This Giant Parrot Might Just Be the Biggest You've Ever Seen

Learn all about these incredible birds.

Transcript

00:00Do you guys want to see the largest parrot in the world?

00:09There he is!

00:11This is Sammy.

00:13Sammy is a hyacinth macaw, sometimes called a blue macaw.

00:17And they are the largest of all of the parrot species.

00:21So what makes a macaw so special?

00:23Macaws come in a variety of different colors.

00:26The hyacinth macaws like Sammy are all blue, so when you look up at them in the tree,

00:32they blend right in with the sky.

00:34Should we tell him?

00:36Do you want me to tell him?

00:37Yeah?

00:37Do you guys want to know a secret?

00:39Sammy's beak also comes in handy when he wants to climb.

00:42He can use it just like a hand.

00:49Come a little closer.

00:50Well, not that close.

00:51And you can see a little bit of the skin around his eyes and his beak.

00:57He even has a little yellow stripe on his tongue.

01:01Macaws live in South American forests where there are trees filled with nuts.

01:06And they especially love Brazil nuts.

01:10Let's see if we can break this Brazil nut.

01:12Whoa!

01:22That was a lot of work.

01:24I wonder how macaws break open a nut like that.

01:28Sammy just uses his strong hooked beak to crush open the shell to eat the nut or the seed inside.

01:34Really impressive.

01:36Macaws are messy eaters, but that's okay.

01:38The seed parts that they drop may grow to become new trees.

01:43Take a look at Sammy's feet.

01:45All parrots have zygodactyl feet.

01:48The word zygodactyl is just a fancy way of saying that he has two toes in the front and two toes in the back.

01:57Macaws can use their feet like hands to grab food and other items.

02:01So with the bright colors, the strong feet, and the super, super powerful beak, these guys really are the giants of the parrot family.