To ensure germination, many seeds and unripe fruits contain toxins to keep animals at bay, What’s a seed- and fruit-eating macaw to do? Well, it could eat some dirt! Rich sediment is carried down the Andes by the Amazon river and deposited on its banks.
These birds forage in flocks of 40 or more, looking through leaf litter on the ground, or flitting from one leafy branch to another in bushes and trees, gleaning for insects.