Cuban macaw
Cuban macaw | |
---|---|
Watercolour painting by Jacques Barraband, ca. 1800 | |
Scientific 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 | |
|
The Cuban macaw or Cuban red macaw (Ara tricolor) is an extinct
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
Taxonomy
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
Today, 19 skins of the Cuban macaw exist in 15 collections worldwide (two each in
No modern skeletal remains of this macaw are known, but three
Related species
As many as 13 now-extinct species of macaw have variously been suggested to have lived on the
The
The name Ara tricolor haitius was coined for a supposed
Evolution
Since detailed descriptions of extinct macaws exist only for the species on Cuba, it is impossible to determine their interrelationships.
A 2018
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
Description
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
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
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
In 2005, a new species of
Distribution and habitat
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
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
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
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
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Ara tricolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. p. 51.
- .
- ^ ISSN 0007-1595.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-670-81787-0.
- ^ S2CID 87386694.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8493-2001-9. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2014-02-07.
- ^ S2CID 54593515.
- S2CID 18597644.
- .
- JSTOR 4070727.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4.
- ^ ISSN 0019-1019.
- S2CID 196687248.
- JSTOR 4069997.
- ^ 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.
- S2CID 85056158.
- JSTOR 4070159.