When I’m really desperate for something salty I’ll grab maybe a pickle or bag of potato
chips, but macaws, they grab a big old hunk of dirt.
All animals need salt, badly, for
basic biological function.
Animals in the western Amazon are really deprived of salt
because the Andes actually block the weather from the Pacific. So that means that all of
the weather comes from the Atlantic. By the time that salty air gets all the way to the
western Amazon, most of that salt has already fallen.
So animals in the western Amazon are
really desperate for salt, and they’ll go to great lengths to get it. Macaws, in particular,
which are specialized for fruit in the very highest part of the canopy will come all the
way down and they’ll eat the dirt. They’re selecting these very specific layers of soil
that were formed over geological time during periods where conditions were a little bit
saltier than in the other times. It’s like a vitamin, but it’s especially salty.
chips, but macaws, they grab a big old hunk of dirt.
All animals need salt, badly, for
basic biological function.
Animals in the western Amazon are really deprived of salt
because the Andes actually block the weather from the Pacific. So that means that all of
the weather comes from the Atlantic. By the time that salty air gets all the way to the
western Amazon, most of that salt has already fallen.
So animals in the western Amazon are
really desperate for salt, and they’ll go to great lengths to get it. Macaws, in particular,
which are specialized for fruit in the very highest part of the canopy will come all the
way down and they’ll eat the dirt. They’re selecting these very specific layers of soil
that were formed over geological time during periods where conditions were a little bit
saltier than in the other times. It’s like a vitamin, but it’s especially salty.
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