Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS

THE PARROTS

Peruvian Guacamayo

The Guacamayo is so called by the natives from the fact that it never descends to the ground but once during the year, and this is in the month of May. They alight upon the ground at this season of the year in search of a certain kind of hard nut, of which they are very fond, and no longer find in the trees which bear it. The tree of this nut the Mexicans call' Ava,' a species of Nux Vomica; both the milky sap of the tree as well as the fruit are deadly poison to any other animal but this Parrot. . . .

The pod that contains the fruit is spherical, and about twelve inches in circumference, divided into sixteen sections, in each of which is the button-shaped kernel.

The shell is exceedingly hard, but the enormous bill and powerful jaws of the Guacamayo enables it to split each one of the sections with apparent ease. It also feeds upon the small cocoanut or nuts of the royal palm, which are also very hard, but not proof against the strong bill of this Parrot. It feeds to some extent on various species of Acacia beans, together with other kinds of wild fruit, and corn-fields are sometimes visited by it. The Guacamayo is gregarious, except during the breeding season, and continues in pairs throughout the year.

When migrating to some distance they pass at a great height, flying in pairs, uttering their discordant and harsh cries. They congregate for many miles around to some chosen spot to roost, which they continue to visit for many months, roosting upon the topmost branches of the tallest trees.

They breed in holes of trees, usually in the wild fig, which is the largest tree of these forests, depositing their eggs upon the bare wood; the eggs are white, two in number, and a little less than those of the common hen; their breeding season commences in April, and both male and female perform the duties of incubation."

 

 

 

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