Red-bellied Macaw
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| Red-bellied Macaw | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Orthopsittaca manilata (Boddaert, 1783) |
The Red-bellied Macaw, Orthopsittaca manilata, is a large, colourful parrot, monotypic, the only member of the genus Orthopsittaca.
It is a resident bird in tropical South America, from Colombia and Trinidad south to Peru and central Brazil. Its habitat is forest and swamps with Mauritius Palms (Mauritia flexuosa). Their life revolves solely around this species of palm tree. Although locally common, in places it has been adversely affected by clearing of the palms for use as posts, or to allow cattle ranching, and by capture for the pet trade.
Like most parrots, the Red-bellied Macaw lays two to three white eggs in a tree cavity, their primary choice is the Mauritius Palm.
The Red-bellied Macaw is about 46 cm long and weighs 370 g. It is mainly green and has the pointed, graduated tail typical of macaws. It has a burgundy red patch on its belly, blue forehead and upper wings, and a grey tint to the breast. The underwings and undertail are dull yellow. The face has bare mustard yellow skin covering most its face. Sexes are alike; the main difference between ages is that adults have a black bill, juveniles under one year old have a white lateral stripe on their top beak and grows out within one year. There is only one other species of macaw that shares this characteristic with O.manilata and this is the Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsittaca spixii)
Red-bellied Macaws make reedy, high-pitched screams. They eat the fruit and seeds of palm trees, especially the Mauritius Palm. They roost communally in these Palms, and large numbers can be seen at the roost sites at dawn and dusk, (see crepuscular).
In the Amazon Basin, the North Region, Brazil, the Red-bellied Macaw is throughout except in the northwest quadrant centered on the Rio Negro flowing from Colombia-Venezuela; it ranges through the Guianas including the Guiana Highlands and Suriname into eastern Venezuela, and the lower Orinoco River Basin.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Orthopsittaca manilata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
- Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
[edit] External links
- Captive Reproduction of the Peculiar Red-bellied Macaw
- Illustration of a Red-bellied Macaw
- Red-bellied Macaw videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Red-bellied Macaw photo gallery VIREO-(includes picture of "Lick") Photo-High Res
- Photos and Article www1.nhl.nl—"Suriname Birds"--(with 1-Close-up of Breast; 2-"RangeMap" of S. America)
