The majestic Ara: a beautiful bird with exceptional intelligence

The Ara is a very popular pet bird because of its bright and colorful plumage, its intelligence (it can learn and understand up to 30 words), and because it can live for more than 50 years.

Features of the Ara parrot

Ara originate in South and Central America, roughly from the jungles of Mexico to northeastern Argentina, and their natural habitat is in forests with tropical climates. They are much larger than other parrots, and the Ara also has very colorful plumage. They have a rather long hooked beak and claws with four fingers, two front and two back, with curved claws that allow them to grasp tree branches, cage bars or any object.

They are quite noisy birds, often screaming while eating or grooming. They are silent only when they are caring for chicks. They should be properly trained not to squeal, as it can be very annoying. Ara are very long-lived birds. There have been cases where some individuals have lived up to 50 years. They are also distinguished by their intelligence, as they learn quickly: by 7 months, Ara parrots can repeat words, and by a year they can more or less understand what they are told. Their vocabulary is about 30 words.

The Ara parrot is a bird that has fairly high maintenance requirements. First, he needs a lot of space, which distinguishes him from the stereotypical image of a colorful talking parrot in a small cage. If we want him to become a decoration of our apartment, we think about buying, for example, wavy parrots. What should you take into consideration if you do decide to have an Ara parrot in your home?

Reasons why an Ara parrot is a bad choice

When considering the purchase of an Ara parrot, we must first examine all the reasons why such a pet might be a bad choice for us.

1. Price. The cost of an Ara parrot varies depending on the species. In any case, you will have to pay several thousand euros for such a parrot. In addition, a potential buyer should take into account from the very beginning the high costs of not only buying this exotic bird, but also the fact that its maintenance will also cost quite a lot.

2. Ara is an extremely social bird. If it is not given enough attention, it becomes wild and even suffers from mental disorders. Therefore, getting an Ara parrot is a bad idea if we spend a lot of time away from home. A compromise may be to buy several parrots so that they can socialize among themselves. For you, on the other hand, they will just be an exotic home decoration.

3. large size. The Ara parrot is characterized by its large size (wingspan reaches 1 meter), so it needs a lot of space. The cage should be at least 2 meters high with a base of 1 x 1 meter, and they should have a safe place to fly indoors (if you leave the windows open and the parrot leaves the house, it can end tragically).

4. The bird is loud. In an apartment building, Ara's parrot is sure to disturb the neighbors, and in a small apartment, perhaps even the owners themselves.

5. Taming a parrot is quite labor intensive and requires practice. Taming Ara requires a lot of practice and patience, so this parrot is not the best choice for a person who has no experience in breeding birds.

6. Long life expectancy. Considering how long an Ara parrot lives, caring for it can be a lifelong commitment. Therefore, buying this bird should not be a momentary whim.

The Ara parrot lives for several decades, so the decision to purchase it cannot be taken lightly.
What you need to keep an Ara parrot at home

The Ara parrot's dowry should include:

• A large cage, equipped with solid bars (Ara has a very strong beak);
• Unpainted branches with a diameter of about 5 cm;
• Сeramic or metal bowls for food and water;
• Natural substrate for the bottom of the cage (corn or wooden ones cause fewer problems) Parrot excrement should be removed regularly and the substrate should be completely replaced once a week;
• toys (ladders, swings, mirrors with bells, etc.).

What does an Ara parrot eat?

We must provide our winged pet not only with adequate living conditions, but also with adequate nutrition. Its basis should be a grain mixture for large parrots. A good alternative is balanced pellets for Ara. This is a more expensive product, but by favoring it, we can be sure that our parrot will not lack nutrients. It is also worth considering that from the grain mixture, Ara can eat only those seeds that he likes the most, and throw away the rest.

Ara's diet should also include:

• fresh vegetables (e.g. carrots, beets) and fruits (e.g. grapes, citrus fruits);
• seed sprouts (e.g., sunflower, wheat);
• walnuts (preferably broken - this is fun for them);
• delicacies (e.g. corn), mineral and vitamin supplements.

The Ara parrot is very curious and sociable. It cannot spend much time alone.

How does an Ara parrot express its gratitude?

Ara parrots are very attached to their owners. Initially, we must be very careful when interacting with our pet: if he is frightened, he may hurt us with his powerful beak. The easiest way to gain Ara's trust is to leave him in his cage, but spend a lot of time around him. If we talk to the parrot a lot, we can hope that he will eventually respond to us. Ara are intelligent and learn to imitate human speech and can respond to many situations accordingly.

Ara are able to repeat words when they reach their seventh month of life, and by a year old they can more or less understand what is being said to them. Throughout their lives they can accumulate a vocabulary of 30 words.