Lear's Macaw

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lear's Macaw
Illustration of a Lear's Macaw by Edward Lear, this illustration and a hide in the Natural History Museum in Paris are the basis for the description of the species

Illustration of a Lear's Macaw by Edward Lear, this illustration and a hide in the Natural History Museum in Paris are the basis for the description of the species

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Tribe : New World Parrots (Arini)
Genre : Blue Macaws ( Anodorhynchus )
Type : Lear's Macaw
Scientific name
Anodorhynchus leari
Bonaparte , 1856

The Lear's Macaw ( Anodorhynchus leari ), also known as Lear's Macaw , is a species of the New World parrots that is now threatened with extinction . It was named after the English bird painter Edward Lear (1803–1888).

Discovery and Description

In the middle of the 19th century, another blue macaw species (the turquoise macaw, which was not extinct at the time and the much larger hyacinth macaw ), was imported to Europe as hides or living animals . The Italian ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte described the species in 1856 after seeing an illustration by Edward Lear and found a hide of the species in the Natural History Museum in Paris . Lear's macaws are about 72 cm in length, significantly smaller than the 100 cm tall hyacinth macaws, their plumage is predominantly blue, the upper side of the wings and tail is cobalt blue and the underside of the tail is dark gray. The featherless region at the base of the lower mandible is yellow. Lear's macaws have a featherless yellow eye ring, the iris is dark blue, the beak gray-black, and the feet are dark gray.

A study carried out on bellows material and fossil finds by Herculano Alvarenga , which also compares the historical distribution areas of the extinct sea-blue macaw ( Anodorhynchus glaucus ) with that of the Lear's macaw, comes about due to the extensive agreement u. a. the dimensions of both species to the result that both species only have subspecies status. Due to the priority rule, the following new names would result: Anodorhynchus glaucus glaucus as the nominate form and Anodorhynchus glaucus leari for the Lear's macaw.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution area (green)

Although Lear's macaws were described by Charles Lucien Bonaparte as living animals in captivity, in pictures and as a bellows in 1856 , it was not until 1978 that Helmut Sick was able to determine the range of the species. Today's distribution area is extremely small, it only occurs in the semi-arid region of Bahia in northeastern Brazil . Currently only one known occurrence is known, the majority of the population of a few hundred animals live in the area of ​​the Otavio de Farias farm.

Live freely

Cores of the fruits of the Licuri palm

The main food of the species is the nuts of the Licuri palms ( Syagrus coronata ). Up to 350 nuts are consumed per animal per day. Further food plants are Melanoxylon sp. , Atropha pohliana , Dioclea sp. , Spondias tuberosa , maize and the flowers of Agave sp. Long distances are taken to get to the food plants. The breeding season is between February and April, and two young animals often fly out.

The animals do not breed or sleep in tree hollows, but use caves in a rock wall, which are known as cliffs. So far, there is little knowledge about the behavior of the species in the wild and in captivity.

Hazard and protection

The population size in 2001 was just 246 animals. By 2016 the population had increased to around 1,300 birds. Various protective measures, in particular the decline in illegal stalking, have led to the population increase. Since only a fraction of the birds actually breed, the breeding population is estimated at around 130 pairs. Because of the small range of the species, the species was classified as critically endangered (BirdLife International 2000).

To stabilize the macaw's nutritional basis, the Fund for Endangered Parrots promoted the irrigation of food crops, a working group of the Zoological Society for Species and Population Protection. In Loro Parque and at Al Wabra , attempts are being made to build up a captive population. Further field studies are ongoing.

literature

Web links

Commons : Lear's Macaw ( Anodorhynchus leari )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herculano Alvarenga: Anodorhynchus glaucus e A. leari (Psittaciformes, Psittacidae): osteologia, registros fósseis e antiga distribuição geográfica. (PDF; 1.7 MB) In: Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15 (3): 427-432 setembro de 2007
  2. ↑ http://www.bluemacaws.org/lewild4.htm , http://www.bluemacaws.org/lewild1.htm
  3. ↑ 13th meeting of the Fund for Endangered Parrots in Walsrode. (No longer available online.) Endangered Parrots Fund, archived from the original on July 17, 2013 ; Retrieved July 10, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.papageienfonds.de
  4. ↑ a b c Anodorhynchus leari in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on 3 December of 2008.
  5. ↑ David Waugh: What do Lear's Macaws really eat in the wild? Parrots 9/2016, 312, ISSN 0934-327X