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Ara Ararauna
The Blue-and-Yellow Macaw is a large Neotropical parrot. Their size is quite impressive – 30 to 34 inches from beak to tip of tail with a wingspan of 45 inches. There colors are vibrant and depending on how the light hits them they can be almost irridescent. These birds typically form noisy flocks and mate for life. They nest in holes in tree cavities and both male and females defend the nests
Typically they prefer the varzea (swamp forests) and open sections of Terra Firme forests of the Amazonia. This particular bird likes to hang around Explorama lodge and is easy to spot.
Their large powerful beaks are used to crack open nuts and seeds. They are "seed predators" - can you guess why?
Spotted on Jul 12, 2010
Submitted on Jun 12, 2012
2 Comments
Parrots are typical seed predators (like other birds and mammals) due to the fact that they are mostly feed on seeds, however, do usually not contribute to dispersal of seeds because most of the seeds are destroyed and no more viable (pre-dispersal seed predation). Fortunately, plants have a full arsenal to fight this habit by for example accumulation of toxins, which, fortunately, is compensated by the leek habit of parrots to neutralize these toxins. So your banana is definitely not a predation and I know from our Panama amazone that she loved mozzareline cheese...
nice,,