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Red-bellied Macaw - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Wes Syposz
Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso, Brazil, 1 June 2007
Orthopsittaca manilatus

Identification

46-48 cm (18-19 in) Weight 370 g. Medium-sized largely green macaw with extensive whitish or yellowish facial skin and a red patch on lower belly.

  • mainly medium green
  • face with extensive yellow or whitish carunculated bare skin in a rough triangle from base of bill enclosing eye
  • lower belly patch dark red (may be difficult to see)
  • forehead, feathers around bare facial skin and (especially) flight feathers of upperwings are greenish blue
  • upper wing coverts and upper tail green
  • underwings and undertail dull yellow or brownish
  • breast and under-body greyish
  • bill black

Sexes are alike.

Distribution

Photo © by Rodrigo Conte
Brasilia, Brazil, 10 May 2014

South America, from Colombia and Trinidad south to Peru and central Brazil and east to the Guianas.

Taxonomy

Sometimes placed in the genus Ara. Its scientific name was formerly spelled Ara manilata for gender agreement, but has been successfully argued that manilatus is a noun rather than an adjective and thus the original spelling stands (David & Gosselin, 2002).

Subspecies

Clements regards this as a monotypic species [1].

Habitat

Dependent on Mauritia (Moriche) palms: Forest and swamps with these trees. The clearing of palms has affected this species.

Behaviour

Breeding

Two white eggs are laid in a tree cavity.

Diet

Their diet includes the fruit and seeds of palm trees, especially the Moriche Palm.

Vocalisation

Most common call is a reedy, high-pitched scream. Also a more braying series of notes.

Movements

Apparently somewhat nomadic.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Collar, N., Boesman, P. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Red-bellied Macaw (Orthopsittaca manilatus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/54624 on 14 July 2019).
  3. David N., Gosselin M. (2002a): The grammatical gender of the avian genera. Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Club 122: 257-275.
  4. David N., Gosselin M. (2002b): Gender agreement of avian species names. Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Club 122: 14-49.
  5. Red-bellied Macaw (Orthopsittaca manilatus), 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/rebmac2

Recommended Citation

External Links

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