Scarlet Macaw, Ara macao
These large parrots, among the world's most spectacular birds, are readily seen along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, and nowhere better than from the deck of Lookout Inn in Carate on the Osa Peninsula, where most of the pictures on this page were taken in a one hour afternoon period of close-in display by a resident pair in January 2014. Perched sitting, above; with wings raised, below.
And hanging upside down, part of the pair-bonding display!
Flying, just above eye level.
Above, flying, carrying a ripe fruit from a date palm; this photo was taken at "Shady Lane," off Carate Road less than a mile from Lookout Inn, where varying numbers of Scarlet Macaws fed on the bunch of dates shown in the background for several days in January. Below, in the same location, perched.
The pair resident near Lookout Inn, perched together.
And the same pair in an upside-down joint display; this was well before the breeding season, and so was a bonding ritual rather than a courtship display preliminary to mating.