Huge size variation within species?

[Screech]

I've seen and heard about a wide variation in size for most macaw species, particularly B&G and GW, in which the heaviest is nearly twice as heavy as the lightest healthy weight. What causes this? Does size change with age?

 

[tab_xo]

They do change when they come out of baby stage, and then the more muscly they are, the bigger they weigh..

Fargo was only 800 grams at 7 months old.. When he reached a year, you could noticeably see how he started filling out? Looking chunkier..

Then with lots of flying, and muscle build up

He now is 1200-1300 grams



But you might have a macaw who just sits there all day eating lots and lots of nuts, so are overweight, hence weighing more..


I am interested to see if when they get even older, and finish sexual maturity, if they weigh more Fargo is only 2 at the moment, so still kinda a baby

 

[goalerjones]

Flighted vs non-flighted does make a big difference.

 

[Screech]

Activity and diet sure would make a difference, but I've seen two blue and golds side by side and the larger one stood more than two inches taller! I've also heard of larger green wings, but I've never seen this in person. Is there chance that these birds will continue to grow later on in life?

 

[thekarens]

The sex of the bird also makes a difference. Females are smaller.

 

[Chesphoto]

Then with lots of flying, and muscle build up

He now is 1200-1300 grams

Fargo the Muscle Man.... I think Skittles is in love...:smile015: :red: :smile015:

 

[khaiqha]

I don't know if macaws have sub-species but that also affects size. Not to mention that just like people, birds can vary in size as well.

 

[Screech]

I am interested to see if when they get even older, and finish sexual maturity, if they weigh more Fargo is only 2 at the moment, so still kinda a baby

This is something I'm also interested to find out! I can't find anything that documents late youth growth spurts. I've heard a few people talk about mature birds growing slowly, but I don't see anything that confirms or denies this.

 

[tab_xo]

Then with lots of flying, and muscle build up

He now is 1200-1300 grams

Fargo the Muscle Man.... I think Skittles is in love...:smile015: :red: :smile015:

HAHAHAHA :09: Yes, Fargo looks like one of those body builders

 

[tab_xo]

I am interested to see if when they get even older, and finish sexual maturity, if they weigh more Fargo is only 2 at the moment, so still kinda a baby

This is something I'm also interested to find out! I can't find anything that documents late youth growth spurts. I've heard a few people talk about mature birds growing slowly, but I don't see anything that confirms or denies this.

Hmmmm, guess we will just have to wait and see!

Like Khaiqha said could also just depends on the bird, and their parents...
It is really hard to tell by photos though..

I see pictures of ladies holding a macaw, and the macaw just looks massive, because the lady is small and thin? Where as i am 6 foot, so i always think i make Fargo look smaller hahahaha


How old is your macaw?

 

[LiL_Caity413]

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

this is actually fairly easy to answer. Sally Blanchard pointed this out to me when we were at a bird show once. What she pointed out were stunted babies being sold. To the average person, and most breeders these birds looked great... until you compare them to babies from a good breeder. Sadly most blue and golds I have seen are quite stunted. As far as greenwings go... there are two proven subspecies... one is MUCH larger than the other. Macaws have a high protein/fat requirement when being handfed, so any breeder feeding a macaw kaytee exact handfeeding formula is going to wind up with stunted babies. It's important as a breeder to understand appropriate feeds and growth needs for a particular species... greys need a lot of added calcium, and I have seen cockatoos fed macaw formula outgrow their own bodies and their legs have bowed. Again, it's important to ask these kinds of questions to a breeder when shopping for a bird. Some people say the sexes vary a bit in size, but honestly they really don't vary hardly at all. We have several pairs of macaws made from babies we purchased from a good breeder, and unless you know them very well you can't tell them apart (I mix them up a lot, and I have to rely on their behavior toward me, and their individual personalities and vocabularies to discern one from another. They are all within about 10 grams of the others weight. None of them are related, but they are all the larger subspecies of greenwings (they are slightly larger than the average hyacinth). Some hyacinths are a tiny bit bigger. The larger subspecies of greenwing and hyacinths actually have the same average weights... fyi.

 

[Screech]

How old is your macaw?

approximately five years old.

this is actually fairly easy to answer
...
Some hyacinths are a tiny bit bigger. The larger subspecies of greenwing and hyacinths actually have the same average weights... fyi.

That's all really interesting to know! I knew there was quite a bit of overlap between greenwing and hyacinths. Do breeders with the different sub-species ever advertise that they have small or large size?

 

[JerseyWendy]

That's all really interesting to know! I knew there was quite a bit of overlap between greenwing and hyacinths. Do breeders with the different sub-species ever advertise that they have small or large size?

I've seen both GWs and B&Gs listed as "Bolivian", which should indicate larger birds. I've never seen any sub-species for Hys, but I have seen enough Hys to know there are size differences among them. I do wonder if that is diet related though.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

We advertise that we raise the larger ones. The breeder we finally settled on buying ours from raises both sizes. When she sells one she does inform the owner of a lot of things about the bird, which includes the subspecies etc.

 

[cstambaugh]

I've seen differences when I visit birds at the bird store vs. what I have at home. I think my GW is tiny for a greenwing. He weighs around 45oz now, and gaining weight every day due to his previous absolute horrible diet (he weighed under 30oz when I got him). There is a GW at the pet store that looks 2x as big as mine, but if you look closely, his feathers are more ruffeled because he's in a cage 24x7 which makes him look bigger than he actually is. When he spreads his wings, his body is about the same size as my GW's.
I was playing with a blue throated macaw yesterday and he was so freakin tiny! Like lil_caity said, its like playing with a shrunken parrot, even though I know he's in the top 5 of the largest parrots.

 

[JerseyWendy]

... He weighs around 45oz now, and gaining weight every day due to his previous absolute horrible diet (he weighed under 30oz when I got him). ....

Wait, your GW weighed under 887g when you got him???? HOLY SMOKES!!!!! That is super light weight for a GW - to say the least. :11: :11:

At 45oz = 1,331g he's gained a LOT of weight for sure.

 

[cstambaugh]

... He weighs around 45oz now, and gaining weight every day due to his previous absolute horrible diet (he weighed under 30oz when I got him). ....

Wait, your GW weighed under 887g when you got him???? HOLY SMOKES!!!!! That is super light weight for a GW - to say the least. :11: :11:

At 45oz = 1,331g he's gained a LOT of weight for sure.

Yeah I thought the scale was broken. I went into the pet store a few days later and noticed how gigantic their GW looked compared to mine. Now, they're almost even in size. Zeus does a LOT of wing flapping now, and eating

 

[Alwese]

My B&G Kayko was a REAL flier when I brought him home at the age of 20. Having landed in hot spaghetti on the stove, hit a running ceiling fan, and smashing into a sliding glass door at 20 MPH, I thought it better that he be trimmed. He weighed just 1030 grams then and now 11 flightless years later he has not gained that much in weight at 1065 grams. I assumed Kayko was a she when I got him for being so much smaller, but DNA testing revealed he was just a small boy.

 

[Mirren]

We've seen lots of variety in size amongst birds of the same species. Our birds generally tend to be bigger than their parents. I'd love to see how big they could get if we raised a few generations of them. Quaker the size of a b&G anyone?