The Naturalist on the River Amazons, subtitled A Record of the Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Tra
Painting by William Swainson, 1841, of the crested oropendola, "a handsome bird with chestnut and saffron-coloured plumage"
A formal portrait of Bates by Maull & Fox Ltd, c. 1880
Hyacinthine macaws in a palm tree in the Pantanal, Brazil
Hyacinth macaw
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The hyacinth macaw, or hyacinthine macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length of about one meter it is longer than any other species of parrot. It is the largest mac
The Naturalist on the River Amazons
…history and more widely to describe his "adventures during his journeyings up and down the mighty river". Darwin clearly enjoyed Bates's account of the hyacinthine macaw, calling it a "splendid bird" with its "enormous beak" able to feed on mucuja palm nuts, and quoting Bates: "which are so hard as to be difficult to…
008 Hyacinth macaw couple kissing under Pink Ipê tree in Encontro das Águas State Park Photo by Giles Laurent
Hyacinth macaw in flight
Close-up of the head
Acuri fruits compromise a large part of the hyacinth macaw's diet