• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	C2a(ii)

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2021	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2018	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2016	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2012	Vulnerable	C2a(ii)
2009	Vulnerable	C2a(i)
2008	Endangered
2005	Endangered
2004	Near Threatened
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	250 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,041,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	9200-46000 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2007
Population trend	decreasing	poor	inferred	-
Generation length	5 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: The species is considered not uncommon in some parts within its range, but in other areas it appears to be scarce, or even absent. It has been recorded throughout the year at some sites, but numbers elsewhere seem to vary seasonally and the species may wander in response to food availability, confounding attempts to draw conclusions about population density across its range. Estimating its population size is therefore notoriously difficult, but a review of available records put the population at 9,200-46,000 individuals in 2007 (Tobias and Brightsmith 2007). This estimate should however be updated.

Trend justification: Over the past three generations (15 years; Bird et al. 2020), 4.5% of tree cover has been lost within the range (Global Forest Watch 2021). The species however tolerates habitat conversion or may even benefit from it (Collar et al. 2020); therefore forest loss alone may not be driving a rapid population decline. Until recently, the species used to be rare in captivity and trade (e.g., Herrera and Hennessey 2008; Gastañaga et al. 2011); however it appears that trade is increasing now (Collar et al. 2020). Therefore tentatively, the species is inferred to undergo a continuing decline, but the rate of decline is not known.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bolivia	extant	native	yes
Brazil	extant	native	yes
Peru	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Bolivia	Federico Román
Bolivia	Reserva Nacional Amazónica Manuripi Heath
Bolivia	Tahuamanu
Brazil	Alto Juruá
Brazil	Baixo Rio Javari
Brazil	Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor
Brazil	Tabocais
Peru	Alto Purus
Peru	Bahuaja-Sonene
Peru	Cordillera Vilcabamba
Peru	Los Amigos
Peru	Manu
Peru	Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul
Peru	Reserva Amazónica
Peru	Tambopata

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	major	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 800 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1550 m

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Energy production & mining	Oil & gas drilling	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Blue-headed Macaw Primolius couloni. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/blue-headed-macaw-primolius-couloni on 18/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/12/2024.