Glaucous Macaw

Taxobox
name = Glaucous Macaw
status = PE | status_system = IUCN3.1


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Psittaciformes
familia = Psittacidae
genus = "Anodorhynchus"
species = "A. glaucus"
binomial = "Anodorhynchus glaucus"
binomial_authority = (Vieillot, 1816)

The Glaucous Macaw, "Anodorhynchus glaucus", is a large South American parrot. The macaw is critically endangered or possibly extinct. It is closely related to the Lear's Macaw "A. leari" and the Hyacinth Macaw "A. hyacinthinus". In Guaraní, it was called "guaa-obi" after its vocalizations.

Description

The Glaucous Macaw is 70 cm (27.5 in) long. It is mostly pale turquoise-blue with a large greyish head. It has a long tail and a large bill. It has a yellow, bare eye-ring and half-moon-shaped lappets bordering the mandible.cite web| publisher =BirdLife International (2008) |url = http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1545&m=0 |title = Species factsheet: "Anodorhynchus glaucus" |accessdaymonth = 24 July | accessyear = 2008]

Range and decline

This bird is resident in north Argentina, south Paraguay, north-east Uruguay and Brazil. It became rare during the 19th century due to trapping and loss of habitat, and only two acceptable records of wild birds were received in the 20th century. Expeditions by ornithologists to southwestern Paraguay during the 1990s failed to turn up any evidence that the bird was still in existence. Furthermore, only the oldest residents of the region had knowledge of the macaw, with the last sighting considered reliable occurring in 1932Fact|date=April 2007. It is most probably that the bird's disappearance is linked to the wholesale felling of the yatay palm ("Syagrus yatay"), which nuts appear to have constituted its main food. However, suitable habitat seems to remain in El Palmar National Park in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, and persistent rumors of the bird's existence necessitate further surveys.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered

External links

* [http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail?lang=uk&id=49 3D view] of specimens RMNH 110.103 and RMNH 110.114 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin).
* [http://www.bluemacaws.org/glautxt.htm The Glaucous Macaw at Bluemacaws.org]