Red-bellied macaw

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Red-bellied macaw
In Goiânia, Brazil

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Orthopsittaca
Ridgway, 1912
Species:
O. manilatus
Binomial name
Orthopsittaca manilatus
(Boddaert, 1783)
Synonyms

Orthopsittaca manilata

The red-bellied macaw (Orthopsittaca manilatus), also known as Guacamaya Manilata, is a medium-sized, mostly green

macaws. It is the largest of what are commonly called "mini-macaws
". The belly has a large maroon patch which gives the species its name.

It is endemic to tropical

pet trade.

Not to be confused with the African red-bellied parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris), a similarly named smaller parrot.

Taxonomy

The red-bellied macaw was described by the French polymath

monotypic.[6] The generic name combines the Ancient Greek orthos meaning "straight" and psittakē meaning "parrot". The specific epithet combines the Latin manus meaning "hand" and latus meaning "broad" or "wide".[7]

Description

A taxidermied red-bellied macaw, with the maroon patch on the lower abdomen visible

The red-bellied macaw is medium-sized, about 300 g (11 oz) in weight and about 46 cm (18 in) in length including its long pointed tail. The plumage is mostly green; the

culmen (top of the upper beak).[8] The Spix's macaw
is the only other macaw in which juveniles have a similar white culmen.

Distribution and habitat

Two flying in Guyana

The red-bellied macaw has an extremely large range throughout the Amazon Basin of the

Orinoco River
Basin and across to the island of Trinidad.

Its southern limit in Brazil is the south-central and northwestern

Amazon Basin
.

Behaviour

Red-bellied macaws make reedy, high-pitched screams. They roost communally in the moriche palms, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk; (see

crepuscular
). They choose large stands of these palms that have an overabundance of woodpecker holes as roosting sites. They sleep communally in these groups of hollows. Depending on the size of the hollow, between five and 10 birds sleep together. As dusk approaches, they all pile into these dormitories and sleep shoulder to shoulder.

Breeding

Red-bellied macaws nest in cavities of dead moriche palm trees. There are usually two to four white eggs in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 27 days, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 77 days after hatching.[9] Juveniles reach sexual maturity in 2–3 years.

Food and feeding

Their diet consists almost exclusively of the fruit and seeds of the moriche palm and the Caribbean royal palm (in Trinidad),[10] which are 100% carbohydrate, 0% fat[citation needed] and very high in beta-carotene.

Conservation status

Red-bellied macaws are listed as "least concern" by the

IUCN. Population numbers have not been estimated, but wild populations seem to be declining.[1]

Aviculture

A pet juvenile in Peru

It is extremely difficult keep these birds alive in captivity, because of their high strung personality, and low fat and high carbohydrate diet. Export/Import for the pet trade often results in 100% mortality. Captive-bred chicks have a low survival rate.

The only country to export these birds in recent years is Guyana.

Because of lack of commercial availability of moriche palm nuts, shelled unsalted peanuts have been used as a staple in the diet of captive birds. They should not be fed commercial bird seed, especially fatty seed like Sunflower.

The parrot breeder, Howard Voren, successfully devised feeding and housing methods which would keep wild-caught red-bellied macaws alive in captivity, after observing the parrots' wild behaviors in Guyana. However, he decided to keep his method a secret for many years, as he did not wish to be responsible for restarting the trade in wild-caught macaws from the area, which previous to this had significantly reduced due to the high mortality rates, and therefore lack of commercial viability of trade in the species.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22685585A93081095.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1780). "La perriche-ara". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 11. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. pp. 387–388.
  3. Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "La perruche-ara, de Cayenne"
    . Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 9. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 864.
  4. ^ Boddaert, Pieter (1783). Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés (in French). Utrecht. p. 52, Number 864.
  5. ^ Ridgway, Robert (1912). "Diagnoses of some new genera of American birds". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 25: 97–102 [99].
  6. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Parrots, cockatoos". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  7. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  8. ^ Forshaw (2006). plate 73.
  9. ISBN 1-84309-164-X
    .
  10. ^ "Orthopsittaca manilata (Red-bellied Macaw)" (PDF). Sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  11. ^ Voren, Howard. "The Mysterious Macaw (The Unique Red-Bellied Macaws)". Voren.com. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

Cited texts

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orthopsittaca manilatus.
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