The behavior of the Great Green Macaw during the breeding season
Mario Jiménez – Field Leader Wild Population Monitoring
The following information is based on experience in the field, the data is not based on scientific method and may vary.
How to know when the couple is incubating?
• The male will arrive in silence and will let the female know in a subtle way (a small sound) that he is outside the nest.
• The female will poke her head out of the nest and leave silently
• She will perch with the male in a nearby tree and then both will go to a tree further away; there, the male will feed the female. Sometimes the male feeds the female in the cavity.
• The above process lasts no more than 25 minutes.
• Then the two will return, but only the female enters the cavity. If the cavity is large enough then the male may enter.
• This process may be repeated 4 times per day during incubation.
To summarize, what defines the incubation period are the length of time that the male is absent while the female incubates.
How to know when the chicks have hatched?
• During the first week of hatching, the behavior of the parents is like during incubation. This is because the chicks cannot yet maintain their own body heat.
• In some cases, the male will feed the female inside the nest (only when the cavities are very large)
• The female remains dependent on the male for food during this period.
• The female won’t leave the nest for more than 1 hour at a time.
• In general, the behavior is very similar to that of the parents during incubation. The only notable difference is amount of time that the female spends outside the nest (which is a little longer).
How to know if the chicks are approximately one month old?
There is one thing that has been obvious so far: as the chicks grow, the time that the parents spend in the nest decreases.
• When the chicks are older than three weeks, the parents will go out to find food together.
• At this point in the season, the nest inspection work becomes easier. This is because the time that the parents are out of the nest will become longer (up to 2 hours) and thus allows for more climbing and nest inspections to happen.
• It is estimated that when the chick is between 2 and 4 weeks old, the parents feed them every two hours, but this can vary depending on the weather.
How to know if the chicks have more than one month, but less than three months?
• Currently parents visit the nest three to four times per day (in the morning, 11:00 am, 2:00 pm, in the afternoon)
• In some cavities that are not large enough, parents sleep outside the nest, sometimes only the father sleeps outside.
• In some cases, both parents feed the chick.
• In this period the chicks can be heard from the ground.
• Due to the noise generated by the chicks, in this period the mortality from predation increases.
How to know if the chicks are three months old and ready to go?
• The chick is ready to go and can be very loud.
• So far, all predations by Tayra have occurred at this stage.
• Parents visit the nest a maximum of three times per day, due to the need for more resources to feed the chicks that may be weighing 1400g.
• It is possible to see the chicks sitting at the entrance of the cavity.
• No nest inspections are performed because the chick can be forced out of the cavity early.