Spix’s macaw returns to skies of Brazil’s caatinga after 20+ years

The year was 2000, and Brazil was celebrating 500 years since the arrival of the Portuguese in the country—more specifically in south of present-day Bahia state. Further north of where the caravels docked, in the same state, Brazilians saw a wild spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) in the wild for the last time.

Discovered in 1819, the species—which belongs to the same family as macaws and parrots—faced a gradual process of extinction due to the destruction of the environment and its capture for the illegal market.

Two traffickers alone were responsible for taking 23 specimens from the wild in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1986, the last known wild population encompassed only three birds. In 1990, only one male was left. Ten years later, no more wild birds remained to be seen.

The process, closely watched by the press, stirred up a worldwide commotion, and the bird ended up becoming one of the symbols of the fight against fauna destruction and the loss of biodiversity, and even features in the US animated feature film Rio.

Captivity

Since then, a project aimed at reintroducing the species into the wild has been in the making. Ironically enough, one of the reasons behind its disappearance from the forests of Bahia was also its salvation—captivity.

A population of a few dozen birds continued to be kept in captivity by breeders in Brazil, Europe, and the Middle East. Still in the 1990s, the Brazilian government launched an initiative focused on the reproduction of these animals and the negotiation of their return to the country from overseas.

In 2018, two areas were designated for the reintroduction of the species: the Blue Macaw Environmental Protection Area and the Blue Macaw Wildlife Refuge. Combined, the two add up to 120 thousand hectares across the municipalities of Juazeiro and Curaçá, in Bahia.

Back again

Two years ago, 52 spix’s macaws were brought back to the country via a deal with German breeding farm ACTP and taken to a nursery in the municipality of Curaçá for adaptation, which included reducing contact with humans; co-habitation with blue-winged macaws (Primolius maracana), with which they used to share their natural habitat and similar habits; flight training; predator recognition; and the provision of food found in nature.

Now, more than 20 years after they were declared extinct in nature, the macaws will once again soar through the Brazilian caatinga. The release of the first eight birds should take place Saturday (11). Another 12 are slated to be released in December.

They were selected among the specimens displaying better adaptation to life in nature—i. e. those able to fly better, with stronger ties to the group, healthier, and more capable of identifying predators.

The first eight birds are in their last days of adaptation in captivity, along with the blue-winged macaws, with which they will be freed.

In the wild

The release will consist in opening the enclosure where they have been growing accustomed with the environment, said Antonio Eduardo Barbosa, coordinator of Brazil’s National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Spix’s Macaw. The doors will be kept open during the day and closed at night to protect the macaws returning to captivity from being killed by predators.

“It will be a soft release, as we call it. We open the enclosure, but we want the birds to remain in it. Supplementary food will be offered for a year, so they can still visit it. For this first experimental release, we want to get to know the dynamics the birds will display,” he explained.

At this time, the researchers will use the occasion as an opportunity to observe the behavior of the macaws in the wild—the places they visit, what they eat, and which habitats they are exploring.

The animals will be marked with rings and will have transmitters attached to them so they can be tracked for a few months.

Barbosa admits, however, that the reintroduction will not be an easy process, starting with the environment itself, from which the species has been away for two decades. It is dry in certain periods of the year, which will lead the birds to fly long distances in search of food.

Electricity transmission lines are yet another challenge for the birds that fly through the region, not to mention the presence of European bees (Apis mellifera)—an exotic species that occupies natural hollows in areas where the macaws could nest, “even though we have done some work to control these bees, in order to lower some of this pressure,” said the researcher.

Also worthy of mention is the risk of new captures by illegal traders. “We must have the community on our side, with an eye open for this kind of activity in the region, reporting any environmental wrongdoing,” Barbosa argued.

The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) did not tell Agência Brasil how the inspection scheme will operate or how many agents are going to patrol the area.

Future

Threats having been overcome, there is still the challenge of ensuring that the species can thrive and reproduce, increasing the population in a natural manner, as has been done with relative success with the specimens in captivity.

The spix’s macaws add up to approximately 200, considering those under re-adaptation for release plus the ones kept in captivity worldwide, a much larger number than the few dozen that existed in the 90s.

In the two years they have been in Brazil, three macaws have been born, increasing the population in Curaçá to 55 birds, Barbosa reported. No estimate has been made for releases after 2023, but the idea is to keep a portion of these 55 in captivity, as a reserve to ensure the survival of the species, the release of new individuals, and the replacement of the expected losses in the environment.