Spix’s Macaw: The Race to Save the World’s Rarest Bird

Spix’s Macaw: The Race to Save the World’s Rarest Bird
Tony Juniper

An environmental parable for our times – the story of a beautiful blue bird meeting its nemesis at the end of the 20th-century.In December 1897 the Reverend F. G. Dutton lamented that ‘there are so many calls on a parson’s purse, that he cannot always treat himself to expensive parrots.’ He was hoping to purchase a Spix’s Macaw, a rare and beautiful parrot found in a remote area of Brazil. Today, the parson’s search would be in vain. By the turn of the millennium only one survivor, a lone male, existed in the wild.Spix’s Macaw tells the hearbreaking story of a unique band of brilliant blue birds – who talk, fall in love, and grieve – struggling against the forces of extinction and their own desirability. By the second half of the 20th-century the birds became gram for gram more valuable than heroin; so valuable that they drew up to $40,000 on the black markets. When, in 1990, only one was found to be living in the wild, an emergency international rescue operation was launched and an amnesty declared, allowing private collectors to come forward with their illegal birds, possible mates for the last wild Spix.In a breathtaking display of stoicism and endurance, the loneliest bird in the world had lived without a mate for fourteen years, had outwitted predators and second-guessed the poachers. But would he take to a new companion? Spix’s Macaws are like humans – they can’t be forced to love. With exquisite detail, this book tells the dramatic story of the rescue operation, and of the humans whose selfishness and greed brought a beautiful species to the brink of extinction. The long, lonely flight of the last Spix’s Macaw is both a love story and an environmental parable for our times.

SPIX’S MACAW

THE RACE TO SAVE THE WORLD’S RAREST BIRD

Tony Juniper

Copyright (#ulink_d0a0800c-64d5-5e06-ab0b-221362fb7563)

Fourth Estate

A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain in 2002 by Fourth Estate

This edition first published in 2003

Copyright © Tony Juniper 2002 and 2003

The right of Tony Juniper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9781841156514

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2016 ISBN 9780007391776

Version: 2016-01-12

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Dedication (#ulink_9c770464-2d40-5141-ba9b-04f6b7084e1b)

For my Mother and Father

Contents

Cover (#u79971a1d-8d5f-52f9-a82d-318aabfd90c7)

Title Page (#u76838994-099f-5c97-b992-bcec46b6c881)

Copyright (#u82cd627d-8089-5f70-94ba-4ae6ac96cec5)

Dedication (#u890db6f3-7ab7-5f7e-9147-a1b88bb3ebf3)

Map (#u2d7ec255-6a40-5a90-bc72-68bfba838f76)

Chapter 1 (#u1c2b2d02-399c-5d24-8339-21f72eba6a5b)The Real Macaw (#u1c2b2d02-399c-5d24-8339-21f72eba6a5b)

Chapter 2 (#ue016a357-a117-5d2c-b417-81440aabc368)The First Spix (#ue016a357-a117-5d2c-b417-81440aabc368)

Chapter 3 (#ufd596f19-5db1-5226-bcfb-5925210236ef)Parrot Fashion (#ufd596f19-5db1-5226-bcfb-5925210236ef)

Chapter 4 (#uc2fbb75c-6598-5736-b849-6aea191780ea)The Four Blues (#uc2fbb75c-6598-5736-b849-6aea191780ea)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)What Are You Looking For at the End of the World? (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)The Legions of the Doomed (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)Private Arks (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)The Rarest Bird in the World (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)Uncharted Territory (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)Betrayal (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)An Extinction Foretold? (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Notes (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Map (#ulink_ae8a3de8-367b-564a-a340-3a6d28ad3766)

1 The Real Macaw (#ulink_7a6529e7-7334-5694-8929-36c4f068b896)

The blue parrot came to rest on a bare sun-bleached branch that stuck out from the bushy crown of a craggy old caraiba tree. The magnificent old plant, some 25 metres tall, was one in a long ribbon of trees that fringed a winding creek. The parrot had chosen a high branch, a natural vantage point. From his lofty position, the bird scanned the flat thorny cactus scrub that lay around in all directions. He climbed to a branch slightly lower down, using his feet and beak, checking behind and above for airborne predators. When hawks were hunting, a second of relaxation could cost him his life. Once the parrot was satisfied it was safe, he cried out, quite a harsh call, but thin with a trilling quality. He received a distant reply, and then another.

Moments later, from around a bend in the creek, two parrots appeared, flying fast and strong above the treetops. They followed the line of the green-fringed channel, their long tails flexed and strained against the air, their flowing blue plumes acting as a rudder to steer a course towards the huge tree. They spread their tails, rotated their wings backwards and fluttered to rest next to the bird already perched there. The thin branches swayed as they took the parrots’ weight. The birds’ scaly grey feet gripped tightly as the branches rocked gently back and forth. The parrots fluffed out their body and flight feathers and waggled their tails to ensure that their plumage lay correctly. This ritual ensured they would be ready for instant flight should they need to leave in a hurry. Finally, every feather in place, they settled down on the caraiba tree.

The trio were the adult male parrot who had first made the call, and a pair of young adults. More chatter followed, then the birds indulged in friendly fencing with their hooked black bills. Their sharp yellowish eyes regarded one another carefully, their dark pupils dilating. Then once more scanning the surrounding land, the first bird began to climb down the caraiba tree. Beneath it was a pool of muddy water.

As the first bird went lower, his companions nervously followed, very quiet now, anxious not to attract unwelcome attention. Going to the ground to drink was dangerous. It was a necessary daily chore, but they didn’t like it. Not only were hawks still a threat but snakes and other predators could catch them down there. There had recently been a population explosion among the local wild cats, and the parrots needed extra caution. They tilted their heads to get a better view of the ground, paying particular attention to the bushy cover at the edge of the creek.