The blue-winged macaw (''Primolius maracana''), in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...

more commonly known as Illiger's macaw, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small

macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...

(sometimes called a mini-macaw) found in central and eastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The second name is in honor of the German ornithologist

Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist. He founded the entomological periodical ''Magazin für Insektenkunde.'' The plant genus '' Illigera'' is named in his honour. Biography Illi ...

. It was previously placed in the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

'' Ara'' or ''Propyrrhura''. Blue-winged macaws have been known to reach an age of 50–60 years.

Description

It has a total length of approximately 36–43 cm (14–17 in). It has a moderately sized black bill, a long tail and a mainly green

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

. The upperside of 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 ta ...

and primary coverts are blue, as indicated by its

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

. The underside of the wings is yellowish, the tail-tip, crown and cheeks are bluish, and the tail-base and small belly-patch are red. The iris is

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

. It and the red-bellied macaw are the only macaws where the bare facial-skin is yellowish, but this often fades to white in captivity. Unlike the red-bellied macaw, the blue-winged has a red lower abdomen and a red lower back. In the wild, its flight pattern is said to be a distinctive 'jerky, rearing motion.'

Habitat and food

The blue-winged macaw occurs in eastern and southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

(with a remnant population north-east), eastern

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and, at least formerly, in far north-eastern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and east of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. It occurs in

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests, with a preference for gallery forest. They mainly feed on seeds of '' Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus'', '' Jatropha'', '' Guazuma ulmifolia'', and the non-native ''

Melia azedarach ''Melia azedarach'', commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family (biology), family, Meliace ...

''. However, the birds also feed on fruits and nuts.

Breeding

The blue-winged macaw attain sexual maturity between 2 and 4 years after they are born. Adult females usually produce two eggs which take approximately 29 days to hatch. Young blue-winged macaws learn to fly about 11 weeks after they have hatched. They stay with their parents for about a year after learning to fly. Relatively little information exists on its reproduction in the wild, but the breeding season in north-eastern Brazil is apparently from December to February. However, in 1990, a female blue-winged macaw was discovered with a male

Spix's macaw Spix's macaw (''Cyanopsitta spixii''), also known as the little blue macaw, is a macaw species that was Endemism, endemic to Brazil. It is a member of tribe Arini (tribe), Arini in the subfamily Arinae (Neotropical parrots), part of the family ...

in a site.

Threats

These birds are affected mostly by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

. They were also captured for the cagebird trade - from 1977 to 1979, 183 birds arrived at the United States from

. It has declined in the southern part of its range, and there are no recent records from

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the Provinces of Argentina, 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil ...

in Argentina where many were killed by farmers who considered them pests.Bodrati, A., K. Cockle, J. I. Areta, G. Capuzzi, and R. Farina. 2006. El maracana lomo rojo (Primolius maracana) en Argentina: de plaga a la extincion en 50 anos? El Hornero 21: 37-43 Therefore, it was previously considered vulnerable. Information from Brazil suggests it remains widespread and has even re-colonised areas in its historical range in southern

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. This has led to it being downlisted to

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

Aviculture

The blue-winged macaw is sometimes kept by humans as an aviary bird or

companion parrot A companion parrot is a parrot kept as a pet that interacts abundantly with its human counterpart. Generally, most species of parrot can make excellent companions, but must be carefully managed around children and other common pet species like do ...

. An intensely social bird and a strong flier, this macaw does best when housed with other birds (whether other blue-winged macaws or member of a different parrot species) and given plenty of space in which to fly. It is also an avid chewer and may damage its keeper's property unless provided with wooden destructible objects to occupy its time. Captive breeding of this species is encouraged, due to conservation concerns. If kept as a pet, the blue-winged macaw can bond strongly with humans and some individuals may even begin to mirror their owner's emotional state.

References

ANIMAL BYTES - Illiger's Macaw
* http://www.arthurgrosset.com/sabirds/blue-wingedmacaw.html

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profile
Blue-winged macaw videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
Photo of a captive Blue-headed macaw

VIREO * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20071026040330/http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_Pant-Amaz-Oct2006/bwmacaw.jpg Photo-High Res ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070714165540/http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_Pant-Amaz-Oct2006/TR_Pant-Amaz-Oct2006.html Articletropicalbirding {{Taxonbar, from=Q1164807 blue-winged macaw Birds of Brazil blue-winged macaw Macaws Taxa named by Louis Pierre Vieillot