Hyacinth macaws can measure over a metre from beak-tip to tail-tip - longer than most six-year-olds are tall. That magnificent blue colour comes not from pigment in the feathers but from the way the feather structure scatters light, in the same way that the sky looks blue. The bright yellow patches around their eyes and beaks are bare skin, not feathers.
Their enormous curved beak is strong enough to crack open palm nuts that most animals cannot get into. A hyacinth macaw pair often stays together for life, flying side by side and grooming each other's feathers. They nest in holes in tall palms or in cliff faces, and both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm.
Hyacinth macaws are known to be curious and gentle with people who earn their trust. In the wild they live in small flocks and communicate with loud, raspy calls that carry over long distances. They are vulnerable in the wild because their nesting trees are sometimes cut down, but conservation work in Paraguay and across South America has helped populations begin to recover.