Macaws, the giants of the parrot world, captivate with their vibrant colors and engaging personalities. Their large size and striking appearance make them hard to overlook. These social birds can create a racket when they feel so inclined, and their clownish ways are sure to draw attention. Although their large beaks can be intimidating, a well-socialized macaw can be a friendly and affectionate companion. This article delves into the specifics of macaw diet and nutrition, ensuring these magnificent birds thrive in captivity.
Macaws: An Overview
Macaws are known as the giants of the parrot world. The hyacinth macaw is the longest parrot, with a head to tail length of nearly 40 inches. Macaws have long tail feathers as well as big beaks. Macaw adaptations include large, curved, powerful beaks designed to crack open hard nuts and seeds. These parrots have a long, streamlined physique and colorful feathering, ranging from the hyacinth macaw’s hyacinth blue to the scarlet macaw’s scarlet red coloring.
Macaws are informally classified into two groups: large macaws and mini macaws. The large macaws include those of the Ara, Anodorhynchus, and Cyanopsitta genera. This “blue macaws” group includes the hyacinth, along with the critically endangered Lear’s macaw and Spix’s macaw. Although there are 18 living species of macaws, not all commonly get adopted by people.
The commonly kept companion macaw species include the following, listed by common name and scientific name: blue-and-gold macaw (Ara ararauna), green-winged macaw (Ara chloropterus), Hahn’s macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis nobilis), hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), scarlet macaw (Ara macao), military macaw (Ara militaris), and severe macaw (Ara severus). Some of these species have other common names.
Macaws are native to the southern portion of North America (Mexico) plus Central America and South America. Evidence shows that the Caribbean also had native macaw species, which are now extinct, such as the Cuban macaw (Ara tricolor) and the Saint Croix macaw (Ara autochthones). They inhabit rainforests, as well as grasslands and grassy woodland-type areas.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Some species of macaw are endangered or at risk of extinction, according to the IUCN Red List. Nine species are currently at the most risk. Three macaws are critically endangered: glaucous macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus), blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis), and Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii). Three macaws are endangered: Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), great green macaw (Ara ambiguus), and red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys). Macaws are known for their long tails, which means they need a large, tall cage. A macaw needs a cage tall enough to prevent its tail feathers from hitting the cage bottom, which can cause the tail feathers to bend or break.
Natural Diet of Macaws
In their natural habitat, macaws feed on native seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves, palm nuts, figs, nectar, and, in some regions, clay from exposed river banks. This diverse diet provides them with essential nutrients and minerals.
Nutritional Needs of Companion Macaws
Companion macaws tend to have a much easier life than their wild counterparts, but they miss out on the ability to forage for their food, a behavior that comes naturally. Macaws are big, bold, intelligent parrots with equally big nutritional needs. Feed them right, and you’ll have a vibrant, enriched bird with glossy feathers and good behaviour.
The dietary needs of some macaw species differ from that of other parrots because they need more fat in their diet. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a Blue and Gold macaw’s stare, you’ll know these birds don’t mess around and neither should their diet.
Key Components of a Macaw Diet
- Vegetables: A significant portion of a macaw's diet should consist of fresh vegetables. Offer a big, colourful variety of vegetables, think leafy greens, peppers, carrots, squash, sweetcorn, beans, and anything else you can get your hands on that’s fresh, seasonal, and safe for parrots.
- Fruits: Add in a small portion of fruit for extra flavour and vitamins, choosing low-sugar options like berries, pomegranate, or kiwi most days, and saving sweeter fruits like grapes and mango as occasional treats. Blueberries are often provided. They are generally accepted by most birds and contain (in addition to a substantial amount of sugar) beneficial fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and flavonoids. Flavonoids are antioxidants that have several health benefits. Feeding fresh, not thawed, blueberries is recommended, because the active amount of flavonoids (anthocyanin) declines when berries are frozen.
- Sprouted Seeds: Include sprouted seeds, such as Foraging Feast Sprouting Mix, which is packed with nutrient-dense, living foods that boost your macaw’s immune system and gut health. This is also the perfect time to add some sprouted seeds.
- Nuts: Macaws have a well-earned reputation for loving their nuts, and in this case, it’s a good thing. Macaws generally adore them and can handle a higher proportion in their diet thanks to their active nature and higher fat needs. Walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, pecans, and pine nuts are all excellent choices, and they double up as the perfect high-value training treat. Pine nuts specifically are the perfect size when offering as positive reinforcement, base any other nuts sizes on the size of a pine nut, the treat size when training should be very small!
- Seeds: A combination of a high-quality seed mix like Soothing Seed Mix or Happy Gut Seed Mix, paired with a nutrient-rich dry mix such as Soothing Dry Mix, creates the perfect pellet-free dinner that keeps your macaw interested and nourished. Serving seeds and dry mix lets you tailor portions and avoid doubling up on certain nutrients, something that happens if you mix seeds with pellets. The Aviary’s range of seed mixes, dry mixes, sprouting seeds, and herbal teas are all designed with variety, enrichment, and species-specific nutrition in mind.
- Pellets: If you do choose pellets, there are lots to choose from, and not all are created equally.
Feeding Schedule and Methods
A good feeding routine for your macaw should start in the morning with fresh food. Evenings are best suited to a dry meal.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Macaws are intelligent birds that also thrive on activities designed to challenge them, such as foraging activities. Foraging involves searching for food or time spent enjoying food. Your macaw’s meals should never just be food in a bowl. Make them work for it, scatter feed, hide food in foraging toys, put bowls in hard to reach places and encourage them to use that incredible beak for what nature intended.
Specific Nutritional Requirements
Psittacine birds eat mainly a plant-based diet and can be classified overall as florivorous (flower-eating). The content of the diet-fruit, nectar, seeds, or a combination-varies by species. Some species also ingest insects and carrion as a small part of their diet. Although requirements and dietary sensitivities vary among psittacine species, pelleted and extruded diets that have been produced for parrots have tremendously improved their nutritional intake and subsequent health and quality of life. However, pelleted diets differ in content and quality and must be evaluated individually. Extruded pellets in different shapes and sizes are available for maintenance and breeding purposes. Many pellets contain omega-3 fatty acids as well as probiotics. Some species (eg, lories and lorikeets) need specific diets containing a high water content, easily digestible carbohydrates, a mixture of proteins, and a balanced vitamin and mineral supplement.
Protein
Protein (amino acid) requirements of psittacines have not been well established. The amino acid deficiencies most consistently noted in psittacine birds on seed- and table food-based diets are lysine and methionine. Fiber content must always be considered when determining dietary protein requirements, because increased fiber can influence protein digestibility and nitrogen excretion. Birds (eg, nectar-feeding lories and lorikeets) eating low-fiber, more readily digestible diets may do well on diets with easily digestible protein at levels as low as 3-5%. Adult maintenance levels of protein recommended for budgerigars and cockatiels (7-12%) are lower than those recommended for grey and Timneh parrots (10-15%). Protein requirements for growing birds and egg-laying hens are higher than those for maintenance in all birds. Periods of heavy molt also greatly increase protein requirements, particularly the need for the sulfur-containing amino acid cysteine, because feathers are made up predominantly of protein and average 25% of the total body protein content of birds.
Excessively high dietary protein has the potential to cause renal insufficiency and gout in birds with preexisting renal impairment or a genetic predisposition to gout. Cockatiels with no preexisting renal disease have been shown to tolerate extremely high dietary protein levels (up to 70%) with no renal impairment (1). A genetic predisposition to renal disease/gout has been documented in some strains of poultry and may occur in other avian species.
Sudden, dramatic increases in dietary protein may overload the kidneys, producing hyperuricemia and visceral gout. When increased dietary protein is indicated, it should be increased gradually to avoid renal damage.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
Fat
Dietary fat provides essential fatty acids, energy, and hormone precursors. It also contributes to egg yolk formation and aids in absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
Diets should contain 5-12% fat, depending on the species, general body condition, and physiological stage and brood condition (reproductive state). At least 1% of the dry diet should consist of polyunsaturated fat (eg, linoleic acid). Hyacinth macaws need a higher amount of dietary fat, which they can easily digest, than other psittacine birds, because hyacinth macaws' natural diet consists primarily of high-fat palm nuts. Fat can be increased by including nuts as 15% of their total daily diet. However, excessive dietary fat in all psittacine species (especially in sedentary pet birds) leads to obesity, metabolic diseases, cardiac disease, and atherosclerosis (see also Pet Birds). The fat requirements of psittacines for reproduction are generally lower than those of poultry, because psittacines’ altricial young do not require the same quantity of dietary fatty acids as do chickens' precocial young. However, diets that are borderline fat-deficient often manifest as problems in either psittacine hens during reproduction or chicks at birth.
Vitamins
Vitamin A is necessary for vision, reproduction, immunological integrity, and growth, and for the maintenance of epithelial cells in respiratory, GI, and renal tissues. Vitamin A deficiency has historically been noted in psittacines on all-seed diets, so supplementation is commonly recommended. However, indiscriminate supplementation can lead to vitamin A toxicosis, as well as to decreased absorption of other fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids. In nature, psittacines do not consume vitamin A but obtain vitamin A precursors such as carotenoids from various plants. Some carotenoids in birds are precursors for the body’s formation of vitamin A. Carotenoids also act as antioxidants and are necessary in some species (eg, canaries and flamingos) for feather pigmentation. Pelleted diets should contain vitamin A at levels of 5,000-8,000 IU/kg of feed. Higher amounts should be avoided. Sources of vitamin A added to bird feed are not regulated, and quality control issues have been documented. Ideally, a quality pelleted diet for psittacines will contain multiple carotenoids and other vitamin A precursors, with a minimum level of preformed vitamin A.
Indiscriminate dietary supplementation with vitamin A can lead to vitamin A toxicosis, as well as to decreased absorption of other fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids.
Vitamin D forms include D1, D2, and D3. D3 is the most active form and should be used. The primary function of vitamin D is to increase absorption of dietary calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D can be obtained either directly from the diet or from UVB (285-315 nm) light exposure that transforms 7-dehydrocholesterol in skin to vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) which is then converted to active vitamin D3 (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) in the liver and kidneys. How much vitamin D parrots get in nature from foraging or through UVB rays from sunlight is unknown. Vitamin D deficiency is probably rare in nature. Birds living in polar conditions get their vitamin D during the winter by consuming diets high in vitamin D (eg, fish, plankton). In the absence of natural sunlight, the minimum oral vitamin D requirement for grey parrots is likely to be 500-1,000 IU/kg.
Vitamin D deficiency may be caused by dietary deficiency or lack of exposure to UVB radiation. Dietary deficiency occurs when an unsupplemented, unbalanced, seed-based diet is fed and when "cafeteria-style" feeding is allowed, which results in unbalanced dietary consumption. It is possible that species variation exists among psittacine species in their requirements for UVB light; however, more studies are needed. Unfortunately, many birds are housed totally indoors, and owners often mistakenly assume either that the birds do not need direct sunlight or that the sunlight the birds receive through glass will supply UVB radiation. To ensure their pets receive adequate UVB exposure to help prevent vitamin D deficiency, pet bird owners should be encouraged to expose their birds to direct sunlight (with appropriate cautions regarding excessive heat) or to purchase and properly use UVB bulbs. However, pet bird owners must consider that the farther away from the equator, the less UVB is generated, especially in late autumn, winter, and early spring. In some bird species, UVA and/or UVB exposure may affect vitamin D synthesis, the finding of food, overall well-being, and feather colors, but again, more research is needed. To ensure their pets receive adequate UVB exposure to help prevent vitamin D deficiency, pet bird owners should be encouraged to expose their birds to direct sunlight (with appropriate cautions regarding excessive heat) or to purchase and properly use UVB bulbs.
Vitamin D toxicosis is caused by excessive dietary supplementation. Some psittacine species, notably macaws, are sensitive to excessive dietary vitamin D and may develop soft tissue calcification and renal failure. Toxic dietary vitamin D levels for psittacines have not been established, but levels of vitamin D3 that may be toxic for poultry begin at 5,000 IU/kg of feed, although some studies suggest levels up to 40,000 IU/kg may be safe (2).
Foods to Avoid
Care should be taken in what is fed, and extra items should not disturb the ingredient and nutritional balance in the diet. Monkey chow biscuits, traditionally fed to psittacines as part of a nutritionally complete diet are actually nutritionally incomplete, and some brands tend to harbor bacteria or promote excessive gram-negative bacterial growth when included in bird diets. Strictly seed diets, regardless of supplementation, are suboptimal for psittacine species because seeds are deficient in vitamin A, protein (the amino acids lysine and methionine, in particular), calcium, and other nutrients. Conversely, excessive vitamins, such as vitamin A, which are often offered to birds consuming pelleted diets, can have equally detrimental effects. Oversupplementation of iron should also be prevented in birds that were originally seed feeders, such as grey parrots (commonly known as Congo African grey parrots) given a carnivore diet with a high amount of iron. Feeding a carnivorous diet should be prevented because it has been shown to cause iron storage disease in grey parrots, which are predominantly herbivorous.
Enrichment and Foraging
Macaws are intelligent birds that also thrive on activities designed to challenge them, such as foraging activities. Foraging involves searching for food or time spent enjoying food.
Lafeber’s bird foods are ideal for the lively macaw, a bird that appreciates the opportunity to tear apart its meals. The berry and cake shapes of these foods invite more interaction.
Health Considerations
Macaws can be prone to feather-destructive behaviors. If a complete veterinary exam rules out medical causes of feather plucking, boredom and/or lack of appropriate mental stimulation can be a cause. Macaws are also more susceptible to proventricular dilatation disease (PDD), psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), psittacosis, beak malocclusion, and aspergillosis. It is normal for a macaw to sneeze a few times a day to clear out dust or dander from its nares, which might be accompanied by a clear discharge.