Abstract
Description
Although the Illiger's Macaw, (Ara
maracana), is described accurately in
Rosemary Low's book, "Parrots -
Their Care and Breeding" and in
Joseph Forshaw's "Parrots of the
World", I will briefly say that it is the
most beautiful of the seven species of
dwarf macaws existing today. They
include the Red-fronted (A. rubrogenys),
the Noble (A. nobilis), the Yellow-
collared (A. auricollis), the Redbellied
(A. manilata), the Chestnutfronted
or Severe (A. severa) and the
Blue-headed (A. couloni).
It is mainly olive green with blue primary
feathers and its distinctive markings
are patches of red-orange on the
forehead, the lower back and the middle
abdomen between the legs. The
total length is 16.9 inches. Crown and
cheeks are bluish, the bill is black, the
iris red and the legs pinkish. Immatures
have less extensive and duller
coloration markings. Although it has
been fairly common up to now in its
original habitat (forests of eastern
Brazil and Paraguay), these birds suffer
loss of habitat as much as many
other species of neo-tropical parrots.
Deforestation is the main reason for its
recent decline.
The Illiger's Macaw was imported in
small numbers into the U.S.A. in the
late 1970s and again in the late 1980s.
It was listed on CITES I in 1989. It is
one of the rarest dwarf macaws in a viculture
and is not often found as a pet.
There is very little information about it
in avian magazines worldwide.
Breeding
Due to the rarity of the Illiger's
Macaw in captivity, aviculturists keeping
these exquisite parrots should be
concerned about inbreeding and
make every effort to avoid breeding
from related individuals.
At the Parrot Breeding Centre, this
species is kept in suspended cages,
seven feet long by three feet square
with nesting boxes hooked on the
outside of the cage. Two of the breeding
pairs have horizontal boxes and
four have vertical ones.
The birds are offered a great variety
of fruits and vegetables along with our
mixture of sprouted seeds. They are
very fond of A vi-plus which is given
prior to the breeding season and the
diet is highly supplemented with calcium
powder at the same time of the
year so the shells will not be brittle or
show stress lines after two or three
clutches.
Some pairs prove to be very prolific
though others are difficult to establish
in captivity. Out of the six pairs we
acquired originally, three bred immediately.
One of these pairs lays up to
four clutches a year but unfortunately
ignores the chicks once they are born.
They will not harm them but refuse to
feed them. They seem to think there is
something wrong when creepycrawlies
come out of their eggs!
Two other pairs are wonderful
breeders. They both lay three clutches
from three to four eggs each and will
raise whatever they are allowed to
keep and will readily accept chicks
from other nests. They also start
breeding as early as July. Naturally, it
is out of the question to leave the
newborn babies in the boxes when
the weather could prove fatal to them.
A fourth pair has started to breed this
season but gave us only one clutch.
The other two pairs should be
mature enough to start breeding next
season. These parrots enjoy the company
of a mate and will sit for long
periods of time together, occasionally
preening.
At the start of the breeding season,
pairs can be seen mating many times,
careless of what may go on around
them and the males will often feed
their hens. They are very concerned
about the well being of their family
and will spend more and more time
inside the box with the females,
mainly during incubation, feeding
them and the babies once hatched.
Incubation lasts for 26 days approximately.
Chicks are ringed when they
weigh about 160 gm (between 18 and
20 days of age) with 9.5 mm rings.
Hand Rearing
Hand rearing from the egg is quite
easy and straight forward, using Aviplus
N1 for the first eight days, then
gradually adding N2. Birth weights
vary between 9.5 and 12.3 gm, the
usual being around 10.5 grams.
Some pairs are very choosy about
their food which leads to a lack of the
B vitamins. It shows occasionally in
chicks. Soon after hatching, they will
show signs of a neurological disorder.
The legs are stiff and consequently
will not fold under the baby. It will
find itself lying on its back or side. I
have talked to different aviculturists
keeping this species and they have
had the same problem with some
baby Illiger's. It is not a very serious
condition if attended to early, as the
following example shows.
This chick was hatched in our nursery,
rather than in the nesting box. I
decided to assist it when, from candling
the egg, I noticed something
was wrong. It was quite agitated so I
opened the shell before the chick had
a chance to pip. This is when I realized
it was upside down. It finally
hatched and weighed just below 6 gm
at birth. Soon after this, the neurological
disorder appeared.
The baby was kept in a small container
with as little space as possible in
order to keep it on its belly and force it
to keep its weight on its legs so that
they could fold in the normal position.
It was checked very often and put
back on its feet when needed. Vitamin
B complex was administered, one
drop in the morning feed every day
for five days then three times the following
week. This was repeated once
after a month. No antibiotics were
given since this condition is not a disease
nor due to any infection.