Why are Macaws in trouble?
The reasons for macaw decline are many and include habitat loss and collection for the pet trade (Forshaw 1989, Beissinger and Snyder 1992). Habitat loss may take many forms including clearing for agriculture and selective logging. Selective logging usually leaves much native vegetation standing including many important macaw food species, but can severely impact macaws because the harvest often targets the old, large trees that the macaws depend upon for nesting. These slow growing trees may take centuries to attain sufficient size to harbor cavities. The deep, dry nest cavities that the macaws prefer may take an additional 10 – 20 years to form but then last for many decades. Even in virgin forest these large tree cavities are usually in short supply (Beissinger and Snyder 1992, Munn et al 1991). As a result, each nest site cut represents not just the loss of a single nest, but also the loss of dozens of future chicks that could have been raised in this cavity. Collection for the pet
