- Ara ararauna
Identification
81½-86½ cm (32-34 in)
Adult has blue upperparts, nape, wings and tail.
The chin and throat are black. Underparts are golden yellow but undertail coverts are blue. The long graduated tail is gold with buff-tipped feathers.
Crown is green. Face and lores are white with fine lines of black feathers unique to each individual. Face may turn pink if bird is excited. The black bill is strongly hooked. The eyes are yellow. Legs and feet are gray. Sexes are similar.
Juvenile resembles adult but has shorter tail, and gray eyes. They take 3 to 4 years to reach maturity.
Distribution
From eastern Panama to northwestern Colombia and from estern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and northern Bolivia, to Paraguay, Amazonian Brazil, the Guianas, and eastern and southern Venezuela. Extirpated from Trinidad where a reintroduction programme is under way.
An introduced population is present in Florida.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
A variety of lowland forested habitats from mangrove to flooded and other humid forests, and palm swamps; more rarely in dry forest.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest in cavities, often in holes in dead tall palm trees, usually fairly high above the ground. Pairs are believed to mate for life. Clutch consists of two or three eggs. Altricial chicks hatch blind and naked. Usually, only the strongest survives, and the others die by starvation. Young needs at least 10 to 13 weeks to develop full plumage. After fledging, it remains with parents for several months more, before to become independent.
Diet
Their diet consists of flowers, seeds, berries, fruit and nuts.
Vocalisation
Vocal with a somewhat raucous call when flying; silent while eating, mostly high in canopy.
Movements
They move seasonally depending on food source availability. In the rainy season they may move from the forest into more open country.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Restall et al. 2006. Birds of Northern South America. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300124156
- Ber van Perlo. 2009. A field guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7
- Kenefick, Restall, Hayes, 2007. Field guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13557-2
- oiseaux birds
- BirdLife International 2018. Ara ararauna. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22685539A131917270. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22685539A131917270.en. Downloaded on 07 July 2019.
- Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/baymac
- Collar, N., P. F. D. Boesman, and C.J. Sharpe (2020). Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.baymac.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Blue-and-yellow Macaw. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Blue-and-yellow_Macaw
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
