Besides, and Heaven Forbid, should there come a day when there is no Rainforest left and no macaws, the only way to preserve the species would be through captive breeding. And to breed true, you need true bloodlines. A hybird macaw could actually look like a normal Scarlet, Greenwing, or Blue and Gold, but not have the same, pure genectic code. If you were wondering about cost, the local bird store here in Maryland has a Harlequin and a Catalina. This may not always be the case, but I would not encourage the purchase of a hybrid.
Macaws are in trouble for a number of reasons, but mostly due to deforestation.
Macaws nest high up in dead trees, into which they gnaw a nesting hole. They need a great deal of space from other pairs of macaws as well. With the removal of trees from the forests, the competition for nesting sites becomes very great, and crowded conditons occur. With many of the high nesting sites gone, some macaws roost lower, and the babies are then subject to predation by animals which would not normally be able to get to the babies. Macaws in the wild do not have a high reproductive rate, because of the time it takes to raise a baby.