Blue-throated Macaw
| Blue-throated Macaw | ||||||||||
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Blue-throated Macaw ( Ara glaucogularis ) |
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| Ara glaucogularis | ||||||||||
| Dabbene , 1921 |
The blue- throated macaw ( Ara glaucogularis ), also blue-throated macaw or Caninde's macaw , is a parrot from the family of real parrots (Psittacidae).
description
The blue-throated macaw is about 75 cm long, males and females do not differ externally. The top is blue from the forehead to the tip of the tail, the forehead with a greenish-blue sheen. The area around the eyes, reins and cheeks are bare, white, and rows of blue feathers run through them. From the lower cheeks to the throat, lap-shaped blue feathers adorn the blue-throated macaw, the rest of the body is yellow-orange in color. The wings and top of the body are blue, as are the tail feathers, and the wing mirror and underside of the tail are yellow-orange. The iris of the blue-throated macaw is yellowish, it has blackish-brown feet and its beak is black.
The already feathered young birds look almost identical to adult animals, but have darker cheeks and the iris is more brownish in color.
distribution
In 2017, the figures were for a free-living remnant of 250 to 300 individuals of the blue-throated macaw, which inhabit a small area in the lowland region of the Beni department in Bolivia .
Habitat
The blue-throated macaw lives in gallery forests along rivers and lakes and in semi-open swamp plains. Usually it can be found there in savannah areas with little grass and palm growth. These areas are flooded for up to five months a year and are inaccessible to humans. They share their habitat with the yellow and breasted macaw (Ara ararauna) and the scarlet macaw (Ara macao)
Diet, brood, way of life
Little is known about its life in the wild. Observations are mostly limited to foraging and eating palm nuts. It is a flocking bird that forms community groups with the Ara ararauna outside of the breeding season. In these flocks, the ratio between blue-throated and yellow-breasted macaws is approx. 1: 100. The Blue-throated Macaw finds breeding caves in palm trees in the wetlands. Its breeding biology corresponds to that of the yellow-breasted macaw, as both occupy the same ecological niche .
Brood
The breeding season begins in the southern parts of the range around December. A few weeks later in the northern areas. The clutch consists of up to three eggs. The young are fledged after about 100 days.
Danger
With only 250 to 300 individuals still living in the wild in Bolivia, the Ara glaucogularis must now be described as very rare and severely threatened with extinction. Man is primarily to blame for this. On the one hand, because in the past, but also today, nestlings were and are removed from the nesting holes for the illegal wild bird trade. And on the other hand, as with many other endangered species, a careless handling of the habitat of these birds by humans comes into play.
Thirdly, the feathers and body parts of wild parrots are used for various human rituals as body ornaments. It remains to be seen whether there are also blue-throated macaws among them.
The Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES) and the Convention on the Protection of Species of the European Union take account of the threat to this species from trade by listing the blue-throated macaw in WA I and Appendix A.
The Loro Parque Fundacion (LPF) is currently supporting a protection program of the Bolivian organization "Armonía" in the home country of the blue-throated macaw.
Confusion with the yellow and brown macaw
Before being described as a species in its own right, the Blue-throated Macaw was considered a subspecies of the Yellow and Black Macaw. In fact, both parrots share great similarities in size and color. On closer inspection, however, differences in the coloring and especially the shape of the face quickly become clear. In addition, the yellow and breasted macaw is more eager to learn and differs in its nature from the blue and white macaw.
Web links
- Ara glaucogularis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 18 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Ara glaucogularis in the Internet Bird Collection