The hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), or hyacinthine macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about one meter it is longer than any other species of parrot. It is the largest macaw and the largest flying parrot species. While generally easily recognized, it could be confused with the smaller Lear's macaw. Habitat loss and the trapping of wild birds for the pet trade have taken a heavy toll on their population in the wild, so the species is classified as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, and it is protected by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Taxonomy It is one of two extant and one probably extinct species of the South American macaw genus Anodorhynchus. English physician, ornithologist, and artist John Latham first described the hyacinth macaw in 1790 under the binomial name Psittacus hyacinthinus. Tony Pittman in 2000 hypothesized that although the illustration in this work appears to be of an actual hyacinthine macaw, Latham's description of the length of the bird might mean he had measured a specimen of Lear's macaw instead. However, Latham's description was based on a taxidermic specimen, which was the only one Latham knew to exist up until 1822. It was prepared from a living animal originally belonging to Lord Orford, and given to the land agent Parkinson for display in the Leverian Museum after it died. Nonetheless, Latham mentions another bird, which he calls the 'blue macaw', supposedly the same size. This blue macaw was already described in Latham's 1781 volume of his A general synopsis of birds as merely a variety of the blue and yellow macaw, and was previously figured in the work of Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1760), Patrick Browne (1756) and Eleazar Albin (1738) as a macaw found in Jamaica. Albin, Browne and Brisson all reference even older authors and state the bird also occurs on the mainland, and Albin states this bird is the female version of the scarlet macaw. Latham mentions that the provenance of parrots in general was often confused by the fact that the birds were much traded across the world for the purposes of sale.
Description
The largest parrot by length in the world, the hyacinth macaw is 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long from the tip of its tail to the top of its head and weighs 1.2–1.7 kg (2 lb 10 oz – 3 lb 12 oz). Each wing is 38.8–42.5 cm (15+1⁄4–16+3⁄4 in) long. The tail is long and pointed. Its feathers are mostly blue, lighter above, the neck feathers can sometimes be slightly grey, large parts of the underwing and undertail are black. The ring around the parrot's eyes and the area just underneath the beak are a strong, vibrant yellow.
Ecology The Hyacinth macaw mostly nests in Manduvi trees, which rely on the toco toucan for 83% of the tree's distribution of seeds. The toco toucan also feeds on 53% of the hyacinth macaw's offspring as eggs. Eggs are also regularly preyed on by corvids such as jays and crows, opossums, skunks and coatis. The young are parasitized by larvae of flies of the genus Philornis.
Behaviour
Diet The majority of the hyacinth macaw diet is composed of nuts from specific palm species, such as the acuri and bocaiuva palms. In addition, they also eat fruits and other vegetable matter and will travel over a vast area to find the ripest foods. They have very strong beaks for eating the kernels of hard nuts and seeds. Their strong beaks are even able to crack coconuts, the large Brazil nut pods, and macadamia nuts. The birds also boast dry, smooth tongues with a bone inside them that makes them an effective tool for tapping into fruits. The acuri nut is so hard that the parrots cannot feed on it until it has passed through the digestive system of cattle. In the Pantanal, hyacinth macaws feed almost exclusively on the nuts of Acrocomia aculeata and Attalea phalerata palm trees. This behaviour was recorded by the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates in his 1863 book The Naturalist on the River Amazons, where he wrote that
It flies in pairs, and feeds on the hard nuts of several palms, but especially of the Mucuja (Acrocomia lasiospatha). These nuts, which are so hard as to be difficult to break with a heavy hammer, are crushed to a pulp by the powerful beak of this macaw. Charles Darwin remarked on Bates's account of the species, calling it a "splendid bird" with its "enormous beak" able to feed on these palm nuts. In captivity, the palm nuts native to the hyacinth macaw's natural habitat are often not readily available. In these circumstances the macadamia nut (which is native to Australia) is a suitable, nutritious and readily-accepted alternative. Coincidentally, the hyacinth macaw is one of the only birds with the necessary jaw strength to open the nut, which requires 300 psi of pressure to crack the shell.
Tool use Limited tool use has been observed in both wild and captive hyacinth macaws. Reported sightings of tool use in wild parrots go as far back as 1863. Examples of tool use that have been observed usually involve a chewed leaf or pieces of wood. Macaws often incorporate these items when feeding on harder nuts. Their use allows the nuts the macaws eat to remain in position (prevent slipping) while they gnaw into it. It is not known whether this is learned social behavior or an innate trait, but observation on captive macaws shows that hand-raised macaws exhibit this behavior, as well. Comparisons showed that older macaws were able to open seeds more efficiently.
Reproduction
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