buffon macaws

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buffon macaws

Postby macawman75 on Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:28 pm

I need to find someone that can tell me for sure if this pair of macaws that i recently was given is military or Buffons.They have a different look about them than the militaries i have bred in the past.If you know the difference in the two macaws and might be able to tell if i send you pics,than please email me at zeil01975@aol.com


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Postby alhee on Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:01 pm

I am not the expert, but the buffons are a lighter green and their heads are larger. In comparing size and body proportions, the buffons would compare to a scarlet macaw, while the militaries are like blue&golds but a bit larger. The feathering of militaries are a bit looser than the other species, and they do not have the sleek smooth look. Buffons/military hybrids are fairly common, due to the scarcity of pure buffons.
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Postby roughrider on Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:24 pm

This should help you:

"Buffons Macaws are different. They can be separated visually from the Military Macaw by size, plumage color, and the color of the eye. They are large, certainly among the largest of the macaws. Even the subspecies, the Guayaquilensis, is significantly larger than the similar looking Military. The Ambigua averages 2# 12 oz., (19 individuals weights), males being 6 ounces heavier on average than the females. The Guayaquilensis averages 2# 4 oz., (4 individuals weights), males being 3 ounces heavier on average than the females. Militaries average 1#15 oz., (22 individuals weights), with no consistent difference between them. These are statistical averages, and by no means a maximum or a minimum for any individual bird.

Buffons are a different shade of green than the Military, being more chartreuse than a dark green. I have also seen signature feathers (small out of place colored feathers )on Buffons, sometimes red, yellow or orange, on a bend of the wing or the head. I have yet to see signature feathers on a Military. Photographs of these birds can confuse you; different films, lighting, and developing techniques show all sorts of different shades of color. I have one snapshot of a Buffons that shows a more yellow tone--but it is just ink! People who know birds are really excited about that until I tell them it is really a green bird, and not a yellow mutation.

The Buffons tail feathers are longer, reflecting the overall greater size of the bird, and varying shades of red and orange. Most tail feathers have the vibrant burnt orange, but can shade to a burnt ember color, depending again on the individual bird. The Military's tail tends to keep to the darker, red umber coloring, and a much smaller size.

There is a difference in the eye color which Barbara and I discovered some years ago. The correct eye color is not currently reflected in the hard cover "dictionaries" of parrots. In the Buffon macaw., there is the black pupil, surrounded by a wide, plain steel grey ring, then a fine black line, and one soft yellow band around that. In the Military, there is the pupil, and three orbits of yellow color surround that. These color bands are somewhat diffused into each other. Once you have seen it in person, you will not mistake it. The Guayaquilensis that we have seen also have the distinct grey ring, like the Ambigua."

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Postby jayrauch on Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:05 am

the above info is dead on, my male buffons is HUGE bigger than my female greenwings and dead on with a friends female hyacinth. the eye color is noticeable right off the bat in adult birds, so is the longer tail. any pics of your birds to help ID?
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Postby marky on Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:26 am

No need to add anything I also say dead on
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