Blue-throated macaw
The blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis), also known as the Caninde macaw or Wagler's macaw, is a macaw endemic to a small area of north-central Bolivia, known as Los Llanos de Moxos. In 2014 this species was designated by law as a natural patrimony of Bolivia. Until 2010, it was hunted by native people to make feathered "Moxeño" headdresses for "machetero" ritual dances.
| Blue-throated macaw | |
|---|---|
| At Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Ohio, USA | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Psittaciformes |
| Family: | Psittacidae |
| Genus: | Ara |
| Species: | A. glaucogularis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ara glaucogularis Dabbene, 1921 | |
| Distribution range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Recent population and range estimates suggest that about 208–303 adult individuals remain in the wild. Its demise was brought upon by nesting competition, avian predation, and a small native range, exacerbated by indigenous hunting and capture for the pet trade. Current threats continue to include hunting and trapping as well as tree cutting, invasive species, disease, and use of powders or foams used to extinguish fires. It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in the wild and is protected by trading prohibitions.
The name "Wagler's macaw" is in honor of German herpetologist and ornithologist Johann Georg Wagler, who processed many of Johan Baptist von Spix's Brazilian collections at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and first described the blue macaws for a European readership in Monographia Psittacorum (1832).