The pictures above were made by Louis des Tombe, along the
Coppename river in Suriname in October 2007. The photos below
come from Dennis Binda in 2008, Matthew Groves in Corneliskondre,
a pet animal and then a photo by J.H. Ribot, Emmen Zoo 1997.
The blue and yellow macaw is a large bird (length of 78 cm) with
a long tail. They are seen in all terrains in Suriname, but they
became rare because of hunting in the more populated areas, not
only in the whole of the coastal area but also in the eastern
half of Suriname. In the interior you can see them on their
flights to their roosts. Groups of more than a hundred
blue-and-yellow macaws were mostly reported before 1970.
Nowadays, most groups seen have up to 20-30 birds. You spot them
most easily when they fly high over in pairs. But that way their
splendid colors are difficult to discern.The Surinamese name,
raaf or rafru, probably originates from their sound, (recorded by Otte Ottema
in the Bakhuys area) which sounds like a harsh raa.... They eat
large nuts.
Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest. Biggest group seen 342 birds, Haverschmidt, Coppenamepunt 1947.
| Distribution in Suriname (explanation) | |
| Coastal area |  |
| Savanna |  |
| Forests |  |
| Mountain forests | |
| Sipalawini savanna | |
Names in:
More pictures of macaws, parrots and parakeets in Suriname
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