World
of Macaws (Hook Bills)
Macaws are considered to be the most intelligent of all birds and are called by
many biologists the FLYING PRIMATES.
This WORLD specializes in eight species/subspecies of Large Macaws.
Common Name: Green
Winged Macaw
Genus/Species: Ara chloroptera
Range:
From eastern Panama across a vast area of northern South
America, to Bolivia, Paraguay and most parts of Brazil.
Natural Habitat:
Wooded riparian zones, swamps, virgin forests and savannas. A true forest bird, feeding in the
treetops.
Physical Appearance:
Physical appearance may slightly vary depending on geographic area. Regardless of size, all macaws are characterized by strong beaks, long pointed tails, loud voices, and a
facial area of bare skin called the cheek patch.
The cheek patch in the Green Winged Macaw is adorned with lines of single
red feathers in a stitchery like pattern.
Their head and body are red.
Wings are blue and green.
Reproduction:
They generally lay their two or three eggs in a two-day interval. The incubation period is from 21 to
28 days. All macaws are devoted family birds, mating for life and looking after
their young even after they are grown.
They are altricial at birth.
The young are vigorous even when young.
The little macaws beg for food by flinging their wings and giving loud
cries. The parent responds by
grasping baby's beak at an angle; the young bird pumps away, taking food from
the parent's crop into its own. The most disturbing discovery made about macaws
is their low reproductive capacity in the wild.
There may be as few as 15 to 25 young born each year to a group of 100
breeding pairs. They do not breed
annually.
STATUS in Natural Habitat:
Endangered in their natural habitat.
Possibly extinct in Argentina, locally extinct in Bolivia, and virtually extinct
in Brazil. However it is the most
common macaw in French Guiana.
Cool Fact:
Green Winged Macaws are the second largest of the parrots. Macaws live in pairs or very small
groups but not in flocks.
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