Chuncho Macaw Clay Lick

Chuncho is one of the large collpas on the upper Tambopata: an exposed bank of clay along the river where macaws, parrots and parakeets gather at first light and work at the earth. Why they do it is not fully settled - the long-standing explanation is that the clay neutralises toxins in the unripe seeds they eat, while the better-supported one now is sodium, which is scarce in western Amazonia far from the ocean. Whatever the reason, the effect is a wall of red and green scarlet macaws, red-and-greens, blue-and-yellows and smaller parrots in numbers that can reach the hundreds, watched from a bank of the river at a distance through a scope. Activity depends entirely on weather: rain, or a raptor overhead, and the birds do not come down at all. It requires an early start, usually four in the morning from a lodge, and several days upriver from Puerto Maldonado.

The landscape

• The clay bank - an exposed riverside wall the birds work at directly.
• The macaws - scarlet, red-and-green and blue-and-yellow in large numbers.
• The mineral theory - sodium scarcity, rather than toxin binding, as the likely reason.
• The dawn timing - activity in the first hours of light and then over.

When to go

May to October, with July to September usually the most reliable. A four in the morning start from a lodge. Two to three days including river travel from Puerto Maldonado.

Things to know

Rain cancels the whole event and the birds simply do not descend - this happens often. Viewing is from a distance and a scope or long lens matters. Very early starts, long boat rides, humid heat and insects. Lodges near the site are expensive.

Nearby

Tambopata National Reserve surrounds it; Puerto Maldonado is downriver.