Diet
Seeds, nuts and fruit are the staple of this herbivore's diet. Depending on the environment, some macaws will supplement their diet with leaves and bark, as well as nectar and flowers. The Central Pacific Macaw will eat from over 40 different types of native trees in its lifetime, including the seeds of the beach almond and teak. Macaws are unusual in that they will eat seeds in their entirety, not simply passing them mostly digested as most birds do.
Adaptations
The scarlet macaw has evolved unique physical traits that allow it to eat food not accessible to other birds. With its strong, tough beak, it tears into the tough skin and pulp of unripe fruit. A wider range of beak movement, as well as special structures within the bill offer further competitive advantages. Using the beak´s sharp point, the macaw scratches a line along the exterior of a difficult seed and uses its dexterity to shear the shell open.
Odd Behaviors
In addition to physical adaptations, the scarlet macaw has also adopted some unique eating habits, giving it an evolutionary edge. Its varied diet of seeds exposes the macaw's system to dangerous poisons. In the Amazon, macaws are often spotted eating and licking clay deposits along riverbanks. Consuming the clay neutralizes the toxicity of the seeds and keeps the birds healthy. Other species frequent cow fields to pick pine nuts out of droppings. After a trip through the digestive system, the seed is softened, and shell-less, and the macaw takes advantage of the easy meal.
Social Eating
A normal day for a scarlet macaw begins between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., when it rises to join a hunting group. It is a social bird, not only foraging with a partner or small group, but also meeting in larger flocks for grooming and playing. Its diet varies as seed and fruit seasons change. A young bird must learn from its parent the seasonal feeding routes, and it remains completely dependent on them until three months of age.