Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird

Spix's Macaw, The Race to Save the World's Rarest BirdWhen I was at The Oasis Sanctuary last year in Arizona, I had the evenings to myself to read. The largest bird sanctuary in the country had a huge library of bird books. So rather than read the 12 books I had dragged across country, I glanced at this particular title with interest. There are only 4 giant royal blue birds in this Macaw Family: The Hyacinth Macaw with a huge beak and large yellow circle around the eye; the Lear's Macaw, a slimmer version of the 1st bird; the Glacous Macaw, more of a bluish green color; and the Spix's Macaw with almost ethereal blue on its body, with a greyish head. My brother Jim got me the book for Christmas. It is the second most important book I've ever read in my life. The 1st book of importance was The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill as it lead me to be more interested in birds/animals/reptiles/fish, appreciate my pet parrot Boo, and to donate to bird/animal/environmental charities. Interestingly enough, when I was reading the Spix book in July, my parrot calendar just happened to feature a Hyacinth Macaw. Also, the Nesbitt Family, friends from The Salty Dog days, gave me a beautiful card with the Hyacinth Macaw on it. It has been under the glass of my bedside night table for many years! I look at it daily.The book gave a historical account of the blue birds listed above, as well as the evolution of many parrots species. It described how the parrot trade, driven by greed, caused the extinction of the Spix's Macaw in the wild. The birds lived in a very specific dry area in Brazil near river basins. They required a particular type of tree to nest in. Farming, poaching, habitat loss, etc. contributed to the extinction. Two young birds would command $60,000! There were bird collectors are all over the world who truly loved birds but had no idea that the Spix's Macaw was on the brink. Although discovered in 1817, the birds were not sighted in the wild for another 84 years! The birds were discovered again, but then not seen for another 42 years. It was assumed that the macaw was extinct. Spotted again in 1990, an "ornithological gauntlet" was thrown down, so to speak, to try to save the world's rarest bird. The last Spix Macaw lived by himself for about 13 years. Oddly enough he paired up with a little green maracana parrot. After this blue macaw was located, about 5 years passed while local/national/global authorities argued on how best to treat the bird, protect it, and propagate the species. They begged bird owners from around the world to donate female Spix's Macaws to see if a successful breeding program might be started. Although eventually a captive female Spix's Macaw was set up in a cage and then released for the male to breed with, the male had a stronger relationship with the little maracana parrot. Three very sad set of events then took place... several clutches of eggs from the last wild Spix's Macaw male and his female maracana partner were removed from the nest and replaced with other bird eggs. They successfully reared birds, but never had a chance to raise their own eggs. Secondly, the female Spix's Macaw ran into an electrical wire and was killed, ending the opportunity to further the species in the wild. Lastly, the last male in the wild just disappeared. He had been observed by the scientists looking up watching for hawks, but no local inhabitant ever found the body of the last Spix's Macaw. The Race to Save the World's Rarest Parrot had brought recognition to the tiny rural town (it took several days of driving to reach it), and they had renovated a small theatre and put on a play about the Spix's Macaw. The conservation program also shed light on the plight of all exotic birds, and that global teamwork was needed to save future species. The Carolina Parakeet was the only bird in the parrot family that was indigenous to America. It was shot for its feathers, and because it was considered a pest to crops. It was extinct by the 1930's. The dodo bird is another famous bird that went extinct. Some islands across the oceans have been infested with rats, monkeys, and other predators that did not exist years ago, making it difficult for some exotic birds to sustain a stable population. The Chicago Zoo had a Spix's Macaw for 20 years. A parrot fossil from 55 million years ago was found in Scandinavia. Today organizations like The World Parrot Trust partner with international conservation programs to protect the wide array of exotic parrot birds. It is hoped that the wild-caught and captive bred Spix's Macaws in zoos, sanctuaries, and private owners will remain protected.

This book, I am still in the midst of reading. I am totally amazed at the amount of information that Tony Juniper has acquired to use in his book. It is extremely interesting reading and makes one prone to "raising the hackles in anger" regarding the downfall of these beautiful birds. It is shameful, disgraceful and utterly despicable that there are people out there who don't give a hoot about the beautiful animals than enjoy cohabitating with humanity, only to have their protectors exterminate them in the name of money. This book is full of great reading, enjoyable reading and reading that has taught me a lot about these beautiful, non aggressive birds. To all of you bird lovers out there, try your hardest to get yourself a copy of this book. You will appreciate it as much as I do.

Tony Juniper was a member of the 1990 expedition to Brazil that located the last Spix Macaw surviving in the wild, In "Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird", he tells the story of the species' history, its demise in the late 20th century, and efforts to preserve the Spix through captive breeding. The Spix's Macaw was always a rare bird, found only in the caraiba gallery woodlands of eastern Brazil. Named after Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix, a Bavarian naturalist who happened upon the bird in 1819 during a 4-year expedition to observe and catalog Brazil's fauna, the Spix Macaw was not observed in the wild again until 1903. But by then, captured Spix's Macaws were being exported to zoos and pet owners on several continents.In exploring the scant history of its namesake, "Spix's Macaw" touches on the history of parrot-keeping and trading as well as the other blue Brazilian parrots: the Hyacinth, Glaucous, and Lear's macaws. The second half of the book addresses the efforts, politics, and progress in preserving the Spix's Macaw with the intention of restoring the species to the wild, including detailed accounts of how we got from having about 25 known living Spix's Macaws worldwide in the late 1980s to having over 60 by the year 2000. If that sounds promising, it is in the sense that it proves the birds can be bred with relative ease. But it's not if you consider the politics and posturing involved, which become obscenely obvious if you read this book.Tony Juniper is a fluid writer who knows a lot about his subject and clearly cares about it, so "Spix's Macaw" is very readable. Unfortunately, the book's last two chapters are dedicated to demonizing the private owners of Spix's macaws, including those responsible for the breeding successes of the 1990s, and flogging the agenda of restoring the birds to Brazil and to their original habitat. Anyone who thinks that these initiatives are unreasonable or unproductive is apparently selfish, immoral, and actually criminal in the estimation of Tony Juniper. Juniper believes that forcibly removing the birds from their owners and handing them over to the entity that has had the least success in breeding them is the way to save the species. Brazil has had upwards of 35 years to organize breeding and conservation programs and has, instead, vacillated between indifference and incompetence. I wouldn't give Brazil a budgie. The international Recovery Committee didn't do much better, failing to ever produce a studbook and irresponsibly releasing a female Spix who was a known breeder back into her natural habitat -where she promptly died- while there were only 60 Spix's Macaws in existence! Only the death of the last wild Spix prevented them from releasing 4 more birds. Thank god for timely demises."Spix's Macaw" contains a lot of interesting information on the efforts to save this bird. Readers can decide for themselves if these efforts and Tony Juniper's agenda are misguided. But I was struck by the indifference to the birds themselves. For Brazil, which insists that all the world's Spix's Macaws -including those born elsewhere- are its "sovereign property", the macaws represent some sort of nationalism. Returning them to "the wild" is a battle cry for fanatic conservationists, who transform the birds plight into socio-political dogma. Private owners keep the birds for their own reasons. But no party in this book gives any indication of having an iota of respect for the creatures. The birds are eclipsed by every manner of agenda. Increasing the birds' numbers should be the primary goal, but it falls victim to Brazil's sweeping claims and self-righteous accusations. A pipe dream of reintroducing the Spix to its natural environment takes precedence over breeding. No one seems to know if the gallery forests could even support a flock of significant size, and, in any case, that habitat won't be there for long. It would indeed be ironic if a century from now parrot-lovers are thanking the private collectors and black marketeers of the 20th century for saving the Spix's Macaw from the fate that met its extinct cousin, the Glaucous macaw: Habitat Destruction. What the Spix's Macaw needs most is for the humans it depends on to swallow a heavy dose of realism.

Here is a comprehensive look at a unique species brought to the brink of extinction and who’s future remains in the balance. Well written and evenly balanced, a must read for nature lovers.

This rare macaw is extinct in the wild. This book reveals the role humans have played in this animals disappearance.

Tony Juniper elucidates the relentless pursuit of the Spix's Macaw. This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the historical perspective of humans' uses and abuses of birds and how, treating them as commodities, affects their status in the wild.

This book was purchased used and came in MUCH better condition than described (like new). Well written and interesting with beautiful images in the center which are a nice reference. Very pleased.

Amazing book, shows how we as a species can be alarmingly selfish, particularly in relation to other animals that we view as 'desirable objects'.

livre relié rigide récent (2002) en papier recyclé décrivant une espèce à la limite de l'extinction: l'ara de Spix; 11 chapitres au texte captivant racontant les différentes tentatives de sauvetage de l'espèce en milieu naturel; quelques illustrations: cartes n&b en début un petit cahier de photos couleur au centre de l'ouvrage, bienvenues car l'ensemble est plutôt de présentation austère!; ce livre passionnera tous les naturalistes amateurs d'espèces menacées et de l'aventure humaine liée au combat pour leur avenir; cependant ce n'est pas une monographie scientifique de l'espèce passant en revue tous les aspects de l'histoire naturelle de cet oiseau plus connu en captivité que dans la nature; ne pas hésiter pour sa bibliothèque