The Hyacinth macaw is the largest flying parrot species with a length of 90 to 100 centimetres and a weight of about one and a half kilos. They have a deep cobalt blue colour, with yellow rings around their eyes and lower bill. They mainly eat seeds and various fruits.
Hyacinth macaws are highly social animals that choose their partners for life. They mate in spring and lay their eggs (2 to 3) in a hollow tree. After a period of about a month, the eggs hatch. The young birds are then fed and cared for by their parents for about 3 and half months. After this, they fly out and start taking care of themselves.
The hyacinth macaw occurs in the wild in the rainforests of the eastern Amazon in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In the Pantanal swamp region, the Hyacint macaw lives off the seeds of the Coyol palm and Acuri palm, among others.
The numbers of wild populations have been declining rapidly since the 1990s due to illegal catches and habitat degradation. Trade has been formally banned. Between 2000 and 2013, this parrot was listed as "threatened" on the IUCN International Red List. After 2013, this status was "mitigated" to vulnerable because further research showed that the decline was not as rapid as initially thought.
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