Hyacinth Macaw is the largest parrot in the world. His body reaches a meter in length, and his tail is sixty centimeters. Such a bird weighs from a kilogram of 200 grams to a kilo and a half. The macaw got its name due to the blue plumage of a cobalt hue. Its black beak is massive and very strong. A parrot easily gnaws a wire, therefore its cage should be made of strong iron rods. The eyes of this species of macaw are dark brown, almost black, with an ocular ring of golden color. Dark gray paws have four fingers, two of them look forward, and two - back. At the base of the mandible, a golden wide strip is clearly visible. The skin on the body is pale yellow.
This type of parrot is common in Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil. Birds prefer gallery forests, savannas, swamp forests with islets of palm trees. Outside the breeding season, they are kept in a clan of several dozen individuals. Green, hyacinth and red macaw fly to the places of feeding places and clay shallows together. These tropical beauties have a similar diet: fruits, berries, water snails, nuts. On the shallows, they swallow pebbles and clay rich in mineral salts in order to cleanse their stomach and intestines from toxins. Hyacinth giants make piercing sounds, croaking - "Raa-aarr." These parrots are good flyers: they usually travel tens of kilometers from the place of spending the night to places of feeding.
This is a fairly rare bird. In habitats, they are often killed for the beautiful plumage. They become the prey of predators - snakes, eagles, cats. Now hyacinth macaw also disappears because the area of forests where this species lives is decreasing. Offspring also very often do not survive: eggs fall prey to ants, toucans and ravens, snakes, and chicks compete with each other, and the older one drives the youngest out of the nest.
During hatching, the male feeds the female. Chicks are born blind and naked, with their parents remain about a year and a half. These inhabitants of hot tropical forests live on average about 70 years. Of these, ten years go to childhood and adolescence, the reproductive period lasts 30 years , and the rest of the time is a rather long, mature life without worries.
Hyacinth macaw in captivity is contained only in zoos. Due to its large size and loud voice, similar to a heart-rending cry, it is problematic to keep such a pet in a city apartment. He needs a very large and extremely durable cage, but it would be better to build a veranda for the bird. These parrots are extremely afraid of cold weather - at temperatures below + 10º they begin to hurt and die. A cage or aviary should contain a maximum of all kinds of bird games: rings, a mirror, a ladder, bells, and perches. Let your pet not know the lack of thick branches: besides the fact that macaws are played with them, they also sharpen claws and beak on wood.
Buying a parrot is a very responsible and difficult task. If you want to buy a chick of a hyacinth subspecies, then this must be done exclusively through nurseries: there are feeding birds, that is, absolutely tame and social animals. In addition, the chicks in the nursery are ringed with an indelible mark on which the name of the country, nursery and the date of birth of the individual are engraved. Young growth should have a shorter tail, lighter beak and beak. Both sexes have the same color of plumage, but females are slightly smaller than males.
Hyacinth macaw has an inquisitive, gullible and affectionate disposition. This is a highly intelligent bird with a good memory. It’s best to keep them in pairs. Unlike other brethren, hyacinth parrots need a diet where there is a minimum of protein and a maximum of fat. Fruits and vegetables should be only additives, and the main food is fatty nuts, sunflower seeds, sprouted grain. You should also give low-fat cottage cheese, oatmeal and even boiled chicken meat. These birds love to bathe in the rain or shower, adore when they are sprayed from a spray bottle. Ara must be kept in perfect cleanliness: wash the cage once a week, and carry out a complete disinfection twice a year.