By: zrojo
Remember that well liked movie about those macaws named Blu and Jewel? I loved that movie and I know many others enjoyed it too.
I was saddened to hear that the Spix macaws, the species of birds that Jewel and Blu were, are now extinct in the wild! I had recently watched the movie (why not?) and thought about that. You learn about what these birds are facing in the movie. They are all real reasons! What are these birds and how can we help them?
So what do we know about these parrots? Well they are like most parrots, with the typical features, long strong curved beaks and strong feet. These help them in their environment. They squawk and screech, typical sounds so other parrots can hear them in the dense canopies of the rainforest. These parrots are beautiful! They have beautiful colored feathers that helped them blend in. They are very intelligent birds, knowing how to use tools and many other things that help them survive in the wild!
So why are they going extinct? Habit loss. Exotic pet trade. The populations are dwindling fast! The Spix macaw is now extinct in the wild and soon to be with the other parrots!
For such a long time, people found the parrots to be beautiful with their brightly colored feathers. People would buy them to be their pets. People also made them show birds. Trapping them for these reasons are making their population go down fast! These animals are not pets. They belong in the wild undisturbed by humans. Yes, they are beautiful smart animals but they should be flying through trees, not stuck in a cage in your living room!
So what are the parrots that are endangered? The scarlet macaw, the golden conure, the hyacinth macaw, the scarlet-chested parrot, the red-crowned parrot, the great green macaw, the military macaw, the white cockatoo (the bird Nigel from Rio is this type of bird), the blue-throated macaw, and the yellow-crested cockatoo.
Habit loss is very big as well. People are clearing the rainforests for farming, logging and development. These human activities are destroying their habitat and killing off the flocks of these magnificent birds! Most of these parrots live in South America, Mexico, and Central America but some only have a specific place where they live. If people clear that specific area out, it’ll be hard to save them. Zoos and conservationists are doing all they can to help them, so hope is not lost!
Most of these birds are under the Endangered Species Act so they are trying to save them. People are trying to stop the clearing of rainforests. There are many protests against it!
How can we help? Well, we can look into it. Learn about these parrots. Go to the zoo and see them. Learn about the different types of strategies that conservationists are doing to try and save these birds!
Thanks for reading! Hopefully one day we can save these parrots and have lots of amazing flocks in the wild! That’s the dream.
Resources:
https://ww/fws/gov/endangered/what-we-do/parrots
https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/macaw
https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/parrots-and-other-exotic-birds
Feel free to look at these websites to learn more about the parrots and the conservation efforts to help save them!
Awesome article! The other night, I saw Rio on disney plus and decided to watch it, and then right after I heard they were extinct. I was thinking to myself that someone should write andarticle about it, and I was so excited to see it here! Great job!!
My little brother loves macaws, their his favorite animal. This makes me sad.