Anodorhynchus glaucus (Glaucous Macaw)

[RSN]

Extinct Parrots by Julian Hume



Clockwise from top right: Cuban red macaw (Ara tricolor) - extinct 1864, Cuba, West Indies; Jamaican red macaw (Ara gossei) - extinct 1765, Jamaica, West Indies; Rodrigues parrot (Necropsittacus rodericanus) - extinct 1762, Rodrigues Island, Mascarenes; Norfolk Island kaka (Nestor meridionalis productus) - extinct 1851, Norfolk Island; Thirioux’s grey parrot (Psittacula bensoni) - extinct c 1764, Mauritius, Mascarenes; broad-billed parrot (Lophopsittacus mauritianus) - extinct 1674, Mauritius, Mascarenes; Dominican green and yellow macaw (Ara atwoodi) - extinct 1791, Dominica, West Indies; glaucous macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus) - extinct c 1960, South America.

[surroundx]

Interesting article: www.bluemacaws.org/glau2.htm

[RSN]

Painting by Eduardo Brettas

[surroundx]

Alvarenga, Herculano. (2007). Anodorhynchus glaucus e A. leari (Psittaciformes, Psittacidae): osteologia, registros fósseis e antiga distribuição geográfica. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(3): 427-432.

[Peter]

Jul 8, 2012 5:47:13 GMT surroundx said:

Alvarenga, Herculano. (2007). Anodorhynchus glaucus e A. leari (Psittaciformes, Psittacidae): osteologia, registros fósseis e antiga distribuição geográfica. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 15(3): 427-432.

Abstract: Anodorhynchus glaucus and A. leari: osteology, fossil records and former geographic distribution. Of the blue macaws of the genus Anodorhynchus, A. hyacinthinus is the largest and occupies open areas in CS South America, mainly in Brazil. The smaller A. leari and A. glaucus occurred in quite similar habitats in east and southern South America, both being considered critically endangered. Anodorhynchus leari occurs in northern Bahia State, Brazil, and A. glaucus was distributed in southern South America, being originally found in southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina, now extinct at least in most of these areas. These species differ only in rather subtle plumage characters whereas there are no osteological differences between them. Fossils found in caves of the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais, between the historically known ranges of A. leari and A. glaucus suggest that the blue macaws of E South America had a contiguous distribution until at least 10.000 years ago, so A. leari is best treated as a subspecies of A glaucus..

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This would mean a change in its taxonomy (if accepted of course):

• Glaucous Macaw: Anodorhynchus glaucus glaucus (Vieillot, 1816)
  
• Lear's Macaw: Anodorhynchus glaucus leari (Bonaparte, 1856)
  

[surroundx]

Thanks for the translation Peter. I didn't actually know what the article was about! 2007 was 5 years ago so if we ask a macaw specialist they should be able to tell us whether this suggested taxonomic change has been accepted by now.

I remember that a female A. leari in one of the zoos in Europe was apparently identified as an A. glaucus by several macaw specialists. So I think that even their colours are extremely similar to each other.

[Peter]

It is just the English abstract in the paper.

But I guess this taxonomic change has not been widely accepted (yet). For example, BirdLife still sees them as separate species.

But if there are no osteological differences between them, it seem a valid conclusion to me (even BirdLife mentions that "Lear's Macaw A. leari has a bluer head and is not sympatric, but specimens in trade could be confused"). If we had only bones from these two species I think they would have been classified as the same species. Maybe we need genetic conformation first?

[RSN]

One of the watercolors I made for the exposition "Aves e Evolução: Uma Perspectiva Histórica" (Birds and Evolution: A Historical Perspective), which was on display at the 21st Brazilian Ornithological Congress (December 2014).

[Peter]

That is an amazing good painting Rafael! Thanks for sharing and great to hear it was on display. You are a true artist.

[Melanie]

Fantastic, Rafael. Thanks for sharing this amazing painting. Keep on the good work.

[RSN]

Thank you very much Peter and Melanie!

If you want to see more about the exhibition I've made a page about it in my Behance account:
www.behance.net/gallery/22381037/Aves-e-Evolucao-Uma-Perspectiva-Historica

[Sebbe]

Really amazing artwork, thanks for sharing with us

[RSN]

Thank you very much Sebbe!

[RSN]

Papavero, N.; Teixeira, D. M. (2016) Um breve histórico das araras do gênero Anodorhynchus Spix, 1824 (Aves, Psittaciformes). Arquivos de Zoologia 47 (1).

Abstract

Since the Antiquity, parrots, parakeets and their relatives (Psittacidae) aroused a great interest in Europe, both for their colours as for their notorious capacity of interacting with human beings. With the discovery of the Americas, new species would be introduced in the traffic of exotic animals a long time ago established by Europeans with Africa and the East. Effectively, even before Columbus finished his fourth and last voyage (1502-1504), neotropical parrots had already made their appearance in chronicles, in the cartography and the fine arts. Although the oldest notices about blue macaws of the genus Anodorhynchus date from the end of the 16th century, and the first image from the beginning of the 17th century, those birds would be better known by Europeans only in the second half of the 18th century. In a general way, the sources examined herein proved to be especially significant for Anodorhynchus glaucus, as all the first hand information about the biology and the behavior of this macaw are registered in testimonies prior the 20th century. It is not impossible to suppose, therefore, that further details about this species and a better understanding of its mysterious disappearance could be obtained from the perusal of the vast documentary collection about the Rio de la Plata basin left by Jesuits, as well as from a more accurate reading of the reports by travelers and naturalists which, such as Friedrich Sellow and Auguste de Saint Hilaire, journeyed through Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil.

Full text in Portuguese:
www.revistas.usp.br/azmz/article/view/111141

[RSN]

Paintings by Aldo Chiappe from the book "Those Who Leave"
Source: elhurgador.blogspot.com/2017/01/aldo-chiappe-pintura.html

[Sebbe]

Status and distribution of Paraguayan macaws (Aves: Psittacidae) with a new country record.

Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

Widely considered to be globally extinct (Collar et al., 1992), Paraguayan records are all historical in nature and there is little clarity as to its previous distribution.

The species was first reported by Sánchez Labrador (Castex, 1968) who describes the Guaa obi (Guaa hovy = “blue macaw” in the Guaraní language) as abundant along the Uruguay River, but “rarely seen” along the Paraguay River. He makes specific reference to a captive bird owned by indigenous people at the town of “La Concepción de Nuestra Señora” but this locality was placed in Misiones, Argentina by Teixeira & Papavero (2016). Sánchez Labrador (Castex, 1968) provides the only known report of the bird along the Paraguay River, but much of the northern course of this river is within the known range of Hyacinth Macaw. The Uruguay River however is within the known range of Glaucous Macaw and as Anodorhynchus macaws are considered to have allopatric distributions (Juniper & Parr, 1998), it seems possible that the author may not have distinguished between the two species.

Azara (1805) described the species as his No. 273 Guacamayo azul, reporting the species along the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers between 27° and 29°S “but never north of this”. Considering the vagaries of latitude at this time, such a description could potentially be outside of the boundaries of modern day Paraguay. Berlepsch (1887) reflected this doubt, whilst Bertoni (1914, 1939) stated that Azara “hunted the species at the latitude of southern Paraguay, but along the Uruguay River”, though this seems to infer additional information to that provided in Azara’s (1805) text. Podtiaguin (1944) included “Rio Pelotas Kl. 3 (Alto Paraná)” in his distribution for the species, and this was associated with a stream south of Salto del Guairá, Canindeyú department by Collar et al. (1992) based on a 19th Century map (Beyer, 1886). We have been unable to trace a copy of this map and can find no other reference to that name for any river in that area, consequently we consider it equally likely that the reference is to the Pelotas River which separates the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, and drains into the Uruguay River, this being more consistent with the documented range of the species.

Orfila (1936) mentions two specimens from “Paraguay” in the MACN, but other specimens with similarly vague data (NHM, ANSP, RMNH, MNRdJ) date from a time when the borders of Paraguay extended considerably further south than they do today (Finsch, 1867; Collar et al., 1992; Hayes, 1995; Teixeira & Papavero, 2016) or are ex-zoo specimens (AMNH 474109, 474110) said to have originated in Paraguay. The species is retained as possible on the Paraguayan list because of the number of specimens purportedly from the country combined with the latitude provided by Azara just incorporating Paraguayan territory, but it is to be noted that concrete reports of the species from Paraguay are lacking.

www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0031-10492019000100260&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en

[redpinnipedgamer]

issuu.com/avesargentinas/docs/v6n2/12


Possible new photo? (The other known live photo is listed left of it but seems to be mislabled. My other guess is the 2 photos got mixed up?

[Sebbe]

It was assessed as Extinct in the 2022 edition of the Brazilian Red List.