Blue-throated Macaw: Blue Beard

_{This YouTube video was produced by the American Bird Conservancy.}

For many years, the beautiful Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis) was known to those outside the Beni savanna only through captive specimens, and was thought by some to be extinct in the wild, a victim of the illegal wild bird trade and habitat loss. Local people in the area knew the bird persisted, however, and in 1992, a population of approximately 50 macaws was documented in northeastern Bolivia. The macaws had held out in the “islands” of palm trees that rise above the Beni savanna’s vast, seasonally flooded plains.

The species’ Bolivian name, paraba barba azul, means “blue-bearded macaw,” a nod to its namesake blue throat. This feature distinguishes it from the more common Blue-and-yellow Macaw, a species often found roosting alongside the Blue-throated Macaw.

Additional wild populations have been documented in recent decades. Intensive conservation efforts — including the establishment of private reserves by ABC and our partner, Asociación Armonía, and ongoing monitoring of the illegal wild bird trade — have helped the Blue-throated Macaw’s population increase. Even so, the Blue-throated Macaw remains one of the world’s rarest parrot species.

Also known as: Barba Azul (Bolivian), Wagler’s Macaw

Learn more about the Blue-throated Macaw at https://abcbirds.org/birds/blue-throated-macaw/