[order] PSITTACIFORMES | [family] Psittacidae | [latin] Primolius maracana | [authority] Vieillot, 1816 | [UK] Blue-winged Macaw | [FR] Ara d’Illiger | [DE] Maracana | [ES] Guacamayo Maracana | [NL] Roodrugara | [copyright picture] Birdlife
Subspecies
| Genus | Species | subspecies | Region | Range |
| Primolius | maracana | SA | e, se |
Genus
Primolius is a genus of macaws comprising three species, which are native to South America. They are mainly green parrots with complex colouring including blues, reds and yellows. They have long tails, a large curved beak, and bare facial skin typical of macaws in general. They are less than 50 cm long, much smaller than the macaws of the Ara genus.
Physical charateristics
The Blue-winged Macaw is green overall with a red forehead, a brownish red patch on its belly, and blue on the primaries, primary coverts, and tail. The yellow irises and red forehead patch of the Blue-winged Macaw distinguish them from the similar Red-Bellied Macaw
Listen to the sound of Blue-winged Macaw
[audio:http://www.planetofbirds.com/MASTER/PSITTACIFORMES/Psittacidae/sounds/Blue-winged Macaw.mp3]
Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto
| wingspan min.: | 0 | cm | wingspan max.: | 0 | cm |
| size min.: | 36 | cm | size max.: | 43 | cm |
| incubation min.: | 28 | days | incubation max.: | 30 | days |
| fledging min.: | 75 | days | fledging max.: | 80 | days |
| broods: | 1 | eggs min.: | 1 | ||
| eggs max.: | 3 |
Range
South America : East, Southeast. Propyrrhura maracana formerly occupied a huge range in Brazil (Pernambuco, Piaui, Maranhao, Para, Tocantins, Goias, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Esprito Santo, Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay (Concepcion, Canindeyu, Amambay, Alto Parana and Caazapa) and Argentina (Misiones and north Corrientes).
Habitat
These large parrots inhabit a number of different habitat types including the borders of tropical lowland evergreen forest, palm groves and gallery forest.
Reproduction
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
Feeding habits
It apparently feeds on seeds from Cnidoscolus phyllacanthus and Jatropha spp., Guazuma ulmifolia and the introduced Melia azederach.
Video Blue-winged Macaw
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSAaW0diKoI
copyright: Josep del Hoyo
Conservation
This species is classified as Near Threatened because the population is moderately small and undergoing moderately rapid declines owing to extensive loss of habitat and trapping for the cagebird trade.
Its decline is only partly explicable by deforestion, since it has disappeared from localities where apparently suitable habitat remains. It suffers from capture for the cage-bird trade, with 183 individuals arriving in the USA from Paraguay between 1977 and 1979. At least in Argentina its decline could have been largely caused by persecution as a crop pest.
Its decline is only partly explicable by deforestion, since it has disappeared from localities where apparently suitable habitat remains. It suffers from capture for the cage-bird trade, with 183 individuals arriving in the USA from Paraguay between 1977 and 1979. At least in Argentina its decline could have been largely caused by persecution as a crop pest.
Migration
Sedentary
Distribution map
