Psittaciformes - Guaruba

Golden Conure - Guaruba Guarouba - Vulnerable / Threatened

The golden parakeet or golden conure is the only member of the genus Gauruba. It is a medium-sized golden-yellow Neotropical parrot native to the Amazon Basin of interior northern Brazil. It is also know as the Queen of Bavaria Conure.

Its plumage is mostly bright yellow, hence its common name, but it also possesses green remiges. It lives in the drier, upland rainforests in Amazonian Brazil, and is threatened by deforestation and flooding, and also by the now-illegal trapping of wild individuals for the pet trade. It is listed on CITES appendix I.

German naturalist Georg Marcgraf first described the bird, called guaruba in his expedition to Dutch Brazil in 1638. Its Portuguese and indigenous name, ararajuba, means small yellow macaw. In aviculture, it is sometimes known as the Queen of Bavaria conure.

The golden parakeet is listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable. This is largely due to deforestation and the capture of wild birds for aviculture, where it is in high demand due to the attractiveness of its plumage. Locally, they are considered as pests for feeding on crops, and are hunted for food or sport. The current population is estimated to be in the range of 10,000 to 20,000.

On May 26th, 2020, the Golden Conure was down listed from Endangered to Threatened in the United States. This removed the restrictions that required US Fish & Wildlife permits in order to move them across state lines. Hopefully this will result in an increase of these beautiful birds within aviculture.