| 2009 IUCN Red List Category (as evaluated by BirdLife International - the official Red List Authority for birds for IUCN): Vulnerable Justification This species is listed as Vulnerable because levels of habitat loss and capture for the cagebird trade indicate that there is a continuing rapid population decline. Its future ought to be secured by the large number of national parks in which it occurs, but many of these currently provide ineffective protection.
Family/Sub-family Psittacidae Species name author (Linnaeus, 1766) Taxonomic source(s) AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), SACC (2005 + updates), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993), Stotz et al. (1996) Identification 70 cm. Large, green macaw. Overall dark lime-green. Red forehead and bare white facial area with black lines. Blue tinge to hindneck. Flight feathers blue above and olive below. Blue lower back. Tail blue and red. All-black bill. Similar spp. Almost identical, but probably allopatric, Great Green Macaw Ara ambigua has greener hindneck and pale-tipped maxilla. Voice Noisy and harsh cr-a-a-a-k and various shrieking cries. |  |
Population estimate | Population trend | Range estimate (breeding/resident) | Country endemic? | 10,000-19,999 | decreasing | 276,000 km2 | No |
Range & population Ara militaris occupies a massive but fragmented range from Mexico to Argentina. In Mexico, it occurs from central Sonora to Guerrero on the Pacific slope and east Nuevo León to San Luis Potosí on the Atlantic slope6. In Colombia, it is known from the Guajira Peninsula and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta through the Sierras de Perijá and de San Lucas, south along the East Andes, with local populations on the Pacific slope in Chocó, the Cauca valley, the head of the Magdalena valley and in the Sierra de la Macarena7,12. It is very local in north Venezuela, and occurs disjunctly in the east Andes of Ecuador, Peru (also in the río Chinchipe drainage1), Bolivia and north-west Argentina. It has been extirpated from many areas, especially in Mexico (practically extirpated from most of Veracruz and Hidalgo on the Atlantic side, and Chiapas, Oaxaca, as well as coastal regions of Guerrero and Michoacan on the Pacific slope 6,15) and Argentina (the only record since 1991 is of up to five birds in 2005-2007 at Finca Itaguazuti, Salta Province2,19, and is very local elsewhere. Populations in Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia face continuing threats, and further extirpations are expected.
|  | Important Bird Areas Click here to view map showing IBAs where species is recorded and triggers any of the IBA criteria. | Ecology: It inhabits humid lowland forest and adjacent cleared areas, wooded foothills and canyons. In Mexico, it is found in arid and semi-arid woodland, and pine-oak, humid lowland and riparian forest, moving seasonally to dense thorn-forest9,13, although in Puno, Peru it was found to be more abundant in a mosaic of shade coffee plantations and degraded remnant forest patches than in neighbouring pristine Yungas forest17. It occurs from sea-level to 3,100 m, but the core range is 500-1,500 m 9. Nests and large communal roosts are sited on cliff-faces or in large trees6,9,14.
| Threats Habitat loss and especially domestic trade are the chief threats, even within reserves12. In 1991-1995, 96 wild-caught specimens were found in international trade, with Bolivia and Mexico possibly the most significant exporters2,18. In many areas it nests in relatively inaccessible cavities on cliff walls, which provides some protection against the pressures of nest poaching. However, nest poaching is a severe threat in Jalisco and Nayarit where the species nests in tree cavities15,16. In Jalisco, Mexico, macaws were not found in deforested areas, even where abundant Hura polyandra (an important food source) were left as shade for cattle13. GARP analysis estimates that the species has suffered 23% habitat loss within its range in Mexico20.
| | Conservation measures underway CITES Appendix I and II, and legally protected in Venezuela and Peru. There are reasonably healthy populations in El Cielo and Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserves, Mexico10,15, Madidi and Amboró National Parks, Pilon Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Apolobamba National Integrated Management Area, Bolivia5,9,11,17, and Manu Biosphere Reserve and Bahuaja Sonene National Park in Peru17; a small but stable remnant population in Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Biosphere Reserve, Oaxaca, Mexico15,16, with populations in at least some of the other protected areas in its potential range1,3,4,5,8,11,12.
| | Conservation measures proposed Assess its population status and ecological requirements. Monitor the largest known populations. Control capture and trade of wild birds, beginning in reserves4,12. Improve management and awareness initiatives in and around national parks.
| References 1. Begazo in litt. (1999). 2. Chebez (1994). 3. Chebez et al. (1998). 4. Desenne and Strahl (1994). 5. B. Hennessey in litt. (1999). 6. Howell and Webb (1995a). 7. Hilty and Brown (1986). 8. IUCN (1992). 9. Juniper and Parr (1998). 10. J. Lyons in litt. (1998). 11. D. Ricalde in litt. (1999). 12. Snyder et al. (2000). 13. Renton (2004). 14. Cruz-Nieto et al. (2006). 15. K. Renton in litt. (2007). 16. C. Bonilla in litt. (2007). 17. S. K. Herzog in litt. (2007). 18. D. Brightsmith in litt. (2007). 19. M. Juárez in litt. (2007). 20. Ríos Muñoz (2002).
| Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Isabel Isherwood (BirdLife International), Tom Stuart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International) | Contributors Alfredo Begazo (University of Florida), Carlos Bonilla, Donald Brightsmith (Duke University), A. Bennett Hennessey (Asociación Armonía), S. K. Herzog (Asociación Armonía), Marcos Juárez, J. Lyons, Katherine Renton (Estacion de Biologia Chamela), David G. Ricalde | IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International) |
| Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Ara militaris. 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. To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums |
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