He took a bird-watching tour of the region in which the last wild Spix’s Macaw the beautiful blue parrot native to forests of Brazil was believed to be seen. However, that was not the first tour he’d conducted that didn’t see it. I was among the first to witness that it was extinct in the natural world,” says Cohn-Haft, an ornithologist with the National Institute of Amazonian Research.
This was more than 20 years ago
The last verified wild specimens have been found since then. The Spix’s Macaw was first recorded in 1638 and named in honor of the German naturalist Johann Baptist Ritter of Spix who collected the first specimen in 1819. Do Birds Have Sex It’s tiny for a macaw, however, it has distinct blue feathers usually fading to light grey on the head. South America has many exotically colored parrots, however, the distinctive blue plumage set the Spix apart from other species of the continent.
In the past, Spix’s Macaws could only be found in a tiny region of habitat in the northeastern region of Brazil. Deforestation during the 20th century led to their decline. The species was immortalized in the animated film Rio The character Blu and Jewel are the only wild pair of breeding Spix’s macaws that exist. The film’s fans are often disappointed to discover this species has been thought to be extinct in the wild.
However, there is an opportunity
Macaws named Spix are still in existence. A few breeding pairs are living in captivity. Conservationists are at the heart of a plan to raise healthy birds and prepare them for release in the wild. They are working with the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) is driving in the current effort. A memorandum of understanding was signed by both the ACTP with Brazil’s Government in the month of June of this year in order to secure the next stage for the program.
Cromwell Purchase Scientist and Zoological Director of the ACTP The group plans to ship 50 Spix’s macaws for Rehabilitation facilities within Brazil which are currently in construction. If everything goes according to plan they will then be transferred from Germany by spring 2020.
The conservation group will first try out a method for the release of the birds in small groups of Illiger’s macaws, an emerald-colored parrot that has blue-tinted wings. In 2021 the birds are expected to be released along with a smaller group of the Illiger which should assist them in integrating into the forests of Caatinga located in the north-eastern region of Brazil.
“Over the first few weeks the aviary
will be open in the morning and closed at dark, birds will be allowed to return at will to get food,” Explains Purchase.The most important test will be to see if the birds adapt to their natural habitat and, more importantly, if they can successfully breed and raise chickens outside in nature. Macaws will have to deal with environmental challenges and the danger of poaching.
However, Brazil is determined to make the plan succeed. There’s been a plan for the reintroduction of Spix’s macaws into in the wild from 2012 onwards, according to Camile Lugarini of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The team she is with is cooperating closely with ACTP.
“There is no way to bring Spix’s back without
the cooperation of the international holders,” she claims. South America has dozens of parrot species. A lot of them thrive in the wild, but blue parrots are extremely rare. The most beautiful parrots are the Hyacinth macaw is the largest in length on earth. It can grow to 1 one meter from head to tail and has a wingspan of 1.5 meters.
It’s a stunning deep blue, and the appearance of yellow in its eyes and at the bottom of its beak. The population of wild Hyacinth macaws dropped to a mere 2,500-3000 by the close of the 1990s, according to the WWF. Do Birds Have Ears Neiva Guedes is among the most important people in charge of helping to help the Hyacinth macaw come back.
She started the Hyacinth
Macaw Project in the year 1990 and assisted in designing nest boxes which made it simpler for birds to reproduce. There are believed to be 55,000 birds living on the move.
Locals who used to kill Hyacinths for their feathers are now taught to guard them. Some even earn money keeping them in their ranches and converting them into tourist attractions, according to Don Brightsmith, a conservationist and expert on Parrots from Texas A&M University.
