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The species Glaucous Macaw is possibly extinct. |
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- Anodorhynchus glaucus
Identification
The Glaucous Macaw is a South American parrot which is now critically endangered or extinct.
It is a large (70cm) blue macaw. It is a pale turquoise-blue color, brighter above, and has a large greyish head. It has a proportionally long tail and a very large bill. It has a yellow, bare eye-ring and half-moon-shaped lappets bordering the mandible.
Similar species
Hyacinth Macaw and Lear's Macaw (which see).
Distribution
This bird was (is?) resident in north Argentina, south Paraguay, north-east Uruguay, and nearest parts of Brazil. It became rare during the 19th century due to trapping and loss of habitat, and only two acceptable records of wild birds were received in the 20th century. Expeditions by ornithologists to southwestern Paraguay during the 1990s failed to turn up any evidence that the bird was still in existence. Tony Juniper in "Spix's Macaw" (copyright 2002) clearly feels that Glaucous Macaw is extinct; Birdlife International is not prepared to write it off completely. There is suitable habitat in El Palmar National Park in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, and because of persistent rumours of the bird's existence there is the need for further surveys.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species which is closely related to the Lear's Macaw A. leari and the Hyacinth Macaw A. hyacinthinus.
Habitat
It is most probable that the bird's disappearance is linked to the wholesale felling of the yatay palm (Syagrus yatay or Butia yatay), the nuts of which appear to have constituted its main food. Where the palms were not felled, livestock grazing caused lack of palm regeneration.
Behaviour
There are descriptions from the 19th century making it likely that the birds were breeding in holes in the sandstone cliffs along rivers.
