Which species are called the Blue Macaws?

The all-blue species: Spix’s, Hyacinth, Lear’s and the extinct Glaucous.  The Blue and Yellow and the Blue-throated Macaws are not included: they are yellow on the underparts.

 

When you see a blue Macaw for the first time you will probably gasp with delight! Very, very few birds in the world have entirely blue plumage and when this is applied to a spectacular creature such as a large Macaw the effect is almost unbelievable.

Who is your co-author?

Luís Fábio Silveira is the Curator of Birds and the Director of the Zoological  Museum of the University of São Paulo. He started breeding birds at the age of ten and successfully bred Brazilian Parrots.

 

Since obtaining a PhD in Zoology in 2003 he has travelled and studied birds in Brazil, observing in the wild 84 of the 87 Parrot species currently recognized in Brazil. Luís has published about 250 scientific papers on Neotropical birds.

 

He has worked with the captive breeding and reintroduction of threatened species such as the Brazilian Merganser (Mergus octosetaceus), Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), Red-browed Parrot (Amazona rhodocorytha) and the Golden Parakeet (Guaruba guarouba).

 

Which subjects does the book cover?

Everything! It covers history, how they live in the wild, trade, conservation (including reintroduction to the wild of captive-bred birds) and aviculture in 47 chapters and 496 pages. For aviculturists there is detailed information on accommodation, diets, parent-rearing, hand-rearing and feather plucking.

 

How is the book illustrated?

With 145 colour photos, 14 mono illustrations and six maps.

 

The cover illustration is very beautiful. Who is the artist?

She is Australian and her name is Rachel Lewis. I have long admired her work and her painting of Blue and Yellow Macaws has been hanging in my house for nearly 30 years. She also provided the colour illustration for my Encyclopedia of the Lories.

 

Where there any important developments regarding the wild populations of the three species while the book was being written?

Yes, and these delayed its publication. A series of dramatic and historic events unfolded, some deeply worrying, others cause for celebration. The very sad events relating to Spix’s Macaw, one of which is related below, delayed publication. 

 

In the case of the Hyacinth Macaw, optimism and population growth due to excellent conservation initiatives, turned into pessimism and a downward population trend (hopefully temporary).  For Lear’s Macaw the future was looking good but was impacted by shocking smuggling events.

 

It must have involved much research. Did you reach any strong conclusions as a result?

Yes, an unfortunate conclusion was that although the main threats to the survival of the blue Macaws are habitat loss and illegal trapping, political decisions have had extremely unfortunate consequences, especially for Spix’s Macaw.

 

The deeply upsetting example related to the project to reintroduce captive-bred birds to their original habitat where they were extinct. It commenced in 2022 and was successful.  When circovirus, also known as PBFDV (psittacine beak and feather disease virus), was discovered in young that fledged in the wild in 2022, and some other specimens in the project tested positive for the disease, the Brazilian authorities ordered the capture of all the released birds and ordered that no more releases should occur.

 

The capture occurred in November 2025. This was effectively the end of the reintroduced population, for which countless people had worked so hard for many years.  Such a tragic outcome of what had become a world-renowned conservation project could never have been envisaged.

 

This virus is common in aviculture worldwide, but Neotropical Parrots appear to be more resistant to the virus compared to species from Africa, Asia, and Australia. Many mount an effective immune response, fight off the virus and even eliminate it. Veterinary scientists claim that trapping the reintroduced population was unnecessary and ill-advised.

 

Have you observed the blue Macaws in the wild?

No one alive today has seen a Glaucous Macaw. Only a handful of people, those connected with the reintroduction, have seen Spix’s Macaw in the wild. I have been fortunate to observe the Hyacinth on a number of visits to Brazil’s Pantanal.

 

Due to the area being used for cattle ranching over centuries, the Macaws there are used to human presence and are easy to observe. They attract very many ecotourists who come away amazed at the spectacular sightings of these glorious birds.

 

However, my most memorable sightings were those of Lear’s Macaws in 2013. With a small group organised by Steve Brookes (www.wildparrotsupclose.com) we reached the roosting cliffs before first light. And we waited. Dawn was breaking when the Macaws started to leave for their feeding grounds.

 

Huge, dark Macaw shapes appeared overhead - a steady stream, groups of twenty, stragglers, larger groups, on and on they came, filling the air with their screams and filling my senses with awe and disbelief, their long wings appearing huge in the half light of dawn.

 

Perhaps 400 passed - but many came back in small groups, some of them hanging above us, curious. Looking at their faces through my binoculars made me gasp. They were so beautiful! Small groups continued to return to circle over us. The strange beauty of the surrounding cliffs and the spectacle of at least one third of the population of the species that had perched on the abyss of extinction, left me speechless - quite literally.

 

I could only marvel at what I had seen and know that it was a privilege afforded to few.

My next book will be published in September 2026. It is entitled The Blue Macaws: Mystery, Tragedy, Extinction and Hope. Northern Parrots wanted to find out more.

 

What motivated you to write this book?

Some of the events in the histories of these remarkable Macaws, from the 19^th century until the present day, were so extraordinary, you could not make them up. Their stories had to be told. These desirable Parrots have been the subject of intense trapping and theft of eggs and chicks from the wild nests.

 

Combined with destruction of habitat, the result was that one species became extinct in the wild as recently as 2000, one suffered extinction (probably mainly due to habitat destruction) without anyone knowing it had gone, one suffered uncontrolled trapping that caused a massive crash in its population and the fourth was rescued from extinction in the nick of time.