Today’s new bird is a small species of macaw. We welcome the Blue-winged Macaw to Birdorable!

Blue-winged Macaws are found in forest habitat in parts of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. They feed on a variety of plant-powered foods, like seeds, fruits, and nuts. They can be recognized by their namesake blue wings and a small red patch at the forehead.

Blue-winged Macaws are popular in aviculture, where they are known as Illiger's Macaw. This name comes from the German Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger. As pets, they are known to enjoy interaction with their owners. They are also known for their intelligence.

Tomorrow’s new species is found in Indonesian forest habitat. Common birds in their family are typically mostly grey, but these birds are colorful, as well as cute. They are named partly for their coloration and partly for their favorite food. Can you guess the species?

NATUWA Macaw Sanctuary works to protect native wildlife in Costa Rica. In this guest post, Rodolfo Orozco Vega from the project shares some of the important conservation work they perform with two species of bird.

The Macaw Sanctuary NATUWA is an organization formed by Costa Ricans for the conservation of Costa Rica's biodiversity. Mainly NATUWA has worked with two species of Costa Rican macaw: the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and the Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) since 1994.

18 years ago in the community of Aranjuez de Puntarenas, NATUWA created a program to release Scarlet Macaws. With great success, and under the protection of the community of Aranjuez, the birds released by NATUWA are procreating by themselves and increasing the population of wild macaws.

The people of the community understand that with the arrival of the macaws, there are economic benefits for their families -- ecotourism activities focused on the protection of the species. If the birds are protected in the wild, everyone wins: the tourist; the local people; and the macaws.

In addition, NATUWA has a reproduction program of Great Green Macaws for their release in the wild. Currently, it provides the largest enclosure in Central America in donut shape (200 meters in circumference) where they prepare the birds for their future release in the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica. If you want to know more about this beautiful project, visit http://www.natuwa.org

- Rodolfo Orozco Vega

Today this pretty parrot joins Birdorable as the 4th bird in our 2017 Birdorable Bonanza: the Blue-headed Macaw!

Blue-headed Macaws are small macaws found in western parts of South America, where their preferred habitat is humid forest. They are often found near water.

Also known as Coulon's Macaw, this species is secretive in the wild and little is known of basic behaviors like breeding and feeding. As of November 2017 they are considered to be Vulnerable to Extinction by the IUCN Red List.

Tomorrow we'll add a widespread species related to starlings that is invasive in much of its current range. Can you guess the species?

We're adding new birds each day until we reach our 500th Birdorable species! Today's Bonanza bird is the Blue-throated Macaw.

The Blue-throated Macaw is a large species of macaw endemic to Bolivia. These bright and beautiful birds are critically endangered in the wild. Some estimates put the wild population at less than 350 individuals.

Blue throated Macaw by Steve Wilson (CC BY 2.0)

The population suffered from exploitation from the pet trade in the past. Today, habitat loss is another factor in their critical situation. These beautiful parrots are popular in aviculture and the captive population is much greater than the current wild population. They can live up to 80 years.

Color + behavior = the name of the common Eurasian species that will be added to Birdorable tomorrow.

The ARA Project is a conservation group working to conserve two macaw species in Costa Rica: the Scarlet Macaw and the endangered Great Green Macaw. The group has been successfully breeding macaws for almost 30 years.

In 2011 they became the first group in the world to reintroduce Great Green Macaws back into the wild. With a population of fewer than 4000 individuals and a declining population trend, the successful work by The ARA Project is desperately needed to help the continued survival of the Great Green Macaw. Unfortunately, The ARA Project recently received an eviction notice on their main breeding facility. The group has secured a new site but desperately needs funding to build a new breeding facility and other infrastructure to keep the organization running. If you would like to help, you can donate to their Indiegogo campaign 180 Endangered Macaws are Being Made Homeless or directly on The ARA Project website using Paypal.

Earlier this year we were asked by quilter Kate C. if she could use our cute Scarlet Macaw illustration as an inspiration for part of a quilt she was making for her granddaughter. We kindly agreed! Kate send us this photo of the macaw in the finished quilt. Isn't that cute?!

Thank you, Kate!