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View Full Version : Lear's Macaw is Coming Back from Almost Extinction!



linda040899
08-10-2007, 08:55 AM
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=9d2749b8-fd6f-446a-a1dc-a9770a4dccb5

Cross posted from Bird Breeder- Hobbyist.

Canada.com
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The spectacular blue parrot, Lear's Macaw, has made a dramatic comeback in the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil. More than 750 birds were counted in a recent survey, wildlife conservationists report. That's more than 10 times the number reported in the wild in the late 1980s, according to the American Bird Conservancy.

WASHINGTON -- A spectacular Brazilian blue parrot, the Lear's Macaw, has come back from the brink of extinction with more than 750 birds in the wild counted in a recent survey, wildlife conservationists report.
That is more than 10 times the number reported in the wild in the late 1980s, according to the American Bird Conservancy, which attributed the creature's comeback to protection of its natural habitat in the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil.

The macaw has brilliant blue feathers with yellow patches around its beak and eyes. It nests on sandstone cliffs and feeds primarily on licuri palm nuts, the conservancy said.

Conservationists counted the number of macaws in June as the birds flew from the canyons where they roost to the feeding grounds. They found 751 Lear's Macaws. The global population of this species was just 70 birds in 1987; in 2003 it was 455, and until the June count, the estimated population was 600.
The species is currently threatened by hunting and the illegal pet trade, the conservation group said.
This is wonderful news!!!

ittyandrita
08-10-2007, 10:08 AM
thats great! I totally recommend the book

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

It is specifically about the plight of the Spix Macaw, but goes into the Lear's Macaw as well as the other blue parrots, the Hyacinth and Glaucous. Its just a really great book that tells the difficulties the parrot trade has caused for these beautiful birds and all the hurdles that come up in the effort to conserve them. I cried at the end- seriously, I was on a plane at the time and it was a bit embarrassing...

mjm8321
08-10-2007, 01:20 PM
:clap: :clap: Hooray!

butterfly1061
08-10-2007, 01:34 PM
Great news! :happy: They are gorgeous.