Spix’s Macaw

Spix’s Macaw is named after German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix, who collected the first of these birds in 1819. However, in 1638, German naturalist Georg Marcgrave was the first European to describe the species.

Also known as the little blue macaw, these birds are lively and loyal to their mates. Spix’s macaws once occupied the desert woodlands of Brazil. However, habitat loss, predation, and poaching drove them to extinction in the wild. They are now bred exclusively in captivity.

Appearance and Behavior

Spix’s macaws can be identified by their blue color, which ranges from turquoise blue along its breast and abdomen to a duller gray-blue color on the head. It also has gray skin, pale yellow eyes, and a black, curved bill.

An average Spix’s macaw measures around 22 inches, its tail feathers being about as long as the rest of the body. Males tend to be larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise similar in appearance.

This bird has an amazing vocal range, and they communicate with each other through screeching and squawking sounds. Like many parrots, they can mimic human speech, which has made them a popular pet in the illegal bird trade.

Due to their remarkable intelligence, Spix’s macaws follow a very precise daily routine, with their flight paths, hunting strategies, and bathing all taking place according to schedule. The birds are most active during the day, and they sleep at night. They may occasionally move from place to place in response to food availability and nesting sites, but otherwise, they remain within a close proximity of their home.

History and Evolution

The evolution of Spix’s macaw is poorly understood, but the parrot as a group is an ancient bird that probably evolved in the Paleogene period between 23 and 66 million years ago, around the time that the true parrots split from cockatoos and then divided into different lineages.

Diet

Spix’s macaws’ beaks are specifically adapted to crack open hard-shelled nuts. In captivity, the birds are fed a variety of different foods, including palm nuts, seeds, fruits, and even some meats. Their diet is supplemented with vitamins and minerals.

Predators and Threats

In the wild, Spix’s macaws were susceptible to predation from rats, feral cats, mongooses, and monkeys. When threatened, the birds will make loud noises and flap their wings to scare off predators, or they may take to the air. Eggs and young birds are most vulnerable to attack because they haven’t yet learned to fly, so they require the protection of adults.

Threats to and causes for the decline in the population include hunting, destruction of the Caraibeira trees, and the introduction of African bees, which compete for nesting sites in the trees.

In addition to habitat loss and predation, the lucrative bird trade further depleted numbers in the wild. When the trade was at its height in the 1980s, a single bird could easily fetch $40,000 on the black market. It is currently illegal to trade the birds except for conservation, educational or scientific purposes.

Reproduction and Lifespan

The bird’s breeding season takes place each year between November and March (or August in captivity). The wild couples produce a fresh clutch of two to three eggs in the hollows of the Caraibeira trees. Because they are creatures of routine, they seem to reuse the same nest location every breeding season.

The female incubates the egg for 26 days before it hatches. It takes about two months for a young bird to fully fledge, though the birds may continue to feed with the parents for a few more months until the chicks achieve full independence. If the young birds are threatened by a predator, then the parents may pretend to be injured in order to draw the threat away from the nest.

Chicks reach full sexual maturity in about seven years in captivity, which is an especially long time for a parrot. The species has a typical lifespan of at least 20 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity.

Population

The last known wild macaw disappeared in 2000. A wild bird was briefly sighted in 2016, raising hopes that there may be more, but the individual was likely released from captivity. The Red List of Threatened Species now lists the bird as officially extinct in the wild.

The remaining Spix’s macaws are now only bred in captivity and fed by hand, and the conservation efforts are overseen by the Brazilian government. Since the species cannot return to the wild until the habitat is restored, efforts are underway to create protected areas for eventual reintroduction.

Due to the number of private collectors, it is difficult to estimate exactly how many birds are left in the world, but there are perhaps 160 known individuals in captivity. Most of these are held by wildlife preservation programs.