Indigo Macaw or Lear's Macaw - Anodorhynchus leari

Indigo Macaw or Lear's Macaw

Anodorhynchus leari

Order : Psittaciformes

Family : Psittacidae ;

Biometrics :

Size : 75 cm
Wingspan :
Weight : 950 gr

Longevity : 60 years

IUCN conservation status :

Extinct

Threatened

Least
concern

Extinc
in the Wild

Near
threatened

Not
evaluated

EX EW CR EN VU NT LC NE

Geographic range :

Synonyms : Lears ara (sv), Guacamayo de Lear (es), Ara di Lear (it), Learara (al), Lear-ara (nl), Indigo Macaw or Lear's Macaw (en)

Family description :
Psittacidae is a large family, including several races of parrots of different sizes and colours, but with almost similar behaviour throughout their wide range. We find two main kinds of birds, the Cockatoos and the Parrots. The Cockatoos are large to medium-sized, with strong bill and conspicuo... to be continued

Physical description :
Lear's Macaw name comes from the poet Edward Lear who spent long time writing on Macaws and painting them.
This species is Critically Endangered, living in highly restricted range in Brazil. It was discovered in 1978 in Brazil by Pr. Helmut Sick, but some people say 'rediscovered'.

Lear's Macaw adult is smaller than Hyacinth Macaw and slightly duller in plumage. Lear's Macaw has violet-indigo upperparts.
Underparts are slightly paler blue, with blackish under wings and undertail feathers. Breast and neck are mostly greenish-blue.
The head is pale greenish-blue. Strong, hooked bill is blackish, with yellow oval lappet on each side of the lower mandible. Eyes are dark brown, surrounded by bare yellow eye-ring. Legs and feet are dark grey.
Both sexes are similar.
Juvenile is similar to adults, but it has paler yellow bare skin on the head and shorter tail. It reaches its sexual maturity at 2 to 4 years of age.

Voice : Lear's Macaw gives croaking and loud 'gree-ah' and 'ara-ara...trrahra' calls. These calls are weaker than those of Hyacinth Macaw.

Habitat : Lear's Macaw lives in 'caatinga' or thorn, arid forests, with thorny bushes and thickets of Licuri palms (Syagrus cororata) which provide them their main food source. This species also depends on sandstone cliffs for nesting and roosting.
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: Lear's Macaw inhabits restricted area in north-eastern Bahia in Brazil, where two colonies are living.

Behaviour : Lear's Macaw is gregarious and noisy. These birds nest in small colonies on cliff-faces in canyons and gorges. They roost at communal roosts at night, also in cliffs, on shelves or clinging to the rocks.
Lear's Macaw feeds mainly on nuts of Licuri palm. These nuts are very hard, but it uses its powerful beak to crack open the shells.
They can be seen foraging on crops in small groups of 3 or 4 birds. While they are feeding, some 'sentinels' watch for potential danger. They take turns, and feed and watch alternatively.
Lear's Macaw returns to the roost at the end of the day, after sunset, in noisy flocks. They alight first in nearby trees before to move on to roost.
They live in small colonies of 10 to 30 birds, spending the day feeding and calling among them.
Lear's Macaw nests in burrows and crevices, excavated in sandstone cliffs' faces of 30 to 60 metres high. These burrows can join others as labyrinths, and are often used as roost sites.
If alarmed, Lear's macaw calls loudly and performs circles, flying with their long graduated tail streaming. They become aggressive during breeding season, and defend the nest-site.

Flight : Lear's Macaw performs steady flight with powerful wing-beats. It can reach speeds of up to 55 km per hour for escaping a danger.

Reproduction-nesting : Breeding season occurs from December to May, and coincides with the beginning of the rainfalls.
Lear's Macaw nests in cliff faces in burrows, fissures or crevices. It excavates itself the cavity, applying its saliva to the sandstone, making it softer, and it excavates with its beak, and then, it rejects the dust with its feet. These cavities vary in size, due to the erosion. Each macaw can have more than one cavity; the others could be used by non-breeding birds.
Female lays 1 or 2 eggs, sometimes 3, in December. But usually, parents raise only two young. Incubation lasts about one month.
Young are fed with fruits of Licuri palms, and fledge about four months after hatching. They leave the nest in April-May, and they accompany the adults to feeding areas within a few days. Young remain with their parents for about one year.
This species usually produces one brood per year, but nesting depends on rainfalls for food resources.

Food habits : Lear's Macaw feeds mainly on palm nuts of Licari Palms (Syagrus coronata). These hard nuts are broken with the strong bill. These macaws feed in small groups of 3 or 4 birds, alighting together on the tree, then, climbing or descending with help of their bill and feet, in order to reach the fruits. The macaw cuts the twig where there are several fruits, and flies away from the palm tree for eating them quietly. It 'works' the nut with its feet and rolls it, in order to remove the skin. Then, it cuts the shell for extracting the seed.
Lear's Macaw also feeds on fruits, berries, flowers and seeds, and it may forage on the ground searching for fallen nuts.
Lear's Macaws can damage corn plantations when they are feeding on grain in groups.

Protection / threats : Lear's Macaw is Critically Endangered. They are threatened by collect of eggs and young at nest for illegal trade, adults are eaten by the indigenous people, and by habitat loss. In addition, some birds are killed by farmers as crop pests.
The Loro Parque Fundación is a member of the Brazilian Government's Lear's Macaw Conservation Committee and supports conservation actions by ProAves Fundación , Fundação Biodiversitas and CEMAVE. The population is increasing, reaching over 700 by December 2007.

Other links :
Iucn
Birdlife

Specification sheet created by Nicole Bouglouan

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