The hyacinth macaw is the largest parrot inthe world. His body reaches a meter in length, and the tail - sixty centimeters. Such a bird weighs a kilogram of 200 grams to a kilo and a half. The name of the macaw was due to the blue plumage of cobalt color. Its black beak is massive and very strong. A parrot can easily break 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 orbital ring of golden color. Dark gray paws have four fingers, two of them are looking forward, and two - back. On the basis of the mandible, a golden wide stripe can be clearly seen. The skin on the body is pale yellow.
This species 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 macaws arrive together to the places of feeding and on clay shallows. These tropical beauties have a similar diet: fruits, berries, water snails, nuts. In the shallows, they swallow pebbles and clay rich in mineral salts in order to clear their toxins from the stomach and intestines. Sounds of hyacinth giants make shrill, croaking - “raa-aarr”. These parrots are good flyers: they usually travel tens of kilometers from the overnight place to the feeding places.
This is a rather rare bird.In habitats they are often killed for the sake of beautiful plumage. They become prey for predators - snakes, eagles, felines. Now the hyacinth macaw disappears also because the area of forests where this species lives is decreasing. The offspring also very often does not survive: the eggs become the victim of ants, toucans and ravens, snakes, and the chicks compete with each other, and the eldest displaces the youngest of the nest.
During the incubation of eggs, the male feeds the female.The chicks are born blind and naked, with their parents remain for about one and a half years. These inhabitants of hot tropical forests live on average about 70 years. Of these, ten years are spent on childhood and adolescence, 30 years the reproductive period lasts, and the rest of the time is a rather long mature life without worries.
The hyacinth macaw in captivity contains only thatzoos. Because of its large size and loud voice, similar to a heart-rending cry, it is problematic to keep such a pet in a city apartment. It requires 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 colds - at temperatures below + 10ºС they start to hurt and die. A cage or aviary should contain the maximum of all bird amusing: rings, mirrors, ladders, bells, poles. Do not let your pet know a lack of thick boughs: besides the fact that the macaws are playing with them, they still sharpen claws and beaks on wood.
Buying a parrot is a very responsible anddifficult task. If you want to purchase a chick of a hyacinth subspecies, then this should be done exclusively through nurseries: there are birds that are fed up, that is, absolutely tame and social animals. In addition, the chicks in the nursery are ringed with a non-removable label, on which the name of the country, nursery and the date of birth of the individual are engraved. Juveniles should have a shortened tail, a lighter beak and a mandible. Both sexes have the same plumage color, but females are slightly smaller than males.
Hyacinth Macaw has an inquisitive,trusting and gentle temper. This is a highly intelligent bird with a good memory. It is best to keep them in a pair. 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 fat nuts, sunflower seeds, sprouted grains. You also need to give low-fat cottage cheese, oatmeal and even boiled chicken meat. These birds love to swim in the rain or shower, adore, when they are sprayed from a spray bottle. The macaw needs to be kept in perfect purity: wash the cage once a week, and complete disinfection should be carried out twice a year.
