This Secondary Area is based on the range of Blue-throated Macaw Ara glaucogularis which is found in a small area of the lowlands of northern Bolivia in the departments of Beni and Santa Cruz (see map, p. 236). There is a mosaic of habitats, but savanna, gallery forest and humid forest dominate. The macaw itself has strict habitat requirements, appearing to be found only in seasonally inundated savanna in which forest is scattered in meandering ribbons and islands, and is dominated by tall palms (Scheelea princeps and Acrocomia totai) and deciduous trees especially Ebenaceae, Moraceae and Tabebuia impetiginosa (Bignoniaceae). This habitat tends to form the transition zone between very open savanna and forest (Hesse and Jammes 1994), with the macaw feeding and nesting in the palms and trees of the forest patches (Brace et al. 1995, Hesse 1997). The macaw is threatened (classified as Endangered), a survey in 1995 having estimated a population of as few as 100 birds with all currently occupied areas lying in Beni department. Saving the species from extinction through gaining better understanding of it ecology, educational awareness, and the limiting of trapping is the focus of a long-term project by Fundación Armonía, BirdLife International's Bolivian Partner.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Beni lowlands. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/326 on 23/11/2024.