Evidence of early native American parrot breeding

BETWEEN 900 and 1200 a group of native Americans lived in Chaco Canyon, in what is now north-western New Mexico. They were part of the peoples known as the Ancestral Pueblo. They traded extensively with communities in the distant south: items such as cocoa beans, copper bells and jewellery made from marine shells have been found in Pueblo Bonito, a multi-storey great house in the canyon with over 600 rooms. But none of these remains have presented archaeologists with more of a quandary than the parrots.

The bones of 35 scarlet macaws have been excavated from various sites in the area. Birds play an important role in native American mythology, and parrots became part of the culture of some groups. Parrots were kept as pets and their feathers were highly prized. But since the nearest natural population of these birds is—and was—some 2,000km away, the question has been how so many of these parrots could have ended up in this canyon.