerful plants.

Please come to the rainforest!

Lourdes García Mayta