Blue-and-yellow Macaw

Description:

a member of the group of large Neotropical parrots known as macaws. These birds can reach 76 to 86 cm (30 to 34 in) long and weigh 900 to 1500 grams (1.9 to 3.3 lbs), making it one of the larger members of its family. They are vivid in appearance with blue wings and tail, dark blue chin, golden under parts, and a green forehead. Beaks are black, and very strong for crushing nuts. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds, and lined with small black feathers. The Blue-and-yellow Macaw generally mates for life. It nests in a tree hole and the female typically lays two or three eggs. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 90 days after hatching.

Habitat:

It breeds in forest (especially varzea, but also in open sections of Terra Firme) and woodland of tropical South America from Trinidad and Venezuela south to Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. It extends slightly into Central America, where it is restricted to Panama. It is an endangered species in Trinidad, and is on the verge of being extirpated from Paraguay, but still remains widespread and fairly common in a large part of mainland South America.

Notes:

Wish I could have spent more time at The Academy of Sciences to photograph this bird, but there was just so much to see!