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Spix's macaw

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 83.250.203.75 (talk) at 12:37, 11 December 2007 (Undid revision 177130420 by 24.19.89.144 (talk)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Spix's Macaw

Critically endangered, possibly extinct in the wild  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Psittaciformes
Family:
Psittacidae
Subfamily:
Psittacinae
Tribe:
Arini
Genus:
Cyanopsitta

Bonaparte, 1854
Species:
C. spixii
Binomial name
Cyanopsitta spixii
(Wagler, 1832)

The Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) is the only member of the parrot genus Cyanopsitta. This macaw is currently extinct in the wild, but is conserved through several breeding programs. It was found in Brazil, in parts of the Brazilian states Bahia, Piauí, Maranhão, and Goiás. It has a very restricted natural habitat due to its dependence on the Tabebuia aurea tree for nesting.

Physical description

This bird is a delicate, blue-grey macaw with long tail and wings. It has a pale ashy-blue head, distinctively square shaped, and pale blue underparts. Its upperparts, wings and long tail are a more vivid blue.

History

The Spix's Macaw is named after the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix. The decline of the species is attributed to hunting and trapping of the birds, destruction of its habitat, and the introduction of the Africanized bee, which competes for nesting sites and killed breeding individuals at the nest. The last three birds were captured for trade in 1987 and 1988. A single male, paired with a female Blue-winged Macaw, was discovered at the site in 1990. A female Spix's Macaw released from captivity at the site in 1995 disappeared after seven weeks. The last wild male died at the site in October 2000.[2] The species probably became extinct in the wild around 2000, when the last known wild bird died. [2]

Current captive population

There is a captive population of some 68 individuals [2][3][4]. Most of these individuals were bred in captivity. Of these individuals, only nine are found in breeding programs of zoos; two birds are in Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain and seven birds are in the São Paulo Zoo, Brazil. The pair at the Loro Parque produced two young in 2004. Two more young from 2006 are on public display in the Tenerife parrot park (Loro Parque). They have not yet fledged (April 2007). There are no adult Spix's in the Loro park on public display, because they are being kept under high security in the Loro Parque captive breeding centre. The aim of the breeding program is to eventually reintroduce this species back to the wild.[2]

Some 47 animals belong to Sheikh Saoud Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, who acquired them from private keepers in the Philippines and Switzerland and founded the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation Center. It runs its own breeding program which has produced 12 young so far, seven of them in 2006.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as critically endangered.
  2. ^ a b c d BirdLife Species Factsheet
  3. ^ University of Michigan The Spix's Macaw
  4. ^ a b Al Wabra Annual Report 2005
  5. ^ Al Wabra Newsletter 6-2006

Further reading

  • Juniper, Tony (2003) Spix's Macaw : The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird ISBN 0-7434-7550-X
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