Blue-and-yellow macaw / Ara ararauna

These can be found from Panama to southeast Brazil. They like wooded country near water, gallery forests, savanna, and buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) swamps. They nest in dead palm trunks and tree cavities and roost in trees. These birds eat palm nuts, seeds and flower buds and are much threatened by habitat loss. This pair is resting in an orelha de macaco tree (Enterolobium contortisiliquum). To see the magnificent flight of these macaws flashing blue and gold in the rising sunlight is something to remember forever!