Animalia Life

Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus
SUBFAMILY
Psittacinae
TAXONOMY
Psittacus hyacinthinus Latham, 1790, Brazil. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Hyacinthine macaw; French: Ara hyacinthe; German: Hyazinthara; Spanish: Guacamayo Jacinto.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
39 in (100 cm); weight not recorded. Largest and probably most spectacular of all parrots. Deep blue plumage, yellow eye patch and chin, long tapering tail.
DISTRIBUTION
North Brazil to east Bolivia and extreme north Paraguay.
HABITAT
Lightly to moderately wooded country where palm food trees are present; favors gallery woodland traversing semi-open lands, especially seasonally inundated grasslands of the Pantanal; occurs also at margins of moist, lowland forest and in low, dry scrublands or cerrado with scattered clumps of Mauritia palms.
BEHAVIOR
At extremities of range seasonal movements influenced by fruiting of palms, but elsewhere largely sedentary. Usually in groups of six to 12, and mated pairs or parents with offspring readily discernible, but singly or in pairs during breeding season. Noisy and conspicuous, especially in flight, and when disturbed rises up from treetops to circle overhead while screaming loudly; rests quietly in uppermost branches during heat of the day, paired birds sitting together and allopreening frequently; long-distance flights between nighttime roosts and feeding areas at great height, pairs normally traveling together, one beside and slightly behind its mate, and long, streamer-like tail giving distinctive appearance.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Principally fruits of palms, procured in trees or on the ground underneath; takes palm seeds from cattle droppings or seeds remaining after pulp has been eaten by foraging mammals. Ficus and other fruits sometimes eaten, and recorded taking of Pomacea snails from shallow ponds.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Monogamous. Breeding recorded from July to December. In northern Brazil nests commonly in crevices in cliff-faces, but elsewhere in tree hollows, often in dead palm stumps; clutch of two or rarely three eggs, but normally only one chick reared; in captivity incubation by female lasted 28–30 days; young bird fledged at approximately three months.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Endangered and listed on CITES Appendix I. Alarming declines caused by capture of adults and removal of nestlings for live-bird trade, exacerbated by land clearance and hunting for food or feathers. In early 1990s total population estimated at fewer than 3,000.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Very much in demand as aviary bird; also hunted for food and feathers.

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