View source for Macaw

{{Short description|Bird of the parrot family}}
{{about|the bird|other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2014}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| image = Blue-and-Yellow-Macaw.jpg
| image_caption = A [[blue-and-yellow macaw]] (''Ara ararauna'')
| auto = yes
| parent = Arini
| includes =
''[[Anodorhynchus]]''<br />
''[[Ara (bird)|Ara]]''<br />
''[[Spix's macaw|Cyanopsitta]]''<br />
''[[Primolius]]''<br />
''[[Red-bellied macaw|Orthopsittaca]]''<br />
''[[Red-shouldered macaw|Diopsittaca]]''
}}

'''Macaws''' are a group of [[Neotropical parrot|New World parrots]] that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the tribe [[Arini (tribe)|Arini]].<ref>{{OED|macaw}}</ref> They are popular in [[aviculture]] or as [[companion parrot]]s, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild.

== Biology ==
Of the many different [[Psittacidae]] (true parrots) [[genus|genera]], six are classified as macaws: ''[[Ara (bird)|Ara]]'', ''[[Anodorhynchus]]'', ''[[Cyanopsitta]]'', ''[[Primolius]]'', ''[[Red-bellied macaw|Orthopsittaca]]'', and ''[[Red-shouldered macaw|Diopsittaca]]''. Previously, the members of the genus ''Primolius'' were placed in ''Propyrrhura'', but the former is correct in accordance with [[International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature|ICZN]] rules.<ref>[http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCprop177.html South American Classification Committee] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224143750/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/SACCprop177.html |date=2007-02-24 }} To reassign the genus of three macaws.</ref> In addition, the related macaw-like [[thick-billed parrot]] is sometimes referred to as a "macaw", although it is not phylogenetically considered to be a macaw species. Macaws are native to [[Central America]] and [[North America]] (only [[Mexico]]), [[South America]], and formerly the [[Caribbean]]. Most species are associated with forests, but others prefer woodland or savannah-like habitats.<ref name=Abramson>Abramson, J., Speer, B. L., & Thomsen, J.B. 1999, "The Large Macaws, Their Care and Breeding", Raintree Publications: CA</ref>

Proportionately larger beaks, long tails, and relatively bare, light-coloured medial (facial patch) areas distinguish macaws from other parrots. Sometimes the facial patch is smaller in some species and limited to a yellow patch around the eyes and a second patch near the base of the beak in the members of the genus ''[[Anodorhynchus]]''. A macaw's facial feather pattern is as unique as a fingerprint.<ref name="Macaw facial fingerprint">{{cite web | url =http://webparrots.com/blue_and_gold_macaw.html | title =Facial fingerprint | work =webparrots.com | access-date =2008-07-29 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20171210123510/http://webparrots.com/blue_and_gold_macaw.html | archive-date =2017-12-10 | url-status =dead }}</ref>

The largest macaws are the [[Hyacinth macaw|hyacinth]], [[Great green macaw|Buffon's (great green)]] and [[Red-and-green macaw|green-winged]] macaws. While still relatively large parrots, [[mini-macaws]] of the genera ''Cyanopsitta'', ''Orthopsittaca'' and ''Primolius'' are significantly smaller than the members of ''Anodorhynchus'' and ''Ara''. The smallest member of the family, the red-shouldered macaw, is no larger than some parakeets of the genus ''[[Aratinga]]''.<ref name=Abramson />

Macaws, like other [[parrot]]s, [[toucan]]s and [[woodpecker]]s, are [[zygodactyl]], having their first and fourth toes pointing backward.<ref name=Abramson />

== Species in taxonomic order ==
{{Further|List of macaws}}
There are 19 species of macaws, including extinct and critically [[endangered species]].<ref name = zoonomen>{{cite web | url =http://www.zoonomen.net/avtax/psit.html |title = Zoological Nomenclature Resource: Psittaciformes (Version 9.004) |date =2008-07-05 |publisher = www.zoonomen.net }}</ref> In addition, there are several hypothetical extinct species that have been proposed based on very little evidence.<ref name = Fuller1987 />

[[File:Glaucous Macaw.jpg|thumb|[[Glaucous macaw]] (behind [[hyacinth macaw]]) and other macaws]]
* ''[[Anodorhynchus]]''
** [[Glaucous macaw]], ''Anodorhynchus glaucus'' (critically endangered or extinct)
** [[Hyacinth macaw]], ''Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus''
** Indigo macaw or [[Lear's macaw]], ''Anodorhynchus leari''
* ''Cyanopsitta''
** Little blue macaw or [[Spix's macaw]], ''Cyanopsitta spixii'' (probably extinct in the wild)
[[File:Ara macao, Ara ararauna and Ara militaris.jpg|thumb|From L to R: [[scarlet macaw]], [[blue-and-yellow macaw]], and [[military macaw]]]]
[[File:Ara ararauna and Ara glaucogularis -captive in Canada-8a.jpg|right|thumb|[[Blue-and-yellow macaw]] (left) and [[blue-throated macaw]] (right)]]
* ''[[Ara (bird)|Ara]]''
**[[Blue-and-yellow macaw]] or blue-and-gold macaw, ''Ara ararauna''
** [[Blue-throated macaw]], ''Ara glaucogularis''
** [[Military macaw]], ''Ara militaris''
** [[Great green macaw]] or Buffon's macaw, ''Ara ambiguus''
** [[Scarlet macaw]] or Aracanga, ''Ara macao''
** [[Red-and-green macaw]] or green-winged macaw, ''Ara chloropterus''
** [[Red-fronted macaw]], ''Ara rubrogenys''
** [[Chestnut-fronted macaw]] or severe macaw, ''Ara severus''
** †[[Cuban red macaw]], ''Ara tricolor'' (extinct)
** †[[Saint Croix macaw]], ''Ara autochthones''<ref name=wetmore1937>{{cite journal | last = Wetmore | first = A. | title = Ancient records of birds from the island of St. Croix with observations on extinct and living birds of Puerto Rico| journal = Journal of Agriculture of the University of Puerto Rico | volume = 21|issue=1 | pages = 5–16 | year = 1937| doi = 10.46429/jaupr.v21i1.14340 | doi-access = free }}</ref> (extinct)
* ''Orthopsittaca''
** [[Red-bellied macaw]], ''Orthopsittaca manilatus''
* ''[[Primolius]] ''
** [[Blue-headed macaw]], ''Primolius couloni''
** [[Blue-winged macaw]] or Illiger's macaw, ''Primolius maracana''
** [[Golden-collared macaw]], ''Primolius auricollis''
* ''Diopsittaca''
**[[Red-shouldered macaw]] or Hahn's macaw, ''Diopsittaca nobilis''

=== Hypothetical extinct species ===
Several [[hypothetical extinct species]] of macaws have been postulated based on little evidence, and they may have been subspecies, or familiar parrots that were imported onto an island and later wrongly presumed to have a separate identity.<ref name = Fuller1987>{{cite book |title = Extinct Birds |pages = 148–9 |first = Errol |last = Fuller | year = 1987| publisher = Penguin Books (England) |isbn = 978-0-670-81787-0}}</ref>
* [[Martinique macaw]], ''Ara martinica'', [[Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild|Rothschild]] 1905
* [[Lesser Antillean macaw]], ''Ara guadeloupensis'', Clark, 1905
* [[Jamaican green-and-yellow macaw]], ''Ara erythrocephala'', Rothschild 1905
* [[Jamaican red macaw]], ''Ara gossei'', Rothschild 1905
* [[Dominican green-and-yellow macaw]], ''Ara atwoodi'', Clark, 1905

== Extinctions and conservation status ==
[[File:Anonimo portoghese, carta navale per le isole nuovamente trovate in la parte dell'india (de cantino), 1501-02 (bibl. estense) 03.jpg|thumb|The Brazilian coast in the 1502 [[Cantino planisphere]], possibly the earliest European depiction of macaws]]
The majority of macaws are now endangered in the wild and a few are [[extinction|extinct]]. The [[Spix's macaw]] is now probably extinct in the wild. The [[glaucous macaw]] is also probably extinct, with only two reliable records of sightings in the 20th century. The greatest problems threatening the macaw population are the rapid rate of [[deforestation]] and illegal trapping for the bird trade.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBWYK1BDCo0C|title=Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000–2004|isbn=978-2-83170504-0|year=2000
|editor1=Snyder, N.|editor2= McGowan, P.|editor3= Gilardi, J. |editor4= Grajal, A.|location= Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK|publisher= IUCN}}</ref> Prehistoric Native Americans in the American Southwest farmed macaws in establishments known as "feather factories".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=Traci|title=Prehistoric Native Americans farmed macaws in 'feather factories.'|url=http://www.nature.com/news/prehistoric-native-americans-farmed-macaws-in-feather-factories-1.21803|journal=Nature|language=en|doi=10.1038/nature.2017.21803|year=2017|s2cid=164761495}}</ref>

[[International trade]] of all macaw species is regulated by the [[CITES|Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna]] (CITES). Some species of macaws—the scarlet macaw (''Ara macao'') as an example—are listed in the CITES Appendix I and may not be lawfully traded for commercial purposes. Other species, such as the red-shouldered macaw (''Diopsittaca nobilis''), are listed in Appendix II and may legally be traded commercially provided that certain controls are in place, including a non-detriment finding, establishment of an export quota, and issuing of export permits.

== Hybrids ==
{{See also|Hybrid macaw}}
Sometimes macaws are hybridized for the pet trade.

Aviculturists have reported an over-abundance of female blue-and-yellow macaws in captivity, which differs from the general rule with captive macaws and other parrots, where the males are more abundant.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} This would explain why the blue and gold is the most commonly hybridised macaw, and why the hybridising trend took hold among macaws. Common macaw hybrids include the harlequin (''[[Blue-and-yellow macaw|Ara ararauna]]'' × ''[[Red-and-green macaw|Ara chloroptera]]''), miligold macaw (''[[Blue-and-yellow macaw|Ara ararauna]]'' × ''[[Military macaw|Ara militaris]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/Miligold.php |title=Miligold Macaw, Hybrid Cross between a Military Macaw and a Blue and Gold Macaw |publisher=Animal-world.com |access-date=2015-03-14}}</ref> and the [[Catalina macaw|Catalina]] (known as the rainbow in Australia, ''[[Blue-and-yellow macaw|Ara ararauna]]'' × ''[[Scarlet macaw|Ara macao]]''). In addition, unusual but apparently healthy intergeneric hybrids between the hyacinth macaw and several of the larger ''Ara'' macaws have also occasionally been seen in captivity.<ref>[http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/HybridMacaws.php Macaws, Hybrid Names], and pages on individual hybrids.</ref> Another, much rarer, occurrence of a second-generation hybrid (F2) is the [[miliquin macaw]] (harlequin and military macaws).<ref name="washpost">{{cite news |last1=Vargas |first1=Theresa |title=An unlikely parrot love story may have resulted in a new species |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/an-unlikely-parrot-love-story-may-have-resulted-in-a-new-species/2020/01/03/115bf68a-2e66-11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=17 January 2023}}</ref>

== Diet and clay licks ==
[[File:Parrots at a clay lick -Tambopata National Reserve, Peru-8c.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Macaws and [[Southern mealy amazon]]s at a clay lick in Tambopata National Reserve, Peru]]

Macaws eat a variety of foods including seeds, nuts, fruits, palm fruits, leaves, flowers, and stems. Safe vegetables include asparagus, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, butternut, carrots, corn on the cob, dandelion greens, collard greens, hot peppers, spinach, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini. Wild species may forage widely, over {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=on}} for some of the larger species such as ''Ara araurana'' (blue and yellow macaw) and ''Ara ambigua'' (great green macaw), in search of seasonally available foods.

Some foods eaten by macaws in certain regions in the wild are said to contain [[toxicity|toxic]] or [[corrosive substance|caustic]] substances which they are able to digest. It has been suggested that parrots and macaws in the [[Amazon Basin]] eat clay from exposed river banks to neutralize these toxins.<ref>{{cite thesis|title=Ecology of Parrots in the Peruvian Amazon: Habitat Use, Nutrition, and Geophagy|last1=Gilardi|first1=James D.|year=1996|type=Ph.D.|publisher=University of California at Davis|location=Davis, California}}</ref> In the western Amazon hundreds of macaws and other parrots descend to exposed river banks to consume clay on an almost daily basis<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Munn|first= C. A. |date=January 1994|title= Macaws: winged rainbows|journal= National Geographic|volume=185|issue=1|pages=118–140}}</ref> – except on rainy days.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brightsmith|first= D. J.|year= 2004|title=Effects of Weather on Parrot Geophagy in Tambopata, Peru|issue=2 |volume= 116|journal=The Wilson Bulletin|pages= 134–145|jstor=4164648|doi=10.1676/03-087b|s2cid= 83509448|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/209843}}</ref> Donald Brightsmith, the principal investigator of [[The Macaw Society]], located at the Tambopata Research Center (TRC) in Peru, has studied the clay eating behaviour of parrots at clay licks in Peru. He and fellow investigators found that the soils macaws choose to consume at the clay licks do not have higher levels of [[cation-exchange capacity]] (ability to absorb toxins) than that of unused areas of the clay licks<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brightsmith |first1= Donald J.|last2= Muñoz-Najar|first2= Romina Aramburu|title= Avian Geophagy and Soil Characteristics in Southeastern Peru|journal= Biotropica |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages= 534–543|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2004.tb00348.x|year= 2004|bibcode= 2004Biotr..36..534B}}</ref> and thus the parrots could not be using the clay to neutralize ingested food toxins. Rather, the macaws and other bird and animal species prefer clays with higher levels of sodium.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00514.x| volume=41|issue=3|pages=279–282| title=Parrots Take it with a Grain of Salt: Available Sodium Content May Drive ''Collpa''(Clay Lick) Selection in Southeastern Peru| journal=Biotropica| year=2009| last1=Powell| first1=Luke L.| last2=Powell| first2=Thomas U.| last3=Powell| first3=George V. N.| last4=Brightsmith| first4=Donald J.| s2cid=86506489| doi-access=free| bibcode=2009Biotr..41..279P}}</ref> Sodium is a vital element that is scarce in environments greater than 100 kilometres from the ocean.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1073/pnas.0804528105|title=On the biogeography of salt limitation: A study of ant communities |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=46 |pages=17848–17851 |year=2008 |last1=Kaspari |first1=M. |last2=Yanoviak |first2=S. P. |last3=Dudley |first3=R. |bibcode=2008PNAS..10517848K |pmid=19004798 |pmc=2584704|doi-access=free }}</ref> The distribution of clay licks across South America further supports this hypothesis – as the largest and most species-rich clay licks are found on the western side of the Amazon Basin far from oceanic influences.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0587.2009.05878.x|pages= 503–513|title= Parrot claylick distribution in South America: Do patterns of 'where' help answer the question 'why'?|journal= Ecography|year= 2009|last1= Lee|first1= Alan T. K.|last2= Kumar|first2= Sunil|last3= Brightsmith|first3= Donald J.|last4= Marsden|first4= Stuart J.|volume=33|issue= 3}}</ref> Salt-enriched ([[NaCl]]) oceanic aerosols are the main source of environmental sodium near coasts and this decreases drastically farther inland.<ref name=Lee>{{cite thesis|last=Lee|first= A. T. K.|year= 2010|url=http://macawproject.org/index.php/reports-theses-and-conference-papers/viewdownload/10-reports-theses-and-conference-papers/62-parrot-claylicks-distribution-patterns-of-use-and-ecological-correlates-from-a-parrot-assemblage-in-southeastern-peru |title=Parrot Claylicks: Distribution, Patterns of Use and Ecological Correlates from a Parrot Assemblage in Southeastern Peru|type= Ph.D. |publisher=Manchester Metropolitan University}}</ref>

Clay-eating behaviour by macaws is not seen outside the western Amazon region, even though macaws in these areas consume some toxic foods such as the seeds of ''Hura crepitans'', or [[sandbox tree]], which have toxic sap. Species of parrot that consume more seeds, which potentially have more toxins, do not use clay licks more than species that eat a greater proportion of flowers or fruit in their diets.<ref name=Lee />

Studies at TRC have shown a correlation between clay-lick use and the breeding season.<ref>Brightsmith, D. J. 2006. [http://site.perunature.com/Research2/Brightsmith_Parrot_annual_patterns_in_Tambopata_2006.pdf "The psittacine year: what drives annual cycles in Tambopata's parrots?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906220132/http://site.perunature.com/Research2/Brightsmith_Parrot_annual_patterns_in_Tambopata_2006.pdf |date=2015-09-06 }} Proceedings of the Loro Parque International Parrot Symposium, Tenerife, Spain.</ref> Contents of nestling [[Crop (anatomy)|crop]] samples show a high percentage of clay fed to them by their parents. Calcium for egg development – another hypothesis – does not appear to be a reason for [[geophagy]] during this period as peak usage is after the hatching of eggs.

Another theory is that the birds, as well as other herbivorous animals, use the clay licks as a source of [[cobalamin]], otherwise known as vitamin B<sub>12</sub>.

== Relationship with humans ==
Macaws and their feathers have attracted the attention of people throughout history, most notably in [[Pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] civilizations such as the [[Inca Empire|Inca]], [[Wari’|Wari']], and [[Nazca culture|Nazca]]. Macaw feathers were highly desired for their bright colors and acquired through hunting and trade.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nga.gov.au/exhibition/incas/default.cfm?IRN=231353&BioArtistIRN=91414&MnuID=3&GalID=4&ViewID=2|title=Gold and the Incas - LEARN MORE{{!}} {{!}} Plume|website=nga.gov.au|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> Feathers were often used as adornment and were found at both ceremonial and burial sites. South American weavers have used their feathers to create a number of textiles, most notably feathered panels and [[tabard]]s. Due to the fragile nature of the feathers, many of these pieces have begun to deteriorate over time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2018/golden-kingdoms-featherworks|title=When Feathers Were the Treasures of the Rainforest|website=www.metmuseum.org|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="220" heights="200">
File:Macaw.blueyellow.arp.750pix.jpg|[[Blue-and-yellow macaw]]s (''Ara ararauna'')
File:Military Macaw jbp.jpg|[[Military macaw]] (''Ara militaris'')
File:Scarlet Macaw.jpg|[[Wing clipping|Wing clipped]] [[scarlet macaw]]s (''Ara macao'')
File:Golden-collared Macaw 041.jpg|[[Golden-collared macaw]] (''Primolius auricollis'')
File:HyacinthMacaw.jpg|[[Hyacinth macaw]]
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20181010152826/http://www.macaw-facts.com/ Macaw Facts] Indepth Macaw Research
* [http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/macaws/ Macaws] Macaw care
* [http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-macaw.html San Diego Zoo Animal Bytes: Macaw]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120701134019/http://macawproject.org/ Tambopata Macaw Project]
* [http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/HybridMacaws.php Information about macaw hybrids in captivity]

{{Macaws}}
{{Portal bar|Birds}}

[[Category:Macaws| ]]
[[Category:Bird common names]]