Breeding DwarfYellow,collared Macaws

by Kate Sturgen KobelakNorth Ridgeville, Ohio

cosis. Eventually the male parent birdwas shown to have been the carrierand all the birds, including the babies,were treated for same and they arenow happy and healthy and back tobeing pests.

Weights from oldest (#1)to youngest (#4)

Age Bird Bird Bird Bird(Days) #1 #2 #3 #4

6 42

9 7512 90 9515 124 137 13018 145 170 15521 184 170 19224 210 190

27 230 240

31 265 25934 249 270 285

37 270 265 298 28041 274 265 300 27545 280 262 29048 270 25051 255

Continued on page 16-'"osa;.0.;zCQ>

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vegetables containing at a minimumone part of cooked rice or pasta, onepart cooked wheat berries, one partof at least two vegetables (carrots,broccoli, peas, cooked spaghetti orother squash, corn), and one partfruit (apples, bananas, cherries, figs,raisins, dates, cranberries, peaches,peppers, melons, etc.). As nightlytreats, the birds are fed seeds and nuts(walnuts, pecans, etc.).

My pair then hatched three babies,the oldest of which survived to 16days. ecropsy did not show whatcaused the deaths, but muscle tonewas not up to par. The babies had tobe pulled because the parents did notfeed them, and they were hand-fedon a mixture of AV and Roudybush.Eventually, the parents laid four moreeggs (one of which was damaged dur­ing incubation) and hatched anotherthree babies, two of which werepulled at ages four weeks and threeweeks, respectively, as the middlebaby died. Necropsy proved Psitta-

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Author Kate Sturgen Kobelak with Midget on her shoulder. Pita, the Lilac-crownedAmazon, sits in the background.

Michaeleen Rogers of Fremont,Ohio and I are two very lucky breed­ers since we both frequent the sameterrific avian veterinarian - Dr. JamieLindstrom, Animal Clinic Northview,North Ridgeville, Ohio. Because wehad both found out to our chagrinthat we each had same sex pairs, Dr.Lindstrom suggested we considertrading. In due course we met,traded one of my females for one ofMichaeleen's males, and we eachended up with a true pair.

one of these four birds are domes­tic bred. These small macaws camefrom the central portion of SouthAmerica, where their habitat rangesfrom dry savannas and river valleys tovirgin forest areas. The range inwhich they are predominantly foundis almost egg-shaped with the mainportion in Brazil and the balance inBolivia, Paraguay and the northern­most tip of Argentina. While theirdietary preference seems to be fruitand nuts, they forage constantly andenjoy a varied cuisine. They flocktogether, sometimes in very largegroups, but breeding pairs will sepa­rate from the flock during breedingseason, which usually starts aroundNovember and continues into Jan­uary. This is the rainy season, whenfood is more plentiful for hungryhatchlings.

Michaeleen's two birds were thefirst to successfully hatch threebabies. either parent knew what thestrange creatures were that came outof their carefully incubated eggs, sothe babies were all hand-fed, primar­ily on AV ,and have since moved onto new homes. Her birds are housedin a cage 36" long x 24" high x 22"wide, with a nesting box 18" high x12" wide side to side, and 11" longfront to back. The cage is suspendedwith an open wire floor for easy sani­tation, and the area is lit with Vita­Light twist lamps. The birds are fedAVN plus a dish of mixed fruit and

afa WATCHBIRD 15

Munchkin and Midget keep their eyes onauthor from a lofty door top.

The birds have since successfullyhatched five babies (one was injuredduring the hatching and did not sur­vive) and the other four are doingbeautifully and have since gone on tonew homes after being given cleanbills of health by Dr. Lindstrom.Preceeding is a table of weight statis­tics (hatch dates are June 27, 30 andJuly 3 in the afternoon, and July 6 inthe early morning hours).

The babies rapidly gained weighr,as the above shows, averaging approx­imately seven to eight grams per day.The parents did the primary feeding,although the babies were hand-fedwhen pulled for weighing, pictures,etc. The parents were not too happywith having their babies disturbed,but tolerated the situation. The beakseven by day six were already turningthe distinctive charcoal with a whitestripe of the adults. By day nine, thebabies' feet were beginning to turndark gray, and by day 15 the feet werealmost solidly gray. Pin feathersbecame prominent by day 12 and byday 15 the eyes were slightly open.The babies were close banded whenthey were 14 to 15 days old. By thefourth week, the babies were show­ing color from the pin feathers, andevincing more interest in the outsideworld.

The females do the incubating,while the males stand guard and feedthe females for the first several weeksafter the eggs hatch. My pair are hap­pily nesting in a standard parrotnesting box (14" x 14" x 15"), with abase of pine shavings, and a fewpieces of pine 2x4s for chewingWhich, in turn, is housed in a 2 V2' x5' x 6' flight pen.

16 June !July 1991

My earlier babies (Smidgen andSkiffers) were hand-fed on Lake'sParrot Buffet and did well with it.They proved easy to wean, but lovetheir snacks (fresh frUit, vegetables,whatever people food they can steal,etc.). They are also given a smallamount of a homemade seed mixture(sunflower, pumpkin, safflower, oats,barley, wheat, millet, buckwheat,hemp, corn, peanuts, dried peppersand egg biscuit), and unshelled pea­nuts, walnuts and almonds. Theyhave a constant supply of Lake'sParrot Buffet and AV in their cageand there is absolutely no problemwith them enjoying their pellets.They are especially fond of meat, andwill go to great lengths to steal bonesso they can crack them open and eatthe marrow. The unshelled almonds,in addition to the protein -and calciumthey provide, also help to keep thebeak in prime condition and limitstheir attempts at destructive chewing.

Midget (left) and Munchkin enjoy thefreedom ofperching on the outside topside of their large cage door.

The first two babies, when pulled,were old enough to be fed only fivetimes daily and were sleeping most ofthe night. By the time the youngestwas ten weeks old, the babies werepretty much weaned, but still de­manding to be fed thrice daily. Theyoccasionally still ask for handouts ifanother baby is being hand-fed.

They are extremely curious andgregarious and both have about 30different identifiable sounds.Although the parent birds both speakE.nglish phrases, the babies have notpicked up on this as yet.

My parent birds do not seem tohave any seasonal preference for lay­ing eggs, no matter what the bookssay about time and size of clutch.They have laid eggs in October, Jan­uary, April and July, and the clutchhas ranged from three to five eggs.Michaeleen's birds had their firstclutch of three in the spring. All birds

Midget fiercely guards her nest whennestlings are inside. Yellow-collaredMacaws can adapt quite well to humansurroundings as seen in these photos.

are getting calcium supplements,together with their normal vitamin/mineral supplement, plus fresh fruitsand vegetables, a fortified seed mix­ture, and unshelled nuts and almondson a daily basis. As of this writing, mypair have hatched another five eggs,and all five babies are doing well,although the last two had to be pulledfor hand-feeding as five proved to betwo too many for the birds to success­fully handle. The older siblings wereshoving aside the younger and gettingthe majority of the food, although theyounger birds were not being totallyignored.

Michaeleen and I intend to build upa solid base stock of these noisy,pesty, adorable "minis", as theirnative habitat is disappearing at arapid pace and soon the birds mayonly survive by virtue of captivebreeding. There are many pros andcons to captive breeding but, in ourbook, the pros of having the birds forfuture generations and perhaps forrestocking their native habitat far out­weigh the cons of losing the birdscompletely via extinction at thehands of man .•