The best time of year for macaw watching at Tambopata clay click
18 March 2026 (260 visits)Among the highlights of the all-inclusive jungle tours and packages we offer in Peru, with our comfortable rainforest lodge as our base, are the famous macaw and parrot clay licks of Tambopata.
Known in Peru as a collpa (or colpa), a clay lick is a wall of clay formed as a river’s meander erodes the bank. These tall riverbanks contain nutrients which are sought by several species of macaws, parrots and parakeets, as well as by many other rainforest animals.
Biologists and naturalists have proposed different theories to explain why macaws and parrots consume clay from riverbanks. Many now agree that the birds seek out such clay deposits to neutralize the toxins present in their diet of seeds and berries. Here in Tambopata, some macaw species have been recorded traveling up to one hundred kilometers across the rainforest to reach the major clay licks located on the Tambopata River.
Whatever the precise reason for this remarkable behavior, there can be no doubt that the resulting spectacle is something all those who plan to visit the Amazon rainforest of South America should try to see at least once. At major clay licks like those which can be visited in one- or two-day excursions from our jungle lodge, in the morning around first light parrots and macaws gather, sometimes in groups of several hundred, creating a unique pageant of color and sound.
While overall numbers of macaws, parrots and parakeets at our clay licks can be higher during the rainy season, when trees are in fruit, the dry season is also an excellent time to plan a clay lick visit. This is because in the dry season (from May to September) the weather conditions mean there is less chance of cloud cover or rain in the mornings deterring the arrival of large numbers of birds.
But, whether you plan to visit the Amazon rainforest of Tambopata in the dry or rainy season, we are the best place in South America to see macaws and parrots in the wild. When you visit us, you are likely to see several species, including scarlet macaws, blue-and-yellow macaws, and red-and-green macaws, particularly at the major Chuncho clay lick.
