Macaw Encounter

ABOUT THE MACAWs

Habitat: Macaws are native to the jungles of Central and South America. Characteristics: they have large, powerful beaks that can easily crack nuts and seeds, and even a coconut shell. They have a dry scaly tongue with a bone inside them to tap fruits, and toes with special grips that enables them to hook onto branches, and handle fruits to eat. These birds can fly 15 miles daily just looking for food.

Macaws pair for life, share food and enjoy mutual cleaning. However, there have been some cases, where the macaw changes its mate. They share jobs with their partner while the mother takes care of the eggs, the father hunts and brings back food to the nest. The macaws can weigh between 2 – 4 pounds. They are diurnal and sleep during the night. Macaws have black or gray eyes when they are young and later change to brownish and then yellow when they get old. They can live up to 80 years in captivity, but on average, most macaws live 50 years, or 40 years in the wild. They eat fruits, nuts, insects, snails, small mammals, reptiles, eggs and some poisonous plants.