Macaw | Macaw Parrot is now endangered in the wild and a few are extinct

Macaw is a long-tailed, frequently interesting ‘new world’ parrot. Macaw has about 19 species comprising extinct and disapprovingly scarce species. Additionally, Macaws have numerous hypothetical inexistent species that have been proposed based on a slight indication.

Extinctions and Upkeep Status

The popular Macaws are now rare in the wild and some species have also be disappeared. The Spix's Macaw is today possibly disappeared in the wild. The Glaucous Macaw is also possibly nonexistent, with only two reliable histories of detections in the 20^th century. The utmost problems intimidating the Macaw population are the fast rate of deforestation and unlawful catching the birds for trade.

The global trade of all Macaw species is controlled by the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) of Wild Flora and Fauna. Some kind of Macaw parrots, the Scarlet Macaw, for instance, are registered with the CITES (Appendix-I) and may not be legally traded for profitmaking purposes. Other species, for example, the red-shouldered Macaw is registered with the CITES (in Appendix-II) and may lawfully be traded commercially if definite controls are prepared, comprising a non-detriment finding, the formation of an export share, and issuing of export licenses.

Diet and Clay Licks

The Macaws usually eat various types of foods such as seeds, nuts, fruits, palm fruits, leaves, flowers, and stems. The wild-species may fly over 100 Kilometers for the search of seasonally available food. These are some of the bigger types of Macaw include “Ara Araurana” which is normally blue and yellow bird, and “Ara Ambigua” which is usually a big bird. Some foods eaten by Macaws in some areas of the wild may contain poisonous or acidic materials. It has been recommended that Macaws and other parrots in the ‘Amazon Basin’ eat clay from uncovered river banks to neutralize these poisons. In the western Amazon, hundreds of Macaws and other parrots slope to open river banks to eat clay practically on a daily basis, excluding the rainy days.

Donald Brightsmith, the chief investigator of “Tambopata Macaw Project”, situated at TRC (Tambopata Research Center) in Peru, has considered the clay eating conduct of Macaw parrots at clay licks of Peru. He and associated researchers found that the soils Macaws eat at the clay licks have greater levels of ability to absorb the poisons than that of other areas of clay licks. Relatively, the Macaws and other birds and animals choose clays which have a great level of sodium. Sodium is an important element which is rare in the surroundings more than 100 Kilometers from the sea.

The dispersal of clay licks through South America additionally supports this theory as the biggest clay licks are found in the western regions of the “Amazon Basin”. Salt-enriched (NaCl) oceanic aerosols are the leading source of ecological sodium close to the beaches.

The clay-eating habit of Macaws is not looked outside the western Amazon area, although Macaws in these regions eat some poisonous foods, for example, the seeds of Hura Crepitans, or Sandbox tree which have poisonous fluid. The breeds of parrot that eat more seeds, which possibly have more poisons do not eat clay-licks more than species that consume a larger amount of flowers or fruits for their diets.

The researches at ‘TRC’ have indicated a connection between clay-lick use and the breeding period. The substances of snuggling crop samples display a high proportion of clay fed to the baby parrots by their parents. Calcium for egg production, another theory, does not seem to be a reason for geophagy during this period as the highest usage is after producing the eggs.

An additional hypothesis is that the birds, together with other animals, eat clay licks as a source of cobalamin, else known as vitamin B12.

Hybrids

Occasionally Macaws are crossbred for the pet trade.

The aviculturists have described plenty of female macaws (blue-and-yellow colored) in imprisonment, which varies from the common rule with imprisoned Macaws and other parrots, where the males are more in quantity. This would clarify why the blue and gold are more frequently hybridized Macaws, and why crossbreeding tendency took hold among Macaw species. The common Macaw crossbreeds comprise the Harlequin, Miligold Macaw, and Catalina. Moreover, uncommon but seemingly healthy intergeneric crossbreeds between the Hyacinth Macaw and numerous of the bigger “Ara Macaws” have also sometimes looked in the captivity.