Lear’s macaw project hits conservation milestone

BRAZIL’S ICONIC BLUE macaws have been the subjects of intensely-focused conservation work in recent years. There was groundbreaking news on Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) when captivebred specimens of this extinct-in-the-wild species were released into the former habitat (see Cage & Aviary Birds, June 29).

Now comes another extraordinary story that gives so much hope – not only for the future of Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), but for so many other endangered parrots.

The blue macaws comprise the two species mentioned above, plus the magnificent hyacinth (). They are among the rarest, the most distinctive and the most striking of all) disappeared unnoticed, probably in the 1930s. In appearance, it closely resembled Lear’s macaw.