Cuban macaw

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Cuban macaw
Watercolour painting by Jacques Barraband, ca. 1800

Extinct (ca. 1885)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Ara
Species:
†A. tricolor
Binomial name
†Ara tricolor
(Bechstein, 1811)
Former distribution in Cuba, including Isla de la Juventud[2]
Synonyms
  • Psittacus tricolor Bechstein, 1811
  • Sittace? lichtensteini Wagler, 1856
  • Ara tricolor haitius Hoppe, 1983
  • Ara cubensis Wetherbee, 1985

The Cuban macaw or Cuban red macaw (Ara tricolor) is an extinct

sister species
of two red and two green species of extant macaws.

At about 45–50 centimetres (18–20 in) long, the Cuban macaw was one of the smallest macaws. It had a red, orange, yellow, and white head, and a red, orange, green, brown, and blue body. Little is known of its behaviour, but it is reported to have nested in hollow trees, lived in pairs or families, and fed on seeds and fruits. The species' original distribution on Cuba is unknown, but it may have been restricted to the central and western parts of the island. It was mainly reported from the vast Zapata Swamp, where it inhabited open terrain with scattered trees.

The Cuban macaw was traded and hunted by

subfossil remains have been found on Cuba. It had become rare by the mid-19th century due to pressure from hunting, trade, and habitat destruction
. Hurricanes may also have contributed to its demise. The last reliable accounts of the species are from the 1850s on Cuba and 1864 on Isla de la Juventud, but it may have persisted until 1885.

Taxonomy

Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
, one of 19 specimens in existence

Early explorers of Cuba, such as Christopher Columbus and Diego Álvarez Chanca, mentioned macaws there in 15th- and 16th-century writings. Cuban macaws were described and illustrated in several early accounts about the island.[3] In 1811, the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein scientifically named the species Psittacus tricolor.[4] Bechstein's description was based on the bird's entry in the French naturalist

Comte de Buffon and Edme-Louis Daubenton, as well as a specimen in Paris; as it is unknown which specimen this was, the species has no holotype. The French illustrator Jacques Barraband's original watercolour painting, which was the basis of the plate in Le Vaillant's book, differs from the final illustration in showing bright red lesser wing covert feathers ("shoulder" area), but the significance of this is unclear.[7]

Today, 19 skins of the Cuban macaw exist in 15 collections worldwide (two each in

cagebirds. The single specimen at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool died in Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby's aviaries at Knowsley Hall in 1846. Several more skins are known to have existed, but have been lost.[3] There are no records of its eggs.[8]

No modern skeletal remains of this macaw are known, but three

ground sloths (reported in 2008).[9][10]

Related species

Liverpool Museum (which one writer found to differ enough from other specimens to perhaps be a different species), by John Gerrard Keulemans
, 1907

As many as 13 now-extinct species of macaw have variously been suggested to have lived on the

Paleoamericans. Historical records of macaws on these islands, therefore, may not have represented distinct, endemic species; it is also possible that they were escaped or feral foreign macaws that had been transported to the islands.[11] All the endemic Caribbean macaws were likely driven to extinction by humans in historic and prehistoric times.[10] The identity of these macaws is likely to be further resolved only through fossil finds and examination of contemporary reports and artwork.[3]

The

The Auk, the American ornithologist Charles Wallace Richmond claimed that the picture looked sufficiently dissimilar from known Cuban macaws that the specimen may actually be of one of the largely unknown species of macaw, such as a species from Haiti.[14] This suggestion has not been accepted.[3]

Painting of either a Cuban macaw imported to Jamaica, or the hypothetical extinct Jamaican red macaw, by L. J. Robins, 1765

The name Ara tricolor haitius was coined for a supposed

dyeing dart frog (Dendrobates tinctorius).[16] The idea that the name Ara tricolor applied to a Hispaniolan species had gained acceptance by 1989, but in 1995, the British ornithologist Michael Walters pointed out that birds had indeed been described from Cuba prior to 1822, that the supposed differences in colouration were of no importance, and that the basis of Wetherbee's argument was therefore invalid. There is no clear evidence for a species of macaw on Hispaniola.[7][3]

Evolution

Since detailed descriptions of extinct macaws exist only for the species on Cuba, it is impossible to determine their interrelationships.

superspecies with the other extinct species thought to have inhabited Jamaica, Hispaniola and Guadeloupe.[17]

A 2018

sister species of) those two large red macaws, as well as to the two large green macaws, the military macaw (Ara militaris) and the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus). The cladogram below follows the 2018 study:[18]

Painting by Philip Reinagle showing a Cuban macaw among other birds

Ara tricolor (Cuban macaw)

Ara militaris
(military macaw)

Ara macao
(scarlet macaw)

Ara severus
(chestnut-fronted macaw)

Ara ararauna
(blue-and-yellow macaw)

Ara glaucogularis
(blue-throated macaw)

Primolius couloni
(blue-headed macaw)

Primolius maracana
(blue-winged macaw)

Orthopsittaca manilatus
(red-bellied macaw)

The Cuban macaw was smaller than the related extant species, and one of the smallest Ara species, which suggests smaller size may have been the ancestral state of the group, though it may also have become smaller after becoming established in the

early Pliocene. Since this is after the land bridge that is thought to have connected the Greater Antilles with South America ceased to exist, the ancestors of the Cuban macaw must have dispersed to the Antilles over open water. Therefore, the Cuban macaw was not a recent offshoot of the scarlet macaw, having a long independent history on Cuba. Johansson and colleagues therefore noted that though many of the extinct species of Caribbean macaws that had been described in the past are probably dubious, there would have been ample time for a radiation of macaws there, based on how long the Cuban species had been separated from the mainland species.[18] A 2020 genetic study of the scarlet macaw by the American ecologist Kari L. Schmidt and colleagues resulted in a similar cladogram to that of Johansson and colleagues .[19]

Description

Turnaround video of specimen RMNH.110095 at Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden

The Cuban macaw had a red forehead fading to orange and then to yellow at the nape of the neck. It had white unfeathered areas around the eyes, and yellow irises. The face, chin, chest, abdomen and thighs were orange. The upper back was brownish red with feathers scalloped with green. The rump, undertail feathers, and lower back were blue. The wing feathers were brown, red and purplish blue. The upper surface of the tail was dark red fading to blue at the tip, and the under surface of the tail was brownish red.[8] The beak has variously been described as dark, all-black, and greyish black. The legs were brown.[3][8][15] The sexes were identical in external appearance, as with other macaws.[17] The Cuban macaw was physically distinct from the scarlet macaw in its lack of a yellow shoulder patch, its all-black beak, and its smaller size.[10]

About 50 centimetres (20 in) long, the Cuban macaw was a third smaller than its largest relatives. The wing was 27.5–29 centimetres (10.8–11.4 in) long, the tail was 21.5–29 centimetres (8.5–11.4 in), the

postorbital processes was about 40 millimetres (1.6 in). Details of the skull were similar to other Ara species.[8][9]

The American zoologist Austin Hobart Clark reported that juvenile Cuban macaws were green, though he did not provide any source for this claim. It is unclear whether green birds spotted on the island were in fact juvenile Cuban macaws or if they were instead feral military macaws.[3][20]

Behaviour and ecology

Fruits of the chinaberry tree

Little is known about the behaviour of the Cuban macaw and its extinct Caribbean relatives. Gundlach reported that it vocalised loudly like its Central American relatives and that it lived in pairs or families. Its speech imitation abilities were reportedly inferior to those of other parrots. Nothing is known about its breeding habits or its eggs, but one reported nest was a hollow in a palm.[3]

The skull roof of the subfossil cranium was flattened, indicating the Cuban macaw fed on hard seeds, especially from palms. This is consistent with the habits of their large relatives on mainland South America and distinct from those of smaller, mainly

royal palm (Roystonea regia) and the chinaberry tree (Melia azedarach), as well as other seeds and shoots. Cuba has many species of palms, and those found in swamps were probably most important to the Cuban macaw.[9] The pulp surrounding the seeds of the chinaberry tree were probably the part consumed by the Cuban macaw.[3]

In 2005, a new species of

chewing louse, Psittacobrosus bechsteini, was described based on a dead specimen discovered on a museum skin of the Cuban macaw.[21] It is thought to have been unique to this species, and is therefore an example of coextinction.[15] The feather mite species Genoprotolichus eurycnemis and Distigmesikya extincta have also been reported from Cuban macaw skins, the latter new to science.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Zapata Swamp, 2009; the Cuban macaw lived in the area

The range of the Cuban macaw's distribution at the time of European settlement on the main island of Cuba is unclear, but the species was reportedly becoming rare by the mid-19th century. It may have been restricted to the central and western part of Cuba. Most accounts from the 19th century are based on Gundlach's reports from the immense Zapata Swamp, where the species was somewhat common near the northern edge. By the 1870s, it was becoming rarer and had retreated to the interior.[3] The subfossil skull from Sagua La Grande is the northernmost and easternmost record of the Cuban macaw. One subfossil rostrum was found in a cave. Caves are usually not visited by macaws, but the surrounding region is possibly a former swamp.[9] The Cuban macaw had also inhabited Isla de la Juventud (previously called Isla de Pinos/the Isle of Pines) off Cuba, but the American ornithologists Outram Bangs and Walter R. Zappey reported that the last pair was shot near La Vega in 1864.[22] Early writers also claimed it lived on Haiti and Jamaica, but this is no longer accepted.[3]

The habitat of the Cuban macaw was open savanna terrain with scattered trees, typical of the Zapata Swamp area. Cuba was originally widely covered in forest, much of which has since been converted to cropland and pastures. Lomas de Rompe, where the macaw was also reported, had rainforest-like gallery forest.[3]

Extinction

1765 illustration by François-Nicolas Martinet

Hunting has been proposed as a factor in the extinction of the Cuban macaw. Parrots were hunted, kept as pets, and traded by Native Americans in the Caribbean before the arrival of Europeans. The Cuban macaw was reportedly "stupid" and slow to escape, and therefore was easily caught. It was killed for food; the Italian traveler

crop pest, though it did not live near dwellings.[3]

In addition to being kept as pets locally, many Cuban macaws (perhaps thousands of specimens) were traded and sent to Europe. This trade has also been suggested as a contributing cause for extinction. Judging by the number of preserved specimens that originated as captives, the species was probably not uncommon in European zoos and other collections. It was popular as a cagebird, despite its reputation for damaging items with its beak. Furthermore, collectors caught young birds by observing adults and felling the trees in which they nested, although sometimes nestlings were accidentally killed. This practice reduced population numbers and selectively destroyed the species' breeding habitat. This means of collection continues today with the Cuban parakeet (Psittacara euops) and the Cuban amazon (Amazona leucocephala).[3]

A hurricane in 1844 is said to have wiped out the population of Cuban macaws from

in 1846 and 1856 further destroyed their habitat in western Cuba and scattered the remaining population. In addition, a tropical storm hit the Zapata Swamp in 1851. With a healthy macaw population, such events could have been beneficial by creating suitable habitat. However, given the species' precarious position, it may have resulted in fragmented habitat and caused them to seek food in areas where they were more vulnerable to hunting.[3]

The extinction date of the Cuban macaw is uncertain. Gundlach's sightings in the Zapata Swamp in the 1850s and Zappey's second-hand report of a pair on Isla de la Juventud in 1864 are the last reliable accounts.[3] In 1886, Gundlach reported that he believed birds persisted in southern Cuba, which led Greenway to suggest that the species survived until 1885.[17] Parrots are often among the first species to be exterminated from a given locality, especially islands.[3][23]

According to the British writer

aviculturalists are rumoured to have bred birds similar in appearance to the Cuban macaw. These birds, however, are reportedly larger in size than the Cuban macaw, having been bred from larger macaw species.[8]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22724513A94870119.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Ara tricolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Wiley, J. W.; Kirwan, G. M. (2013). "The extinct macaws of the West Indies, with special reference to Cuban Macaw Ara tricolor" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 133 (2): 125–156.
  4. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.138319. PDF version
  5. ^ Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. p. 51.
  6. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.60852
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    ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1
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  16. ^ Wetherbee, D. K. (1985). "The extinct Cuban and Hispaniolan macaws (Ara, Psittacidae), and description of a new species, Ara cubensis" (PDF). Caribbean Journal of Science. 21 (16): 169–175.
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  21. ^ Mey, E. (2005). "Psittacobrosus bechsteini: ein neuer ausgestorbener Federling (Insecta, Phthiraptera, Amblycera) vom Dreifarbenara Ara tricolor (Psittaciiformes), nebst einer annotierten Übersicht über fossile und rezent ausgestorbene Tierläuse" (PDF). Anzeiger des Vereins Thüringer Ornithologen (in German). 5: 201–217. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
  22. S2CID 85056158
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  23. JSTOR 4070159
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