The red-fronted macaw (''Ara rubrogenys'') is a

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to a small semi-desert mountainous area of

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. It is a

critically endangered species An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the ...

; it has been successfully bred in captivity, and is available, if not common, as a pet. It is also sometimes known in the literature as Lafresnaye's macaw, named for the French ornithologist

Frédéric de Lafresnaye Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye (24 July 1783 – 14 July 1861) was a French ornithologist and collector. Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in Falaise, Normandy. He took an early in ...

, who was one of the first to describe the species.

Description

The red-fronted macaw is long. It is mostly green, and has a red forehead, a red patch over the ears and bright red to orange edged under wing coverts. It has an area of pinkish skin around the eyes extending to the beak. It has red at the bend of wings and blue primary wing feathers.

Range and habitat

The red-fronted macaw is native to a small mountainous area of south-central

situated about 200 km west of Santa Cruz, in the department of the same name, where the climate is medium altitude semi-desert. The natural vegetation consists mostly of

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

(large and small) and thorny

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and scrub. The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

is semi

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

with cold nights and hot days. Rain comes in infrequent heavy storms. It is unusual in that it is the only macaw to inhabit such a climatic zone. Most macaws nest in holes in large trees, however here there are no very large trees in its range so it nests in vertical

fissures A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

in cliff faces. The bird has been captured for the pet trade in the past and killed by local farmers because it raids their crops. Ara rubrogenys -Jurong Bird Park -8a

Gallery

Image:Ara rubrogenys -Jurong BirdPark-8.jpg, Upper body Image:Ara rubrogenys -head-6.jpg, Head Image:Ara rubrogenys -20030516.jpg, Side –

Jurong BirdPark Jurong Bird Park was an aviary and tourist attraction in Jurong, Singapore between 1971 and 2023. The largest such bird park in Asia, it covered an area of on the western slope of Jurong Hill, the highest point in the Jurong region. It was one ...

, Singapore File:Red-fronted Macaw (Ara rubrogenys) -on branch-3cp.jpg, Wing clipped File:Ara rubrogenys -Zoo de Doué-la-fontaine-8a-2c.jpg, In the air File:Ara rubrogenys -Doué la Fontaine zoo-flying-8a.jpg, Flying

References

External links

Red-fronted macaw videos
on the Internet Bird Collection * (for

)
Red-fronted macaw photo gallery
VIREO
Wild macaws (Bolivia section)

1840s illustration
by P. Oudart {{Taxonbar, from=Q838951 red-fronted macaw Birds of the Bolivian Andes Endemic birds of Bolivia red-fronted macaw Macaws Taxa named by Frédéric de Lafresnaye