Eighteen Blues and the Secret of the Orange

That Thursday at midday, Omar Enrique Berdugo Cabeza had his eyes fixed on the metal feeding tray in the aviary: orange, papaya, cucumber, guava, bell pepper, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, all laid out beneath the coastal sun. Eighteen blue-and-yellow macaws (*Ara ararauna*) shared the feast with the ease of birds who already know the food will come, while two chejas — discreet, as always — worked the gaps between so much blue and yellow to reach the papaya. What caught Omar's attention was not the number of birds nor the commotion of wings, but something he has been quietly measuring for some time: on hot days, the macaws go straight for the orange. On cool, rainy days, they barely touch it. A simple observation, noted with the eye of someone who truly knows his birds, suggesting that these parrots use the orange juice as a source of liquid when the heat bears down. The moment was captured in photos and video: the birds in flight inside the aviary, their wings spread wide against the Caribbean blue sky, and the colorful tray that the team adjusted that very same day — no tomato, no lemon, peanuts instead of maní — following Omar's sound and careful guidance.