Blue Macaw or Spix macaw was a beautiful blue color parrot native to central and eastern South America and Brazil. It was a unique species of parrot with a round head and a long pointed tail smaller in size than any other species of macaw parrots. Named after its unique discovery in 1819 after the naturalist Johann Baptist Von Spix who discovered it on the bank of Rio Sao Francisco in Eastern Brazil.
You might be wondering why I am using the word ‘was’ instead of ‘is’. It is indeed saddening to say that now the species has gone extinct from this world. The BirdLife International which is a global partnership of Conservation organization that strive to conserve bird species around the world has officially announced the extinction of Blue or Spix Macaw
The study declared that in recent years, 8 species of birds have gone extinct and sadly one of them is blue Macaw. A few months ago, BirdLife International announced that the Blue Macaw is near to extinct as there is a glimmer of hope to save them and reintroduce them to their habitat. But now the hope has vanished and their extinction is officially announced. Now our next generations will not be able to derive joy from their unique beauty.
Blue Macaw that Inspired animated movie RIO:
In 2011, an American animated movie “Rio” was released that featured Spix Macaw named Blu. The story seems to be realistic. The story represented that Blu was the last male of his species who fly from Minnesota to Rio de Janeiro where the last living female of his species lives whose name was Jewel. The two birds eventually meet and fall in love and have to escape from Nigel to avoid being smuggled. In the movie the two birds mate, have a baby and live their lives happily ever after with the hope that they can save their species from extinction. However, in reality, Blu could not save his species from extinction.
What is the reason for our bird extinction?
This very century the BirdLife International announced that nearly eight species of the birds have gone extinct while some species of bird life are near-extinction. These researches are indeed worrisome because the extinction of bird species is accelerating and we are about to lose some of the most beautiful species. The study also related that the vast majority of bird extinction occurred on isolated islands where much of the forests have been destroyed.
One more point to worry is that the bird extinction typically occur on isolated islands but now it is occurring in big cities and major continents which is a tragic impact of deforestation, human-caused climate changes, the widespread expansion, and development of urban areas and increasingly extreme weather conditions that makes the animals and birds in two difficult situations which is either to adapt the new habitat or die.
No doubt that BirdLife International are working tirelessly to protect theses birds and we should also contribute in saving the beautiful wildlife of our planet.
