This is a memorial for Clarabell. She was a beautiful Hyacinth Macaw that I have loved and cared for for the past 10 years along with her mate who were together for at least 37 years. I do not know how old she was-possibly 40, 50 or even 90 years of age. Her mate T-Rex loved her so much that I was afraid he would pass too. You see, Hyacinth Macaws are monogamous. They were trapped in the Amazon jungle in 1973 by some greedy Americans because these birds are rare and carry a high price tag. I am their fourth owner. They have been too old to breed but I built them a huge facility to give them room to fly and all the Macadamia and Brazil nuts they could eat. They were happy with me. They were huge--larger that any Hyacinth Macaws I have ever seen. They had a unique plucked look when I got them--T Rex had all his feathers but his chest was naked.
Clara had both a naked chest and T-Rex had preened her face so that the only feathers she had on her face were atop her head--much like "Clarabell the Clown" in Howdy Doody. Her other feathers were full and perfect. They would constantly kiss and pretend to mate (several times daily) since they were too old. My Clara would sit on a Macadamia nut as an egg and T-Rex would stand guard at her nest box--proud--and fed her. I have never seen such a beautiful bonded pair of birds. In her nest box, she would design perfect rectangles inside rectangles or circles inside circles--always geometrically perfect....always with a Macadamia nut as an "egg" in the middle. I felt this had something to do with her wild beginnings- like "Crop Circles" in the Jungles of Brazil. Clara developed cancer on her face. The vet told me there was no hope. The cancer progressed quickly, but her spirits were still high and she stayed loving to T-Rex till the end. One morning I noticed that she was weak and in pain---the first day of pain was her last. I took her to my vet and he told me that the cancer had spread to her throat, crop the whole right side of her face and most likely to her brain. It was the only humane thing to do--euthanasia. This broke my heart but it would only get worse! She was too great a bird to see suffer. She would have held on till her last breath to be with T-Rex. If anyone of you have lost a beloved parrot, please feel free to contact me and share your story. My E-Mail is Pam at zooqueen@yahoo.com. I will miss her so much. She had a tragic beginning but had a wonderful mate and was treated as a true "Amazon Princess" for the brief time we had together.