Hyacinth Macaw

 

The Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is a parrot native to parts of Brazil, eastern Bolivia and northeastern Paraguay. They are beautiful, smart, and can even mimic human speech. 

With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long, pointed tail) of about one meter, they are larger than any other parrot species.

Macaws have four toes—two toes face forward and two face backwards. These feet are called zygodactyl and are great for perching on branches, climbing in trees, and even holding food.

The Hyacinth macaw generally eats fruits and nuts from specific palm species, such as the acuri and bocaiuva palms. They have very strong beaks for eating the kernels of hard nuts and seeds. Their strong beaks can even crack coconuts, the large Brazil nut pods, and macadamia nuts.

The Hyacinth macaw mostly nests in pre-existing holes of Manduvi trees, which rely on the Toco toucan for 83.3% of the tree's distribution of seeds. By a cruel twist of fate, the Toco toucan also feeds on 53% of the Hyacinth macaw's offspring as eggs. They have a clutch of two to three eggsand the chicks stay with their mother until they are six months old.

Sadly, habitat loss (primaririly due to the introduction of cattle ranching and mechanised agriculture, and the development of hydroelectric schemes) and the trapping of wild birds for the pet trade have greatly reduced their population in the wild, so the species is classified as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. One study by an NGO for the World Wildlife Fund claimed in 2004 that an estimated 10,000 birds were taken from the wild in the 1980s