FEATURE


trees, such as Ceiba pentandra, and these may be very scarce in fragmented forested areas. One study in Mexico indicated that unless there is 3km between each breeding pair, aggressive encounters are likely.


Scarlet Macaws apparently prefer trees that are not covered in vines which assist predators to reach the nest. In Belize Sharon Matola and Eligono Sho studied the macaw in the Upper Macal area. During 2001 one nest that they monitored lost both young to a tayra (Eira barbara). The tayra had climbed a nearby tree that had vines along its trunk and observed the young. When they left the nest they landed, on their first flight, in a low bushy area and the tayra killed both of them.


informed about the differences so I hope those lucky enough to possess these gorgeous birds will hurry outside to check their breeding pairs! The two usual reasons for parrot declines apply strongly to this macaw. They are poaching for the pet trade and loss of habitat. While these reasons apply equally to the Scarlet Macaw in South America, its range there and the much larger forested areas increase its possibility of survival. Scarlet Macaws nest in very large


HABITAT We tend to associate large macaws with the Amazon, with its still extensive areas of rainforest. However, Ara macao cyanoptera is also found in open habitats in Central America. According to Wiedenfeld (1998) in Honduras and Nicaragua it does occur in tall, evergreen tropical forest, but is more common in lowland gallery forests in the pine savannas and formerly in the mixed pine /broad-leaved wood1ands of the lower mountainous areas. It also inhabited the tropical deciduous forest of the Pacific Slope of Central America. In the lowland


BIRD SCENE 43


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