Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)

The hyacinth macaw can get very old, and the chicks take a long time to fledge – almost 4 months! After they leave their nest they will spend many years in groups of other singles. At around 7 or 8 years they are mature and will find a mate for life, and this bond is like no one I’ve come across in other birds!

If you separate a couple, especially one that has bred, they will become very depressed, stop feeding, and eventually die of sorrow rather than form a new partnership. Add this to the fact that usually only one chick survives to adolescence. This means that the reproduction is very slow for this species.

Furthermore they, for the most, part only want one softwood as their nest – the manduvi tree (Sterculia apetala) – which has become increasingly rare, so without the aid from humans and their nesting boxes this wonderful bird would have had a tough time recovering from the human trade that almost made it extinct.

The owner of Pousada Xaraés is one of several that has been dedicated to their recovery for a long time, and this is from just outside his main buildings!

Here they rest after feasting on the palm nuts passed from the cattle that eat them for the outer meaty flesh.

This is so much more beautiful than one in a cage!!

It sounds like this:


Recently updated on 7 December 2020