The first thing you need to start your eco-adventure is the right destination.  Since I especially want to see parrots in the wild, I need to know where they naturally occur.  Most wild parrots will be in South America, Central America, Australia, Africa and Asia.  They like warmer climates.  You do see wild parrots in North America and Europe but these are generally escaped pet birds who somehow found each other and formed a flock.

So let’s say you have a Scarlet Macaw at home and you want to see his wild cousins.  You have a lot of options, they can be seen in Peru, Brazil, Costa Rica and other countries in this area.  I use a variety of resources to locate a parrot species.  There is an excellent guide book called “Parrots of the World” by Joseph M. Forshaw which has maps and names localities you can use to plan a trip.   Amazon.com has a Kindle version, but in the field where electricity may be limited or non-existant, you really need the actual book.  Take a look at the sample pages and get familiar with the layout.  Use the “search inside this book” function and type in “Scarlet Macaw”.  It will show you a preview of page 178 which has the map of where this species is found.  You will also find in the text the names of some of the places you can specifically visit in the localities section.

Does anyone have any specific birds they either have at home or would just like to see in the wild?  Tell me in the comments!