Golden-collared macaw
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The golden-collared macaw or yellow-collared macaw (''Primolius auricollis'') is a small mostly green Central South American parrot, a member of a large group of
Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...
parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...
s known as
macaws Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation concerns about several species in the wild. Biology Of the many differe ...
. It has a bright yellow patch on the back of its neck/upper shoulders that gives the species its name. In aviculture, it is one of a number of smaller macaws often called "
mini-macaw Mini-macaws are a loosely defined group of small-to-medium-sized macaw species within the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. The term has no fixed taxonomic meaning and is principally used in aviculture to describe a small macaw belonging ...
s".


Taxonomy

The yellow-collared macaw was described by American ornithologist
John Cassin John Cassin (September 6, 1813 – January 10, 1869) was an American ornithologist from Pennsylvania. He worked as curator and Vice President at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and focused on the systemic classification of the Acad ...
in 1853. In fact, some literature refers to it as Cassin's macaw or the Yellow-naped macaw. Its specific epithet ''auricollis'' meaning gold-collared, from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''aurum'' 'gold', and ''collum'' 'neck'. In recent years it has often been placed in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Propyrrhura'', but this is incorrect as per ICZN rules. Earlier, it had also been placed in the genus ''Ara''.


Description

It has a total length of about , of which almost half is tail feathers. The general plumage is green, with a distinct yellow collar that is broadest on the back of the neck. The yellow collar develops as the bird ages, with more vibrant colors found in mature birds. The front and crown is brownish black. The
remiges Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...
and primary coverts are blue and the long, pointed tail has a red base, a narrow green center and a blue tip. The underside of the tail and flight feathers are greenish-yellow, similar to that of several other small macaws such as the blue-winged and
red-bellied macaw The red-bellied macaw (''Orthopsittaca manilatus''), also known as ''Guacamaya Manilata'', is a medium-sized, mostly green South American parrot, a member of a group of large Neotropical parrots known as macaws. It is the largest of what are com ...
. The legs are a dull pinkish color, and the
iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...
is reddish to dull yellow. It has extensive bare white facial skin and the heavy bill is black, often tipped pale grey.


Distribution and habitat

The main population occurs in the
Pantanal The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and ...
of
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(south-western Mato Grosso, western Mato Grosso do Sul and southern Rondônia), northern
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
(eastern
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
and northern
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic ce ...
), far northern
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
(
Alto Paraguay Alto Paraguay (; ''Upper Paraguay'') is the least populous as well as a sparsely populated department of Paraguay. The capital is the town of Fuerte Olimpo. In 1992, the Chaco Department was merged with Alto Paraguay. Nature and national park ...
and Concepción) and most of northern and eastern Bolivia (
Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...
, Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and
Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) off ...
). A second disjunct population occurs in far north-eastern Mato Grosso, south-eastern
Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana ...
and western
Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 20 ...
in Brazil. It occurs in forest (but avoids the Amazon Rainforest), woodland,
savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
and grassland with scattered trees. It mainly occurs in
lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
s, but locally up to an altitude of .


Conservation status

It is generally fairly common and therefore considered to be of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
by BirdLife International. The species is listed in
CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
Appendix II, which means that commercial trade is allowed with an export permit (plus an import permit if required by laws of the importer's country).


Behavior

Typically seen in pairs or, during non-breeding season, small flocks.


Domestic pet behavior

As a domestic pet, a yellow collared is extremely social and demands attention. It requires about three to four hours per day of interaction. When properly cared for they can live up to fifty years.


Temperament

Affectionate, and somewhat mischievous, the yellow-collared macaw has a reputation for being an intelligent and resourceful little parrot. They thrive on attention from their owners, and like other macaws, will seek that attention by any means necessary. They also require a large cage with many toys because they get bored easily. They can have a fairly extensive vocabulary. They can be very affectionate but unpredictable with children. This bird has been known to get aggressive without attention.


Feeding

Feeds on fruits, flower buds and seeds.


Breeding

The yellow-collared macaw
nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...
in a hole in a tree. The eggs are white and there are usually two or three in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 26 days, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 70 days after hatching.


See also

* List of macaws


References

* Juniper, T. & Parr, M. (1998). ''A Guide to the Parrots of the World''. Pica Press, East Sussex.
To reassign the genus of three macaws
South American Classification Committee.


External links

*

(for
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Bolivia) with RangeMap
yellow-collared macaw photo gallery
VIREO
Yellow-collared macaw
at Cornell's NeotropicalBirds {{Taxonbar, from=Q775737 golden-collared macaw Birds of Bolivia Birds of Brazil Birds of the Cerrado Birds of the Pantanal golden-collared macaw golden-collared macaw