The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Biologist Juan Masello has spent two decades studying burrowing parrots in Patagonia by rappelling down dangerous, crumbling sandstone cliffs. He uses specialized tools, like a modified spoon on a telescopic stick, to retrieve chicks from deep nests for research.
“Most days, you can find Juan Marcelo dangling out over the ocean, off the face of this 100-foot sandstone cliff in Patagonia. It's a place that is both incredibly beautiful and highly dangerous.”
“So one day, we had this idea of taking a big spoon from our kitchen, cutting it, mounting this big spoon on the tip of this telescopic stick. We basically spoon them out of the nest.”
“It sounds easy, it is not.”