Table of Contents
Overview
Brief Summary
Description
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Biology
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Distribution
Range
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.7. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
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Range Description
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Geographic Range
Blue macaws are native to the neotropics. The geographic range of blue macaws is from lower Central America to about halfway down the South American continent and is concentrated south of the Amazon River.
Biogeographic Regions: neotropical (Native )
- Grzimek, B. 1972. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
- Ridgley, R. 1980. The Current Distribution and Status of Mainland Neotropical Parrots. Conservation of New World Parrots: 237-238. Accessed April 15, 2004 at http://www.bluemacaws.org/hywild16.htm.
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Range
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
As the largest of all parrots, blue macaws are 95 to 100 cm long (37.5 to 39.5 inches), although half that length is tail. They weigh approximately 3.5 pounds (1,200 to 1,700 g) and their wingspans are from 117 to 127 cm. Typically macaws do not have feathers in the area surrounding the eyes and on fairly large areas on the side of the head. Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, however, has only a small ring around the eye and around the base of the lower mandible which are bare, revealing prominent rich yellow skin. Blue macaws are a uniform ultramarine blue, which is rich and glossy. The beak of blue macaws is massive, black and hooked. Like most parrots, the beak is used as a third foot to grasp onto trees, which is helpful for climbing. They have short, sturdy legs, which are useful for hanging sideways and upside-down. Male and female blue macaws are alike.
Range mass: 1200 to 1700 g.
Range length: 95 to 100 cm.
Range wingspan: 117 to 127 cm.
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
- Ridgley, R. 1989. First Among Parrots - Hyacinth Macaws in the wild. Birds International, 1(1).
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus prefers semi-open habitats. These are usually forests which have a dry season that prevents the growth of extensive, tall, closed-canopy tropical forest. Blue macaws live in a variety of habitats, including deciduous woodland, cerrado and palm groves, and the palm-Savannas of the Pantanal. The Pantanal is a particularly important habitat for the macaws, providing a large, lush oasis in southern Brazil.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; mountains
Wetlands: swamp
Other Habitat Features: riparian
- Munn, C. 1989/90. Report on the Hyacinth Macaw. Audubon Wildlife Report: 405-419.
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Blue macaws are equipped with large beaks which they use to crack open the shells of nuts. These nuts are usually quite hard, so the bird first files down the thickness of the shell in one area with its beak, and then breaks it cleanly in half. Their large hooked bill is notably efficient when compared to other macaws. Blue macaws feed on 8 species pf palm nuts, which are rich in nutrients and fat. Two of the species of plam trees are Acrocomia iasiopatha and Astryocaryun tucuma. They are largely dependent on palm nuts, but will occasionally feed on small seeds, palm sprouts and snails. Most of the feeding occurs on the ground, though macaws use their ability to climb to pick palm nuts from clusters within the trees. Blue macaws have also been known to eat palm nuts that have passed through the bowls of cattle.
Animal Foods: mollusks
Plant Foods: seeds, grains, and nuts
Primary Diet: herbivore (Granivore )
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Associations
Ecosystem Roles
Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus serves an important role in its ecosystem by dispersing seeds and nuts throughout its territory.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
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Predation
The primary predators of blue macaws are egg predators: jays and crows (family Corvidae), coatis (genus Nasua), toucans (family Ramphastidae), and skunks (subfamily Mephitinae).
Known Predators:
- jays and crows (Corvidae)
- coatis (Nasua)
- toucans (Ramphastidae)
- skunks (Mephitinae)
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Known predators
Ramphastidae
Corvidae
Nasua
Mephitinae
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 16, 2011 at http://animaldiversity.org. http://www.animaldiversity.org
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Known prey organisms
Mollusca
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 16, 2011 at http://animaldiversity.org. http://www.animaldiversity.org
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Life History and Behavior
Behavior
Communication and Perception
Blue macaws have harsh, gutteral calls which they often emit when alarmed.
Communication Channels: acoustic
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Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
The lifespan of Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus is unknown, partly because it lives so long. The estimate is around 50 years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 38.8 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 50 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 38.8 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Although blue macaws breed year round, they have a low reproductive rate; from 100 pairs, about 7 to 25 offspring are produced per year. This is counteracted by their longevity; they have lifespans which last decades. Blue macaws are monogamous, usually remaining with one partner for their entire life.
Mating System: monogamous
Blue macaws nest in tree cavities and cliffs, depending on their location. They will nest in dead and living tree hollows usually 4 to 14 m off the ground. Although copulation occurs year round, nesting usually occurs during the wet season, which last from November to April south of the equator. Macaws typically lay one to two eggs per clutch in a two-day interval. The incubation period is between 25 to 28 days. During this period the female spends about 70 percent of her time with the eggs and is fed by the male. Although the eggs are preyed upon by jays, coatis and skunks, among others, the hatching rate is 90 percent successful. The chicks fledge in 13 weeks, but the fledglings stay with the female for about 18 months. They reach sexual maturity in 6 to 10 years.
Breeding interval: Blue macaws breed year round.
Breeding season: Although copulation occurs year round, most nesting takes place between November and April, during the wet season.
Range eggs per season: 1 to 2.
Average eggs per season: 2.
Range time to hatching: 25 to 28 days.
Average fledging age: 13 weeks.
Average time to independence: 18 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 6 to 10 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 6 to 10 years.
Key Reproductive Features: year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
Typically, it takes A. hyacinthinus eggs 25 to 28 days to hatch. If both eggs hatch, the mother rears only one. The mother provides the altricial nestling with food and protection. After a week the male joins the female in feeding. Food for the chick consists of regurgitated partially-digested crop contents. The time to fledging is about 13 weeks, and the birds are independent after 18 months.
Parental Investment: no parental involvement; altricial ; pre-hatching/birth (Protecting); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
- Collar, N., L. Gonzaga, N. Krabbe, A. Madroño Nieto, L. Naranjo, T. Parker, D. Wege. 1992. "Entry on the Hyacinth Macaw in Threatened Birds of the Americas" (On-line). Accessed April 14, 2004 at http://www.bluemacaws.org/hywild10.htm.
- Scheepers, G. 2001. "Hyacinth Macaw" (On-line). Thomasriver Aviaries. Accessed April 14, 2004 at http://www.thomasriver.co.za.
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Molecular Biology and Genetics
Molecular Biology
Barcode data: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus
There are 3 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.
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Download FASTA File
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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus
Public Records: 3
Specimens with Barcodes: 7
Species With Barcodes: 1
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2004Endangered
- 2000Endangered
- 1996Vulnerable
- 1994Vulnerable
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Blue macaws live in areas, such as swamps, that are not coveted for agricultural use. However, the population has been steadily declining for many years. Unfortunately, blue macaws live in an area of Brazil that is being rapidly developed. The destruction of their habitat, as well as hunting and trapping by humans, has substantially reduced their numbers. Long term conservation efforts have been made, and now some land owners living in the Patanal do not allow trappers on their property.
A. hyacinthinus is currently listed in Appendix I of CITES, a decision which was made in July of 1987. They are classified as endangered on the IUNC Red List.
CITES: appendix i
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: endangered
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Status
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Trends
Population
Population Trend
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Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
CITES Appendix I and II, protected under Brazilian and Bolivian law and banned from export in all countries of origin. Many ranch-owners in the Pantanal (and increasingly in the Gerais) no longer permit trappers on their properties. There are several long-term studies and conservation initiativeseg.12. At the Caiman Ecological Refuge in the Pantanal the Hyacinth Macaw Project has used artificial nests and chick management techniques and raised awareness among cattle ranchers12. Conservation Actions Proposed
Study the current range, population status and extent of trading in the different parts of its range8. Assess the effectiveness of artificial nest-boxes8. Enforce legal measures preventing trade. Experiment with ecotourism at one or two sites to encourage donors8.
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Conservation
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
There are no known adverse affects of A. hyacinthinus on humans.
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Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Blue macaws are economically important to humans in that interest in the bird sparks the tourism industry in Brazil. They are also part of the international live-bird trade. Capture and export of wild birds (although illegal in Brazil) has caused a sharp decline in the population.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; ecotourism
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Wikipedia
Hyacinth Macaw
The Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), or Hyacinthine Macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about 100 cm (3.3 ft) it is longer than any other species of parrot. It is the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species, though the flightless Kakapo of New Zealand can outweigh it at up to 3.5 kg. While generally easily recognized, it can be confused with the far rarer and smaller Lear's Macaw. Habitat loss and trapping wild birds for the pet trade has taken a heavy toll on their population in the wild, and as a result the species is classified as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List,[1] and it is protected by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Contents |
Taxonomy [edit]
English physician, ornithologist and artist John Latham first described the Hyacinth Macaw in 1790 based on a taxidermic specimen sent to England. It is one of two extant and one probably extinct species of the South American macaw genus Anodorhynchus.
Description [edit]
The largest parrot by length in the world, the Hyacinth Macaw is 100 cm (3.3 ft) long from the tip of its tail to the top of its head and weighs 1.2–1.7 kg (2.6–3.7 lb).[2][3] Each wing is 388–425 mm (15.3–16.7 in) long.[2] The tail is long and pointed.[2] Its feathers are entirely blue, lighter above and darker on its wings.[2] It has a large black curved beak. It has a lappet of bright-yellow bare skin on the left and right of its face adjacent to the base of its lower beak and an eyering of yellow bare skin encircle each eye.[4] Male and female are identical in external appearance, and juveniles resemble adults except they have shorter tails and the yellow on their faces is paler.[2]
Behavior [edit]
Food and feeding [edit]
The majority of the hyacinth macaw diet is nuts from native palms, such as acuri and bocaiuva palms.[5] They have a very strong beak for eating the kernels of hard nuts and seeds. Their strong beaks are even able to crack coconuts, the large brazil nut pods and macadamia nuts. The acuri nut is so hard that the parrots cannot feed on it until it has passed through the digestive system of cattle.[5] In addition, they eat fruits and other vegetable matter.
In the Pantanal, Hyacinth Macaws feed almost exclusively on the nuts of Acrocomia aculeata and Attalea phalerata palm trees. This behaviour was recorded by the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates in his 1863 book The Naturalist on the River Amazons, where he wrote that
It flies in pairs, and feeds on the hard nuts of several palms, but especially of the Mucuja (Acrocomia lasiospatha). These nuts, which are so hard as to be difficult to break with a heavy hammer, are crushed to a pulp by the powerful beak of this macaw.—Bates[6]
Charles Darwin remarked on Bates's account of the species, calling it a "splendid bird" with its "enormous beak" able to feed on these palm nuts.[7]
Reproduction [edit]
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Nesting takes place between July and December, nests are constructed in tree cavities or cliff faces depending on the habitat.[8] In the Pantanal region, 90% of nests are constructed in the manduvi tree (Sterculia apetala). Hollows of sufficient size are only found in trees of around 60 years of age or older, and competition is fierce.[9] Existing holes are enlarged and then partially filled with wood chips.[10] The clutch size is one or two eggs,[5] although usually only one fledgling survives[5] as the second egg hatches several days after the first, and the smaller fledgling cannot compete with the first born for food. The incubation period lasts about a month, and the male will tend to his mate whilst she incubates the eggs.[5] The chicks leave the nest, or fledge, at around 110 days of age,[citation needed] and remain dependent on their parents until six months of age.[5] They are mature and begin breeding at seven years of age. Eggs are regularly predated by corvids, possums, coatis and (most prolifically) toucans.[11] Adults have no known natural predators.[3] The young are parasitized by larvae of flies of the genus Philornis.[12]
Distribution and habitat [edit]
The Hyacinth Macaw survives today in three main populations in South America: In the Pantanal region of Brazil, and adjacent eastern Bolivia and northeastern Paraguay, in the Cerrado region of the eastern interior of Brazil (Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Tocantins, Goiás, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais), and in the relatively open areas associated with the Tocantins River, Xingu River, Tapajós River, and the Marajó island in the eastern Amazon Basin of Brazil. It is possible that smaller, fragmented populations occur in other areas. It prefers palm swamps, woodlands, and other semi-open wooded habitats. It usually avoids dense humid forest, and in regions dominated by such habitats, it is generally restricted to the edge or relatively open sections (e.g. along major rivers). In different areas of their range these parrots are found in savannah grasslands, in dry thorn forest known as 'caatinga', and in palm stands,[8] particularly the Moriche Palm (Mauritia flexuosa).[13]
Conservation [edit]
The Hyacinth Macaw is an endangered species due to the cage bird trade and habitat loss.[8] In the 1980s, it is estimated that at least 10,000 birds were taken from the wild.[8] Throughout the macaw’s range, habitat is being lost or altered due to the introduction of cattle ranching and mechanised agriculture, and the development of hydroelectric schemes.[8] Annual grass fires set by farmers can destroy nest trees, and regions previously inhabited by this macaw are now unsuitable also due to agriculture and plantations. Locally, it has been hunted for food, and the Kayapo Indians of Gorotire in south-central Brazil use its feathers to make headdresses and other ornaments. While overall greatly reduced in numbers, it remains locally common in the Brazilian Pantanal, where many ranch-owners now protect the macaws on their land.
The Hyacinth Macaw is protected by law in Brazil and Bolivia,[4] and commercial export is banned by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).[14][15] There are a number of long-term studies and conservation initiatives in place; the Hyacinth Macaw Project in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso do Sul, has carried out important research by ringing individual birds and has created a number of artificial nests to compensate for the small percentage of sites available in the region.[5]
The Minnesota Zoo with BioBrasil[16] and the World Wildlife Fund[10] are involved in Hyacinth Macaw conservation.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b BirdLife International (2012). "Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Forshaw (2006). plate 70.
- ^ a b ADW: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus: Information
- ^ a b "Species factsheet: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Hyacinth Macaw". WWF.[dead link] - via ARKive
- ^ Bates, H. W. (1864). The naturalist on the River Amazons. London: J. Murray. Pages 79–80. (1st (long) ed. 1863
- ^ Darwin, Charles (1863). "An Appreciation: The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates". Natural History Review, vol iii. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus): BirdLife species factsheet". BirdLife International. Retrieved 2003-04. - via ARKive
- ^ Pizo,Marco Aurelio; Donatti, Camila I. Neiva, Maria R.; Guedes, Mauro Galetti, Marco Aurélio; Donatti, Camila I.; Guedes, Neiva Maria R.; Galetti, Mauro (2008). "Conservation puzzle: Endangered hyacinth macaw depends on its nest predator for reproduction". Biological Conservation 141 (3): 792–96. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.12.023.
- ^ a b Brouwer, Meindert (21 April 2004). "The hyacinth macaw makes a comeback". WWF. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Predator of the world's largest macaw key to its survival
- ^ Allgayer, M. C.; Guedes, N. M. R.; Chiminazzo, C.; Cziulik, M.; Weimer, T. A., MC; Guedes, NM; Chiminazzo, C; Cziulik, M; Weimer, TA (2009). "Clinical Pathology and Parasitologic Evaluation of Free Living Nestlings of the Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)". Journal of Wildlife Diseases 45 (4): 972–81. PMID 19901373.
- ^ Forshaw (2006). page 95.
- ^ "Appendices I, II and III". CITES. 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ The CITES Appendices, CITES, retrieved 2011-07-29
- ^ "BioBrasil and the Minnesota Zoo working to save Hyacinth Macaws". Minnesota Zoo. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
Cited texts [edit]
- Forshaw, Joseph M. (2006). Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide. Illustrated by Frank Knight. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09251-6.
Further reading [edit]
- del Hoyo et al., 1997. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 4.
- Caldas, Sergio T. and L Candiasani. 2005. Arara-Azul. DBA Dórea Books and Art, São Paulo, São Paulo.
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