Nobody quite knows why the macaws eat clay

Every morning near the Tambopata Research Center, hundreds of macaws and parrots, up to fifteen different species at once, gather at what's believed to be the world's largest known clay lick to eat straight from the exposed riverbank.

Nobody has fully settled why. Many of the fruits and seeds that make up a macaw's diet in this part of the Amazon carry natural plant toxins, and the leading theory is that the clay binds to those toxins and neutralises them before they can do any harm. Ongoing research complicates the picture though, some studies suggest the birds are actually choosing the soil highest in sodium rather than the soil best at detoxifying, and it's entirely possible both explanations are true at once. What's certain is that this stretch of riverbank has the highest concentration of macaw clay licks found anywhere on the planet.

I painted the pair of macaws in watercolour and ink, that riot of red, blue and gold,  There's a poster with a letter home and a postcard if you'd like one.

Shop the poster here: Macaws, Tambopata · Travel Poster