Spix's Macaw

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Spix's Macaw
Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) (Im Vogelpark Walsrode, 1980)

Spix's Macaw ( Cyanopsitta spixii )
(Im Vogelpark Walsrode , 1980)

Systematics
Order : Parrots (Psittaciformes)
Family : True parrots (Psittacidae)
Tribe : New World Parrots (Arini)
Genre : Spix's Macaws
Type : Spix's Macaw
Scientific name of the  genus
Cyanopsitta
Bonaparte , 1854
Scientific name of the  species
Cyanopsitta spixii
( Wagler , 1832)

The Spix's Macaw ( Cyanopsitta spixii ) is a species of bird from the monotypic genus Cyanopsitta within the family of real parrots (Psittacidae). It was endemic to Brazil , but the Spix's Macaw is now extinct in the wild . It was named after its discoverer Johann Baptist von Spix .

The IUCN classifies the Spix's Macaw as critically endangered. It was listed in CITES Appendix I, which prohibits the trade in animals. The last known wild population was in northeast Bahia, Brazil and the last known wild Spix's Macaw, a male, disappeared in 2000. However, in 2016 one wild animal was spotted again. In various species conservation projects, breeding programs are attempting to secure the conservation of this species, which is supported by the Brazilian government. The Brazilian Government's Department for the Conservation of Biodiversity ( ICMBio ) heads the Ararinha-Azul project , which is linked to a plan to release this species (as soon as enough offspring and habitat are available again) of this species.

description

Spix's Macaw, illustration of the type specimen from 1824. The beak drawing of a young animal can be clearly seen.
Spix's Macaw ( specimen in the Natural History Museum Berlin )

The Spix's Macaw is easy to recognize as a small blue macaw with bare gray facial skin around the eye area. Spix's macaws grow to a length of approx. 56 cm, with the tail feathers being 26 to 28 cm. Its wing length is 24.7 to 30 cm. They are therefore one of the medium-sized representatives of the real parrot family.

The plumage on the head and neck is gray-blue, the side of the chest is light blue (with a slight green tinge) and the side of the back as well as the wings and the tail of the bird appear in a darker shade of blue. The legs and feet are black-brown. In adult birds, the facial skin is gray, the beak is completely dark gray, and the iris is yellow.

The sexes of the birds cannot be distinguished by their external appearance, but males in captivity are slightly larger and heavier (approx. 318 g) than the females (approx. 288 g). The juveniles differ from the adults by their pale gray facial skin, the brown iris and the white stripe above the middle line of the upper beak ( culmen ).

behavior

nutrition

In nature, the Spix's Macaws would mainly feed on the seeds and nuts of the Pinhão ( Jatropha mollissima ) and Favela tree ( Cnidoscolus quercifolius ). However, since these trees were not originally found in the range of these birds, their fruits were not originally part of the natural diet. In addition, the macaws feed on the seeds and nuts of the following plants: Joazeiro ( Ziziphus joazeiro ) Barauna ( Schinopsis brasiliensis ), Imburana ( Bursera leptophloeos ) Facheiro ( Pilosocereus piauhyensis ) Phoradendron species, Caraibeira ( Tabebuia aurea ) angico ( Anadenanthera peregrina ), Umbu ( Spondias tuberosa ) and Unha-de-gato ( Uncaria tomentosa ). Previous research reports add two other plants: Maytenus rigida and Geoffroea spinosa . Combretum leprosum could have been an additional food source.

Reproduction

Spix's Macaws born in captivity reach sexual maturity at the age of seven. A female from the Loro Parque Foundation laid eggs at the age of five, but these were sterile. It is feared that the late sexual maturity of captive animals may be a result of inbreeding or other artificial environmental factors, as other parrots of the same size become sexually mature after two to four years.

In nature, elaborate courtship rituals such as feeding each other and flying together would precede mating. Such rituals can be repeated in other parrot species over several years during the mating seasons; this could also be the case with wild Spix's Macaws. The mating call of the Spix's Macaws sounds like “whichaka”, and they also make squeaking noises.

Cavities in large, old Caraibeira trees served as nesting sites, which were used every year. The breeding season is from November to March and most of the chicks hatch in January, at the beginning of the rainy season in Caatinga (January to April). The clutch size of Spix's Macaws in the wild is estimated to be three eggs, whereas in captive animals it averages four eggs (the exact number varies, however, from one to seven eggs per clutch). Only the females incubate the eggs during the incubation period, which lasts 25–28 days. The chicks fledge after 70 days and are independent from their parents after 100 to 130 days.

The life expectancy of wild Spix's Macaws is unknown; only known is the age of the last male living in the wild, which was older than 20 years. The oldest bird in captivity was 34 years old.

discovery

Johann Baptist von Spix collected this macaw on his Brazil expedition with CF Ph. Martius in 1819 in the Caatinga near Joazeiro in Brazil and in 1824 in his book “Avium species novae, quas in itinere per Brasiliam Annis MDCCCXVII-MDCCCXX Iussu et Auspiciis .... “described as Ara hyazinthicus and shown on panel XXIII. Spix has already mentioned that this parrot species rarely occurs, but always in groups and is characterized by a weak voice. The species name (" hyazinthus ") was already taken and was therefore invalid (a homonym ). Johann Georg Wagler , Spix's assistant, gave the Spix's macaw the species name that is valid today in 1832 in his Monographia Psittacorum . The holotype is the bellows collected by Spix , which is kept in the Zoological State Collection in Munich and served as a template for the illustration. The white back of the beak of the type specimen and the illustration show that it was a juvenile animal.

Distribution, habitat and populations in the wild

Spix's Macaw (Bahia)
Spix 1819 [9]
Spix 1819
Reiser 1903, Fighter (1928), Hellmayr 1929 [9] [10]
Reiser 1903,
Fighter (1928),
Hellmayr 1929
Sightings 1971 [9]
Sightings 1971
Last sightings 2000 [9] [11]
Last
sightings
2000
Sightings 1986/7 [12]
Sightings 1986/7
Spix's Macaw sightings and gathering points in Brazil. Map base: position map of the Brazilian state of Bahia
collection points ( Red pog.svg), type specimen  ( Blue pog.svg) and sightings ( Orange ff8040 pog.svg); Name of the explorer and year of observation or (year of publication).

Its original range was in Brazil in the state of Bahia and adjacent regions. Originally, these birds were widespread in the forest landscapes in the drainage basin of the Rio São Francisco and in the dry forest of the Caatinga . The distribution area must have always been small and probably limited to the gallery forests along the Rio São Francisco and its tributaries. The data situation on the distribution area is quite thin, most of the specimens stored in museums come from captivity and therefore have no information on the location. Reports of observations of wild Spix's Macaws have also always been rare. A report by Otmar Reiser dated June 1903, Emil Kämper sighted with his wife at Lake Parnagua, Piauhy during his stay 1924–1928 several groups of Spix's Macaws that were drinking at the lake. Another observation was made in 1974. In 1985 an expedition was supposed to observe the Spix's Macaw in its natural habitat, they could only find five individuals.

Another reason for the population decline was habitat loss. Spix's Macaws were habitat specialists in the field, breeding in large, old Carabeira trees ( Tabebuia aurea ). The soils on which caraibeiras thrive are also very suitable for growing maize. The high settlement pressure in Brazil meant that the habitat of the Spix's Macaw was destroyed very quickly. Today it is assumed that only 30 square kilometers of the original area that provided habitat for the Spix's Macaw are so undamaged that this parrot species could survive there.

Illustration of a Spix's Macaw (background) and a turquoise macaw at a bird dealer in Hamburg by Karl Neunzig (1895)

Apparently brisk trade during the 1970s and early 1980s also contributed to the rarity in the wild. With increasing rarity, the price that lovers were willing to pay for acquiring a Spix's Macaw rose. In 1985, it was priced at $ 20,000. Due to illegal trapping and loss of habitat, the number of Spix's Macaws in the wild decreased sharply until the early 1980s. Since around 1985 the parrots working group of the Zoological Society for Species and Populations Protection e. V. (ZGAP) before the wilderness population of the Spix's Macaw went out.

The last male Spix's Macaw to live in the wild has been closely observed. He was mated to a red-backed macaw ( Primolius maracana ) in the absence of an identical partner . The couple laid eggs which, according to genetic analyzes, prove successful fertilization.

Rediscovery

On June 18, 2016, residents of the town of Curaçá in the Brazilian state of Bahia managed to film an initially unidentified blue macaw. The parrot was identified as a Spix's Macaw by biologists from the Society for the Conservation of Birds in Brazil based on the video and the recorded species-specific vocalizations. The origin of the bird is questionable. It cannot be ruled out that the bird is a refugee from prison. Since no trace of the animal could be found on the following day, further details are unknown and require further expeditions in the area.

Establishing an ex-situ population for the purpose of reintroduction

Parallel to the extinction of the game population due to illegal bird trade, efforts began to capture and breed the Spix's Macaw in captivity. In 1988 there were 17 known animals kept worldwide, in 2000 there were 42 Spix's Macaws. Breeders came together who wanted to cooperate in order to preserve the species. In addition, the Brazilian government tried to give its Spix's Macaws to local bird breeders so that they could breed them. One organization that tried to reproduce this rare bird species was the Loro Parque zoo in Tenerife , Spain , whose Spix's Macaws belonged to the Brazilian state. The Brazilian government had previously given the founder of the park, Wolfgang Kiessling , a couple that initially did not reproduce. The veterinarian Lorenzo Crosta, who worked there, was able to determine that the male was sterile. Therefore, this animal was exchanged for another and a few months later several eggs were found in the nest. First a young hatched, another six months later from a later-laid egg. Both pups are females. Other Spix's Macaws have been in Germany since 2005. In 2008 they hatched successfully, and in 2011 two more Spix's Macaws hatched there.

The Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) Center in Qatar ran its own breeding program. The largest population of Spix's Macaws was located there. In 2010 a total of 6 Spix's Macaws (1 male, 5 female) were hatched here. In 2011 a female was bred. Scientists at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen , working with Michael Lierz's group , succeeded in developing a method for extracting sperm from parrots, which was also successful in the Spix's Macaw. In 2013 AWWP and the veterinarians of the exotic health team (Parrot Reproduction Consulting), a German veterinary practice, succeeded in obtaining the world's first fertile eggs and consequently chicks of this endangered species with the help of artificial insemination. The focus of the cooperation between the two institutions was the development and establishment of a method that enables successful sperm collection and artificial insemination in Spix's Macaw. This could help to increase the breeding rate of the Spix's Macaw and thus contribute to the preservation of this species. The world's first Spix's Macaw to hatch after artificial insemination was named "Neumann", named after Daniel Neumann, the veterinarian who carried out the insemination.

With regard to a planned reintroduction project by the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots e. V. ( ACTP ) experts in Brazil expressed clear concern. Half of the Spix's Macaws brought to Brazil by ACTP tested positive for mycoplasma . Serious concerns were also expressed about the genetic diversity of the group. Compliance with quarantine regulations was also questioned. In addition, the experts complained that the animals, as well as the center built for the project, unlike usual, were not owned by the Brazilian state, but belonged to the ACTP association. ACTP had acquired so many birds after the AWWP stopped keeping and breeding. As a result of this transaction, other partners had also left the project.

Spix's Macaws in the media

In the US animated film Rio from 2011, the last two Spix's Macaws are the main characters. The story is about breeding attempts to preserve this species and about unscrupulous animal traders, for whom profit is more important than species protection. The story of the main male character shows clear parallels to the story of a real, single, male Spix's Macaw living in the USA who lives in Brazil today. The feather bonnet of the Filmaras, like the rest of the plot, is cinematic freedom.

In 2014 the story was retold with the film Rio 2 - Jungle Fever . The two main characters fly with their children to the rainforests of the Amazon, where they meet other Spix's Macaws and have to get used to life in the jungle without the advantages of human civilization.

On December 25 and 26, 2010, SWR television broadcast a film that described the return of a Spix's Macaw and a Lear's Macaw from Tenerife to Brazil. The broadcast was repeated on January 8, 2011 in the first TV program of ARD . In the ARD's Zoodoku Parrots, Palms & Co. , the breeding of Spix's Macaws is shown in Loro Parque on Tenerife.

Experience reports from breeding

  • Sven Hammer , Ryan Watson : The challenge of managing Spix Macaws (Cyanopsitta spixii) at Qatar - an eleven-year retrospection / Report on 11 years of keeping and breeding the Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) in the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar. In: The Zoological Garden. Volume 81, Issues 2–3, 2012, pp. 81–95 (online)
  • Matthias Reinschmidt , David Waugh : Keeping and breeding the Spix's Macaw in the Loro Parque Fundación. In: Parrots. 3/2010, pp. 81-86. (online) (PDF; 1.5 MB)
  • Michael Lierz et al. (2013): "A novel method of semen collection and artificial insemination in large parrots (Psittaciformes)" In: Scientific Reports 3, Article number 2066. http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130625/srep02066/full /srep02066.html

literature

  • Tony Juniper: Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird. 2003, ISBN 1-84115-651-5 .
  • AT Juniper, C. Yamashita: The habitat and status of Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii . In: Bird Conservation International. 1, 1991, p. 19 online (2010)
  • Paul Roth (1990): Spix's Macaw. What do we know today about this rare bird. Report on a project carried out from 1985 to 1988. In: Parrots No. 3 and 4 1990 ( online on the website of the Fund for Endangered Parrots )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BirdLife International. 2015. Cyanopsitta spixii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015. doi: 10.2305 / IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T22685533A79740294.en .
  2. ^ A b Shaun Hurrell: Spix's Macaw reappears in Brazil. In: Spix's Macaw reappears in Brazil. birdlife.org, June 24, 2016, accessed June 26, 2016 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Joseph M. Forshaw: Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide . Illustrated by Frank Knight. Ed .: Princeton University Press . 2006, ISBN 0-691-09251-6 . plate 70.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g "Spix Macaw Fact File 2010". Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation.
  5. ^ "Species factsheet: Cyanopsitta spixii". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved July 24, 2008
  6. ↑ Juniper, T .; Yamashita (March 1991). "The habitat and status of Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii" (PDF). Bird Conservation Intl 1 (1): 1-9. doi: 10.1017 / S0959270900000502
  7. ^ "News from the Loro Parque Fundación Parrot collection" (2011) Cyanopsitta 99:11
  8. ↑ "Spix's Macaws: Physical Description, Behavior and Calls / vocalizations."
  9. ↑ a b c d Location from: AT Juniper, C. Yamashita: The habitat and status of Spix's Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii . In: Bird Conservation International. 1, 1991, p. 19. online (2010)
  10. ↑ a b Place from: Marco Antonio Rego, Luís Fábio Silveira, Vítor de Queiroz PiacentiniI, Fabio Schunck, Érika Machado, Renato Torres Pinheiro, Elivânia Reis: As aves da Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins, Centro do Brasil. The birds of Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins. In: Biota Neotrop. vol. 11 no. 1 Campinas Jan./Mar. 2011. doi: 10.1590 / S1676-06032011000100027 ; Original sources according to the bibliography, on Kämpfer: Naumburg, EMB 1928. Remarks on Kaempfer's collections in eastern Brazil. Auk 45 (1), pp. 60-65. Full name: Ernst Kaempfer online sora.unm.edu ; for Hellmayr: HELLMAYR, CE 1938. Catalog of birds of the Americas, Part. XI. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 13, pp. 1–430 online www.archive.org In Reiser and In der Literatur a lake is given as the sighting site.
  11. ↑ Year according to Geographical Information IUCN accessed on October 30, 2012.
  12. ↑ Roth 1990
  13. ^ Otmar Reiser: The results of the zool. Expedition of the Academy of Sciences to Northeast Brazil in 1903. In: Memoranda of the mathematical and natural science class of the KuK Academy of Sciences. Vol. 76 (1903). (Full text from www.bluemacaws.org)
  14. ↑ a b c Dominic Couzens: Rare birds - survivors, evolution losers and the missing. Haupt Verlag, Bern 2011, ISBN 978-3-258-07629-4 , pp. 164f.
  15. ↑ Reports on Spix's Macaws in the ZGAP member information October 1987  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Reports about Spix's Macaws in the ZGAP's December 1986 member information ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.papageienfonds.de   @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.papageienfonds.de
  16. ↑ Cristina Y. Miyaki, Patricia J. Faria u. a .: The last wild Spix's Macaw and an Illiger's Macaw produced a hybrid. In: Conservation Genetics. In: Conservation Genetics. 2, pp. 53-55, doi: 10.1023 / A: 1011584225656 .
  17. ↑ Shaun Hurrell: BirdLife International Americas. June 24, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016 .
  18. ^ DR Waugh: Parrot Conservation and Loro Parque Fundacion, Puerto de la Cruz. In: Int. Zoo yb. (2000) 37, pp. 288-298, here p. 290. doi: 10.1111 / j.1748-1090.2000.tb00734.x .
  19. ↑ FAZ: Rare breeding success , ACTP: Frieda - the first German Spix's Macaw ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Frankfurter Rundschau: Successful breeding of a rare parrot @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.act-parrots.eu
  20. ↑ ACTP: First Spix's Macaws hatched in 2011 ( Memento of the original from January 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , Berliner Morgenpost: Offspring of rare Spix's Macaws in Schöneiche @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.act-parrots.eu
  21. ↑ Michael Lierz, Matthias Reinschmidt, Heiner Müller, Michael Wink, Daniel Neumann: A novel method for semen collection and artificial insemination in large parrots (Psittaciformes). In: Scientific Reports 3, Article number 2066. NPG 2013. doi: 10.1038 / srep02066 .
  22. ↑ Qatar efforts give hope to rare parrot species. Gulf Times, accessed October 20, 2013 .
  23. ↑ Cristiane Prizibisczki: Especialistas demonstram preocupação sobre projeto de reintrodução das ararinhas-azuis. (No longer available online.) In: oeco.org.br. March 3, 2020, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 11, 2020 (port).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oeco.org.br
  24. ↑ The man's blue miracle. In: FAZ . December 22, 2010, p. 35.
  25. ↑ Episode 4 of the ARD documentary Parrots, Palms & Co.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.daserste.de  

Web links

Commons : Spix's Macaw ( Cyanopsitta spixii )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files