An explosion of color and sound erupts at Parrots and Macaw clay licks along exposed banks of the Madre de Dios and other rivers. Macaws and other smaller parrots begin gathering around a lick in the early morning. Medium-sized parrots are the first to arrive, landing in the tree tops above the lick. As hundreds of macaws and other parrots land in the branches and prepare themselves for a descent to the riverbank.
Scientists believe that the minerals in the clay may help macaws and other parrots to neutralize the toxins that they ingest daily while feeding on a diet of chemically –protected seeds and leaves.
MAMMAL’S CLAY LICKS
Mostly nocturnal active for mammals such as the Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), the largest mammal on the Amazon basin, the graceful Red Brocket Deer (Mazama Americana); but also collpas are visited by diurnal active animals as monkeys.
To compensate their wild diet full of toxins, they travel miles to feed at a salt lick, to which they will regularly return.
