© Janet Jean-Pierre Lyndall
pine savannas of the Mosquitia region of
Honduras and Nicaragua,
Ara macao cyanoptera can be encountered many kilometres
from broad-leaved forests and feeds
on the seeds of Caribbean pine (Pinus caribea) .
STATUS The Scarlet Macaw was listed on Appendix I of CITES in 1985, thus acknowledging that it was threatened by trade in wild birds. However, IUCN and BirdLife International place the Scarlet Macaw in the Least Concern category. While recognising that it is declining, due to habitat loss and “exploitation” (trapping and poaching), its large range is the justification for this category. The status of sub-species is not usually considered when categorising species for
44 BIRD SCENE
the level of threat or endangerment. However, BirdLife International concedes that cyanoptera has been assessed as meeting the IUCN Red List criteria for Endangered, on the basis of declines which are believed to exceed 50% over three generations. Endangered is the category in which it is placed under Mexican law. When Wiedenfeld described the new sub- species he stated that it was in danger of extinction and that although once widespread in southern Mexico and northern Central America, cyanoptera has been reduced to a small number of birds in isolated populations. It is extinct in El Salvador and had been almost completely extirpated from the Pacific slope in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua by the 1980s. There is a small remnant population on the Peninsula of
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