Red-fronted Macaw(Ara rubrogenys)
It is also sometimes known in the literature as Lafresnaye's Macaw, named for the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye, who was one of the first to describe the species. The red-fronted macaw is 55–60 cm long. It is mostly green, and has a red forehead, a red patch over the ears and bright red to orange edged under wing coverts. It has an area of pinkish skin around the eyes extending to the beak. It has red at the bend of wings and blue primary wing feathers.
Habitat
The red-fronted macaw is native to a small mountainous area of south-central Bolivia situated about 200 km west of Santa Cruz, in the department of the same name, where the climate is medium altitude semi-desert. The natural vegetation consists mostly of cactus (large and small) and thorny trees and scrub. The climate is semi arid with cold nights and hot days. Rain comes in infrequent heavy storms. It is unusual in that it is the only macaw to inhabit such a climatic zone. Most macaws nest in holes in large trees, however here there are no very large trees in its range so it nests in vertical fissures in cliff faces.
Diet
Diet includes seeds and fruits but this often scarce so birds feed also on crop plants such as maize, peanuts and groundnuts.
Breeding
The breeding season for the red-fronted macaw is between October and March. Chicks fledge around 70 days after hatching. Nests are built in cliffs and usually several pairs will nest in the same area, forming a small colony.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Critically Endangered(CR). The population is estimated to number at most 600 individuals. Taking the most precautionary approach, including only the currently-breeding individuals results in a population estimate of approximately 134-272 mature individuals. A rapid ongoing population decline is suspected owing to continued illegal trade, compounded by habitat loss and persecution as a crop pest.
Threats
Its original natural habitat is inter-Andean dry forest but this has been degraded to thorn and cactus scrub by centuries of highly unsustainable human activities, nowadays mainly overgrazing by goats, firewood cutting and charcoal production. An estimated 40% of natural vegetation in valleys within its range had been converted to agriculture by 1991, with other areas degraded by intense grazing. Several important food trees are harvested for fuel and charcoal. As food plants are lost, agricultural land is used more, thereby increasing the species's exposure to persecution as a crop-pest, and the use of firearms for pest control has been recorded. Macaws are also potentially threatened by pesticides applied to crops where macaws forage mostly during the non-breeding season. Illegal trapping continues, but has been reduced as a result of legal protection. The majority of the Bolivian parrot trade is domestic, but more valuable threatened species end up in Peru or further afield. 26 Red-fronted Macaws were recorded passing through the Los Pozos pet market, Santa Cruz between August 2004-July 2005, and there are four other wildlife markets in the city and others in Cochabamba, suggesting this figure may only represent a small proportion of birds illegally trafficked in the country. In 2011, 45 Red-fronted Macaws were recorded in houses; some had been taken from nests as nestlings, but most of them were trapped when foraging in crops. In 2017, more than 100 individuals were found as cage birds in local communities. Most were kept as pets, but some were to sell to in major cities. The two main threats appear to be nest-poaching and trapping for local pet supply, and persecution as crop pests (especially in corn and peanut cultivations), and possibly contamination by pesticides applied to crops.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix I and II. It is considered nationally Critically Endangered in Bolivia. Its capture, transport and export is prohibited under Bolivian law, although this is not effectively enforced. In 1992, 5,000 posters urging the protection of macaws and their habitat were made and apparently well received throughout the region. Non-breeding birds occur in the southern edge of Amboro National Park . Two municipal protected areas have been created at Pasorapa (1,796 km2) and Mollepampa-Lagarpampa (303 km2). Armonía has a long-term conservation project on the Rio Mizque working with three subsistence farming communities to protect a breeding cliff with 11-13 active nests. An ecotourism lodge was inaugurated here in 2006 with proceeds going to the local communities, and it is planned to establish a protected area at this site. There are significant numbers of the species at the Santa Cruz Zoo in Bolivia and at zoos and in private holdings outside Bolivia, but no formal management plan for these birds.
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Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue surveying and monitoring. Fence key patches of gallery forest to limit cattle-grazing and permit vegetation to regenerate. Effectively enforce trade laws. Organise awareness campaigns. Identify suitable sites for protected areas throughout the species's range. Establish education programs to reduce nest-poaching and trapping. Assess the costs of compensating crop damage to avoid persecution of macaws in agricultural areas, and investigate alternatives to resolve the conflict between agriculture and macaw conservation as the main threat for the species. Create a management plan for captive birds in ex-situ conservation, involving Bolivia and foreign countries, and incorporate pets and illegally traded birds into this programme.