The Story
I photographed this Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) near El Doncello, Caquetá, Colombia, in February 2021. It is one of eight living species in the genus Ara, a genus first proposed in 1799 by the French naturalist Lacépède. It feeds on nuts, seeds, fruit, bark and leaves, and only rarely, it is reported, on insects and snails. It nests almost exclusively in dead palms. The female usually lays two or three eggs and incubates them for about 28 days. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/750 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, −0.5 EV. El Doncello became a municipality in 1967, and its Festival Departamental del Caucho celebrates the rubber its farmers grow.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) belongs to the family Psittacidae (New World and African Parrots) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2018), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List