The birds in Guyana would beautifully cover the sky with their various shapes, sizes, and captivating colours. One such bird is the blue and yellow macaw; this macaw is truly mesmerizing. From the moment your eyes spot it, you are awed, this majestic macaw captures your attention right away! The blue and yellow macaw, also known as the blue and gold macaw, is named for its beautiful blue body with a dark lemon-yellow chest.
Features Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw
- Colour – They are vivid in appearance with light blue feathers on the top of their wings, and torso, and darker on the tail—and halfway on top of their head; the frontmost half of the top of their head is covered with lime feathers. On the bottom of these aforementioned areas of their body are light orange feathers.
- Beak & Feet – Their beak is black, as well as the feathers under their chin. Its feet, save for the talons, are of a gray color.
- Face & Eyes – The bird has white skin, with its face having nearly no feathers beside a few black ones spaced apart from each other forming a striped pattern around the eyes. The irises are light yellow.
- Length & Weight – These birds can reach a length of 76–86 cm (30–34 in) and weigh 0.900–1.5 kg (2–3 lb), making them some of the larger members of their family.
- Variations – Little variation in plumage is seen across the range. Some birds have a more orange or “butterscotch” underside color, particularly on the breast. This was often seen in Trinidad birds and others of the Caribbean area.
Tip: Blue-and-yellow macaws can live from 30 to 35 years in the wild, and reach sexual maturity between the ages of 3 and 6 years.
Scientific Classification Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw
Blue And Yellow Macaw – Ara ararauna [Scientific name]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Psittaciformes
- Family: Psittacidae
- Genus: Ara
- Species: A. ararauna
Habitat Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw
This species occurs in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Guyana, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. The range extends slightly into Central America, where it is restricted to Panama. Although they were nearly wiped out in Trinidad due to human activity during the 1970s, a recent programme of reintroduction has proved successful. Between 1999 and 2003, wild-caught blue and yellow macaws were translocated from Guyana to Trinidad, in an attempt to re-establish the species in a protected area around Nariva swamp.
Diet Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw
Blue-and-yellow macaws mainly eat seeds, nuts, and fruits. In some cases, they consume clay found at riverbanks which allows them to digest the toxins from unripe seeds that they may have ingested. Captive blue and yellow macaws should be fed a varied diet consisting of as many different types of fresh foods as possible. Fresh vegetables, including leafy greens and root vegetables, are required as well. The bird’s diet should be supplemented daily with a high-quality pelleted diet and some healthy seed such as flax, hemp, and chia seed. Do be careful to avoid treats that are high in fat because pet parrots can gain excess weight and even become obese.
Did You Know? The blue and yellow macaw uses its powerful beak for breaking nutshells and to crush seeds, and for climbing up and hanging from trees.
Reproduction Of The Blue And Yellow Macaw
The blue and yellow macaw generally mates for life. The male bird’s color signals readiness for breeding. The brighter and bolder the colors, the better the chance of getting a mate. The breeding season is from January to July and they breed every year or second year. Nests are made high up in trees, usually in holes made by other animals. They nest almost exclusively in dead palms and most nests are in Mauritia flexuosa palms.
Eggs & Chicks: The female typically lays two or three eggs. The female incubates the eggs for about 28 days. The young hatch featherless and blind, feathers beginning to develop after 10 days. Both males and females look after the young and are very aggressive towards intruders when protecting their families. One chick is dominant and gets most of the food; the others perish in the nest. Chicks fledge from the nest about 97 days after hatching.
10 Facts About The Blue And Yellow Macaw
- Even well-tended blue and yellow macaws are known to “scream” for attention, and make other loud noises.
- Loud vocalizations, especially “flock calls”, and destructive chewing are natural parts of their behavior and should be expected in captivity.
- Due to their large size, they also require plentiful space in which to fly around.
- Captive macaws kept with a good diet, exercise, and veterinary care have been recorded to live 60 or more years. People considering a macaw as a companion parrot must be aware of this and consider that the bird may outlive the owner.
- Blue and yellow macaws are active birds, and they love to climb, swing, bounce, and chew. Owners should provide a minimum of two to three hours of playtime outside of the cage each day so the bird can stretch and exercise his muscles.
- Blue and yellow macaws are apt talkers, able to repeat simple words and phrases.
- In the wild, macaws help promote forest growth by dropping a lot of seed they are eating on the ground and spreading seeds throughout the forest.
- The macaws are very gregarious animals. They tend to congregate in flocks of a hundred or more animals.
- The macaws do not have a leader of the flock. All the birds seem to be equal, and they just move around as a group. However, the paired birds usually fly very close together with their wings almost touching.
- Avocados and cherries are toxic for macaws. They can eat apples, oranges, grapes, walnuts, peanuts, and sunflower seeds.
Blue And Yellow Macaw In Guyana
Yes, this eye-catching, beautiful bird is a sight for sore eyes. Their amazing features and unique abilities are indeed remarkable. They can be quite noisy but are excellent companions. Amazingly, they can live for more than 60 years in captivity! Yes, these brightly coloured beauties have so much more to offer than just a pretty face – they also have an amazing personality. They are indeed one of the more recognizable birds in the world and a popular pet for people who can handle a large parrot that demands attention.
Article References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-and-yellow_macaw
- https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/species/blue-and-gold-macaw/
- https://animalcorner.co.uk/animals/blue-yellow-macaw/
- https://www.ducksters.com/animals/blue_and_yellow_macaw.php
- https://www.thesprucepets.com/blue-and-gold-macaws-390831
- http://animalia.bio/blue-and-gold-macaw
- https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ara_ararauna/
- Main Image: https://www.junglequeen.com/blue-and-gold-macaw.html
