The macaws at BioParque zoo in Rio de Janeiro flit and flutter inside a 10,700-foot aviary (bird enclosure). The macaws sail along beside green parrots and golden parakeets. Look up! It’s a technicolor swirl!
Workers at BioParque have a big project ahead. They’re bringing blue-and-yellow macaws back to the wild. Here’s the plan: Zoo macaws will raise about 20 chicks. These babies will receive training. In “macaw school” they’ll learn to . . .
- find food in the forest.
- watch for predators.
- stay away from dangerous power lines.
Once the chicks “graduate,” they’ll be released into Tijuca Forest National Park. This massive forest is probably where our pal Juliet goes to sleep at night. If the project works, she may finally have the chance to fly with friends.
What Is a Parrot?
Macaws are a type of parrot. How can you tell? All parrots have curved beaks. They also have zygodactyl (zy-go-DACT-uhl) feet: four toes on each foot with two pointing backward and two pointing forward. Cockatoos, lovebirds, parakeets, and cockatiels are all parrots too. So are many, many more bird species—more than 350!
Sadly, some of these birds have lately become extinct or nearly extinct. Parrots you can expect not to see in the wild: Glaucous macaws, Spix’s macaws, New Caledonian lorikeets, and Carolina parakeets.
Care and Keeping
Why keep macaws in the forest? They’re happiest there. Plus, they’re pretty hard to live with in the house!
- Macaws are smart. They’re curious. They’re busy. They need lots of toys to pick up, examine, taste, and toss around. A bored macaw may harm itself.
- When God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) It’s not good for macaws to be alone either. If you bring a macaw into your home, you’re its new flock. It will need to spend a lot of time with you.
- Chew, chew, chew! God designed the macaw’s powerful beak to crack through tough nuts. But it can also do impressive damage to the stuff in your house.
- Macaws are made for volume. How would your neighbors—or your mom—feel about living next to a pet as loud as a lawnmower?
- Macaws can and will bite. Enough said!
