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The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao)
The scarlet macaw is a parrot--a curious, noisy, fun loving and smart bird.  With bright red, yellow, and blue feathers and white markings on its face, it looks a little like a clown. It sometimes acts like a clown, too. It swings and climbs around branches with its claws and beak. It makes a lot of loud squawks and screeches. It flaps its wings at its friends. And it's very curious, poking its beak into all kinds of places. The scarlet macaw likes to hang out with its friends. Flocks of macaws - the scarlet, the blue & yellow, and the green-winged macaws - will gather in trees with lots of fruits or nuts. Their strong beaks and claws can easily crack open a nut, and they eat the whole fruit, even the seeds inside. Under the tree, they leave a big mess. The Mayans, who live in Central America, believe the scarlet macaw is sacred and powerful. It represents the rising sun. And that makes sense because the macaw wakes up early in the morning. With its big blue & yellow wings, it flies and cries out, Wake up, wake up! But it sounds like Rraa-aar, rraa-aar! 
One of the bird's favorite things to do in the morning is go to the riverbank and eat clay.Eat clay?! Where can you find the scarlet macaws? They live in the warm rainforests of Central America. They like to live in the forests beside rivers, and are very shy about living near villages. Every year more and more forests are burned and cut down. There is less and less rainforest for scarlet macaws, and they are now an endangered species. They have a hard time finding enough food, and without a safe place to live they stop having babies. Scarlet macaws are also captured in the forest. The captors are trying to earn money in a very poor region. The live birds are sold as pets in the US and Europe. The beautiful feathers are sold for decoration. The good news is that the people who live in the forests are learning how special and unique the scarlet macaw is. By protecting the bird, they can invite tourists and bird-watchers to come and see the wild macaws in the forest. The visitors give the local people a new way to earn money that also helps the macaws survive. That way, we can all enjoy these crazy birds, watch them play in the water and dart through the skies, and hear their 'wake up' call. |
