Justification This species qualifies as Critically Endangered because its population is extremely small and each isolated subpopulation is probably tiny and declining as a result of illegal trade. Overall, it is likely to have undergone an extremely rapid population reduction over the past three generations.

Family/Sub-family Psittacidae

Species name author Dabbene, 1921

Taxonomic source(s) SACC (2005 + updates), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996)

Identification 85 cm. Large, blue-and-yellow macaw. Upperparts turquoise-blue, slightly duller on crown and brighter on rump. Underparts largely bright yellow but vent pale blue. Bare facial patch obscured by blue feather-lines merging into blue lower cheek and throat, separated from crown by narrow yellow stripe. Bare pink skin around base of bill. Large bill, long tail, and yellow iris. Sexes similar. Immatures have brown iris with undertail-coverts possibly paler turquoise and broadly edged yellow. Similar spp. Blue-and-yellow Macaw A. ararauna is larger, has a thicker tail, green fore-crown, no pink facial skin, and larger area of facial skin with black throat patch. A. ararauna has dark blue primaries and secondaries contrasting with pale blue coverts, whereas A. glaucogularis has all-dark blue wings. Voice Loud raucous calls when alarmed, but higher-pitched, softer and more nasal than A. ararauna. Typical loud call follows an alternating distinctive pattern. It also has a distinctive rolling introduction to its flight call.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

50-249

decreasing

12,900 km²

Yes

Range & population Ara glaucogularis is known from the Llanos de Mojos in north Bolivia, being concentrated east of the upper río Mamoré, Beni^1,6, where the wild population was discovered in 1992. The total population is estimated to number 250-300 individuals occupying a range of c.4,000 km², with 70 individuals discovered at a dry season roost site in 2007¹². Surveys indicate that the population may now be increasing slowly following dramatic declines during the 1970s and 1980s. An estimated 1,200 or more wild-caught birds were exported from Bolivia during the 1980s, suggesting that the population was formerly much higher⁶.

Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria.

Ecology: It utilises forest islands and gallery forest found fragmented throughout the Beni Savannas at an 80/20 ratio. Motacú Palm Attalea phalerata is a principal food of all macaws in the area, abundances variable from 0% to 100% in forest islands in the savannas, and borders of gallery forest. It nests in cavities, hatching 1-3 eggs. The species is most frequently found in pairs, but small groups (7-9), do occur and one large group of 70 is known. It is possible that with a larger population the species would be more gregarious.

Threats It was severely threatened in the past by illegal exploitation for the national and international cage-bird trade⁴, although this has been radically reduced since 2000. All known sites are on private cattle-ranches, where burning and clearing for pasture, and tree-felling for fuel have reduced the number of suitable nest trees and inhibited palm regeneration^1,2. However, cattle-rearing has occurred in the region since the 17th century, and nest-site availability is not currently thought to be limiting⁴. Nevertheless, nest-site competition from other macaws, toucans and large woodpeckers is significant. Indiscriminate hunting to provide feathers for indigenous head-dresses probably has a small impact in some areas and small scale random hunting to provide meat for baiting fish hooks may occur. There are fears that inbreeding within an increasingly fragmented population is resulting in reduced fertility¹⁰.

Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix I and II. Asociación Armonía/Loro Parque Fundación produced a Blue-throated Macaw Recovery Plan in 2003. Live export from Bolivia was banned in 1984, but illegal export continues¹. The Asociación Armonía/Loro Parque Fundación parrot trade monitoring project has not recorded the species in trade for the last two years¹³, but the large scale illegal trade infrastructure in Bolivia means there is the potential to start trapping again if there is a demand. Agreement has been reached with some landowners to control access and deter potential trappers, and negotiations with other landowners continue^3,4. Based on field surveys recommendations have been made that the Paraparau region, Beni Department, be given greater conservation priority¹¹. Much of the remaining population occurs on private ranch-lands. Many landowners are sympathetic to conservation work on their lands and continued support will benefit the species's recovery. The population in captivity (some of which is held in captive-breeding facilities) is many times larger than the wild population. A nest box campaign has been run since 2004 and has found that there is a great demand for suitable nesting cavitites. Work with indigenous people looking for alternatives for headdress macaw feathers is ongoing. There has been a widespread education programme, including pamphlets, posters, T-shirts, and presentations, short-wave radio spots, video programs, TV interviews, travel to the most remote ranches giving presentations on laptops, and creation of interpretation centres in the bottle-neck towns of Trinidad, Santa Rosa and Santa Ana. Other measures include ongoing surveys of potential areas where populations may persist; a pet trade monitoring programme in two main Bolivian cities and land acquisition programs in order to protect key habitat and populations. Asociación Armonía, with the help of the American Bird Conservancy and World Land Trust, completed the purchase of a 3,555 ha private reserve protecting at least 20 Blue-throated Macaws in November 2008¹⁴. The reserve will be used for education, research and tourism, and an additional 100 nest boxes will be in place for the 2008/2009 breeding season¹³. The World Parrot Trust is also involved in nest protection, feeding chicks and other manipulation.

Conservation measures proposed Continue nest guarding and monitoring. Expand, monitor and improve nest boxes. Illegal pet trade monitoring. Lobby local and national government regarding illegal pet trade. Research and promote the acquisition of land for Blue-throated Macaw long-term conservation, habitat restoration studies and sustainable tourism support. Continue wide-ranging education programmes, especially in Santa Rosa y Santa Ana area - supported by interpretive centres. Develop alternatives and controls to macaw feather headdress usage. Develop tourism infrastructure on private reserve land to sustainably support protecting areas, and to control the negative impact Blue-throated Macaw tourism can have throughout the area. Maintain a low level of population monitoring and occasional new surveys. Field research to identify principal health threats.

References Collar et al. (1992). Herrera and Hennessey (in press). 1. Duffield and Hesse (1997). 2. Hesse (1996). 3. Hesse (1998). 4. A. Hesse in litt. (1999). 5. Snyder et al. (2000). 6. Yamashita and Barros (1997). 7. Hesse and Duffield (2000). 8. Armonía (2001). 9. Anon. (2002). 10. Loro Parque Fundación (2003). 11. Tobias (2003). 12. Waugh (2007). 13. B. Hennessey in litt. (2008). 14. BirdLife International (2008).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species account from the Threatened birds of the Americas: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 1992). Please note, taxonomic treatment and IUCN Red List category may have changed since publication.

Recuento detallado de la especie tomado del libro Aves Amenazadas de las Americas, Libro Rojo de BirdLife International (BirdLife International 1992). Nota: la taxonomoía y la categoría de la Lista Roja de la UICN pudo haber cambiado desde esta publicación.

Species Guardian Action Update November 2008

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), David Capper (BirdLife International), Tom Stuart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Contributors A. Bennett Hennessey (Asociación Armonía), A Hesse, Joe Tobias (BirdLife International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Jens Otto Svendsen, Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Ara glaucogularis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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