Gold and Blue Macaw, Adelaide Zoo

There are few more striking birds than the magnificent Gold and Blue Macaw.

Today’s photos again feature a non-Australian species and yet another that I’d love to see in its natural habitat, South America. At this stage there is little hope of seeing this species in the wild – unless my grandchildren – who were born Colombia – insist on me taking them to visit their birth country! (I can dream, can’t I?)

This individual is a part of the great bird collection at my home zoo in Adelaide, South Australia. It is featured in a small bird show at the zoo every day. The keeper allows the bird to fly freely around inside the perimeter of the zoo, all the while giving a talk about the species and other parrots. It’s a great educational experience to have a large, spectacular parrot flying just centimetres above the audience seated on the lawn in front of a low stage.

And somewhere I have a print of me holding this bird; it was taken at the zoo some years ago. (I don’t think that they allow the public to hold the bird these days.)

Gold and Blue Macaw, Adelaide Zoo