{"id":11338,"date":"2024-09-09T08:24:43","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T08:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wwbirds.co.za\/dir\/?p=11338"},"modified":"2024-09-09T09:08:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T09:08:25","slug":"yellow-collared-macaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wwbirds.co.za\/dir\/yellow-collared-macaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-collared Macaw, Golden-collared Macaw, Breeding, Feeding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yellow-collared Macaw, or Golden-collared Macaw Primolius auriocollis<\/a><\/em>. In preparing this article I was struck by the fact that the scientific name given for this species in all my books is Ara auricollis, whereas the latest literature refers to the as Primolius auricollis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is that my personal collection of books on parrots is ten to twenty years old. There is a saying in English that is not easily translated, \u201cA Yellow-collared Macaw is a Yellow-collared Macaw no matter what you may call it.\u201d Just be aware that they have been put in a different family from the large macaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yellow-collared Macaw, also known as the Yellow-naped Macaw, is one of the \u201cMini Macaws\u201d. They have the typical bare facial patch of the larger Macaws, and al\u00adthough they are less than half the size of the large Macaws, their behaviour is very simi\u00adlar. One does not have to have the large avi\u00adaries that are needed for the large Macaws to house them, thus making it easier to ac\u00adcommodate them. This makes Mini Macaws very attractive to aviculturists with limited space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not going to try and describe their col\u00adour and appearance here. Rather I would recommend to the reader that you look at the accompanying photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yellow-collared Macaw: Distribution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When breeding birds I always find that it is useful to know in what kind of environ\u00adment they are found in nature. Not that we can reproduce that environment in our aviaries, but at least we know what to expect if our weather should be very cold, very wet or very hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good thing about these Macaws is that they are found in a variety of habitats, which means that they are adaptable. The area where they are found is in south-western Brazil, north-western Argentina, and eastern Bolivia. There is also a largely isolated distribution in central Brazil south of the Amazon River. The climate in these areas varies from humid forests to dry deciduous woodland and grassland with scattered trees. This species is locally common and unlike so many other macaws, and for that matter other species of parrots, they are increasing in numbers where they exist in the patches of forest surrounding new farmland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breeding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our pairs were bred in suspended aviaries that were 900mm x 900mm x 2.7m long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aviary of this size was able to accommodate the breeding pair and two or three young until they weaned. In our case this only happened once or twice, the rest of the time we pulled the babies for hand rearing. As we had several nests of babies, we used to wean them all together to avoid them becoming imprinted on their human feeder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This seemed to work well as we had no problem getting our babies to breed when they were old enough. If they are intended for pets they can be hand-fed by their owner and then they make the most delightful pets. They are friendly and playful but can be noisy at times as they have a loud voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, Rosemary Low in her book \u201cParrots Their Care and Breeding\u201d states that \u201cVery few breeding success have occurred with this species, making it the most rarely bred of all the Ara Macaws in captivity.\u201d As that information was written twenty to thirty years ago, we must realize that most breeders, at that time, would have been working with wild-caught birds, which we know can be difficult to breed. We found that captive-bred babies that were properly socialized before pairing them when they matured bred well for us. Different breeders will have different experiences but, on the whole, they are getting easier to breed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, I believe that free choice of partner leads to better breeding results when this can be done. For instance, twenty years ago when I bought my first three pairs of imported birds, I made up three pairs and after placing them in suitable aviaries waited for them to breed. Nothing happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the next breeding season, I put all six birds in one aviary and it was not long before we had three bonded pairs, but not as I had paired them. The three pairs were then placed in breeding aviaries and all three pairs bred that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in South Africa, our season is August to November, although some pairs have been known to breed at other times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nest boxes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our nest boxes were made of untreated pine. They were 450mm x 250mm x 250mm with an entrance hole of 80mm which they modified! Because they enjoyed chewing so much, we lined the inside of the nest boxes with welded mesh wire. This increased the life of the nests dramatically. However, there is always a danger that a bird might get a toe stuck between the wire and the box. Other breeders have reported this happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n