Severe Macaws

    With a colorful personality, the Severe Macaw or Chestnut-Fronted Macaw is all the fun of a large Macaw rolled into a smaller package!

     The Severe Macaw is extremely social and loves to mimic speech and be petted and played with! Best if kept in pairs, Severe Macaws are quite intelligent and should be provided with ropes to swing on and lots of wood to chew, for they can get quite destructive if bored. Forming strong bonds with their keepers, they are affectionate, silly, and active, and love to climb, explore, and hang upside down, chatting and squawking often. Chestnut-Fronted Macaws relate to their world by chewing on it, and this may include you! They should be taught early on to regulate the pressure of their beaks. They do well when fed on a variety of nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, green food, and commercial pellets. Pasta, beans, pine nuts, and porridge all make fine treats for Severe Macaws. Because of their smaller size, Severe Macaws will do well in a cage for African Grey Parrots, however, be sure it is sturdy and do not give these birds toys intended for small birds!

     The Chestnut Fronted Macaw is about a foot and a half in length and is crowned with a line of chestnut colored feathers across the forehead. The plumage is primarily metallic green, and the crown is blue. The shoulders are red. Severe Macaws have blue flight and tail feathers with red undersides. Their bare facial patch exhibits delicate feather lines, the chin is a dark reddish brown, and the underside of the tail is a dark chestnut color. The bill is black and the feet are dark gray. Severe Macaws have orange irises. The wingspan of Chestnut-Fronted Macaws is eight and a half to nine and a half inches. When setting up pairs, Severe Macaws must be sexed using DNA or surgical methods. Immature Severe Macaws will have blacker colored bands on the foreheads, as the chestnut color develops with maturity, and you may use this indicator to determine the bird's breeding capabilities.

     A very close friend and world-class aviculturist, Howard Voren, gets annoyed with me when I call them Severe Macaws. Because they just aren't severe.

     He makes it a point to call them Severas, with a soft middle "e" because it sounds much nicer. An alternative name for these charming little guys is the Chestnut Fronted Macaw, which is more appropriate, but more of a tongue-twister. Whatever they are called, however, what the ARE is adorable.

     Severe Macaws are the largest of the mini-macaws, being an overall head to tail-tip length of about 20". All mini-macaws are green, with some distinguishing markings. The actual body of a severe is approximately that of an amazon, with a more slender appearance, and they're slightly lighter in weight than an amazon of the same size.

   Severe macaws are very huggy, very pert and bright, and make super pets for almost everyone...

     It is an absolute fact that the Severes are, as far as my personal experience is concerned, the very best talkers of all the macaws. I really dislike putting too much emphasis on talking ability because in any given instance a person purchasing a bird to have a talking parrot in the house can suffer a major disappointment; however, with that in mind, I have no qualms about telling people that their baby Severe can turn into a good talker. (Blue and Golds come in second in the macaw family... again, my opinion.)

     Now, on to the pet potential yes, folks, they CAN be noisy. And, if not handled properly as youngster, can tend to take the upper hand... but what parrot won't? Sally Blanchard's admonitions about "nurturing dominance" (Read Sally's columns in Bird Talk and The Pet Bird Report) can go MILES toward a good relationship with your Severe pal, or ANY parrot!

     But, keep this in mind... this a REAL MACAW folks! You'll be able to teach him tricks, flip him over on his back, tickle his tummy, take him out with you, and spend HOURS hugging and cuddling him, which is what macaws are all about. That this little guy is in a smaller package than, say a Greenwing, or a Blue & Gold, in no way changes the fact that you have latched onto one of the most tactile creatures on earth!

     As most of our readers know, cockatoos have that reputation, and rightfully, but anyone who has ever fallen asleep watching TV with a macaw (of any size) tucked under their chin, knows what I'm talking about. The LOVE to be petted. Under the wings (they'll lift one up for you) on the head (they'll hold it down for you)and on the butt (they'll show you where and how).

     I also hold the opinion that these are totally beautiful birds! The plumage is considered by some people to be green. Blah! WRONG! Check out that intense forest/emerald green! With a little blue cast to the head, re on the shoulder, which progresses as they mature, and they just get more and more elegant as they get older.

     An interesting side-light here is that I have four pairs of Severes in my breeding aviary, of which one is my first severe, Friday, who is about six years old. All of the hand raised Severes will come out of their breeding flights and still let me pet them, which is a terrible temptation for someone who loves parrots the way I do, and probably the reason that most of them haven't bred yet!!!

     I can vouch for the "pet-a-bility" quotient of severe macaws... I honestly believe they make wonderful companion birds.