THE MACAW
The macaw is a colourful tropical parrot native to Central and Southern America.
There are 17 different species found in the rain forests of South America. Many of the different macaw species are today considered to be endangered animals.
*Blue and Gold.
*Blue Throated.
*Buffon’s.
*Green-winged.
*Hyacinth.
*Military.
*Red-fronted.
*Scarlet.
One of the largest species of parrot in the world, with the average adult growing to more than a meter in height.
They are well known for it’s array of brightly coloured feathers which are often many different colours including blue, red, yellow and green. known to be intelligent and very sociable birds and can often be seen together in large flocks of up to 30 individuals.
Communication
They communicate between one another using loud vocal calls such as squawking and screaming. Some species are even known to be able to mimic human sounds.
The macaw is one of the world’s animals that is known to have the same breeding partner for their whole lives. Couples do not only breed together but they also share their food and help to groom one another. When the female macaw has laid her eggs (typically 2 but more are common), the female macaw sits on her eggs to incubate them while the male macaw hunts and collects food for them both. The macaw chicks hatch after about a month.
The most endangered types are hyacinth, red-fronted and blue-throated macaws. The glaucus is thought to already be extinct outside of captivity.
Gregarious by nature, individuals are flock-oriented. They have a very structured routine that includes foraging and preening. During the day followed by moving to carefully selected “sleep trees” at night. A popular place to observe macaws in the wild is the Tambopata clay lick in Peru, not only the largest of all known clay licks, but the only one that Blue-and-Yellow are known to frequent. In total, 6 species of macaws have been counted at Tambopata, including the endangered Scarlet. Today’s macaws available for the pet industry come mainly from private breeders as importation is closely regulated by the C.I.T.E.S. agreement. Of the 17 living macaw species, 11 are threatened with extinction in the wild.
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