How Do Macaws Work?

Macaws are beautiful birds that can talk (yes, including bad words) and can make excellent pets for the right person. Learn about them in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/macaw.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogbam Here. Macaw's are giants among birds,
reaching up to four feet that's over a meter from
beak to tail. These spectacularly colorful members of the parrot family,
made up of seventeen distinct species, are originally from the

(00:23):
rainforest regions of Central and South America. They're intelligent, curious,
and talkative companions that have been domesticated for centuries before.
The article this episode is based on, has to Works.
Spoke with Gregory rich DVM, an avian and exotic pet
veterinarian who has a twenty four year old blue and
gold macaw. He said macaws can make wonderful pets in

(00:46):
the right household. Like many other pet birds, macaws are
playful and seem to enjoy being trained to perform tricks
like waving hello or using a skateboard. In the wild,
macaw couples will live in flocks of ten to thirty birds,
all of them calling, squawking, and omitting the macaw scream
throughout the forest. The variety of sounds are used to

(01:09):
communicate within the flock or mark territorial claims. Individual birds
even create unique songs so their mates will be able
to identify them. Some macaw screams can be deafening when indoors,
so the macaw isn't well suited for people who like
peace and quiet at home. Although macaus don't have a
larynx like humans used to create speech, they do have

(01:32):
a syrinx. The syrinx is located at the bottom of
its trachea, and when air is passed over the syrinx
and through the throaten mouth, where that air can be
manipulated by the tongue, a macaw can mimic human words
and even whole sentences. And yes, there have been domesticated
macaws that learned to swear and that then taught those

(01:53):
swear words to other macaws. In September, a group of
macaus was removed from the Lincoln she Year Wildlife Park
in England for cussing at patrons. In addition to being
for bos, macaws are undeniably romantic, typically selecting a mate
for the rest of their life. This lifelong mate chosen

(02:13):
by a macaw is a breeding partner, but macaus will
also share their food and, much like a couple splitting
a meal at a restaurant. Macaus also enjoy mutual grooming
and often ritualize the task by creating specific and personalized
routines to follow. And when it comes time to lay eggs,
female macaws incubate the eggs while the males hunt for

(02:35):
food over a large area. At home, macau's require room
to roam, which translates into large cages with space to
spread their wings. Rich said. Some knowledgeable owners dedicate a
bird room with tile flooring with plenty of perch stands
or rope perches that can be suspended from the ceiling
for their macaus. The macau's diet in the wild is

(02:58):
varied and fresh. They focus on seeds, nuts, berries, fruits,
insects and stales, and sometimes clay soil to aid in digestion.
In the wild, macaws will travel long distances up to
fifteen miles or twenty four kilometers throughout Central and South
America's rainforests. To forage at home, these intelligent birds require

(03:19):
not only a varied diet, but the stimulation that comes
with seeking out food sources. Some macaw enthusiasts train their
birds to forage for food. They begin by adding several
small foraging bowls to the macaw's cage, so the bird
must move around to different areas to find food or treats.

(03:39):
Once this is mastered, a small piece of paper can
be placed over each bowl, which the macaw can push
away to uncover the food. This can progress to taping
the paper on the top of the bowls. The idea
is to make each stage of the foraging process a
little more demanding, both physically and mentally, and some people
who live with macaus is pets eventually turn them loose

(04:01):
from their cages to forage around their homes for food
puzzles under supervision. But let's talk beaks. A maccau's beak
is so strong that it can easily crush the hard,
thick shells of brazil nuts, a task that I personally
struggle with despite having opposable thumbs and the use of tools.

(04:21):
Macaw uses its large curved beak in conjunction with its long,
agile toes and tongue to position the food for optimal crushing.
It's thick, fleshy tongue contains a highoid bone structure that
changes the shape of the tongue, which makes them one
of the few types of birds to have intrinsic muscles,
like humans, the control tongue movement. The good news is

(04:44):
that maccause rarely use this powerful weapon on people, but
if they did, they could easily crush a person's bony knuckle.
For this reason, it's often ill advised to put the
bird on one's shoulder, as the close proximity from beak
to face could result in injury. The same goes for
allowing a macaw to roam the house unsupervised. A Rich said,

(05:06):
when left out of the cage to roam in the house,
they can be very destructive. Well, like all birds, macaws
like to chew so Grandma's rocking chair you so dearly love,
maybe missing a leg. When you get home, the wires
to the modem maybe chewed through, or your desk papers
may be shredded. When macau's hatch from their eggs, they

(05:27):
have black eyes. As they reach about five months of age,
their eyes will begin to lighten in color and this
process will continue for up to two years. Ultimately, an
adult macaw has a vivid yellow eye color with charcoal pupils.
This color usually sticks throughout the macause fifty to seventy
year lifespan, although there are accounts of variations. Because macause

(05:51):
are more active during daylight hours, they have a flat
and shallow eye construction to allow for maximum light input.
The eyes are positioned on the side side of the head,
which allows macaus to see with each eye independently and
have a three hundred and sixty degree view of the
world around them. And while most birds cannot move their
eyes within their eye sockets, macaws can, which only adds

(06:14):
to their ability to see their environment without turning their heads.
Like most people who share their home with a companion macaw,
dr Rich has seen his macaw use facial and body language,
as well as vocalizations to communicate emotional moods. He explained
she delights visitors with a loud hello and will blush

(06:34):
when she is held by someone she has a fondness
for macause. With the exception of hyacinthe, macause can blush
their cheeks a pink red hue, just like humans. This
involuntary reaction is caused by increased blood flow to the
veins and capillaries near the surface of their cheeks and
can be seen because of the absence of feathers on
the bird's cheek areas. Macaws also pluff various areas of

(06:58):
their feathers to communicate social contexts. Today's episode is based
on the article Yes macaws can talk and say bad
words on how stuff Works dot Com, written by Laurie L. D.
The brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in
partnership with how stuff Works dot Com and is produced

(07:19):
by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit
the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.