FEATURE


BY ROSEMARY LOW


SURVIVAL OF THE SCARLET MACAW


(ARA MACAO CYANOPTERA)


IN CENTRAL AMERICA


M


any people, even those with no interest in birds, are familiar with the Scarlet Macaw as a symbol of


the tropics. Its image decorates shirts, curtains and other fabrics, and even handbags, and is the subject of almost every kind of art form. The serious plight of this species in Central America, where it occurs from south-eastern Mexico to Panama, needs to be emphasised. It was only in 1994 that the macaws


from Central America were recognised as a separate sub-species, Ara macao cyanoptera, in a paper by David Wiedenfeld. It is distinguished from the nominate race by the yellow median and


secondary wing coverts being tipped with blue and lacking the green band that separates the yellow area from the blue tip. In A. m. macao, all yellow feathers with blue tips have a green band separating the yellow and blue. The overall appearance of the wing of Ara macao cyanoptera is one with little or no green. In contrast, individuals of nominate Ara macao macao have varying amounts of green in the wing (Wiedenfeld, 1994). This is the only sub-species recognised in the Scarlet Macaw. However, birds from the south of the range, from Brazil and perhaps other localities, have a reduced


BIRD SCENE 41


PART ONE


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