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Fundación Loros

Saturday, April 11, 2026

The bebe humo haunts cerro Peligro

By Alejandro Rigatuso, Fundador y Director de Fundación Loros


Maicol was making his rounds through the macaw release zone, near cerro Peligro, when he spotted it: a gavilán sabanero perched with the calm of a creature that knows exactly what it's doing. The *Buteogallus meridionalis* — bebe humo, as it's known in these parts — is an opportunist hunter. When fire sweeps across the savanna and lizards scatter in a panic, it's already there, waiting at the edge of the flames. There's no need to chase anything; it only has to know how to read the smoke. The sighting was captured on video: the broad wings, the rufous chest, that unhurried gaze that announces nothing. Maicol was clear about it — this hawk has no interest in the reserve's birds. Its business is on the ground, with the lizards slipping through the undergrowth. That's what makes its presence in the macaw release zone a good sign — a predator that fits, one that plays its role without disturbing what the sanctuary is quietly building, little by little, between that hillside and the open sky.

About the author

Alejandro Rigatuso · Fundador y Director de Fundación Loros

Alejandro Rigatuso arrived at Fundación Loros after years as Vice President of Growth Marketing at Toptal, bringing with him an unconventional perspective: he knows an animal is well by its eyes, "bright, wide open." Lorenzo, the first parrot released, recaptured several times and always set free to fly again, marked him forever. At dusk, around five-thirty, you'll find him at the Mirador de las Ciénagas or wandering around Cerro El Peligro, envisioning observation towers and hundreds of native parrots soaring over a reserve that an entire community calls their own.