Macaws, Parrots, and Parakeets Honor

Nature Study

Requirements

  1. To which order and which family of birds do macaws, parrots, and parakeets belong? What are the main characteristics that distinguish this order from other birds?

    Answer: ORDER: Psittaciformes. Main FAMILY: Psittacidae (macaws, parrots, and parakeets of the New World); also Cacatuidae (cockatoos) and Psittaculidae (Old World psittacines). Characteristics that distinguish this order from other birds: 1) A curved, strong, hooked beak, with a movable upper mandible, used to crack seeds and as support for climbing; 2) Zygodactyl feet (4 toes, 2 facing forward and 2 backward), which give great ability to grasp and manipulate food with the foot; 3) A thick, fleshy, muscular tongue, which helps to handle seeds and to articulate sounds; 4) A high capacity for learning and for imitating the human voice and other sounds; 5) Generally very colorful and showy plumage; 6) They are monogamous, sociable, and long-lived birds. — The parrot Alex (1976-2007), studied by Dr. Irene Pepperberg of Brandeis University, was able to identify 50 objects, 7 colors, and 5 geometric shapes and mastered concepts of quantity — proving that psittacines have cognition comparable to that of 5-year-old children.

  2. Dar o nome de 15 espécies de araras, papagaios e periquitos comuns em seu país e ser capaz de identificá-los ao ar livre, em cativeiro ou em fotos.

    Answer: Lista para o Brasil — 5 araras, 5 papagaios e 5 periquitos (15 espécies): (1) Arara-azul-grande (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus); (2) Arara-canindé / arara-azul-e-amarela (Ara ararauna); (3) Arara-vermelha-grande (Ara chloropterus); (4) Ararajuba (Guaruba guarouba); (5) Maracanã-pequena (Diopsittaca nobilis); (6) Papagaio-verdadeiro (Amazona aestiva); (7) Curica / papagaio-do-mangue (Amazona amazonica); (8) Papagaio-charão (Amazona pretrei); (9) Papagaio-de-peito-roxo (Amazona vinacea); (10) Papagaio-moleiro (Amazona farinosa); (11) Periquitão-maracanã (Psittacara leucophthalmus); (12) Periquito-rei (Eupsittula aurea); (13) Tuim (Forpus xanthopterygius); (14) Caturrita / periquito-monge (Myiopsitta monachus); (15) Periquito-de-encontro-amarelo / periquito-rico (Brotogeris chiriri). — Para distinguir os três grupos: as araras são as maiores, de cauda longa e pontuda e pele nua ao redor dos olhos; os papagaios (gênero Amazona) são robustos, de cauda curta e quadrada, predominantemente verdes com manchas coloridas na cabeça; e os periquitos são os menores, de corpo esguio e cauda fina e afilada. Treine reconhecendo silhueta, tamanho, formato da cauda e padrão de cores — em fotos, em aves de cativeiro legalizado e ao ar livre.

  3. Where do macaws, parrots, and parakeets build their nests?

    Answer: Most psittacines NEST IN TREE HOLLOWS (especially dead palms, peroba, jatobá, manduvi). Some species use rocky cliffs (such as Lear's macaw in Bahia, in sandstone hills). — The hyacinth macaw depends almost exclusively on the manduvi tree (Sterculia apetala) in the Pantanal for nesting — this specificity makes the species vulnerable when the tree is deforested, because it does not use other species as a substitute.

  4. What characteristics of these birds draw attention and make them good pets? Which birds in this group are the most raised in your country?

    Answer: 1) CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE THEM ATTRACTIVE AND GOOD PETS: (a) high intelligence — they learn words, commands and tricks; (b) the ability to IMITATE human speech and sounds; (c) vibrant colors and showy plumage (blue, green, red, yellow); (d) sociability — they form a strong emotional bond with their owner; (e) longevity — they live from 20 to 80 years depending on the species. 2) BIRDS OF THIS GROUP MOST RAISED IN BRAZIL (with legal origin and leg band): cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus), budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), lovebird (Agapornis sp.) and the turquoise-fronted amazon (Amazona aestiva) — the cockatiel and the budgerigar being the most popular because they are docile, inexpensive and easy to raise. — The cockatiel surpasses the canary in popularity in modern Brazil — a 2023 study by the Instituto Pet Brasil shows ~1.2 million cockatiels in Brazilian homes, with the advantages of a simple diet, easy reproduction in captivity and an affectionate personality.

  5. What are the greatest threats faced by macaws, parrots, and parakeets? Name four species that are threatened with extinction.

    Answer: 1) GREATEST THREATS: (a) illegal trafficking of wild animals — capture for the pet market (most birds die before reaching their destination); (b) DEFORESTATION and habitat loss (Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Pantanal); (c) illegal hunting; (d) forest fires. 2) FOUR SPECIES THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION: (1) Hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus); (2) Spix's macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), extinct in the wild and being reintroduced; (3) Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari); (4) Golden parakeet (Guaruba guarouba). — The reintroduction of Spix's macaw in 2020 in Bahia is considered one of the greatest successes of worldwide conservation — a species extinct in the wild since 2000 returned to Brazil thanks to the Pairi Daiza/ICMBio coalition with birds raised in international captivity.

  6. Choose one species among those threatened with extinction and state:
    • Common name and scientific name;
    • Habitat and geographic distribution;
    • Diet;
    • Main threats;
    • Conservation strategies.

    Answer: 1) Common name: hyacinth macaw (arara-azul-grande). Scientific name: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus. 2) Habitat and geographic distribution: it lives in the Mato Grosso Pantanal, in the Cerrado, and in the eastern/southern Amazon, preferring gallery forests, palm groves, and open areas with palms. It is distributed across Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. 3) Diet: it feeds almost exclusively on the small nuts (coconuts) of palms, especially the acuri and the bocaiúva, whose hard shells it cracks with its powerful beak; it complements its diet with fruits and seeds. 4) Main threats: the trafficking of wild animals (capture of chicks for sale as pets), the destruction and burning of the habitat (deforestation of the Pantanal and the Cerrado), the reduction of the palms it depends on, and the loss of large trees used as nests. 5) Conservation strategies: protection and monitoring of nests (including the installation of artificial nests), combating trafficking and hunting, the creation and maintenance of conservation units, environmental education programs with communities and farms, and specific research and management projects, such as the Hyacinth Macaw Project. — The Blue Macaw Project, founded by biologist Dr. Neiva Guedes in 1990 in the Pantanal, is a worldwide reference in conservation — it recovered the species' population from ~1,500 to more than 6,500 individuals, transforming it from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' on the IUCN list.

  7. Choose one species not threatened with extinction and state:
    • Common name and scientific name;
    • Habitat and geographic distribution;
    • Diet.

    Answer: 1) Common name: budgerigar (also called the Australian parakeet). Scientific name: Melopsittacus undulatus. 2) Habitat and geographic distribution: it is native to the dry and semi-arid regions of the interior of Australia, occupying savannas, fields, open woodlands, and areas near water sources; it lives in nomadic flocks that move in search of food and water. Worldwide it is also widely raised in captivity as a pet. 3) Diet: it is granivorous, feeding mainly on the seeds of wild grasses; in captivity it eats seed mixes (millet, canary seed), as well as green leaves, vegetables, and fruits as a supplement. — The budgerigar was scientifically described in 1805 and brought alive to England in 1840 by John Gould — within a few decades it became the most popular pet bird in the world, with about 50 million kept in captivity globally today.

  8. Where is it possible to acquire a macaw, parrot, or parakeet of legal origin? Why is it not recommended to buy animals that do not have a legal origin?

    Answer: LEGAL ORIGIN: buy only from commercial breeders authorized by IBAMA, with the bird bearing a closed, numbered RING (the bird's 'ID') and accompanied by an invoice and documentation proving legal origin. WHY NOT TO BUY ILLEGAL: 1) It is an environmental crime (Law 9,605/98), subject to a fine and imprisonment for whoever buys or keeps a wild animal without legal origin; 2) It fuels the trafficking of wild animals, which decimates populations in the wild (most captured birds die before reaching the buyer); 3) The illegal bird has no health guarantee, possibly transmitting diseases (zoonoses) and arriving stressed, malnourished, or sick; 4) You will have no documentation, being subject to seizure of the animal; 5) It encourages the capture of chicks from nests in the wild, compromising reproduction and driving species to extinction. — The trafficking of wild animals moves around US$ 23 billion/year globally according to the UNODC — in Brazil, IBAMA estimates that 38 million wild animals are illegally captured per year, mainly birds, with 90% dying in transport.