Da die Blue Macaws Internet-Seiten mit neuen Informationen ständig bis heute gebracht werden, habe ich mich entschlossen diese hier vorzumerken damit regelmäßige Besucher alles schnell und bequem zugreifen können. Bitte scheuen Sie nicht, mir ab und zu Feedback per Mail  zu geben. Das hilft eigentlich! Aber bitte denken Sie dran das Wort "Anodorhynchus" oder etwas Erkennbares als Titel einzugeben und nicht hallo oder ähnliches, da solche Wörter häufig bei Spam benutzt werden und ich lösche sie ohne weiter zu lesen.

 

 

Es gibt jetzt mehr als 400 Bilder, viele davon auf die Bilder-Seiten, aber auch viele direkt neben den Artikeln.  Bitte klicken auf Wörter die blau gekennzeichnet sind, da sie Links zu relevanten Bildern und Artikeln anderswo auf der Blue Macaws Internet-Seite bieten.

 

 

Red: Diese Neuheiten/Nachrichten-Seite ist leider immer noch nur zum Teil verdeutscht, aber ich hoffe in nächster Zeit alles a jour bringen zu können (November 2009).  

 

 

Monday, 26th October 2009

 

 

I can now reveal that the two female Lear's Macaws bred at Busch Gardens in Florida in the early 1980s have been transferred to Loro Parque in Tenerife as part of the international breeding programme. They are at present in quarantine, but eventually will be paired with two young males bred in recent years at Loro Parque. There are now 17 Lear's Macaws at Loro Parque. You can see an image of one of the females by clicking here.

 

 

Ornithea will be held again this coming weekend (30th October to 1st November) at the school centre in Porz-Zündorf, a suburb of the city of Cologne in Germany. Last year more than 450 birds from 169 species and sub-species were exhibited in 124 aviaries and large exhibition cages, which were very attractively arranged with small trees, foliage, grass, rocks and water features. The birds range from  native species to exotics, all of which have been bred in aviculture. None are for sale. Each year the birds are presented in a different setting. More information (in German) as well as a comprehensive album of photographs of the exhibition at the show website.   

 

 

Thursday, 17th September 2009

 

 

On 25th April 2008 I mentioned a study entitled Conservation Puzzle in which Neiva Guedes from the Projeto Arara Azul played a major part. It studied dispersal of seeds from the manduvi tree on which the Hyacinthine Macaw depends for nesting and the role played by the macaw's greatest predator, the Toco Toucan, in this dispersal. You can view the report by clicking here. 

 

 

Wednesday, 9th September 2009

 

 

I have at long last got round to translating a short article mentioned by me below in January 2007 by Hans, Baron Berlepsch published in 1917, in which he mentions seeing Anodorhynchus leari during his journey to eastern Paraguay in 1886. This obviously aroused my interest at the time and I am still following this up with further research. In the meantime the translation with interim comment by me can be viewed by clicking here.

 

 

Tuesday, 8th September 2009

 

 

I have noticed that one of the three specimens of the Glaucous Macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus) held at the Smithsonian in Washington DC is alleged to have been collected by Cpt. Thomas Page in March 1860, some four years after he apparently returned from his famous expedition on behalf of the US Government. I shall investigate this and report back.

 

 

Friday, 28th August 2009

 

 

The type specimen for the Hyacinthine Macaw is held in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. It was acquired by its representative in an auction of the Leverian museum collection held in London in 1806. You can read about it here as well as view images of the type specimen and the plate in Shaw's famous work. I am grateful to Nicole Ludwig from Cologne again for sending me photos of the type specimen after she visited the museum in Vienna recently. 

 

 

Wednesday, 26th August 2009

 

 

I think I have cracked the problem with the author index page. This should make finding information much easier.

 

 

Monday, 24th August 2009

 

 

Great news again today. Loro Parque has successfully bred four more Lear's macaws. Both adult pairs produced a total of four eggs -  two were placed with a pair of Green-winged Macaws and the remaining two with a pair of Blue and Yellow Macaws. Altogether Loro Parque now has 15 Lear's Macaws. The provision of the cliff face with the nest-box hidden behind has obviously been effective. The pair of Hyacinthine Macaws at Loro Parque also produced a beautiful chick. Congratulations to the team there led by Matthias Reinschmidt.

 

 

Friday, 21st August, 2009

 

 

Just got back from the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) annual convention, which was held this year in Houston. This year I was speaking, but not on the blue macaws, but on the Slender-billed Conure (Enicognathus leptorhynchus) in the aviary and in the wild. I am supporting a conservation project for this engaging species in southern Chile headed up by Jaime Jiminez from the University at Osorno. I have been attending the AFA conventions fairly regularly since the 1980s and indeed it was at the convention in 1988 that I met Thomas Arndt and began what has proven to be a fruitful working relationship. This year's convention was very enjoyable and I shall bring more news on this very shortly.

 

 

I have noticed that the Indices page in English is not functioning properly and am trying to resolve this. The German indices page has been working perfectly from the start, but for some reason the English page appears to have stopped working.  My apologies in the meantime.  

 

 

Finally we have the date for the world's leading parrot convention, which is organised by Loro Parque and held every four years in Tenerife, Canary Islands. This unmissable event - the 7th in the series - will be held from 22nd to 25th September 2010 with the presentations on 23rd, 24th and 25th September. In 2010 there will be triple event with the first International Convention on the Conservation of Psittacidae: Science, Policy and Practice preceding the main convention from 20th to 22nd September and a three-day workshop following it from 26th to 28th September.  I shall bring more detailed information on the conventions and workshop very shortly.  

 

 

Thursday, 16th July 2009

 

 

I received a press release from Loro Parque today with some up-to-date information on developments in the breeding centre there. Breeding the Lear's macaws continues to have its problems with adult macaws being too rough with the eggs. They are now under CCTV observation so that action can be taken as soon as a problem arises. You can read more about this and other successful breedings in the press release by clicking here.  Die deutsche Version sieht man wenn man hier klickt.

 

 

Tuesday, 30th June 2009

 

 

I have just got back from attending the 1st International Parrot Symposium in Dublin. It was held at Trinity College in the heart of the city on Saturday, 26th and Sunday 28th June. There were 16 speakers from 10 countries, which included Matthias Reinschmidt from Loro Parque, Cristina Miyaki from São Paulo University in Brazil, Lorenzo Crosta from Italy, Rick Jordan and Mark Stafford from the USA, who all have involvement with the blue macaws.

 

 

Matthias confirmed that Loro Parque now have four pairs of Spix's Macaw in the breeding centre in Tenerife (reported on 17th March below) and he continues to have success with breeding Lear's Macaws. Cristina talked about the DNA studies she has carried out in recent years, which revealed, for example, that the last remaining Spix's Macaw in the wild, which disappeared nine years ago  produced a hybrid embryo from its pairing with a female Illiger's Macaw (Primolius maracana). You can see the text of the paper produced in 2001 by clicking here. She also confirmed  that most of the Hyacinthine Macaws traded illegally within Brazil originate from outside the Pantanal, where most of the existing population occurs (see report on 8th July 2008 below).  

 

 

Interested visitors to this website can get more information on the proceedings at the symposium website.  

 

 

Wednesday, 9th June 2009

 

 

Some more good news. I've heard that in addition to the three Spix's Macaws bred at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar - mentioned below on 29th April 2009 - they successfully hatched two more. Congratulations to Sven, Ryan and the rest of the team. 

 

 

I have also been sent a photo by Barry Kyme of the Spix's Macaw owned by George Smith in the 1970s.  It was taken by his late father, R.T.Kyme, in 1976. Barry says it shared an aviary with a Yellow-eared Conure and was called Bobby. According to George Smith in a report he wrote in 1990, which was unpublished until I put it on this website last year,  his Spix's Macaw was sent  to Walsrode in 1980 to pair with a Spix's Macaw there. It apparently died in 1989. Horst Müller photographed a pair at Walsrode in 1985. George's macaw must be one of this pair. The other macaw, called Pele, was sent to Brazil in 1990 or 1991, where it died in 1994 or 1995 without reproducing.    

 

 

Friday, 22nd May 2009

 

 

I have just been sent this page from a photo feature on macaws by Carlos Yamashita. Carlos, who works for IBAMA in Brazil has become a legend in conservation with his endeavours. 

 

 

Wednesday, 29th April 2009

 

 

Great news! The team at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in Qatar successfully hatched three Spix's macaws earlier this year. The first two chicks hatched in late February and the third on 2nd March. All three are doing well. The breeding success was particularly important because it came from the most important pairing genetically at Al Wabra. Most information in Portuguese and German as well as English can be found at the Al Wabra website.  Congratulations to Sven, Ryan and the rest of the team there!

 

 

Wednesday, 8th April 2009

 

 

Spring is on its way in southern England. The first leaves are arriving and the magnolias and fruit trees have started to blossom. Some good news about the status of the Lear's Macaw. The last count indicated there were nearly 1,000 birds in the wild and as a result of this sustained increase in the population BirdLife International and the IUCN have decided to lower the threat category from "Critically Endangered" to Endangered".  Planting and protecting licuri palms as well as compensating farmers in the distribution area for damage to maize crops will become even more important now. I hope to bring news of this year's breeding successes soon.  

 

 

Wednesday, 17th March

 

 

The regular meeting of the Spix's Macaw Conservation Committee took place last week in Brazil at São Paulo Zoo and I understand went well. A male Spix's Macaw - a designated founder bird - has been transferred to Loro Parque in Tenerife for pairing in the near future.  There are now eight Spix's Macaws (three male, five female) at Loro Parque.

 

 

Monday, 9th February 2009

 

 

This year is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and there is an enormous amount of information appearing on TV and being broadcast on the radio as well as exhibitions all over the place. One recent programme produced by National Geographic highlighted the development of birds from dinosaurs and specifically from a small raptosaurus the size of a large pigeon, which looks like a miniature velociraptor. They referred to it as a microraptor.  It appears the raptosaurs developed feathers to maintain body temperature as they got smaller and the development for flight only came much later. The link appears obvious with newly hatched parrots such as cockatoos and regular visitors to the website may recall that in my report on Monday, 4th December 2006 I mentioned how reptilian the Spix's Macaw looked with its eye and bare facial skin. You can see the image I used then by clicking here.  There has also been interesting research recently pointing out the similarity of the genome for producing feathers and that for producing scales. They introduced feather genomes to the legs of a chicken before it hatched and it had feathered legs. They also discussed the possibility of introducing scale producing genomes to an emu egg to see if it hatched with scales. I must confess to feeling uncomfortable with this. More information about Darwin can be found at the BBC website  I heard today that a full-sized replica of his cabin on the Beagle is being installed at his former home, Downe House, near Orpington, Kent in the southeast of England.

 

 

Tuesday, 6th January 2009

 

 

Frieda continues to thrive and I have just been sent this image by ACTP in Germany.

 

 

I have also added the entry on the Hyacinthine Macaw in the 15th Volume of the Naturalist's Miscellany by George Shaw published in the 1790s to the historical documents.

 

 

Monday, 22nd December 2008

 

 

The successful hatching of Frieda, the young Spix's Macaw at ACTP in Germany has been given extensive coverage in the German press, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine, which published a more up-to-date photo of Frieda than the one below. I reproduce this here.

 

 

Also while I was in Brazil I heard that the two fledgling Lear's Macaws, which were discovered on the ground by a field biologist at Serra Branca in March 2003 and were held there under guard in a specially constructed large aviary, were finally released a year ago. When I was there in July 2004 they were quite tame even then and climbed down the aviary wire to interact with me. A release some four years later could not have been easy. I am trying to get more information on this.

 

 

It also appears that the wild population of Lear's Macaws has increased somewhat. Field workers now believe there are now in excess of 900 macaws. If correct this is excellent news. It also accounts for the quantity of maize being handed out to local subsistence farmers as compensation for damaged corn crops.  

 

 

Friday, 19th December 2008

 

 

At the end of last month just before I left for South America I received news from Germany that one of the three eggs laid by the pair of Spix's Macaws held at the premises of the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (German: Verein zur Erhaltung bedrohter Papageien) near Berlin had successfully hatched. The hatchling has proven to be female and is called Frieda. One of the other eggs was fertile and hatched with assistance, but sadly that hatchling did not survive. The third egg was said to be infertile. Frieda is the only Spix's Macaw successfully hatched this year worldwide within the international official breeding programme. Any breeding within the group of Swiss aviculturists outside the official programme is, however, at present unknown.  

 

 

ACTP claims to hold further Spix's Macaws in Switzerland, which produced two young last year, but I have not yet had this confirmed by a reliable independent source.

 

 

Thursday, 18th December 2008

 

 

Nicole Ludwig from Cologne in Germany, who worked last year at Al-Wabra Wildlife Conservation for the summer, has just sent me some photographs she made of the type specimen of the Spix's Macaw held at the Munich Natural History Museum. This was the specimen brought back to Europe by von Spix after his expedition to Brazil from 1817 to 1820 and described by him in Avium Brasiliensium Species Novae four years later. Two images can be viewed on the Spix's Macaw images page.   

 

 

Wednesday, 17th December 2008

 

 

On Tuesday, 5th August 2008 (below) I commented that perhaps tissue samples should be taken from Presley, the elderly Spix's Macaw now apparently past reproduction capability, for future cloning purposes.  However, I very recently discovered an article in the May 2003 issue of the American magazine, Bird Talk, where it stated that some blood shaft samples of growing feather tissue were actually taken from him before he was repatriated to Brazil and sent to San Diego Zoo's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species facility. It was alleged that there they grew these into fibroblast tissue cultures, which were then frozen so that in future the nuclei from these cells could be harvested for cloning.     

 

 

Presley was allegedly illegally exported to the USA from the UK in the late 1970s. He was captured as an adult and transferred through Paraguay to the UK. Thus he must be his mid-thirties. I saw him a few days ago and he is enjoying retirement in Brazil under the excellent care of a member of the Spix's Macaw Recovery Committee. Hopefully he will be able to live out his days there without further stressful upheaval.

 

 

Thursday, 20th November 2008

 

 

Just heard that Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation's first parent -reared Lear's Macaw - a female - fledged at its premises in Qatar on 15th August. 

 

 

Tuesday, 18th November 2008

 

 

I have just returned from attending the Aviary Convention at Jurong Bird Park mentioned below on 5th October.  More about this later. In the meantime the purchase of the Concordia ranch by Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) in the former habitat area of the Spix's Macaw has been confirmed after seven months of negotiations and navigating legal mine-fields.

 

 

Located in Bahia State in the district of Curaça, the 2,200 hectar (5,500 acres) Concordia Farm is within the most historically significant range of the Spix's Macaw. One of the last recorded sightings of wild Spix's Macaw amongst the Caraibeira Trees lining the Melancia Creek, which flows through the property, was during October 2000. Concordia Farm was also the base of the Spix's Macaw field project, which operated throughout the 1990s, until completion in 2002. In 1995, the release of the only captive Spix's Macaw back into the wild, was from this location.

 

 

AWWP secured Concordia Farm for the Spix's Macaw and plans to allow it to return to a more natural state by removing domestic livestock. In the long term, it hopes that this land will prove to be a valuable habitat resource for plans in the future to re-establish Spix's Macaws back in the wild

 

 

 

 

Sunday, 5th October 2008

 

 

Some good news from Chester Zoo in the UK. They have managed to breed a parent-reared young Hyacinthine Macaw. The parents named James Bond from his ring number and Miss Moneypenny, which had come from the USA in 1992,  had hatched a chick previously, but it was hand-reared by the keepers at the zoo. It appears that a change of accommodation and diet has led to breeding success.  The young macaw hatched in May, but has only recently left the next-box, where it was mainly cared for by the female. Neither the parents or their offspring are on public display.

 

 

Last weekend I attended the annual day seminar of the Fonds für bedrohte Papageien (Engl: Funds for Endnagered Parrots)  - a parrot conservation group set up by parrot breeders and keepers in Germany under the auspices of the Munich-based ZGAP - Zoologische Gesellschaft für Arten- und Populationschutz (Engl: Zoological Society for Species and Population Conservation). This year it was held in the Dinosaur Museum located in the extensive grounds of the zoological and botanical gardens in Stuttgart, known as the Wilhelma. I had opportunity to visit the museum with its brilliantly staged dinosaur collection, the Natural History Museum and the zoo itself. The Natural History Museum is also based in another small palace in the grounds of the Wilhelma, where there is incidentally a growing breeding feral population of some 50 Amazon parrots, mainly Yellow-headed Amazons (Amazona o. oratrix). There were several species of parrot in the zoo, including Hyacinthine Macaws and Kakas from New Zealand, which are rarely seen in captivity. 

 

 

The Natural History Museum was small, but like the Dinosaur Museum, also brilliantly staged. It had a small room dedicated to extinct species, which apart from a dodo skeleton included mounted specimens of a pair of Cape lions, a pair of Passenger Pigeons, a Giant Auk, a Caroline Parakeet and the finest thylacine or Tasmanian Wolf/Tiger I have ever seen. This species, which like the Glaucous Macaw is rumoured still to exist without any real evidence, is generally accepted to have become extinct in 1935 with the demise of the last remaining captive animal in Hobart Zoo, Tasmania. The specimen in Stuttgart, which looks like a female, was received by the museum there in 1899. 

 

 

In Germany preparations have begun for this year's Ornithea show, which will be held in the Cologne suburb of Porz-Zündorf from 31st October to 2nd November. This show, which is organised by the local bird breeders' group in the secondary school hall there features birds bred in aviculture in planted aviaries and large exhibition cages with water  features and rock formations.  Last year's show had 108 such enclosures with some 500 native and exotic birds from 185 species and sub-species ranging from soft-bills through parrots to owls and small raptors. A list of the birds shown last year can found on the club's website. The birds are displayed in as natural an environment as possible and are not offered for sale.  There is a one-day seminar on the Saturday to which well-known speakers are invited, but these are held in German.

 

 

Finally the 2nd Aviary convention will be held at Jurong Bird Park in Singapore in mid-November. Held every four years internationally known speakers talk on a range of topics. More information can be found at its website.

 

 

Monday, 8th September 2008

 

 

Just a quick up-date on the situation with the young Lear's Macaws at Loro Parque, Tenerife. The oldest macaw bred this year has now fledged and is pictured here with Isa, one of the staff at Loro Parque. The other three youngsters, now about four weeks old,  are doing well, one with the parents, one with foster-parents (Green-winged Macaws) and the third being hand-raised by Matthias Reinschmidt in the "Baby station". The latter two youngsters were from eggs laid by the second adult pair of Lear's macaws. Since acquiring the two adult pairs in October 2006 from Sao Paulo Zoo under the international breeding programme, seven youngsters have been bred - three last year and four this year. 

 

 

The procedure with the young macaw being raised by its parents has been interesting to say the least. As the adult pair kept damaging the eggs they produced, the eggs were taken and placed under foster parents if viable. One of these was replaced in the Lear's Macaw nest-box with an infertile egg from a Blue and Yellow Macaw pair (A. ararauna) . After the Lear's Macaw placed with the Green-winged Macaws (A.chloropterus) hatched, a young Blue-throated macaw hatchling (Ara glaucogularis) of the same weight  was put in the egg casing, which was then  deposited under the Lear's Macaw parents immediately after removing the infertile Blue and Yellow Macaw egg. Four days later as the Blue-throated Macaw hatchling reached 55 grams it was removed and replaced with the Lear's Macaw hatchling. Thus the young macaw was returned to its biological parents after they had demonstrated that they could at least feed and raise any young.

 

 

Saturday, 23rd August 2008

 

 

 

I have just been sent a photograph of young visitors to a bird show in Switzerland with Lear's Macaws. Regular visitors to the website may recall that on 15th April 2005 (see below) I reported Lear's Macaws had been shown at a show in eastern Switzerland by a Mr Constantin Santoli, who worked as a parrot consultant for the Swiss authorities. Soon after the macaws were allegedly stolen in a break-in at his premises. Having looked at the website of the Amicale du Bec Crochu (Engl: Friends of the Hook-bills), where this photo appears to be used to promote their current show programme, I have discovered it does relate to the November 2004 show, which I reported on in April 2005. The Swiss authorities still stubbornly refuse to take action against the Swiss holders of Spix's and Lear's macaws despite repeated representations by the Brazilian Government and other interested organisations. This cavalier attitude is always discussed at conventions held on parrot conservation all over the world and continues to cast the Swiss authorities in a seriously negative light. 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 12th August 2008

 

 

 

Further to the item below (5th August 2008) on the isolation of the virus causing PDD, the University of California has issued a press release. You can view it by clicking here.

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, 8th July 2008

 

 

 

Patricia Faria and her team have just published a study of the genetic variation and population structure of the Hyacinthine Macaw with its implications  for conservation in Biodiversity and Conservation. Three populations were studied - in the southern and northern Pantanal as well as Piauí in northern Brazil. Five confiscated macaws were also included. The investigators discovered that compared to other parrots Hyacinthine Macaws possess a relatively lower genetic variation and that the individuals within the two Pantanal populations belong to a unique interbreeding population and are genetically distinct at nuclear level from the macaws  from Piauí. The analyses of the five confiscated macaws suggest that the Pantanal is not the source of birds for the illegal trade. They concluded that the low genetic variability detected in the Hyacinthine Macaw does not seem to pose a threat to the survival of the species.

 

 

 

I recall being told by leading Brazilian aviculturists in São Paulo several years ago that the macaws in illegal trade within Brazil came from Piauí and not the Pantanal. Neiva Guede's dedicated work in the Pantanal arousing awareness on conservation issue among the local people there has clearly impacted on poaching and the illegal trade.

 

Wednesday, 6th August 2008

 

 

I received the August issue of Gefiederte Welt, a leading German bird magazine, this morning and found a report on an unintended breeding of a hybrid macaw where the father was a Hyacinthine Macaw and the mother a hybrid produced by a Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloroptera) male and a Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) female. This is known as a Harlequin Macaw in the USA. In addition the Hyacinthine Macaw male was blind. The German breeder had acquired the male to pair with a Hyacinthine female. It soon became apparent that the male had problems with its sight and this deteriorated until he became blind. Although he was kept in a very large aviary he managed to climb around to find the food and water bowls as well as the nest-box. Eventually the pairing resulted in a clutch of fertile eggs, but these failed to hatch. Then sadly the female died. The breeder did not want the now fully blind male to be put through the stress of breeding so placed a hybrid macaw of undetermined gender with him in the aviary for company. The two macaws got on well together, but the breeder was still very surprised to find the hybrid macaw incubating three eggs in early summer 2007. He then later discovered a well-fed young macaw. There was a glass panel on the back of the nest-box so he was able to watch the macaws with the youngster. The latter was well cared for, but the breeder never saw the female feeding it although the blind father was observed climbing into the nest-box to feed it.  The three macaws now live together in the aviary and the young bird is still occasionally fed by the male Hyacinthine Macaw.

 

 

I have seen other similar hybrids, one twenty years ago at Parrot Jungle in Florida, which was a hybrid between a Hyacinthine Macaw and a Military Macaw (Ara militaris).  This looked like a normal Hyacinthine macaw except it was green. In Germany several years ago two hybrids between an Hyacinthine Macaw and a Blue and Yellow Macaw were produced. These also look like Hyacinthine Macaws except they have a yellow breast. The hybrid in the story above looks more like its mother, but has the typical Hyacinthine Macaw eye with its yellow periophthalmic ring.

 

 

It should be said that all these hybrids were allegedly unintentionally produced. As most macaw species are endangered it is irresponsible to intentionally breed hybrid macaws and unintentional breeding should be avoided now it is known that it can occur. 

 

 

Tuesday, 5th August 2008

 

 

I have just got back from the American Federation of Aviculture's annual convention - this year in St. Louis, Missouri. Apart from the AFA convention we visited the St. Louis zoo, which is excellent and, unusually, open free of charge to the public. I went to the famous Arch on Sunday after the convention finished, but there was a long wait to ascend its 630 feet, so I visited the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Museum at its base instead. This interesting museum celebrates the pioneer movement westwards and settlement of the great prairies and the hinterland of the west coast.

 

 

Much of the convention was dedicated to avicultural matters - housing, feeding, behavioural problems, breeding, etc. As far as this website is concerned the most important items were the training of the Spix's Macaws at Al-Wabra to accept handling for veterinarian treatment by Karen Justice, from Charlotte, North Carolina, aspects of Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD), otherwise known as Macaw Wasting Disease, although it has been found in 50 species of parrot, and cloning possibilities for the future.

 

 

During the convention we were excited to learn that the virus causing PDD may have been identified by researchers at the University of California as belonging to the bornavirus group, which also causes encephalitis in horses and livestock. Samples were apparently supplied by well-known veterinarian Susan Clubb. More samples are to be tested, but the findings are to be reported on at the annual meeting of the Association of Avian Veterinarians next week in Savannah, Georgia. They will also be published in the August issue of Virology Magazine.  Identifying the causative agent will be the first step to developing a vaccine for this devastating disease.

 

 

The chronic in-breeding among the captive Spix's Macaws could be helped by cloning with tissue from important "founder" birds. Presley, the Spix's Macaw, discovered in the USA several years ago and now in Brazil, is not capable any more of successful reproductive activity. However, if tissue from him could be used to create a clone or clones, then this could also assist in assuring the future of the species.  Today I heard a radio report that a pit-bull terrier had been successfully cloned in Korea despite the enormous difficulties. The technology to clone birds is probably a long way in the future, but maybe we should be taking steps already to establish a tissue bank for that eventuality.

 

 

I shall post any progress on any of the above as soon as it becomes available.  

 

 

Monday, 21st July 2008

 

 

Global Rural TV in Brazil has just broadcast an excellent 15 minute programme on the Lear's Macaw in Bahia, including some marvellous footage of the macaws, explaining the problems of conservation, the importance of the licuri palm to both the macaws and the local people, and the maize compensation scheme. You can view this programme, which is in Brazilian Portuguese, by clicking on this link . Even if you do not understand Portuguese, it is still worth viewing as you are certain to get the gist of it., 

 

 

Friday, 11th July 2008

 

 

Great news from Loro Parque. Two more Lear's Macaw young hatched yesterday (10th July), one each from the two adult pairs that Loro Parque received on loan from the Brazilian Government in November 2006. So far two males and one female were successfully bred from Pair 1 in 2007 and this year so far two young have been hatched from Pair 1 (28th April and 10th July) and one from Pair 2 (10th July).  In addition there are two fertile eggs from Pair 2, which are expected to hatch soon. Again congratulations to Matthias Reinschmidt and his team.  

 

 

Tuesday, 8th July 2008

 

 

Two Lear's Macaws - an old female from Birdland at Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds and a male on loan from South Africa - which died in the early 1990s when in Harry Sissen's care and which he had mounted on his sideboard are on display in an HM Customs and Excise exhibition at the Liverpool Maritime Museum. They were confiscated by the authorities several years ago and now form a focal point for this interesting exhibition. You can see an image of the pair by clicking here.  

 

 

Sunday, 6th July 2008

 

 

I have now put an index of entries by author on the website after receiving comments from visitors about the difficulty in finding information.  You can find this on the first page. However, you can also access it direct by clicking here. I am working on other indices, also in other languages, particularly German. Ein Verzeichnis der Artikel in deutscher Sprache findet man hier.

 

 

Wednesday, 4th June 2008

 

 

I have just got back from the Parrots International symposium on the Queen Mary at Long Beach, California. Although the symposium was dedicated to parrots of the Caribbean, there were presentations on other conservation projects for parrots in other parts of the world, including one from Ryan Watson of Al-Wabra on the problems he is encountering in breeding Spix's Macaws from livestock, which is very in-bred. He showed us a chart, which showed that most of the captive-held birds worldwide are seriously in-bred.

 

 

We were also told that the purchase of the Concordia ranch near Curaça in northern Bahia adjoining the Gangorra ranch already acquired in February 2007 should be completed soon. This will enable a substantial area in the last known habitat of the Spix's Macaw in the wild to be restored for an eventual re-introduction of the species into the wild. The area that the last remaining male ranged over was, however, much larger than the land acquired to date, so it is likely that even more land will have to prospected. Meanwhile a search for other suitable habitat remains to be carried out in accordance with the Recovery Plan.

 

 

Finally I have been sent an article written by Karl T. Plath (1886-1970) and published in 1931 in the Aviculture magazine by John McMichael of the caique website. This has an interesting illustration of the pet Spix's Macaw held by Plath at the time in Chicago. You can read this article by clicking here.  Readers will be shocked at the poor diet the macaw survived on, but at least it appears it was not chained to its stand.  My thanks to John McMichael for this interesting contribution.

 

 

Wednesday, 30th April 2008

 

 

Some more news from Loro Parque. The Lear's Macaw breeding female laid three eggs at the beginning of April, but unfortunately damaged two of them beyond repair. However Curator Matthias Reinschmidt managed to rescue one undamaged and placed it in an incubator. It successfully hatched two days ago and now is being hand-reared by Matthias. Loro Parque is fortunate in having such an experienced and highly competent aviculturist as curator.

 

 

Friday, 25th April 2008

 

 

A recent study conducted in the Pantanal has shown that the greatest predator of Hyacinthine Macaw eggs and young, the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco), also contributes considerably to the dispersal of the seeds of the manduvi tree, the main nesting tree of the Hyacinthine Macaw. It is the shortage of these large trees that played a major role in the decrease of the macaw population in recent decades. The macaw population has stabilised and increased in recent years because of the dedicated work of the Projeto Arara Azul team under the leadership of Neiva Guedes. They have prevented unnecessary logging, maintained nesting trees and installed nestboxes, which have taken pressure off the competition among various avian species for suitable nesting cavities.

 

 

It is estimated that Hyacinthine Macaws lose nearly a quarter of the eggs laid each year to predators, which include jays, possums and coatis as well as toucans, but the latter take over half. The toucans will also predate macaw nestlings. However on the plus side they disperse widely the seeds of the manduvi. They apparently collect nearly 90% of the seeds, which are dispersed.    

 

 

Friday, 14th March 2008

 

 

My apologies to all regular website visitors for not reporting recently, but I have been very busy working since my last report. I also went to Brazil and Chile as well as the Caribbean in December. A lot is happening with various projects for the blue macaws and I am still working on re-vamping the website. The website run by Arkive has film footage I took in April 1995 to the Spix's Macaw area. There is unique footage of the female re-introduced to the wild in March 1995, but which went missing some four weeks later. Later it was reported she flew into power lines and was found dead by a local farm-hand. I also took footage of the huge aviary built to house her until she was acclimated for release as well as some footage of the young male, which was kept there for a while and was visited by the female.  There is also some brief footage of the last wild male, which disappeared at the end of 2000, with his Illiger's Macaw mate. They were extremely difficult to approach. You can visit the Arkive website by clicking here .

 

 

Tuesday, 21st November 2007

 

 

On looking back at recent reports I have noticed that I did not complete giving information on the three Lear's Macaws hatched at Loro Parque in Tenerife this year. One of the two pairs of Lear's Macaws, then newly housed in the enclosure with the rock face to simulate their natural breeding habitat, laid an egg at the end of April, which they sadly damaged beyond repair. Five days later they laid another, which was removed almost immediately and found to have a small hole, which was repaired. This egg was placed with an experienced pair of Green-winged macaws (Ara chloroptera). As reported below on 27th May 2007, it successfully hatched on May 14th and was reared by the Green-winged macaws.

 

 

Then in mid-June the Lear's Macaws laid a further clutch with three eggs. The first was again slightly damaged, but after removal and repair was placed with another pair of Green-winged Macaws. This hatched on 16th July as reported below on 22nd July 2007 and is also being reared by its foster parents. The second egg was badly damaged and was replaced with a pottery egg. The third egg was laid shortly thereafter, but as the parents did not damage it, the team at Loro Parque decided to leave it with the parents to incubate and hatch, which it did on 23rd July. The parents reared it so well that it weighed 172g at 13 days. The image here shows its bulging crop. 

 

 

The first hatchling fledged in the middle of August and was soon flying around its aviary. It displayed the natural fear, which parent-reared young exhibit and sought protection from its foster parents despite the difference in plumage colour and size. The second hatchling fledged in September, by which time the first one was feeding on its own although still occasionally begging from its foster parents.  Finally the third hatchling in the care of its natural parents fledged recently and like the other two is doing well. 

 

 

This is the first European natural breeding of the Lear's Macaw and Matthias Reinschmidt and his team at Loro Parque are to be congratulated for their dedication and well-deserved success.

 

 

Saturday 27th October 2007

 

 

It's a long time since I published any news, but quite a lot has been happening. The Lear's Macaw young hatched earlier this year at both Al-Wabra Wildlife Conservation and Loro Parque are doing well. I went to the American Federation of Aviculture's three-day annual meeting - this time in Los Angeles - in August. Ryan Watson, the talented young Australian aviculturist from Al-Wabra Wildlife Condervation, gave a presentation each day on various aspects of the important work there and I shall put these up in the next few days. Simon Jensen, who has just moved from Al-Wabra to Walrode Bird Park in Germany was also there as was David Waugh from Loro Parque, so there was excellent opportunity for networking with other "blue macaw " people as well as listening to a wide range of presentations. 

 

 

I also attended at the beginning of this month the one-day annual meeting of the German Fonds für bedrohte Papageien (Engl: Funds for Endangered Parrots), which was held this year at Leipzig Zoo.  The talks were again excellent and included a presentation from Sven Hammer, the German veterinarian, who has played a major part in setting up the establishment in the middle of the desert at Al-Wabra Wildlife Conservation and continues to lead the team there. There have been some serious disease problems with the Spix's Macaws acquired from the Philippines and Switzerland, which Sven and his team in Qatar have had to contend with.  They are to be commended for their openness in discussing this situation as well as their success in breeding with their livestock. 

 

 

Incidentally Leipzig is one of those old city centre zoos, which is investing heavily to take it from the 19th to the 21st century. The primate enclosures are very large and provide the various primates (gorillas, chimpanzees, oran-utans, gibbons and bonobos) living in them an interesting spacious environment.  The elephant compound is also very attractive offering the possibility of seeing elephants swimming underwater through a subterranean glass panel.  

 

 

We are still working on re-designing the website, which should be finished by the end of the year.

 

 

Monday 23rd July 2007

 

 

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has reported that a count of the Lear's Macaw population carried out by Fundação Biodiversitas staff in June 2007 at the Canudos Biological Station in Bahia, Brazil - a reserve supported by the organisation - arrived at a total of 751 individuals. The macaws were counted as they flew out of the canyons where they roost and nest to their licuri palm feeding areas.

 

 

The report states that the global population in 1987 was estimated at just 70 birds, although Carlos Yamashita, the highly-respected Brazilian scientist, told me several times in the early to mid-nineties that he thought it was nearer 200.  The 2003 census arrived at 455 macaws, and until last month’s count, the current population was estimated at 652 (survey 2006).

 

 

Mike Parr, Vice President of  the American Bird Conservancy said “This is a remarkable success story – a species on the brink of extinction is now rebounding because its nesting grounds were protected.”

 

 

With the support of ABC, Fundação Biodiversitas has acquired land to expand the Canudos Biological Station to a 3,600 acre nature reserve, a ten-fold increase from its original size (see report below on 4th April 2007).  At present this represents the only protected area for this critically endangered species.

 

 

“The protection of such a vital site for the Lear’s Macaw, through the expansion of the Canudos Biological Station, is a huge step towards the preservation of the species,” said Eduardo Figueiredo, Coordinator of the Biodiversitas Lear’s Macaw Conservation Programme. “The growing population confirms how essential it is to protect an endangered species’ habitat.”

 

 

For 18 years, Biodiversitas has protected the Lear’s Macaw colony in the state of Bahia. Now the conservation group is implementing protective measures for the reserve, and aims to secure additional dry forest areas that are vital for the species feeding. In addition, the project involves extensive environmental education, through both ecotourism and improving pride and understanding of the natural ecosystem among local people.

 

 

Sunday, 22nd July 2007

 

 

The young Lear's macaw hatched in May at Loro Parque is doing very well as you can see from this image sent to me today. One of the fertile eggs mentioned in the Al-Wabra press release below has successfully hatched. Hopefully the second one will also hatch soon.

 

 

Friday, 20th July 2007

 

 

I received an e-mail today from Al-Wabra Wildlife Conservation (AWWP) with some wonderful news. They have successfully hatched three more Lear's Macaws, which are now 16, 31 and 34 days old. Here is an image of the 16 day old macaw on its own.

 

 

They have made the following statement on the Al-Wabra website.

 

 

"The three chicks are being hand-reared by experienced staff after being artificially incubated. Unfortunately the breeding pair which produced the eggs has not yet developed sound incubation skills and several eggs laid were damaged beyond repair before being able to be removed to the relative safety of an incubator. The Lear’s Macaw is rarely bred in captivity and up until last year when AWWP bred their first ever offspring, the species has not officially been bred in 22 years.

 

 

 

The Lear’s Macaws held at AWWP are on breeding loan from the Brazilian Government and are part of an international captive breeding program managed by IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for Natural Resources and Heritage). The birds are managed within a studbook along with other Lear’s Macaws held in Brazil at the Sao Paulo Zoo, Rio Zoo, Crax Foundation and the Lymington Foundation. Outside of Brazil, other Lear’s Macaws in the studbook managed program are held at Harewood Bird Gardens - UK and Loro Parque – Canary Islands. After receiving two pairs of Lear’s Macaws late last year, Loro Parque have also experienced recent breeding success with one chick so far and two more fertile eggs pending.

 

 

 

A successful captive breeding program is important to the species future as they still face serious threats in the wild which make them vulnerable to extinction"

 

Congratulations to Ryan Watson and his team at Al-Wabra!

 

 

Tuesday, 17th July 2007

 

 

I received a belated copy  of AFA Watchbird (Volume XXXIII, Number 4, 2006) in which there is a report of partnership between the American Federation of Aviculture (AFA) and AVID Identification Systems Inc to provide three 125 KHZ scanners to help conservation efforts to save the Lear's and Spix's Macaws. One has gone to Yara de Melo Barros of IBAMA, another to Dr Lorenzo Crosta, the official Lear's and Spix's Macaw conservation committee veterinarian and the Lymington Foundation near São Paulo in Brazil. The Lear's and Spix's Macaws at the Lymington Foundation are already microchipped with AVID identification chips. The micro-chipping of all macaws in captivity will assist in controlling their movement between breeding centres and deter theft.

 

 

In the July issue of Papageien there is also the first part of an article on keeping and feeding of Lear's Macaws held at the Al-Wabra Wildlife Conservation (AWWP) in Qatar. Complied by Simon Jensen, now at Walsrode in Germany, Ryan Watson and Dr Sven Hammer, it provides a good deal of information about maintaining these magnificent macaws successfully in captivity.  There are a number of interesting articles on the blue macaws produced by the team at Al-Wabra, which can be viewed at the official website at http://awwp.alwabra.com/  under publications. 

 

 

Freitag, 8. Juni 2007

 

 

Ich besuchte die Sommer Kunst und Antiquitäten-Messe bei Olympia in London gestern und zu meinem großen Erstaunen entdeckte ein Originalsteindruck einer herrlichen Studie eines Meerblauen Aras von M.Werner, die angeblich im Jahr 1830 anhand eines lebenden Vogels in dem Londoner Zoo gemalt wurde. Dieses Bildnis wurde im Werk "Histoire Naturelle de Perroquets " von  Bourjot Saint-Hilaire 1837-8 veröffentlicht.  Ich sah dieses fabelhafte Portrait im Jahr 1991 zum ersten Mal im Bibliothek des Londoner Museums der Naturkunde als ich damals den Meerblauen Ara nachforschte. Ich konnte aber die Kunstmesse ohne das Bild nicht verlassen. Heute machte ich ein Foto davon, um das etwas schlechtere, schon vorhandene Bild auf der Intetnet-Seite zu ersetzen. Auch dieses Foto kommt leider dem Original nicht nach, aber bietet mindestens eine Verbesserung. Eine Kopfstudie habe ich auch auf der Bilder Seite des Meerblauens-Aras gebracht.

 

 

Montag, 4. Juni 2007

 

 

Der junge Lear-Ara bei Loro Parque ist jetzt drei Wochen alt und wiegt 495g (Schlupfgewicht 20g). Genannt Edward wird er von einem  in der Jungtieraufzucht erfahrenen Paar Dunkelrote Aras (Ara chloropterus) versorgt. Die Elterntiere fingen Ende April an, zu brüten kurz nachdem sie in der Flugvoliere mit einem künstlichen Felsenwand mit Höhlen untergebracht worden sind. Da das erste gelegte Ei leider kaputt im Nest gefunden wurde, hatte man das zweite Ei sofort nach dem Legen entfernt. Auch dieses wies ein kleines Loch in der Kalkschale auf und mußte repariert werden bevor es unter dem Dunkelroten Ara plaziert wurde. Das Paar hatte das Ei zum Schlupf gebrütet und wird das Neuling  noch sieben bis acht Wochen versorgen bis es flügge wird. Hier klicken für die volle deutschsprachige Version der Pressemitteilung.

 

 

Sonntag, 27. Mai 2007

 

 

Nochmal gute Nachrichten! Ich kann jetzt die Information freigeben dass bei Loro Parque der erste Lear-Ara erfolgreich geschlüpft hat. Jetzt 9 Tage alt stammt das Neuling von einem Paar Lear-Aras, das im vorigen November zusammen mit einem zweiten Paar von Brasilien nach Tenerife geschickt wurde. Die Paare sind in Flugvolieren mit künstlichen Felswänden untergebracht (siehe Bericht von 12. April 2007 unten). Kurator Matthias Reinschmidt stellt zur Zeit einen ausführlichen Bericht, den ich auf dieser Seite bringen werde sobald ich ihn erhalte. Zwischenzeitlich gratuliere ich herzlich Matthias Reinschmidt und seinem engagierten Team.   

 

 

Sonntag, 13. Mai 2007

 

 

Folgende ausgezeichnete von mir ins Deutsch übersetzte Nachrichten kamen heute aus Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar

 

 

" Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) ist stolz ankündigen zu können dass drei Spix-Aras Ende April ausschlüpften. Dieser Erfolg vermehrt die Spix-Ara Population bei AWWP  bis auf 50 Vögel (20 Männchen, 27 Weibchen und die drei Neulinge, die noch nicht bestimmt sind). Seit 2004 hat AWWP 15 Spix-Aras erfolgreich ausgeschlüpft und ist zuversichtlich dass noch weitere Erfolge im Laufe dieses Jahres gefeiert werden. Der Spix-Ara zählt zu den sehr kritisch bedrohten Tierarten auf der Welt und hat lediglich nur Populationen in Menschenobhut nachdem der letzte wildeVogel im Jahr 2000 verschwunden war. AWWP nimmt an das internationale Zuchtprogramm teil, das von der brasilianischen Naturschutzbehörde IBAMA geleitet wird. Fünf Institutionen in Brasilien, Tenerife, Deutschland und Qatar halten insgesamt 78 Spix-Aras, die in einem internationalen Zuchtbuch registiert sind. AWWP Blauer Ara       Ko-ordinator Ryan Watson ist Führer des Zuchtbuches und wird von Matthias Reinschmidt (Loro Parque-Tenerife) und Onildo Marini Filho (IBAMA) unterstützt.  Man hofft dass irgendwann in der nähen Zukunft in Menschenobhut aufgezogene Vögel im ursprünglichen Caatinga-Verbreitungsgebiet in dem nordöstlichen brasilianischen Staat von Bahia freigelassen werden können."      

 

 

Donnerstag, 3. Mai 2007

 

 

Ich bin gerade von  Los Angeles zurückgeflogen wo ich an einem von Parrots International organisierten zweitägigen Symposium teilnahm. Das Hauptthema war die blauen Aras. Die Vorträge waren ausgezeichnet sowie die Gelegenheit andere in der Papageienschutz aktiven Kollegen nochmal zu treffen und Ideen bzw. Gedanken zu tauschen. Es gab viele gute Nachrichten, u.A dass die Anzahl der Lear-Aras in der Natur auf etwa 650 gestiegen ist.  

 

 

Nicht so gut war die Information dass die Durchführung eines Ekotourismus-Projektes bei den Hyazinthklippen in Piaui von der organisation BioBrasil aufgegeben worden ist. Die Internet-Seiten von BioBrasil sind auch verschwunden so dass es zur Zeit nicht möglich, ist diese Information zu prüfen. . Wenn sie stimmt, könnte es für die Hyazintharas dort katastrophal, da die Vögel "manipuliert" worden sind, Futter an gewissen Standorten zu suchen um von Touristen photographiert zu werden.  Ich versuche zur Zeit weitere Information zu bekommen und wird darüber berichten.

 

 

Ich bekam auch in Los Angeles ein Exemplar des Management-Planes für die Lear-Ara, das von IBAMA und einer Gruppe von internationalen Experten neulich produziert worden ist. Ich bin dabei, eine Zusammenfassung für diese Internet-Seiten zu erarbeiten. Ich kann auch bestätigen dass die von dem britischen Züchter, Harry Sissen, konfiskierten Lear-Aras bei Harewood Hall in Grossbritanien bleiben werden. Harewood Hall ist von der brasilianischen Naturschutzbehörden IBAMA als neues Zuchtzentrum ernannt worden. Der Besitz der Vögel bleibt bei der brasilianischen Regierung und die Aras werden innerhalb des Zuchtprogramms  kontrolliert.

 

 

Schliesslich werden diese Internet-Seiten, die schon mehr als 10 Jahren veröffentlicht worden sind, intensiv überarbeitet. Sie sollten viel einfacher zu- und umzugehen sein und ich möchte endlich auch Ton und Videofilme zur Verfügung stellen.

 

 

Donnerstag, 12. April 2007

 

 

Ich bin etwas enttäuscht mit den Nachrichten von dem Berlepsch-Gut in Thuringen - siehe die Notiz unten von 4. Januar 2007. Ich hatte gehofft dass die Tagebücher von Hans Freiherr von Berlepsch betreffs seiner Expedition im Jahr 1886 im östlichen Paraguay noch vorhanden sind. Ich wollte feststellen wo er genau war als er die blauen Aras besichtigt hatte. Ich glaube dass diese Aras möglicherweise Meerblaue Aras (Anodorhynchus glaucus) waren.  Leider wenn er Tagebücher geführt hatte, sind diese längst verloren gegangen.

 

 

Mittwoch, 4. April 2007

 

 

Die letzten drei Monate sind für mich mit vielen Geschäftsreisen sehr hektisch gewesen. Daher habe ich wenig Gelegenheit gehabt, hier zu berichten.  Jedoch sind die letzten sechs Wochen auch für den Schutz der blauen Aras sehr hektisch und spannend. Daher habe ich einiges nachzuholen.

 

 

ERSTENS befinden sich die Lear-Aras, die nach Loro Parque geschickt worden sind (Bericht unten am 4. Dezember 2006), im besten Zustand. Loro Parque hat Flugvoliere mit künstlichen Felswänden gebaut.  Hoffentlich werden die Lear-Ara Paare damit angeregt, bald zu brüten und die erste bekannte Zucht in Europa zu erzielen - bekannt da keiner weiss was die Schweizer geheim schon erreicht haben.    

 

 

ZWEITENS empfahl Ryan Watson, der zuständige Zuchtbuchführer, beim Treffen des Komittees für den Schutz des Spix-Aras im vorigen Oktober in São Paulo Zoo dass ein in Deutschland gehaltenes Männchen nach Brasilien transferiert werden sollte, um mit einem Ei-legenden Weibchen dort zu verpaaren.  The German entrepreneur, Martin Guth, who had acquired a number of Spix's Macaws from Switzerland with the permission of the German CITES authorities, had set up the Verein zur Erhaltung bedrohter Papageien (Engl: Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots - ACPT) and transferred ownership of the Spix's macaws to it.  The female in Brazil had laid 13 infertile eggs in the past year and the male in Germany had been successful in a pairing with his sibling. As this was not to be recommended for genetic management purposes, it was decided to split the sibling pair, send the male to Brazil and pair the female in Germany with a proven male from Loro Parque. Another male will be sent this Spring to Loro Parque from ACPT in Germany to replace the male already transferred from there to Germany. 

 

 

The transfer to Brazil was meticulously organised. The male was firstly separated from the female six weeks before the planned departure date and underwent a thorough examination by the well-known German veterinarian Marcellus Bürkle. The macaw remained in quarantine until the results came through, which revealed no reason for not transferring the macaw to Brazil.  This transfer required export and import documentation as well as a special permit from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture because of strict avian influenza regulations.  By the beginning of February everything was in place and Martin Guth travelled with the macaw via Madrid to São Paulo. After a further four-week quarantine period he was introduced to his new partner in a breeding station belonging to IBAMA, the Brazilian wildlife authority, and hopefully there will be a successful result to report on later this year. There is no doubt that the appearance of Martin Guth on the scene and his acquisitions from the recalcitrant Swiss breeders has dramatically transformed the situation with the conservation of the Spix's Macaw for the better. 

 

 

DRITTENS hat Martin Guth mit Bill und Linda Wittcoff von der Lymington Foundation in Brasilien sowie Mark und Marie Stafford von Parrots International aus Los Angeles 400 hectares in der Nähe von Curaça in Bahia gekauft. Dieses Gelände ist wo der Spix-Ara zuletzt vorkam und wo die Nisthöhle des Mischpaares ( Spix-Ara/Rotrückenara) war. Gemäß Information von Parrots International wurde der Kauf am 14. Februar 2007 abgeschlossen. Die Gruppe will das Habitat wieder gutmachen und eine permanente Station bauen damit die Wiedereinführung der Art gesichert wird.

 

 

VIERTENS soll ein anderes Gebiet in Bahia erworben werden, diesmal für den Lear-Ara in der Nähe von Canudos.  Die American Bird Conservancy zusammen mit dem Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund und der brasilianischen Artenschutzgruppe Fundação Biodiversitas plant mehr als 1,200 hectares mit sehr wichtigem Habitat, um den Lear-Ara zu schützen. Gemäß Information von der American Bird Conservancy wird das Projekt wichtige Niststandorte schützen, Wachmänner einsetzen und Erziehungsarbeit in den hiesigen Gemeinden unterstützen. Dr Lear-Ara und der Schutz seines Habitats sind Prioritäten für die Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), eine globale Initiative, die versucht kritisch bedrohte Arten, die von einem einzigen Standort abhängig sind,  zu schützen. Die Fundação Biodiversitas betreibt eine Forschungsstation in der Nähe von Canudos seit vielen Jahren - ich war einige Tage dort in 1997 und 1998 - und