Golden Conures drinking
Golden Conures drinking from a fork in a large tree.		 Destrutive logging
The logging activity that threatens the future of Brazil's 'national bird'.
their supporting role in the life of breeding pairs. Loyal to one pair, as yet it is undetermined whether the helper is the direct offspring of the pair, or a member of the group incapable of reproducing. Another interesting behavioral trait is the group living situation. Roosting groups are between 6 and 8 individuals, but up to 30 individuals can be concentrated in a feeding ground. What has yet to be determined, however, is whether these communities are all related or whether the clan loyalty extends beyond blood-lines. 

The birds are extremely social and spend a lot of time preening. They lay between one and three eggs in November, and on average two chicks fledge.It is difficult to know which falcons or hawks are their main predators since they tend to nest deep inside the tree. But like so many other basic behavior questions, we are still at a speculative stage. Analysis of the blood samples gathered by Dr. Yamashita will shed some light on this spectacular species, but much more needs to be known about the birds' wild habits. 
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 No room for complacency
The fact that the bird re-produces relatively well, unlike other highly endangered species such as Lears Macaws, tends to inure a certain complacency since numbers in captivity are relatively abundant. But for this symbolic bird to become extinct in the wild would inculpate both Brazilian authorities and the conservation community in general.The challenge is therefore to find viable ways to protect specific wild groups which bring some kind of material improvement to the local population that coexists in the birds habitat. 

A conservation tool with proven effectiveness is eco-tourism. In the case of the Golden Conures, its rarity and aesthetic beauty is appreciated by a wide range of serious bird watchers and nature enthusiasts. Indeed, despite the extensive destruction of primary forests, the secondary forest re-growth still harbors impressive bio-diversity. A mere 40 kilometers from Paragominas, and over a period 

 of two hours, the author saw four types of parrots, including a group of five Golden Conures, a pair of Hawk-headed Parrots, pairs of Green-winged and Scarlet Macaws as well as three King Vultures, all in a degraded forest patch. The mind boggles as to what it must have been like before the destruction began. 

Conservation strategy
There are a series of indigenous reserves within the region. While wood extraction is taking place in some areas, other tribes leave their forests intact. Dr. Yamashita believes the best conservation strategy, therefore, would be to buy forested land that hosts some birds and abuts the reserves where wood extraction is absent or minimal. Once the land was secured by the BioBrasil Foundation, a Brazilian environmental NGO that already owns 10,000 acres of Hyacinth Macaw habitat in another region of the country, a program to set up a guaranteed animal attraction would be implemented. 
 

 Given the magnitude and elevated pace of destruction in the eastern Amazon, people tend to throw up their hands in despair. But such a defeatist outlook obscures the fact that there it is still possible to implement measures to ensure the protection of at least some of the region's flora and fauna. Such a positive attitude should be adopted by those who wish to see the Golden Conure continue and survive in the wild. 

The World Parrot Trust and BioBrasil will continue their efforts to save this threatened species. 

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