Hyacinth Macaw Mated Pair (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)
Southwild Pantanal Lodge
The Pantanal
Brazil
South America
Formerly widespread in gallery forest or woodland, now the most numerous in the Pantanal. Elsewhere is very rare or absent. They are the longest macaw length. Flocks can be as large as 40-50 birds. Many landowners offer protection to these birds helping to stabilize the population.
All 18 species of macaws are threatened. The primary causes are habitat loss and heavy exploitation for the pet trade. The hyacinth macaw is especially vulnerable to capture and habitat destruction because it is noisy, intrinsically fearless, predictable, and dependent on palm trees.
Hyacinth macaws brought $5,000 to $10,000 each in the pet trade as of 1988. This high price fosters a dangerous level of poaching and smuggling. Data and anecdotal evidence suggest that as many as 10,000 Hyacinth macaws were taken from the wild during the 1980s.
The United States is the largest market for the exotic pet trade. In the last decade, 8.5 million birds, at least 85 percent of birds captured in the wild, were imported or smuggled into the United States. Even when the export of birds is controlled, the domestic bird trade often is not regulated. Millions of tropical birds, including parrots and macaws, are captured for local sale with about 50 percent of hyacinth macaws trapped in Brazil were bought by Brazilians rather than being sold overseas.
The hyacinth macaw’s habitat has been lost to hydroelectric power development; vast tracts of their former riverside habitat have been flooded by dam building. Habitat modification through human encroachment and conversion to cattle ranching also are significant threats. – Wikipedia
Hyacinth Macaw Mated Pair (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)
Southwild Pantanal Lodge
The Pantanal
Brazil
South America
Formerly widespread in gallery forest or woodland, now the most numerous in the Pantanal. Elsewhere is very rare or absent. They are the longest macaw length. Flocks can be as large as 40-50 birds. Many landowners offer protection to these birds helping to stabilize the population.
All 18 species of macaws are threatened. The primary causes are habitat loss and heavy exploitation for the pet trade. The hyacinth macaw is especially vulnerable to capture and habitat destruction because it is noisy, intrinsically fearless, predictable, and dependent on palm trees.
Hyacinth macaws brought $5,000 to $10,000 each in the pet trade as of 1988. This high price fosters a dangerous level of poaching and smuggling. Data and anecdotal evidence suggest that as many as 10,000 Hyacinth macaws were taken from the wild during the 1980s.
The United States is the largest market for the exotic pet trade. In the last decade, 8.5 million birds, at least 85 percent of birds captured in the wild, were imported or smuggled into the United States. Even when the export of birds is controlled, the domestic bird trade often is not regulated. Millions of tropical birds, including parrots and macaws, are captured for local sale with about 50 percent of hyacinth macaws trapped in Brazil were bought by Brazilians rather than being sold overseas.
The hyacinth macaw’s habitat has been lost to hydroelectric power development; vast tracts of their former riverside habitat have been flooded by dam building. Habitat modification through human encroachment and conversion to cattle ranching also are significant threats. – Wikipedia