Establishing the Pecking Order.

I love Macaws. They have such interesting characters, are highly intelligent, playful, inquisitive and love human interaction. Macaws are also very beautiful with their brilliant coloured feathers.

Their vibrant plumage was on show when I visited a bird sanctuary at the Maleny Gardens in Queensland Australia. They allowed us to get close to them and thought nothing of landing on our heads and pecking away at my earrings, making it difficult for me to get some decent photos. I met shy ones........

And Inquisitive ones.........

Their large, powerful beaks are very effective in cracking nuts and seeds and their dry, scaly tongues actually have a bone in them which allows them to tap into fruit.

I also met hungry Macaws.........

And then there were energetic ones........

Informative ones.......

All of them were delightful and expert attention seekers. I fact, I was quickly convinced that this group of Macaws enjoyed entertaining us as much as we enjoyed watching them. Perhaps one received more attention than the other because a slight altercation between two Macaws drew our attention. It was obvious that they were "Establishing the Pecking Order" in no uncertain terms and all we could do was keep out of the way and let them do what came naturally.

It was over before it started really and within seconds they continued on with their daily activities without any hard feelings. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this little display was performed entirely for our benefit also.