Chapter 7 the Neotropics (Americas)
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The following is a section of a document properly cited as: Snyder, N., McGowan, P., Gilardi, J., and Grajal, A. (eds.) (2000) Parrots. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000–2004. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 180 pp. © 2000 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the World Parrot Trust It has been reformatted for ease of use on the internet . The resolution of the photographs is considerably reduced from the printed version. If you wish to purchase a printed version of the full document, please contact: IUCN Publications Unit 219c Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK. Tel: (44) 1223 277894 Fax: (44) 1223 277175 Email: [email protected] The World Parrot Trust World Parrot Trust UK World Parrot Trust USA Order on-line at: Glanmor House PO Box 353 www.worldparrottrust.org Hayle, Cornwall Stillwater, MN 55082 TR27 4HB, United Kingdom Tel: 651 275 1877 Tel: (44) 1736 753365 Fax: 651 275 1891 Fax (44) 1736 751028 Island Press Box 7, Covelo, California 95428, USA Tel: 800 828 1302, 707 983 6432 Fax: 707 983 6414 E-mail: [email protected] Order on line: www.islandpress.org The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or the Species Survival Commission. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK. Copyright: © 2000 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the World Parrot Trust Reproduction of this publication for educational and other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holders. Citation: Snyder, N., McGowan, P., Gilardi, J., and Grajal, A. (eds.) (2000) Parrots. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan 2000– 2004. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 180 pp. ISBN: 2-8317-0504-5 Cover photo: Kakapo, Strigops habroptilus. Illustration from Parrots of the World courtesy of W.T. Cooper. Produced by: The Nature Conservation Bureau Ltd, Newbury, UK. Printed by: Information Press, Oxford, UK. Chapter 7 The Neotropics (Americas) Overview by Collar et al. (1994) but for which current information suggests a rapid decline in conservation status or for which Alejandro Grajal discrete populations are under substantial threat. Four species (yellow-billed parrot Amazona collaria, Hispaniolan With nearly 4,130 species, the Neotropics harbour almost parrot Amazona ventralis, great-green macaw Ara ambigua, 44% of the world’s avifauna and a generous representation and grey-cheeked parakeet Brotogeris pyrrhopterus) are of parrots (148 species in 27 genera: Wege and Long 1995). herewith included on the List, in agreement with BirdLife Parrot species diversity is especially great in the genera International, bringing the number of threatened species to Amazona and Aratinga (31 and 19 species respectively), 46. A further four taxa are noted as being worthy of further although the Neotropics also hosts 10 monotypic genera investigation of their status. These include the yellow- such as Leptosittaca, Myiopsitta, and Gypopsitta. Sizes naped parrot Amazona auropalliata, which is under range from the diminutive species of parrotlet, Forpus, to tremendous current trade pressure and deserves priority the hyacinth macaw, the largest parrot in the world. attention. Also included is the Cuban amazon Amazona Neotropical parrots live in many different ecological settings leucocephala, particularly for its fragile distinct and have evolved different life history traits. Some species subpopulations in the Bahamas and Cayman Islands. show significant ecological and behavioural flexibility, and Similarly, the scarlet macaw Ara macao, which is relatively have become naturalised outside their regular ranges. For common and has a large distribution in South America, example, today it is not rare to see feral populations of probably numbers fewer than 1,000 individuals in all Central parrots in suburban and urban areas both in the Neotropics America, fewer than 200 in Costa Rica, and possibly a few and in warmer subtropical regions. Other species are hundred in the Maya forests of Belize, Mexico, and restricted to specific habitats (for example, Anodorhynchus Guatemala (Wiedenfeld 1994). Without urgent attention, leari is restricted to Sertâo palm habitats of the Brazilian the Central American populations can be expected to Caatinga and Ognorhynchus icterotis is restricted to disappear in the near future. Finally, the elusive saffron- Ceroxylum palm forests of the high Andes). Yet others are headed parrot Pionopsitta pyrilia, is included as populations highly nomadic (e.g., Nannopsittaca panychlora, are considered very small and its habitat in Colombia is Leptosittaca branickii and Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha). dwindling rapidly. Parrots are distributed from Northern Mexico to Tierra del Fuego at the southernmost tip of South America, and from the edge of glaciers in the high Andes to the steaming Threats forests of Amazonia. The distribution ranges of some species are large, particularly those parrots associated with The main threats to Neotropical parrot species are habitat lowland humid rainforests and savannas. However, many loss, hunting, and the live bird trade. Species such as species have extremely restricted ranges, particularly those Anodorhynchus leari and Cyanopsitta spixii face imminent of the Northern Andes, the Atlantic forest of south-eastern extinction largely due to the live bird trade (Reynolds Brazil, the dry habitats of the Cerrado and Caatinga of 1997). Some of the most threatened Neotropical parrots Brazil, and the Lesser Antillean Islands of the Caribbean. suffer from the apocalyptic double threats of trade and The species accounts in this Action Plan discuss 50 habitat loss. These species include the most attractive species of Neotropical parrots that are classified as globally parrots and macaws in severely pressurised or impacted threatened by Collar et al. (1994). Several others have habitats, including Anodorhynchus leari, Cyanopsitta spixii, become extinct in historic times, including the Carolina Ara militaris, Ara ambigua, Guarouba (Aratinga) guarouba, parakeet Conuropsis carolinensis in eastern North America, and a number of Amazona species including A. brasiliensis, the Cuban macaw Ara tricolor, and the glaucous macaw A. oratrix, and A. pretrei. Table 6 provides a list of Anodorhynchus glaucus in the Misiones forest of southern threatened parrot species in the Neotropics. Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay. Spix’s macaw Cyanopsitta spixii is now believed to exist almost entirely in captivity (Collar et al. 1992, Juniper and Yamashita 1990, The bird trade 1991, Wege and Long 1995). The Neotropical species accounts also include several Trapping for the bird trade in the Neotropics has occurred parrot species that were not considered globally threatened since pre-European times, as Amerindians valued macaws, 98 parrots, and feather ornaments as ritualistic and trade Habitat loss and fragmentation objects. At present, owning wild parrots as pets remains socially acceptable in most Neotropical countries, even Habitat loss is an important threat to some of the most where it is known that their ownership is technically threatened parrots in the Neotropics, although illegal. understanding of specific “cause and effect” relationships International trade in parrots has been significantly between parrot population declines and changes in land- reduced during the 1990s, mainly as a result of adoption of use patterns remains rudimentary at best, particularly for national legislation, tighter enforcement of CITES extremely threatened species such as Ognorhynchus regulations, the reviews of significant trade in Appendix II icterotis. However, many parrots are not habitat specialists species by the CITES Animals Committee, adoption of and thrive in heterogeneous mosaics of different stricter domestic measures under the European Union successional habitats. For example, many species of legislation, adoption of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in lowland forest habitats seem to do relatively well in the USA, and transportation restrictions imposed by modified human environments as long as a mosaic of commercial airlines. These measures have contributed to habitats in different successional stages is maintained and the significant reduction in the overall volume of birds the poaching of nestlings and the shooting and trapping of traded from the Neotropics to the rest of the world. adults remain at low levels. As a result of this reduction in volume, the remaining Parrots that appear to be most threatened by habitat international trade has concentrated on illegal loss occur in the following regions: smuggling of uncommon species that command high a) Species in the tropical Andes that require altitudinal prices, such as Lear’s and hyacinth macaws and several migrations between different elevations (e.g., amazon Amazona species. Illegal trade in smuggled Ognorhynchus icterotis, Leptosittaca branickii, Ara parrots apparently continues across the US-Mexico ambigua guayaquilensis, and Hapalopsittaca fuertesi); border (Wiedenfeld 1993, 1995) and is sometimes b) Species living in isolated forest remnants of the Atlantic associated with sophisticated smuggling rings dealing forest of east and south-east Brazil, (e.g., Pyrrhura mainly