Gallery: What's Behind the Mysterious Behavior of Amazonian Macaws?

  • Image may contain Plant Tree Tree Trunk Garden and Outdoors
    01

    131211-AMAZON-0075edit

    Annie Hawkinson looks down from a macaw nest.
  • Image may contain Finger Animal Bird and Vulture
    02

    131211-AMAZON-0126edit

    Veterinarian Zoltan Szabo measures one of the chicks.
  • The team is collecting all sorts of measurements that will tell them how much and how fast the chicks are growing.
    03

    131211-AMAZON-0159edit

    The team is collecting all sorts of measurements that will tell them how much, and how fast, the chicks are growing.
  • Image may contain Human Person Clothing and Apparel
    04

    131211-AMAZON-0375edit

    Veterinarian Zoltan Szabo sets up a makeshift desk with various tools needed to measure the health and growth of the chicks.
  • Image may contain Human Person and Photographer
    05

    131211-AMAZON-0398edit

    Volunteer researcher Kathrin Meyer uses binoculars to observe one of the macaw nests from the ground.
  • Image may contain Bird Animal Flying and Bee Eater
    06

    20131209-AMAZON-0251edit

    Wild macaws fly overhead in the rainforest. Scientists have attached satellite tracking collars to some of the area's macaws, which turned out to regularly fly to Bolivia and back.
  • Image may contain Outdoors Human Person and Finger
    07

    20131213-AMAZON-0074edit

    Donald Brightsmith looks out from the thatched roof that covers the research facility. He started coming here in 1999 to study the local macaw population.
  • Image may contain Human Person Outdoors Garden Gardening Gardener Worker Nature and Yard
    08

    131211-AMAZON-0473edit

    Annie Hawkinson cleans out her gear from her morning expedition, which began before 5:30 a.m.
  • Image may contain Wood Clothing Apparel Animal Reptile and Lizard
    09

    131211-AMAZON-0463edit

    Macaws have formidable beaks and talons, and meeting those with your bare hands can be treacherous. So, scientists sometimes use these stuffed gloves when reaching into macaw nests.
  • Image may contain Furniture Housing Building Wood Indoors Chair Loft Human Person Bar Stool and Plywood
    10

    20131213-AMAZON-0052edit

    Annie Hawkinson naps in a hammock in the researcher living quarters of TRC.
  • Image may contain Wood Human Person Plywood Carpenter Housing Building Andy Kaufman and Lumber
    11

    20131213-AMAZON-0102edit

    Researchers shout down to the ground floor from their elevated live/work space at TRC.
  • Image may contain Housing Building and Indoors
    12

    20131213-AMAZON-0093edit

    Researchers' rooms are shared, and beds are draped with mosquito nets. Volunteers and scientists stay at TRC for varying lengths of time, from as short as a few weeks to six months.
  • Image may contain Wood Human Person and Flooring
    13

    20131213-AMAZON-0110edit

    Brightsmith and his 16-month-old daughter, Amanda Lucile, in the live/work space set up for the researchers at TRC. One of the newest nests around the lodge, Mandy Lu, is named after his daughter.
Read More
Spooky New Infostealer Malware Uses AI to ‘Autodox’ Victims
Named “Volta-Autodoxer,” the recently uncovered malware uses AI tools to collect troves of data about victims, from login credentials and credit card numbers to Discord sessions and UberEats receipts.
Lily Hay Newman
Light Up Your Home Like Christmas With These Smart String Lights
Glow up your home indoors or out with these versatile, discounted, full color smart string lights. They’re WIRED-tested and 25 percent off right now.
Simon Hill
There’s a Completely New Type of Whisky. It’s French and Made in Concrete Eggs
The founders of Maison Lineti are, in a world first, making single malt whisky as if it were wine—and the spirit world is mighty impressed.
Jeremy White
Power Outages Are No Match for This Fridge Battery
Backup by BioLite is designed to power your fridge when the grid goes down. It works, but protecting your ice cream doesn’t come cheap.
Christopher Null
Meta’s Muse Could Upend All Kinds of Businesses. It Hasn’t Yet
Companies have spent the past several weeks trying to reassure investors that Muse and other AI agents pose more of an opportunity than a threat.
Paresh Dave
Get Bose QC Headphones at Their Lowest Price Ever
They’re a steal at over 40 percent off in multiple colors. Plus, other great Bose deals you should know about ahead of Black Friday.
Harry Rabinowitz
An AI Agent Injected Drugs Into a Live Mouse’s Brain
A biotech startup let an agent choose a gene therapy and successfully inject the treatment, offering a startling glimpse of the future of research labs.
Emily Mullin
The Keurig Alta Brewer Can Do It All, With No Plastic Pods
This multifaceted home coffee brewer and its new AltaRounds will make you rethink everything you know about Keurig machines.
Louryn Strampe
Are Memories Transferable? Meet the Scientists Replicating an Infamous Study to Find Out
In the 1960’s, an odd experiment showed planarian worms could transfer memories by consuming each other. It was a sensational finding—that is until the worms stopped learning.
Claire L. Evans
Sunrise Alarm Clocks to Help You Adjust to Shorter Days
I’ve never been a morning person. This bedside gadget is the only thing that’s ever changed that.
Nena Farrell
White Dwarfs Aren’t Just White. Scientists Discover Dying Stars Turning Pink and Green
Astronomers find that a white dwarf’s density and the kind of material it absorbed from its surroundings can produce a rainbow of shades in the star’s atmosphere.
Petr Kubala
Wayfair Coupons for November 2026
Get 10% off with Wayfair promo code, up to 80% off furniture, and more top coupons.
Molly Higgins