Dear Parrots magazine,
Spix’s Macaw
I would like to comment on the letter about Spix’s Macaws in the November issue. The writer said that she had never been clear why it became extinct in the wild. This is surprising considering the large volume of information on the subject. Examples are the detailed accounts in Threatened Birds of the Americas (by Nigel Collar, L. P. Gonzaga and others) and Chapter 29 in my book Parrot Conservation. In a nutshell, the Spix’s Macaw became extinct due to the combined pressures of habitat destruction and illegal trapping. These factors have brought many parrot species close to extinction. The Spix’s Macaw is more vulnerable because its range is small and it is a habitat specialist.
The suggestion that there are Harpy Eagles in its habitat is totally wrong. This eagle needs vast areas of rainforest in which to catch its prey and survive and it needs large trees as nest sites. Spix’s Macaws are not found in rainforests, but occur in a very dry habitat called Caatinga, a dry scrubland in the north-eastern region of Brazil. Almost no large trees exist there and almost no large prey. There are of course falcons and other predators, but predation was not the cause of the macaw’s extinction.
The writer said that she had always found Spix’s Macaws to be “very endearing”. I wonder where she could have had contact with the species. There have been none in UK zoos since the 1930s and only two, for a short time, in very private collections in the UK, the last in 1980. At the time of writing most of the 300 plus Spix’s Macaws worldwide are in breeding centres, which are not open to the public. However, it is good to report that Sao Paulo Zoo in Brazil was due to open an aviary for two Spix’s Macaws in a special ceremony on 12th November 2024. It will celebrate the inauguration of a new conservation centre for this macaw, with an extensive off-exhibit breeding area. Although the zoo has kept this species for many years, never previously has it been on view to the public. It will be the only zoo in Brazil, in the USA or in Europe to exhibit this iconic blue macaw. Let us hope it will herald the start of a new era in Sao Paulo Zoo in which many macaws, also Lear’s, will be reared.
Rosemary Low, by email