Hyacinth Macaw

Hyacinth macaw is one of the most popular among the 17 species of macaws. However Hyacinth macaw is a seriously endangered species. The biological name of Hyacinth macaw is Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus and they originally belong to Central and Eastern South America.

Hyacinth macaw is the largest of all parrots and has a wing span of more than 4 feet, 15.3 inches to 16.7 inches to be precise. Average size of this bird varies from 11.8 to 39.5 inches (3.3 ft) and the weight varies between 129 grams to 1.695 kilograms. Average life span in the wild is found to be up to 60 years.

Hyacinth macaw is fully blue in color with dark blue shaded wings. They have very strong black color curved beaks. They have bright yellow bare skin on the face adjacent to the lower end of their lower beak. Their eyes are also encircled with yellow color bare skin.

Male and female Hyacinth macaws are both similar in external appearance and can be distinguished by a professional DNA test. The younger Hyacinth macaws are also similar except that their tails are shorter and the yellow on their face looks paler.  

Hyacinth macaws feed on fruits, nectar, nuts and variety of seeds. Their very strong beaks can even crack coconuts, Brazil nut pods and macadamia nuts. Hyacinth macaw has a scaly tongue that has a bone inside which helps them in tapping fruits and later cracking the seeds using their strong beaks. Chewed leaf or pieces of wood are found to be used by Hyacinth macaw while cracking nuts and seeds in order to avoid them from slipping. Despite the unknown fact that whether this behavior is an innate trait or a learned social behavior, both wild and hand trained macaws seem to exhibit the same behavior.

About 10 to 30 Hyacinth macaws are normally found to be flying as a flock in the wild. They are always found as pairs and nesting takes place between July and December. Hyacinth macaw becomes matured and ready for breeding after 7 years of age. Nests in the wild are constructed in the cavities of very old trees where the cavities are deep. The natural cavity is enlarged and chippings of wood are filled to safeguard the eggs from cracking. In captivity, this process indeed needs to be done by the person who owns the bird. Normally the clutch each time is found to be one and two, however, only the eldest of the two survives as the second fledgling is hatched after several days and cannot compete with the first born for food. In captivity, there are more chances for saving the whole clutch by removing the older fledglings from the nests and hand raising them. The female incubates the eggs for 30 days and the male fetches food for the female when she is incubating. After 110 days, the chicks start leaving the nest, however, they are found to be dependant on the parents for about 6 months.