Many of the seeds and nuts found in the rainforest have toxins in them and animals come to clay licks to neutralize those toxins. This is a daily ritual for many birds in the Amazon.
Ecuador has two of the most accessible clay licks in the Amazon and both can be visited on the same day. The clay licks are in Yasuni National Park along the Napo River. The licks are most active on non-rainy days. Five different species of parrots frequent this clay lick including the Dusky-headed Parakeet, White-eyed Parakeet, Blue-headed Parrot, Yellow-crowned Amazon Parrot, and the Mealy Amazon Parrot.
The morning of our visit this clay lick was quite active, but mostly with the Mealy Amazon Parrot, but there were hundreds of birds flying to and from the lick and the sound was tremendous.