Hyacinth Macaw

Many people are familiar with macaws and parrots as pet store animals. It might be difficult, then, for people to imagine what these large, loud, beautiful birds look like in the wild. The spectacular flash of color of a wild macaw is becoming more and more of a rare sight. The largest species of macaw, the brilliant-blue hyacinth grows to be up to 40 inches (1 m) long. The hyacinth macaw survives today in three known distinct populationin southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia and northeastern Paraguay. It is possible that smaller, fragmented populations occur in other areas of its range. Although it is difficult to estimate, some people believe there were more than 100,000 hyacinth macaws before the arrival of Amerindians in South America. In 1990, the wild population was estimated to be 2,500 birds. The world’s captive population is probably much larger, numbering in the thousands. The hyacinth macaw is found primarily in riverside topical rain forest and palm swamps. Its habitat varies throughout its range, however, from seasonally moist forest with a broken canopy, to mature palm forest, to grassy marshes. The hyacinth macaw nests in holes in trees. The clutch size is two or three eggs, although usually only one fledgling survives. The hyacinth macaw eats seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetable matter. Eight species of palm are central to its diet. Its exceptionally powerful bill, the largest of its kind in the world, allows it to eat otherwise inaccessible nuts and seeds. Macaws can eat some poisonous seeds and unripe fruits that no other animal can digest. Scientists believe this is possible because the birds eat chunks of clay from river banks. The clay is thought to help absorb the poisons or make them harmless. Macaws play an important role in seed dispersal. They are messy eaters, carrying and dropping many nuts and seeds.