macaw

Considered to be one of the largest parrots in the wild, these colourful birds are bright green with red foreheads and blue bottom and upper tail feathers.

Found in groups these macaws are known to be extremely noisy with their distinctive loud screeches that can be heard from quite a distance. When waking up from sleep, macaws call their partners with a loud screech to let them know their whereabouts. After gathering in numbers, they go out flying together. When flying, their flocks often consist of up to 18 birds and they keep close to each other and almost touch their wings together while in flight.

Unfortunately, great green macaws are classed as critically endangered by the IUCN and their population size is thought to be fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. The main threat for the survival of the parrots has been habitat loss. It is estimated that between the years of 1900 and 2000 90% of the original habitat has been lost.