Yellow-collared Macaw Primolius auricollis Scientific name definitions

The Yellow-collared Macaw is a handsomely colored resident of northeastern Bolivia, northern Paraguay, east-central and southwest Brazil and northern Argentina. Primarily green, Yellow-collared Macaws have a bare white facial patch, a blackish green forehead and nape, a narrow yellow collar which reaches to the sides of its breast, blue on the primaries and primary coverts and a red and blue tail. These parrots can be found in gallery woodland in Pantanal, deciduous Chaco woodland, agricultural plots and ranchland and humid tropical forest. Flocking behavior has been observed in Yellow-collared Macaws outside of their breeding season, fueling the suggestion that these birds undergo local seasonal movements.

37–45 cm; 240–250 g. Bare facial patch from base of bill above and behind eye white ; forehead and area bordering lower facial patch blackish green  shading to green on nape, sides of neck and rest of plumage , but with narrow yellow collar  reaching to sides of breast, primary-coverts and primaries above blue, undersides of flight-feathers and tail olive-yellow, tail  above reddish basally shading to blue distally  . Immature undescribed.

N & E Bolivia and SW Brazil (Mato Grosso) to N Paraguay and N Argentina (E Jujuy, N Salta); a possibly isolated population in C Brazil (around I do Bananal, in W Tocantins).

Open cerrado, gallery woodland in Pantanal and deciduous Chaco woodland, also humid upper tropical forest in foothills in S of range, adapting to areas partly cleared for agriculture and ranchland; to 600 m, although as high as 1700–2000 m reported.

Near the Itenez R, Bolivia, birds were noted as common but they left the area before the end of the dry season and were thought to have moved S. Notable flocking behaviour in this species outside breeding season supports idea of at least local movements.

Fruit and seeds reported, but no specific information.

Flight call a loud rasping “raaah” (softer and less harsh than the large Ara macaws but more grating than the two other Primolius macaws). When perched, a larger variety of short calls  , similar in quality.

Dec in Argentina. Nest  in hole in tree, in one case 20 m from ground. Eggs 3–4; in captivity, incubation lasts c. 23 days, nestling period c. 7 weeks.

Not globally threatened (LEAST CONCERN). CITES II. Common and ecologically adaptable. Some concern over trade levels from Bolivia in late 1970s, which escalated to an annual average of 3204 in the years 1980–1983; this was curtailed with a total trade ban in 1984, but illegal trade continues (1 Herrera, M., and A. B. Hennessey (2007). Quantifying the illegal parrot trade in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, with emphasis on threatened species. Bird Conservation International 17(4): 295–300. Close ); rare, presumably being at edge of range, in Paraguay; although populations reported as critically low in Argentina in late 1980s, this now disproven with the species fairly common in N Salta and Jujuy, and has even colonized Calilegua National Park.