Even people who do not care about birds stop for this one. A pair in flight is two flashes of red against the sky, trailing long blue and yellow tails, and the call arrives a moment later like a rusty gate.
Where you’ll see it
Not yet a daily bird in Coco, and it is worth being honest about that. Scarlet macaws were hunted and trapped almost out of Guanacaste, and their return is recent and deliberate, through reintroduction programmes on the Nicoya Peninsula and around Palo Verde. Sightings on the northern coast are increasing but still an event. For a near-certain view, the central Pacific coast around Carara and the Tárcoles river is the classic spot.
What to know
They pair for life and are almost always seen in twos or small groups. On the coast the tree to watch is the beach almond, whose big seeds they crack with ease. Poaching for the pet trade is still the main threat, which is a good reason never to buy a parrot of any kind here.
