Green-winged macaw / Ara chloropterus

These macaws inhabit areas from Panama to northern Argentina but are suffering from habitat loss of dry forests in the north and dry woodland and savanna in the south. They nest in tree cavities, palm trunks and cliffs, and both male and female help to rear their chicks.  In the forest of the Serra das Carajás, standing on a steep hillside, we watched one bird in a tall Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) gnawing a hole in a nut, securing it against a branch with her foot, while her family watched. When they judged the hole to be big enough to extract the seeds, they pounced. Of course, the nut was knocked to the ground where it was lost, and they flew off swearing and screaming at each other!