Species Spotlight: Great Green Macaw
Species spotlight:
CAAW CAAAW! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it… oh actually you were right the first time. Great Green Macaws are known to be noisy, and in some cases almost as loud as a rock concert. But what are they saying? Find out here.
Names & Nicknames: Great Green Macaw, green macaw, Buffon’s macaw, great military Macaw, grand military macaw, grand green macaw, Guayaquil green macaw
Size: It's big bird season. The Great Green Macaw measures 90cm in length and weighs a whopping 1.3kg (that’s heavy for a bird, trust us). This green giant is the third heaviest parrot species in the world. Of course, topping the scales is the one and only Kākāpō, which sort of cheats as it doesn't need to fly.
Smell: Ever find you smell like the food you're eating? Same here. A macaw's smell tends to come from what it eats, and luckily for anyone nearby, that's a pleasant nutty floral smell on account of the nuts, seeds, and fruit they snack on. Eau de great green anyone?
Communication: This bunch aren't the quietest animals in the jungle, unsurprisingly. They're known for their signature raucous calls whilst flying above the canopy. They use these noises, alongside other creaks, screeches, and screams, to communicate with each other as they often hang around in pairs or small flocks.
Favourite Hangout: Great Green Macaws like it moist and perhaps unsurprisingly, green. No, they don’t live in a hot yoga studio, but in humid lowland forests in southern Central America and northern South America (yes, that can be confusing… basically the bottom of Central America and the top of South America). They especially like forests with lots of large trees for snacking and nesting.
Favourite Snack: Great Green Macaws are herbivores (veggie-lovers) that feed on a range of plant-based goodness like seeds, nuts, fruits, flowers, bulbs, and bark. Their absolute favourite snack is the nut of the mountain almond tree.
Eating Habits: Wait, how would you get into a nut without hands, or even arms?! These feathered masterminds know what they're doing. They clamp a juicy mountain almond with the talons on their feet, then crack the outer shell with their powerful beaks. Dinner is served.
Toilet Humour: Just like with their smell (see above), a Great Green Macaw's poop colour can change depending on what it eats. There's usually a splash of white, which is actually the equivalent of their wee, which they shoot out in solid form, but also a splash of brown, green or even red, depending on what they have been snacking on!
Love Language: Great Green Macaws court each other by singing, preening, dancing, caressing bills and regurgitating food. They'll form a very strong bond with boo and will often stay with each other for life – genuine lovebirds.
If you see them: You're more likely to hear them than see them, as they squawk their way above the jungle canopy. At least, that's if you spotted them in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, this critically endangered species is often poached from the wild and sold. So if you do see one outside of its humid forest home, know that the trade of this species is illegal. You may want to discreetly alert local wildlife authorities.
Red Flags: Being poached to be sold into the illegal pet trade. They may also be hunted for their feathers to make ornaments or shot, as some locals see them as a pest. Another major red flag is habitat loss. While Great Green Macaws need tall trees to nest and snack in, these neighbourhoods are often, unfortunately, a key target for loggers. And it is not just big trees that are cut down; huge sections of forest are slashed for agriculture, too.
Red Flags: Being poached to be sold into the illegal pet trade. They may also be hunted for their feathers to make ornaments or shot, as some locals see them as a pest. Another major red flag is habitat loss. While Great Green Macaws need tall trees to nest and snack in, these neighbourhoods are often, unfortunately, a key target for loggers. And it is not just big trees that are cut down; huge sections of forest are slashed for agriculture, too.
Epic Journeys: Great Green Macaws come from far and wide during the breeding season when their favourite trees, the mountain almond trees or Dipteryx oleifera, if you want to get fancy, start fruiting. This is the time to get their freak on and make some baby Macaws. After the trees stop fruiting in June, they'll leave in large flocks, spreading all over to higher-altitude forests to find more tasty food. Annoyingly for them, they're having to fly greater distances as more forests are cut down!
Glow-up: Great Green Macaw mothers lay 2-3 eggs in nest holes of tall trees high off the ground to protect them from predators. Both parents are very much involved in raising the chicks. They'll incubate the eggs for about 27 days, before they spend the next three months feeding the chick until it's ready to fly out into the world and join its parents in the sky.
Facts: The Great Green Macaw can be found in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2! (Try to find it and watch it fly through the skies.) If games are your thing, check out what other EDGE animals are in our games!
Who are they in the friendship group: The serial monogamist (and always squawking about it)
Name:
Great Green Macaw
Habitat:
Humid low-land forests and foothills in Southern Central and Northern South America
Diet:
Herbivores that feed on seeds, fruits, nuts, flowers, bulbs, roots, and bark
Size:
85-90cm long and around 1.3kg in weight
Behaviour:
Diurnal and social
Predators:
Monkeys, large birds of prey, snakes, and iguanas - but mostly predating on eggs and young chicks
Lifespan:
Typically 50-60, but up to 70 years
Threats:
Habitat loss, poaching for their feathers and the illegal pet trade, and being hunted as pests
Conservation status:
Critically Endangered
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