Hundreds of years before the Inca Empire, vibrant Amazonian parrots were transported alive across the Andes to coastal Peru, a new study has revealed.
This highlights a sophisticated pre-Inca, long-distance trade network spanning rainforest, highlands and deserts, according to a statement by The Australian National University (ANU).
An international team of researchers, including scientists from ANU analysed parrot feathers that were discovered at Pachacamac in Peru — one of the preeminent religious centres of Andean civilisation — far outside the birds’ native rainforest range. The research has been published in Nature Communications.
By combining ancient DNA sequencing, isotope chemistry and computational landscape modelling, the researchers were able to find out how and where the birds were moved across the landscape, according to lead author George Olah from ANU — from Amazonian forests to arid communities across the Andes.
According to Olah, the landscape west of the Andes has always been inhospitable to these parrot species that are dwellers of the Amazon’s rainforests. This is the case now, and as was confirmed by the researchers’ habitat modelling, it was so a millennium ago as well.
“The fact that they ended up more than 500 kilometres away, on the other side of South America’s highest mountain range, proves human intervention. They do not naturally fly over the Andes.”
The research team’s findings showed that several species of Amazonian macaw parrots — native to the lowland rainforest just east of the Andes — were captured in the wild, carried high over mountain passes and kept alive on the coast long enough to grow new feathers in their new environment.
The scientists used genomic analysis to identify four Amazonian species of parrots through the feathers discovered in Pachacamac: the Scarlet Macaw, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Red-and-green Macaw and Mealy Amazon. These are all native to rainforests hundreds of kilometres from the Pacific coast of South America.
The humans who transported the parrots, travelled over some of the toughest terrain on the planet: high mountain passes and steep plateaus. All this took weeks and even months.
After crossing the Andes, the birds were kept alive by being fed with maize and marine protein, the scientists discovered by analysing the chemical signatures contained in the feathers.
“Our analysis reveals the parrots were fed the same nitrogen-enriched diet consumed by their captors — a clear sign of prolonged care after their removal from the rainforest,” Olah said.
The transport routes also included trans-Andean corridors and river routes, all of which show that the trade was organised and sophisticated.
The study highlights that civilisations prior to the arrival of Spaniards in South America were not isolated or fragmented. “Instead, we see evidence of organised exchange, ecological knowledge and logistical planning that connected vastly different environments long before imperial roads formalised these connections.”
The research also sheds new light on the cultural importance of parrots in Andean societies — a fascination that continues today and that contributes to ongoing conservation challenges for these iconic species.
The birds were prized for their vibrant feathers, which held deep cultural value across pre-Hispanic societies and were often used in ritual and high-status burial contexts.
The research team included scientists from Adelaide University and researchers in Peru, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom.