The Golden Conure
in danger

WPT funded research reveals new insight on behavior and threats
by RICHARD HARTLEY

It is ironic that in the country named after the Brazilian Hardwood tree (Caesalpinia echimatta), that the species nearly went extinct before measures were taken for its rescue. If current trends continue, such a hapless fate could befall another Brazilian species, the beautiful Golden Conure (Guaruba guarouba). With its yellow and green markings, the country's national colors, this popular parrot's habitat is being ravaged in a region currently weathering the bulk of Amazon rainforest destruction. Accentuating the bird's plight is its rapacious trapping by smugglers who feed the illicit market demand this species still creates. This parrot's future in the wild is at best precarious; it will require courageous and innovative conservation efforts to ensure that at least some bands are able to continue to live and prosper in their natural habitat.

The rural social conditions spawned by this boom-bust cycle of timber tend to be abominable, presenting a further obstacle in the bird's struggle to survive. A group of the birds were encountered near a community of "sem-terras", landless peasants who receive plots to farm through a controversial government agrarian reform program. Completely isolated and neglected, the hygienic conditions were so dreadful that malaria had permeated the community. It was simply good fortune that none of Yamashita's team contracted any grave illnesses. 

During the period of study, Dr. Yamashita located 13 nesting snags within a 90 kilometer radius of Paragominas, all of them located in cleared areas either next to or at maximum of 3 kilometers from intact rainforest patches. This does not mean that cleared areas are able to sustain populations of Golden Conures; merely that many of the forest patches nearby have been selectively logged and therefore lack snags large enough to support the birds. These snags in open areas are much more vulnerable to winds and often will topple, causing the birds to seek other suitable nesting sites and exposing the flocks to further dangers. In addition, the fact that these snags are not within the protective labyrinth of the forest facilitates the work of the local trappers. 

A fascinating aspect of the Conure's behavior is the presence of "helpers" and 

The range of Golden Conures extends far westward into the Amazon basin reaching all the way to the right bank of the Madeira Rio in Amazonas state; the bird reaches as far east as the Gurupi in Maranhao state. It is found in much higher density (almost ten times) within the confines of the study area. This coincides almost directly with the heaviest deforestation zones.

Devastated
landscape
The town of Paragominas, at the heart of the region, is now surrounded by a devastated landscape. Over the past several years, two thirds of the town's lumber mills have ceased to operate, indicating an exhaustion of local wood sources. This means the forests that provide food for the local fauna are