avianawareness:

This squirrel monkey is enjoying the benefits of befriending the blue and gold macaw by hopping on its back for rides.

The bone idle animal lives with a male and female parrot at a countryside hotel, and the trio have become inseparable.

‘Its favourite activity is to climb on the back of the parrot and ride it around,’ said photographer Alejandro Jaramillo, 23, who spotted the unlikely pals in San Agustin, Colombia.

‘Amazingly, the monkey never fell off. It holds on by putting its arms around the parrot’s neck.

‘Every once in a while the owners of the hotel have to throw water on the monkey to separate it from the parrots – it just loves to be with them.’