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Red Bellied Macaws
(ara manilata)
| The Red Bellied Macaw has been imported into the UK in great numbers over the past few years. The price of these beautiful birds has therefore come down drastically, and they seem to have been 'left behind' in the popularity stakes. Quite unjustifiably. |
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Originating from Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Trinidad.
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Imports Many of the original imported birds have since died, but the importers do not seem to learn. Money being their top priority, welfare of the birds not even considered and still more arrive, only to suffer the same fate. Some dealers even try to sell them off as 'semi tame pets with cage'. Wild caught Red Bellied will NEVER tame down and should NEVER become pets. |
They are of a very nervous temperament and most wild caught birds remain nervous all their captive lives, although there are exceptions. |
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These birds are very prone to becoming obese, helping this along is generally a lack of space to fly and an incorrect diet (these birds should have 15 foot minimum flights) |
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Price Unfortunately because they are cheaper to purchase than the other macaws, the two above points are probably the two main reasons why many have died. There is not enough attention to detail concerning their welfare. |
Hanging Parrots As
aviary birds they like to hang on the wire a lot, usually preferring not
to sit on a perch. However hand reared Red Bellied in the home are as
other macaws and use the perches. Do not let this fact put you off these
birds, their personality more than makes up for any extra mess. |
Shelter An aviary with an inside shelter is ideal, although they will acclimatise to our winter, they need some protection from the elements. Our birds roost in the nest box all year, no matter what the weather. |
An aviary with an inside shelter is ideal, although they will acclimatise to our winter, they need some protection from the elements. Our birds roost in the nest box all year, no matter what the weather. Red Bellied also have a fairly high pitched call, whilst not of the same calibre of a large macaw, can still cause problems if you live in a built up area. |
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Palm Nuts
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Diet They need plenty of fruit and vegetables and very limited seed. Ours eat palm nuts also, which are more natural to them. Many
people still continue to feed their birds in general a sunflower based
seed mix. Heaven knows why. These birds do not eat sunflower seed in the
wild, it is not a natural addition to their diet. |
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Hand Reared Pets? If you can find any captive bred hand reared babies, they do make the most very affectionate pets and learn to talk very quickly. There has not been however, too many people breeding from these birds in the UK. This I put down to my comment above about premature death in these birds due to incorrect diet and lack of space to fly, thus creating the vicious circle of why these macaws are less popular. |
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Breeding They usually produce two or three eggs, normally with one or two chicks hatching out to survive. Generally speaking the parents will parent rear, but do not like being disturbed, as we unfortunately found out at the cost of a young Red Bellied chicks life. |
Do not underestimate their intelligence or beauty, purely because they are cheaper than most other macaws. The colours of red and blue suffused with the green, together with the parchment type face; makes them very a very attractive bird, if somewhat unusual. |
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palm nuts photo Cameroon Development Corporation
