Classroom lesson · Wildlife · 🇧🇷 Brazil

Macaws - the giant parrots of Brazil

Bright blue, yellow, red and green birds that live for up to 60 years

A blue-and-yellow macaw flying with its wings fully spread

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Macaws are the biggest parrots in the world. The most famous kinds in Brazil are the bright blue-and-yellow macaw and the gigantic hyacinth macaw, which is almost entirely deep blue. They live in the rainforest and the Pantanal, flying through the trees in pairs or noisy groups.

Tell me more

A macaw's beak is one of the strongest in the bird world. They use it to crack open hard nuts that other birds couldn't even dent - including the Brazil nut. Their tongues are dry and bony, perfect for getting at the soft middle once the shell is open.

Macaws are very clever. They can solve puzzles, use simple tools to reach food, and learn to say words. In the wild they don't really 'talk', but they do call to each other constantly in loud squawks and screeches that can be heard from far across the forest.

Macaws mate for life. They pick a partner when they're young and stay together for as long as they live - which can be 50 or 60 years for the bigger species. You'll often see two macaws flying side by side, their wings almost touching as they go.

Many macaws gather at a special place called a 'clay lick' - a riverbank made of soft, mineral-rich clay. They land in their hundreds at a time, perch on the wall, and nibble the clay. Scientists think the minerals help them digest the bitter fruit and seeds they eat in the forest.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Macaws live 50 or 60 years - longer than most pets. Why might it help an animal to live a very long life?
  2. 02Their bright colours make them easy to see in the green forest. Why might being easy to see be useful?
  3. 03If you could be any colour - or any combination of colours - what would you choose, and why?
Try this

Classroom activity

On A4, design a brand-new species of macaw - your own. Give it three colours, a special name, and a fact about where it lives or what it eats. Display them as a 'macaw flock' across the wall.