An extraordinary friendship #4

Here is an update on our wild tame Ara: Ra(gnar).

Large Macaws are those bright colorful birds but also at the same time quite cautious too. Usually they are seen from a distance or while flying over. Almost two years I was lucky to meet such an extraordinary fellow. Here is a quick look how it all started:

We go way back to October 25, 2016. The day we officially met. Here you see him inside a carton box all scared and hungry. Yes, it was a difficult time for the weak parrots and Ara's. Food was scarce so only the strongest would endure this gruesome test. Well, he was lucky 'cause we found him and took care of him for about a week before releasing him back in the wild.

Here you see the same guy months after we released him. He wasn't ready to let go of the extra food so we do meet each other regularly. As you can see here in this picture he looked quite calm and satisfied and also fully recovered from his hungry period.

Parrots and Ara's never forget what they experienced and since he was so grateful he was not afraid to come closer. Of course there are no banana's growing in the wild, but he does like this extra treat.

The fun part was that Ra(gnar) was not afraid either to step outside his comfort zone. Here you see that he even comes by for his food even when the water has risen far beyond the normal level. We had to come by with a kayak.

And no, he is not totally dependent from us. Sometimes we don't see him for days and sometimes we even see him eating the food the jungle usually has to offer.

Since a couple of months he also has a partner. In the beginning you could hear her from the top of the trees, but she never came closer. But like I said before parrots and Ara's are smart animals. They first observe before taking actions.
His partner was observing the whole ordeal from a safe distance and noticed that we meant no harm since day 1. Slowly but surely she became more visible and since September 2017, she even comes by for the porridge. Well, she waits until Ra(gnar) comes to her to share his food with her.

You may also like the following posts:

an extraordinary friendship #2

an extraordinary friendship #3