The place
La Macarena, Meta, Colombia. This river town is the gateway to Caño Cristales and the Serranía de la Macarena, where Andean, Amazonian and Orinoco life meet, and where Scarlet Macaws and Yellow-crowned Amazons fly overhead. I was out in the late-afternoon light, just after 4 p.m. on a July day in 2017.
The shot
Two Amazons sat pressed together on a thick, lichen-spotted branch with their bills locked together. One of them raised a wing as they leaned in, flashing a bright red patch among its green flight feathers, and their yellow crowns almost touched.
The bird
A parrot of the family Psittacidae, the Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala) occurs from sea level to about 850 m, with tropical swamp forest listed by BirdLife as its major habitat.
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, last assessed 2018), but BirdLife reports a decreasing population and records the species in use and trade, including as pets. Source: BirdLife International