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This months Aurifil Color Builder Thread Club is focused on the Blue Throated Macaw. Can you say beautiful! I just love that blue teal color paired with the golden yellow.   Location: Bolivia Status: Critically Endangered Population: 50-249 The Blue-Throated Macaw - Fun Facts Macaws are one of the world's most recognizable feathered friends. In Bolivia, they are known as barba azul, which means 'blue beard' in Spanish. Macaws are the largest bird in the parrot family. They are frequently seen flying in large flocks. Macaws are monogamous and stay bonded for life. Bonded pairs will fly close together, with their wings nearly touching. In the wild, macaws often flock to mountains of clay known as "macaw licks". Macaws are playful and inquisitive and are able to mimic human vocalization. They are probably the most vocal of the macaw species as this is their main form of communication. When danger approaches they take to the sky, with a loud call to sound the alarm. A group of macaws is know as a flock, or company, or pandemonium. That last one may be surprise, but from some of their habits it sounds fitting. Macaws have a wingspan of about 3.5 feet and are able to fly at speeds of up to 35 mph. Their incredibly strong beaks are specifically adapted for eating all sorts of nuts and seeds, eating primarily fruit from large palms. The often use their beaks as a third arm, well a third foot to be more accurate. A fact I find most interesting is the change is color of the eyes of the macaw as they age. The eye color of a nestling is initially black, they changes to brown soon after their eyes open. Between 1 and 3 years old, their eyes will turn grey in color and then to white. As macaws get older, the iris then turns yellow. The amount of gold increases with age after 10 years. Macaws live to be on average 60 years in the wild, even as long as 100 years. When kept as pets, macaws are often known for outliving their owners, for this reason macaws are often noted into a persons will. Due to their vibrant color and patterns of their feathers make them popular in the illegal pet trade, which has devastated the wild exotic birds populations in the wild. Their feathers were also used in tribal headdresses until recent years. Click on the sources below to learn more about the Blue Throated Macaw, what is being done to help their populations, and how you might get involved. (source: WWF, Animalia, Sea World, and Aurifil) Check out the August Aurifil Color Builder Thread Club Patterns!  We are almost finished with setup for OSQE in Irving, TX! Come on down and see us we are in booth 723, we have a few show special just for you. Show runs from Thursday through Saturday,18-21 at the Irving Convention Center, 500 West Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX 75039 Hope to see you there!  |
AuthorSurface Pattern Designer, Quilt Pattern Designer, Art Quilter, Nature Lover, Wife & Momma to one fur-baby Oscar! Archives
October 2022
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