Blue-headed macaw  (Primolius couloni)

This colourful macaw has been uplisted to Endangered on the IUCN Red List 2006 due to the small size of the population thought to remain, which is heading towards extinction due to exploitation for the caged-bird trade (1). Before 1995, international trade was virtually unknown, but recent years have seen a dramatic increase in legal and illegal trade in this species, both in national and international markets (4). Sadly, the bird’s rarity only increases its demand and market value, with collectors paying as much as US$ 12,500 in some European countries, providing a strong financial incentive to poach for international markets. This species’ low reproductive rate means that continued harvest is likely to seriously jeopardise its survival. Habitat loss is not currently a significant threat. Although the Bolivian forest is threatened by an expanding logging industry, much of the forest within this species’ range is still intact (7). Additionally, this bird appears to thrive in patchwork clearances within forests, so selective forest clearance may actually benefit the species (2) (7).

In 2003, the blue-headed macaw was upgraded to Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), effectively prohibiting all international trade (7). This bird is found in the Tambopata National Reserve, Bahuaja Sonene National Park and Manu National Park in Peru, where it receives some degree of protection (2) (9). Ultimately, however, legislation preventing international trade needs to be more effectively enforced if this macaw is to have any chance of long term survival, and local people need to be made fully aware of the susceptibility of this species to unsustainable exploitation and the desperate need to conserve it (7). If left unchecked, the strong economic incentive to illegally collect and trade this rare, vivid-coloured bird on international markets could quickly drive the beautiful blue-headed macaw to extinction (4).