Hi Steemit family!
Today I bring you another exotic bird, the tropical forests of the American continent have the largest variety of birds, surpassing Australia which also has similar birds even family of the American, today is the turn of the Flame Macaw Come with me to know some of its main characteristics.
In some countries is known as Macaw Macao, its scientific name is Ara Macao and belongs to the family of psitacids, other common names are red macaw, or red or tricolor macaw, is divided into nine species for this unique genus that can reach more than 90 centimeters in length including its tail and weigh up to 1 kilogram at most.
This bird has a powerful beak that has evolved by eating seeds of extreme hardness, also has powerful zygodactyl legs by the location of one finger forward and another backward which allows it to hold securely on different branches of trees, also has a fairly scaly tongue in order to separate the bark from the inside of the seeds.
The Macaw is usually distinguished from the rest of the birds by its thick plumage and very colorful, has blue feathers, yellow wings and tail, and the most abundant color is red, has large eyes on the sides of his head where his skin is whitish and pink where some tiny red feathers border it. It can stay upright thanks to its powerful thighs that are short.
They can be found in a vast region of tropical rainforests in Mexico, Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, even in some areas of Bolivia. They live regularly in very forested areas where they can find abundant water never exceeding 1000 meters above sea level.
Their diet is based especially on seeds of different fruits and trees, although they can also feed on nectar and some small insects, larvae and some flowers. They consume the rest of the food due to the concentration of harmful substances in some seeds for which they detoxify in a natural way.
It feeds daily so it is a very active bird, moving constantly from tree to tree, from sunrise to sunset.
In civilizations such as the Mayas and Aztecs had high esteem for the Flame Macaw, relating it to ceremonial acts because they believed they were part of the lineage of the gods of fire and sun, thus were immortalized in many works of ceramics and murals, also used their beautiful plumage to adorn their clothes.
As other birds live in family groups of up to 4 members, their reproductive cycle is carried out between the months of November to May, the female lays a maximum of 4 eggs that incubate in a maximum period of 25 days, of the four eggs only 2 chicks survive that are born with their eyes closed and with scarce feathers. They can weigh 25g with a length of 1.8 centimeters.
As toucans, these birds do not build their nests either, occupying hollow cavities in some trees or occupying nests abandoned by other species of birds. They are monogamous, at 4 years of age they choose their partner for life. Their life expectancy is 50 to 100 years.
Currently, they are vulnerable by hunting for sale as exotic birds, in some forests they have disappeared, most American countries have protective laws for the flag macaw and some areas are declared as nature reserves for this beautiful bird.
Thank you for reading
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