Water Bottles

I was pondering a question on a bird forum..."what kind of water bottle should I get for my bird?" Water bottles are used to help with the problem many birds have of soiling their water with, well yeah, poop... oh and food and a bath to wake-up in the morning. That's great, hmm... I guess, that our birds fully enjoy their water to the point that it looks sorta grayish brown by the end of the day. The problem with the bottles is that people see it as a , whew, lot less work to have to clean the water bowl and refill it everyday or twice a day ect... Bottles get slime build-up inside that has to be bottle brushed out, oh and don't forget the little tube, you'll need a special little brush to clean in there. Really, if your doing it right, bottles can be more work not less work. Oh yeah, and don't forget about the daily bath :)

What do you know about Macaws?

Today I thought I would make a little quiz that could make us all a little wiser while having some fun. I am going to post some questions that I already know the answeres to and then I'll research a little to find some harder questions that you and I can both learn from. Ready?

• How many large macaws are there that we currently know of in the wild? not extinct. Hint: We will include the red fronted as a large macaw since it has been controversial.
• Which large macaw is the most prolific (breeds most easily) in captivity?
• Does the Scarlet Macaw have feather tracts on its white facial skin?
• What is closest to the average lifespan of a large macaw in captivity?
• A. 100 years
• b. 15 years
• c. 50 years
• Which type of eagle is a notorious macaw killer in South America?
• Macaws feet have 3 toes, two in front and one in back. True or false?

Ok, ready for some harder ones?

• Of the large macaws which species is both threatened by (baby/egg predation) and depends on the Toco toucan?
• Which large macaw or macaws are not of the genus Ara?
• Which species of macaw has the heaviest average weight?
• When copulating (breeding) the male mounts the female:
• A. off to the side
• B. neither
• C. on top
• Which large macaw eats almonds in its native habitat?
• Of all the large macaws which is the most endangered (lowest numbers in the wild)
• Two of the large macaws are known to nest in hillsides or cliffs. Which two species are they?

Email me for the list of answeres ara.amor@verizon.net

Scientific or latin names for classification

Wow!, is all I can say as I began studying the significance of scientific names and the history envolved. Every bird in the world is classified by a Scientific name that is recognized internationally. Since common names can vary for the same bird it seems the only logical way to identify certain species of birds or Macaws in literature or conversation world wide.

Macaw facts-species

The family of large macaws are divided into two seperate genera. The most common macaws are listed under the genera Ara.... the Blue and Gold: Ara ararauna, the Greenwinged: Ara chloroptera, the Millitary: Ara militaris, the Scarlet: Ara macao, the Blue throated: Ara caninde (has recently been changed to Ara glaucogularis), the red fronted: Ara rubrogenys, and the Buffons: Ara ambiguus. Interestingly the Hyacinth is of another genus: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, also the Lears Macaw Anodorhynchus leari. Interesting to note, these two macaws do not have the bare facial patch with feather tracts that the Ara genus have. The bare face is a significant physical characteristic of "macaws." Just interesting I guess ... I'm not challenging their placement in the species family of macaws.

Macaw-scientific name-origin

The genus "Ara" is dirivative of the Tupi Indians language that populated "Brazil" as it is known today. Apparently the word ara is indicative of their loud call araaaa!! Tribes of these indians still exist today living in the Amazon rain forest.
The root of the genus "Anadorhynchus"at this time still evades me but the indians actually called them arara preta, which translates to black macaw. They appear black in low light which is probably how they appear under the forest canopy.