Buffon's Macaws aka Great Green Macaws or Grand Military Macaws
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The Great Green Macaw, also known as Buffon's Macaw (Ara ambiguus) is endemic to Central America, specifically Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Western Colombia, Ecuador. Nicaragua and Easternmost Honduras.
Two isolated subspecies are recognized, the nominate form is found in Central America to Northern Colombia, while the A. a. guayaquilensis is found in Ecuador and possibly south-western Colombia.
It has been described as endangered, and has been one of the key elements in the proposal for the formation of a new National Park in Costa Rica, Maquenque National Park. Already significant parts of the birds existing habitat is covered by Nature reserves and other conservation projects.
The scientific name has recently been changed from A. ambigua to A. ambiguus to bring the name in gender agreement.
Description:
Great Green Macaws are green, with a reddish forehead and pale blue lower back, rump and upper tail cover feathers. Tail is brownish red tipped with very pale blue. They average 85 cm in length (from head to tail tip) and weight around 1300 g.
Training and Behavioral Guidance:
Macaw ownership generally presents multiple challenges, such as excessive chewing - especially at certain stages in their life. They do discover their beaks as method of "disciplining us" once they are out of the "baby stage" and they can generally be somewhat naughty, and it really is important to learn to understand them and to guide their behavior before an undesirable behavior has been established. Undisciplined macaws will chew on electric wiring potentially causing house fires.
They regard anything in your home as a "toy" that can be explored and chewed on; destroying items that you may hold dear or are simply valuable. Even a young bird that has not been neglected and abused requires proper guidance; this becomes even more challenging when it involves a rescued bird that may require rehabilitation. Not everybody can tolerate the natural loud call of a macaw and even though it can't (or should not) be entirely eliminated, there are ways to discourage screaming / screeching in your pet macaw.
Overall, it is important to guide parrot behavior, but even more so if your feathered family member is a magnificent and powerful macaw.
- AvianWeb Resources: I put together web resources for you to help you understand your pet bird and properly direct him. Please visit this website for valuable tips on parrot behavior and training. If you found a way to resolve a "parrot behavioral issue" please share it with others.
- If you are, as I am, a visual learner and prefer step-by-step instructions to train your pet, I recommend:
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
- Stop Biting
- Perform Tricks &
- Tame ANY SIZE bird you could possibly own
- and/or try the "Teach Your Parrot to Talk" Training Course.
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
If you are considering one of these magnificent parrots as pets, please visit the following websites for information:
- Macaw General Information
- Procuring your Parrot
- Recommended Breeders
- Do you breed this species and would like to be listed? Click here to see your options.
- The 3 Key Elements to Keep Your Pet Bird Happy & Healthy
- Housing Your Bird
- Bird Nutrition
- Parrot Products
Taxonomy:
Genus: Scientific: Ara ... English: Macaws ... Dutch: Echte Aras ... German: Eigentliche Aras ... French: Aras
Species: Scientific: Ara ambigua ambigua ... English: Great Green Macaw, Buffon's Macaw ... Dutch: Buffons Ara, Grote Soldatenara ... German: Großer Soldatenara ... French: Grande ara militaire
CITES I - Protected Species
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots ... Buffon's Macaws ... Exotic Tropicals
Sup-species:
Ecuadorian Buffon's Macaw aka Great Green Macaw, Guayaquil Macaw - Hybrid Macaws:
Genus: Scientific: Ara ... English: Macaws ... Dutch: Echte Aras ... German: Eigentliche Aras ... French: Aras
Species: Scientific: Ara ambigua guayaquilensis ... English: Ecuadorian Buffon's Macaw ... Dutch: Ecuador Grote Soldatenara ... German: Ekuadorianischer Großer Soldatenara ... French: Ara ambigua
CITES I - Protected Species 
Distribution: Western Ecuador, South-Western Colombia
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 2 - click on link to view photo.)
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with the AvianWeb visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the AvianWeb Webmaster.
Photo contributions and articles are welcome!
