Scarlet Macaw on the Osa Peninsula
I’m afraid my photography skills don’t really do this scene justice. What you can’t see is that there are around thirteen pairs of Scarlet Macaw dotted among these almond trees, squawking and squabbling over the nuts.
This must be the macaw equivalent of a coffee morning. Apparently this event is no novelty along this stretch of coast, where almond trees fringe the beach. The sand below is scattered with discarded nutshells, like the floor after a late night poker game.
Playa Carbonera, host to this incredible display, remains a little-visited gem on the very tip of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. It’s a good hour away from the tiny airport at Puerto Jimenez and the nearest building is an ecolodge, which has been showered with awards for sustainable practices.
Even that is a good twenty-minute walk down an almost vertical slope, which is actually easier to negotiate on your derriere than by foot in places. Some unfortunate members of my group didn’t really get the choice.
This means the beach itself is usually deserted, as it was on the day I visited. The macaws certainly make their presence felt, however, and a ruckus of beating wings, cackles and splintering nuts fills the air.
After making short work of the granite-hard shells, each bird carelessly flings the remnants to one side, interspersing the frippery with occasional thuds as the ravaged nut hits the sand below.
Only fifty years ago Scarlet Macaws occupied over 80% of the territory in Costa Rica, but due to changes in farming, most notably banana production, and poaching, their numbers have dwindled considerably. Most colonies are now confined to the Carara National Park, on the Central Pacific coast, and the Osa Peninsula in the south.
Even here, it is rare to see such a large group altogether, especially at 11 o’clock in the morning.
This knowledge aside, standing with your ankles in the balmy shallows of the Pacific, watching these majestic birds nattering over their mid-morning snacks, it is clear you are witnessing something quite special.
Our Costa Rica Uncovered Holiday visits lesser known gems of the country such as Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula.
See all of our Costa Rica holidays.
Read our guide to Costa Rica.
Blue and yellow macaw in flight
I took this photo at dawn deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, the Tambopata Reserve to be precise. These are imaginatively named blue and yellow macaws on their way for breakfast at the clay lick. Not just any clay lick but what is thought to be the largest parrot/macaw clay lick in the world.
It certainly seemd that way on the morning we visited. Positioned about 50m from the cliff on a small island in the middle of the Tambopata River, we had a grandstand view of proceedings. Actually, when we arrived it was before dawn so we had a grandstand view of the pitch black if I’m honest.
However, as dawn gradually broke, the trees all around us began to fill with squawking and screeching parrots and macaws. Expectations grew but for a long time no birds would commit to the clay. They don’t every day. If it’s cloudy they might not come. If there’s a hint of any predators, they won’t land. You never really know until the first bird makes a break for it. Then all hell breaks loose as the trees disgorge thousands of noisy, colourful visitors onto the cliff. We were lucky. For an hour or more the cliff was ablaze with a mass of flapping birds.
Parrots are amazing creatures, so colourful that it is hard to believe that they are products of nature instead of some cosmetic creation for bird fanciers. The scarlet macaw is the most extraordinary because of the sheer range and vibrancy of colours but oddly enough, they do sort of blend into the Amazonian environment. It’s the blue and yellow macaws who stand out the most, that’s why I love this photo. It’s also not easy to get anything like a decent photo of a bird in full flight with a pretty ordinary camera on full zoom so I was a bit chuffed.
I just know you have two burning questions in your minds:
1) What on earth is the difference between a parrot and a macaw?
Well, I’m sure there are more deep seated and interesting differences between the species but for a means of quick identification, parrots have feathers all over their heads whereas macaw have bald cheeks. There, saved you from that embarassing moment when you don’t know whether to enquire after Aunty Deirdre’s parrot or macaw.
2) What on earth are either of them doing snacking on clay?
Apparently there are some quite powerful toxins in the nuts and fruit on which the birds generally feed. The clay found on the local riverbanks contains a form af antidote or helps the birds digest the toxins safely. They don’t need to eat it every day, they just need to keep themselves nicely topped up.
Read more about our holidays to Peru or you might find our guide to Peru helpful.