Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T22:02:56.962Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Ecology, status and conservation of the Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Elin Pitter
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Mette Bohn Christiansen
Affiliation:
Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A five-month study of the Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys, endemic to Bolivia, yielded a population estimate of 2,000–4,000 individuals. The species is resident and locally common in, but restricted to, an area in the drainage systems of the Rio Grande, Rio Mizque and northern Rio Pilcomayo. One-third of the population was composed of juveniles some three months after the end of the breeding season. During the dry season, with food apparently short, more of the day was spent feeding than during the wet season. Semi-deciduous vegetation along the rivers produced fruits and seeds that sustained the macaws during the dry season, but the conversion of such areas to arable land forces the macaw to depend for some months on crops and weeds. Local farmers consider the macaw a serious pest on maize.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1995

References

Boussekey, M., Saint-Pie, J. and Morvan, O. (1991) Observations on a population of Red-fronted Macaws Ara rubrogenys in the Rio Caine valley, central Bolivia. Bird Con-serv. Internatn. 1: 335350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandt, A. and Machado, R. B. (1989) Study of the feeding area and feeding behavior of the Lear's Macaw. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Brereton, J. le G. (1971) Inter-animal control of space. Pp.6991 in Esser, A. H. ed. Behavior and environment: the use of space by animals and men. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Christiansen, M. B. and Pitter, E. (1993a) Aspects of breeding behaviour of Red-fronted Macaws, Ara rubrogenys, in the wild. Gerfaut 8283: 5161.Google Scholar
Christiansen, M. B. and Pitter, E. (1993b) Aspects of behaviour of juvenile Red-fronted Macaws, Ara rubrogenys, in the wild. Gerfaut 8283: 6369.Google Scholar
Clarke, R. O. S. and Duran Patino, E. (1991) The Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys in Bolivia: distribution, abundance, biology and conservation. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Collar, N. J., Gonzaga, L. P., Krabbe, N., Madrono Nieto, A., Naranjo, L. G., Parker, T. A. and Wege, D. C. (1992) Threatened birds of the Americas: the ICBP/IUCN Red Data Book (Third edition, part 2). Cambridge, U.K.: International Council for Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
Fjeldså, J., Krabbe, N. and Ridgely, R. S. (1987) Great Green Macaw Ara ambigua collected in northwest Ecuador, with taxonomic comments on Ara militaris. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 107: 2831.Google Scholar
Forshaw, J. M. (1989) Parrots of the world. Third revised edition. Willoughby, Australia: Lansdowne Editions.Google Scholar
Fuller, K. S. and Gaski, A. (1987) Update to Latin American wildlife trade laws. Washington D.C.: World Wildlife Fund.Google Scholar
Hueck, K. (1966) Die Wälder Südamerikas. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischei/Verlag.Google Scholar
Hueck, K. and Seibert, P. (1972) Vegetationskarte von Siidamerika. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag.Google Scholar
Jones, D. (1987) Feeding ecology of the Cockatiel, Nymphicus hollandicus, in a grain-growing area. Austral. Wildl. Res. 14: 105115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanning, D. V. (1982) Survey of the Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys and Caninde Macaw Ara caninde in Bolivia, December 1981-03 1982. Unpublished.Google Scholar
Lanning, D. V. (1991) Distribution and breeding ecology of the Red-fronted Macaw. Wilson Bull. 103: 357365.Google Scholar
Long, J. L. (1985) Damage to cultivated fruit by parrots in the south of Western Australia. Austral. Wildl. Res. 12: 7580.Google Scholar
Low, R. (1990) Macaws: a complete guide. London: Merehurst.Google Scholar
Montes de Oca, I. (1989) Geografia y recursos naturales de Bolivia. La Paz: Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Bolivia.Google Scholar
Munn, C. A. (1992) Macaw biology and tourism, or “when a bird in the bush is worth two in the hand”. Pp. 4772 in Beissinger, S. R. and Snyder, N. F. R. eds. New World parrots in crisis: solutions from conservation biology. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.Google Scholar
Murton, R. K. (1971). Why do some bird species feed in flocks? Ibis 113: 534536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ridgely, R. S. (1980) The current distribution and status of mainland Neotropical parrots. Pp. 233384 in Pasquier, R. F. ed. Conservation of New World parrots. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press for the International Council for Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
Rowley, I. (1990) Behavioural ecology of the Galah Eolophus roseicapillus in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. New South Wales: Surrey Beatty and Sons.Google Scholar
Solomon, J. C. (1989) Bolivia. Pp. 455463 in Campbell, D. G. and Hammond, H. D. eds. Floristic inventory of tropical countries. New York: New York Botanical Garden.Google Scholar
Stearns, S. C. (1976) Life history tactics: a review of the ideas. Q. Rev. Biol. 51: 347.Google Scholar
Taylor, R. H. (1985) Status, habits and conservation of Cyanoramphus parakeets in the New Zealand region. Pp. 195211 in Moorsed, P. J., ed Conservation of island birds. Cambridge, U.K.: International Council for Bird Preservation (Techn. Publ. 3).Google Scholar