Scarlet Macaws Face to Face in the Carara Canopy

One macaw hovers with tail dropped while a second turns from the palm, their pale facial patches aligned at the centre of the frame 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 6400 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.