Friday, April 10, 2015

Scarlet Macaws, Costa Rica







These two Scarlet Macaws were wildly excited about each other. Hanging upside down, directly overhead, they nuzzled in the treetops along a crowded Pacific Coast beach in Costa Rica.

They payed no mind to the dozens and dozens of people walking below them. They were engrossed in themselves and nothing else mattered.







Scarlet Macaws are huge birds...as tree dwelling birds go...35 inches from tip to tail.

They form strong pair bonds and stay together a long time.

Not much in known about their private lives in the wild. They live in remote rainforests.



(Click on any picture to enlarge.)







The illegal pet trade has reduced their numbers dramatically. These two are showing us they can thrive in the wild, if humanity allows it.

The Cuban Macaw became extinct in the 1800's because of a misplaced need to possess one.





It's strangely understandable why a person would want to own such a beautiful bird, is spite of it bordering on cruelty for the bird.

They seem so well adjusted in life's wide open spaces...stretching out and hang around wherever they please.


Hanging head-down, watching the people below, the world must look quite different from a Scarlet Macaw's prospective...if only we knew.

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
Credit: The Birds of Costa Rica, Richard Garrigues & Robert Dean

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