Scarlet Macaw Approaching a Fruiting Palm Beneath Its Companion

The lower macaw opens both wings as it arrives beneath a second Scarlet Macaw perched on the palm fruit cluster at Cerro Lodge and the Carara area in Costa Rica. Scarlet Macaws form long-term pair bonds; their red bodies, yellow-and-blue wings and long graduated tails make them unmistakable over Costa Rica's Central Pacific forest. The exposure of 1/1600 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 8000 holds the flight posture and major feather groups sharply while leaving restrained motion in the quickest wing tips; the photograph was made in natural light without flash.