Glaucous Macaw
Conservation status
Critically endangered, possibly extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Family:	Psittacidae
Genus:	Anodorhynchus
Species:	A. glaucus
Binomial name
Anodorhynchus glaucus (Vieillot, 1816)

The Glaucous Macaw, Anodorhynchus glaucus, is a large South American parrot. This 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.

[edit] Description

The Glaucous Macaw is 70 cm (27.5 in) long. It is mostly pale turquoise-blue with a large greyish head. The term glaucous describes its colouration. It has a long tail and a large bill. It has a yellow, bare eye-ring and half-moon-shaped lappets bordering the mandible.^[1]

[edit] 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 1960^{[citation needed]}. It is most probably that the bird's disappearance is linked to the wholesale felling of the yatay palm (Butia 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.

[edit] References

• BirdLife International (2004). Anodorhynchus glaucus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered

[edit] External links

• 3D view of specimens RMNH 110.103 and RMNH 110.114 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin).
• The Glaucous Macaw at Bluemacaws.org