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1. Macaws are thriving amid the high­rises and traffic of the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas, thanks to more than 2,000 amateur birders who feed the birds and watch out for their nests

2. The beautiful birds are members of the parrot family. They are known for their brilliantly colored feathers. The population of macaws in Caracas is estimated to be several hundred.

3. The city's signature bird is the blue­ and ­yellow macaw, a bird native to much of South America, though not to Caracas. Legend has it that it was introduced to the city in the 1970s by Italian immigrant Vittorio Poggi, who nurtured a lost macaw and trained it to fly next to his motorcycle. Poggi went on to release more than100 birds.