This latest posting is dedicated to several ladies in Australia who share my passion for parrots: Tracey, Sonya, Val, Maxine, Zoe and Christin. During the 1950s and 1960s, A.A. Prestwich wrote a several books dealing with parrots. One series described all first parrot breedings in captivity. Another, titled I Name This Parrot…, discussed the origin of parrot names. In this book, Prestwich described the origin of the name macaw—a corruption of the word maço, a Portuguese term for mallet. The inference is that a mallet can crush an item when brought to impact. The same would happen with the beak of one of these parrots when grasping an object. Macaws range from the large to the diminutive. The longest is the Hyacinth Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, which is the longest parrot. The smallest is the Hahn´s Macaw Diopsittaca nobilis nobilis, which is the size of a green conure of the genus Aratinga. The similarities of the latter with conures is so great that a partly feathered nestling Hispaniolan Conure Aratinga chloroptera could easily be confused for the same in a Hahn´s Macaw. Macaws range from the predominately green to the gaudy. The contrast of a yellow mandibular patch and orbital ring against a rich blue body in the Hyacinth Macaw creates a parrot that impacts. The most colorful in my opinion is the Scarlet Ara macao, with its palette of red, green, yellow and blue. Except for the Anodorhynchus, macaws have a naked face traversed with lines of feathers of various sizes; the feathers are broad in the Blue-throated Ara glaucogularis and so small that they appear hair-like in the Scarlet. The name macaw is used to reference the following genera: Anodorhynchus Hyacinth A. hyacinthinus Lear´s A. leari Glaucous A. glaucus Cyanopsitta Spix´s C. spixii Ara Scarlet A. macao Green-winged A. chloropterus Great Green or Buffon´s A. ambiguous Military A. militaris with three subspecies Blue and Gold A. ararauna Blue-throated A. glaucogularis Red-fronted A. rubrogenys Severe A. severus Orthopsittaca Red-bellied O. manilata Primolius Blue-headed P. couloni Illiger´s P. maracana Yellow-collared P. auricollis Diopsittaca Red-shouldered D. nobilis with two subspecies—the Hahn´s D.n. nobilis and the Noble D.n. cumanensis All of the species hybridize. Hybrids are fertile except in intergeneric crosses involving Anodorhynchus and Ara. Even species with varying body sizes have been paired and produced young, including the Scarlet with Severe bred by Howard Voren. Hybrids have been paired to hybrids or pure species to produce more hybrids. The best known, possibly because it was the first produced, is the Catalina (named after Catalina Island, where the pair of Scarlet and Blue and Gold produced young for the first time). The next is the Harlequin (a cross between a Green-winged and a Blue and Gold). The list then becomes long and colorful—Capri, Flame, Calico, Emerald and more have all been penned to describe hybrids. Macaws are strictly new world inhabitants. They are found in all types of habitats. I have seen them in ecosystems ranging from dry scrub to rainforest. They nest in trees or cliff faces, though I have seen a pair of Hahn´s Macaws nesting in an arboreal termites´ mound—a behavior typically associated with conures and Brotogeris parakeets. Their diet can range from the broad, utilizing whatever foods are available, to the highly specialized. Blue and Golds commonly feed on the seeds of Hura crepitans, which has a toxic sap and comprises one of more than 80 items eaten during the year. On the other hand, the Hyacinth, Lear´s, Glaucous and Red-bellied Macaws are specialists, feeding on either terrestrial or arboreal palm seeds. I am often asked why are Hyacinth Macaws in the pantanal or floodplains in south-western Brazil often associate with cattle. They are basically eating the seeds of Acuri Palms Attalea phalerata that cattle cannot digest; the cattle consume the fibrous covering but cannot crush the hard seed. Once the seed passes through the digestive system of cattle, the macaws crack them open to eat the fatty meat. So strong is the association of some species to palms that the Red-bellied Macaw is invariably found in or very close to stands of Buriti Palms Mauritia flexuosa. The generalized or specialized diet of macaws needs to be born out in captivity. This is because the species requiring higher fat (the all blue macaws, Green-winged, Buffon´s and Blue-throated) often will not nest unless their diet is supplemented with fat. In trials that I conducted using Blue-throated Macaws, pairs fed fatty nuts and pellets sprinkled with olive oil nested more successfully and produced more fertile eggs than those fed a seed diet supplemented with other non fatty foods. This means that an all pellet diet as is now the trend is woefully deficient for many of the macaws. Feeding them pellets in addition to nuts, fruits, vegetables and other foods is a suitable alternative. I spend a lot of time feeding my macaws. All species get pellets sprinkled with extra virgin olive or coconut oil, nuts, wheat bread smothered in peanut butter or almond oil (as an added fat source), fruits, vegetables, greens, cooked whole grain pasta, soaked and boiled pulses (especially garbanzo beans) and sprouts. More than once weekly they all receive the seeds of ornamental palms. The absolute favorite are the seeds of the Foxtail Palm Woodyetia bifurcata, which contain a large nut. Even the small species will work on the seeds for days to eat the fatty interior. The macaws will pick them over all other food items. In my opinion, the preponderance of infertile eggs in macaws is due to insufficient levels of fat and vitamin E in the diet, the latter present in palm seeds in copious quantities. Enrichment is also important. Part of the enrichment needs are met by the palm seeds, but we also provide whole green coconuts, pine cones, branches, pods and everything else imaginable. The intention is to replicate nature, where macaws spend considerable time chewing, tearing and stripping foliage. The diet and enrichment should be provided to both breeding birds and pets. Breeding macaws was once deemed a challenge. Today all species are being bred worldwide and except for the Red-bellied all have been bred to multiple generations. The most willing breeder is the Blue and Gold, followed by the Military and Scarlet. The Severe and Hahn´s are the easiest of the smaller species. Illiger´s Macaws can prove easy or difficult breeders, this depending more on the individual pair than on the aviary conditions under which they are housed. Years ago it was believed that macaws would not breed until they were quite old, but today it is understood that the smaller species can breed as early as 2 years of age and the larger species commencing at 3 years. How quickly the birds mature depends on housing, diet and whether the birds were allowed to pair off naturally; forced pairing seems to delay the commencement of breeding. As an example, in a group of Blue-throated Macaws that I once managed, birds allowed to pair naturally bred an average of 17 months earlier than birds that were force paired. Macaws will breed under such an array of conditions that it is impossible to generalize. I can recall Busch Gardens in Florida breeding them in small kennels and the original Parrot Jungle having pairs nest on the ground, behind a low board. I have seen pairs nest on the enclosure floor, in a hole excavated in the aviary enclosure and even in a tree trunk laying on its side in a yard, the pair being allowed to fly free. My recommendation is to provide pairs with large enclosures. We keep all our pairs in flights at least 12 feet (3.6 m) long. The large species are provided with nests 36 x 14 x 18 inches (90 x 35 x 45 cm) high placed horizontally. Only the Blue-throated Macaws are given a vertical nest 18 inches (45 cm) square and 36 inches (90 cm) deep. The Blue-throated seem to favor a vertical nest, which emulates the palm tree nesting sites used by this species in the wild. We utilize large nests because macaw chicks can easily overheat. The medium and smaller species are supplied with an array of nests. As an example, we have pairs of Severe and Red-fronted Macaws that utilize L-shaped nests 18 inches (45 cm) long and high. For the smaller species, the same L-shaped nests are utilized but these measure 18 inches deep and 14 inches (35 cm) wide. All nests are provided with decomposing wood, as chewing seems to be an important nest inducer; the darkness of the nest, which the pair must occupy to chew the wood to slivers, induces ovarian gonadal development. Clutches in macaws range from two eggs in the Anodorhynchus species to 4 but possibly as many as 6 eggs in the other species. Incubation is carried out by the female. The eggs hatch after 24-28 days, with the larger species having the longest incubation period. Nestlings have white down (salmon in the Scarlet) and prominent soft pads on the sides of the mandibles. On hatching chicks have a swollen neck muscle, which has the appearance of being fluid filled. This is a natural feature. I stress this because I have had more than one frantic call from a first time breeder asking me how the fluid should be drained! Macaws are in general terms excellent parents. Chicks that are started by the parents do much better long term than those hatched artificially. In five generations of Blue and Gold Macaws bred in my collection, chicks that were allowed to spend the first two weeks of their lives with their parents weaned an average of 27 days (range 19-41 days) earlier and bred an average of 7 months before chicks that were hand-reared from hatching. This clearly suggests that parent starting is important. I stress this because one aviculturist in Western Australia has made it a career of attacking those that believe parent starting is important. Incredibly, that particular breeder can provide no data to indicate that removing the eggs and rearing the young from hatching provides any documentable advantage over parent starting. That same breeder claims that removing the eggs induces no stress but that taking the young does. Again, if one examines blood chemistries after removing both eggs and young, it is clear that the parents display an equal level of stress in both situations. Once chicks are removed from the parents, they quickly adapt to hand-rearing. If the chicks are removed with their eyes open, they may growl and even flip themselves on their backs. initially Some patience at this stage is required. I always approach slowly and leave a small light on in the hand-rearing room for the first few days. The chicks will quickly recognize a human as their new parent and calm down. Hand-rearing formulas for young macaws should contain higher amounts of fat than most other parrots. We boost the fat by adding peanut butter to the formula. This insures that the young have a weight that is similar to parent reared young in the wild. After the young become 8 weeks of age, we begin to add chopped sunflower kernels or chopped shelled almonds to the formula. This roughage is a segue to weaning. At about the same time we offer a bowl of chopped par-boiled carrot, beets and sweet potatoes. Once the babies avidly consume this, we sprinkle pellets on top. The adding of nuts to the formula and early introduction to food allow an easy weaning process and deters the chick crying frantically for food as it is weaned. Macaws are colorful, extremely intelligent and willing breeders. Their size, color range and willingness to breed has made them favorite avicultural subjects almost since their introduction to Europe.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 12:25:36 +0000
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