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Wildlife Guide · Colombia & Peru

Macaw

Ara spp. / Anodorhynchus spp.

Among the most trafficked birds on earth — taken by the tens of thousands every year.

IUCN: Critically Endangered
Scarlet macaw perched in a tropical forest at dawn

In brief

Macaws are large tropical parrots native to Central and South America; multiple species are Critically Endangered due to the illegal wildlife trade and deforestation.

~6,500

Hyacinth macaws remaining in the wild

66%

Of chicks die before reaching a buyer

10+

Macaw species threatened with extinction

0

Spix's macaws known in the wild

Key Facts: Macaw

  • The Spix's macaw is now extinct in the wild — the last known wild individual disappeared in 2000.
  • The hyacinth macaw, the world's largest flying parrot, has a wild population estimated at around 6,500.
  • Macaws are taken as chicks from nest cavities in hollow trees — poachers often fell entire trees to reach a single nest.
  • Chicks have extremely high mortality in transit: dehydration, stress, injury, and disease kill the majority before they reach a buyer.
  • Macaws pair for life and can live for 60–80 years in captivity — illegal possession creates a decades-long welfare burden.
  • Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil are the primary source and transit countries for trafficked macaws.

How Is the Macaw Trade Organised?

The illegal macaw trade operates in layers. Local poachers in source countries locate nest trees, extract chicks, and sell to regional middlemen. Chicks are transported — often stuffed into PVC tubes, cloth sacks, or hidden in vehicle panels — to urban markets or export hubs. Corrupt customs officials facilitate export to demand markets in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. By the time a live bird reaches its buyer, dozens of others have died in transit. The trade is driven by consumer demand for exotic pets and, in some cases, by collectors seeking rare colour variants.

What Happens to Rescued Macaws?

Macaws seized at ports of entry or rescued from trade networks arrive at reception centres in poor condition — malnourished, dehydrated, and often with wing injuries from clipping or confinement. Triage involves rehydration, medical assessment, and quarantine. Birds with intact flight feathers and no severe imprinting can progress through rehabilitation and, eventually, soft release into protected habitat. Imprinted birds — those raised in prolonged human contact — cannot be released safely and require lifetime aviary care. The shortage of appropriate sanctuary facilities means many confiscated birds have nowhere adequate to go.

Macaw Conservation in Practice

Effective macaw conservation requires simultaneous work on multiple fronts: protecting nesting trees in key forest areas, working with customs authorities to improve detection at borders, building triage and rehabilitation capacity at receiving centres, and running community education programmes in source areas. Nest box programmes have shown strong results for some species — providing alternative nest sites that are easier to monitor and protect than hollow trees. WARN supports all of these approaches through its partner network in Colombia, Peru, and Indonesia.

What WARN Does

WARN works with rescue and rehabilitation centres in Colombia and Peru to fund triage capacity, aviary infrastructure, and soft-release programmes. We also support customs-detection training to improve interception rates at key border points.

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Macaw: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most trafficked bird in the world?
Parrots — including macaws — collectively represent the most heavily trafficked group of birds in the illegal wildlife trade. Tens of thousands enter trade each year. Among individual species, the African grey parrot and various macaw species consistently appear at the top of seizure statistics.
Why do so many macaws die in the illegal trade?
Poachers extract young chicks before they can fly, when they are most vulnerable. Chicks are transported in cramped, dark, and poorly ventilated conditions without food or water. Dehydration, stress-induced immune collapse, and injury mean that estimates suggest 66% or more of trafficked chicks die before reaching their destination.
Can confiscated macaws be returned to the wild?
It depends on the individual bird's history and condition. Birds seized young, before extensive human contact, with intact flight feathers can sometimes be rehabilitated and soft-released. Most adult birds confiscated after years of captivity cannot be released safely — they lack foraging skills, predator awareness, and flock integration.
Is it legal to own a macaw?
In many countries it is legal to own captive-bred macaws. Wild-caught birds are protected under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). The problem is that laundering wild-caught birds as captive-bred is common and difficult to detect without DNA testing.
Which macaw species are most at risk?
The Spix's macaw is extinct in the wild. The Lear's macaw has a wild population of around 1,300. The blue-throated macaw numbers fewer than 400 in the wild. The hyacinth macaw — the largest flying parrot — has around 6,500 individuals remaining.

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