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

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    Annie Hawkinson looks down from a macaw nest.
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    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.
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    The team is collecting all sorts of measurements that will tell them how much, and how fast, the chicks are growing.
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    Veterinarian Zoltan Szabo sets up a makeshift desk with various tools needed to measure the health and growth of the chicks.
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    Volunteer researcher Kathrin Meyer uses binoculars to observe one of the macaw nests from the ground.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Annie Hawkinson cleans out her gear from her morning expedition, which began before 5:30 a.m.
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    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.
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    Annie Hawkinson naps in a hammock in the researcher living quarters of TRC.
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    Researchers shout down to the ground floor from their elevated live/work space at TRC.
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    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.
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    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.
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