Pantanal macaws

[Peter Connan]

More beauties Mike!

 

Some great poses, and "peeping toms" are great.

[Bush dog]

@@Peter Connan

 

What can I say more than again thank you.

[Bush dog]

At Barranco Alto, I noticed that blue-and-yellow macaws only feed on the mandovi nuts’ seeds. With their powerful beak, they first dig the nut, until they reach the seeds, and then they have to crack the seed for eating the kernel. To assess the strength of their beak, I tried to break a nut with a machete, I did not succeed. I also tried to open the seed with a knife, the result was a second failure. All the picturesof the blue-and-yellow macaws were taken in July 2010, October 2013 and September 2014.

[Peter Connan]

My dad bred African Grey parrots at one stage.

 

They routinely "cut" the 2.5mm diameter wire of their cages with their beaks, as easily as I or you could do it with a side-cutter.

 

I can only image how much more powerful a Macaw's beak must be!

 

The first in the series is magnificent!

[Bush dog]

I would be remiss not to mention the last two species in the Pantanal. They are of course smaller and therefore less spectacular, but still very beautiful and interesting. They are often called mini-macaws. As they are, at least at Barranco Alto, less common, especially the smaller of the two, I had fewer opportunities to observe them.

 

Here are two pictures of the YELLOW(or GOLDEN)-COLLARED MACAW, taken in September 2014.

 

 

To close the topic, the only picture (taken in October 2013) I have of the smallest one, the RED-SHOULDERED MACAW. There are two sub-species, the one represented here is the Noble Macaw.

 

 

This ends the topic. A great "Thank you" to those who followed it.

[Peter Connan]

A great thank you to you for posting it!

[Atdahl]

@@Bush dog, awesome series of photos! I love all the behavior that you captured and am a bit jealous too . I have to agree that the macaws are spectacular. We had only seen Scarlet Macaws before (in Costa Rica) prior to our recent trip to the Pantanal and Barranco Alto. I didn't expect all the fantastic Macaw sightings we had at BA. It's a great place and I see why you go back often. The Macaws are such gregarious birds. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

[Bush dog]

@@Atdahl

 

Thanks a lot for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed BA, it's a great place indeed, not only for the wildlife, but also for the atmosphere and their people. I hope to be back there next year for another two weeks stay.

[AKChui]

@@Bush dog Wow, so many great shots/sequences! For some reason I missed the original posting.

Could you share some ‘nuts and bolts’ background info? Like what focal lengths are needed? Did you take these photos from hides with strategically placed ‘perches’ or are the birds just found randomly? Were there many other photographers, or mainly bird watchers? To your knowledge, are some months/seasons better than others?

[Bush dog]

@@AKChui

 

Thank you for your comments.

 

The focal lengths used to make almost all the pictures of this topic are 700 (500x1,4) mm and 600 (300x2) mm.

The birds were found randomly, most of the time at very short distances from the lodge.

The lodge only has a few rooms and the property is about 12000 hectares. So, you are nearly always the only one or in the only car on a sighting, the others being elsewhere (on the river, horse riding, walking, .....).

Personally, I found September and October to be the most productive months.