Lesser Antillean macaw

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Lesser Antillean macaw
A sepia line drawing showing five birds sitting on a tree, a black bird in flight and a tortoise or turtle on the ground underneath.
Guadeloupe amazons
(8) and one Lesser Antillean macaw (7) on a tree at the left
Extinct (c. 1760)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Ara
Species:
†A. guadeloupensis
Binomial name
†Ara guadeloupensis
(Clark, 1905)
A map showing the location of Guadeloupe, an island region in the Caribbean Sea.
Location of the Guadeloupe region

The Lesser Antillean macaw or Guadeloupe macaw (Ara guadeloupensis) is a

Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. In spite of the absence of conserved specimens, many details about the Lesser Antillean macaw are known from several contemporary accounts, and the bird is the subject of some illustrations. Austin Hobart Clark described the species on the basis of these accounts in 1905. Due to the lack of physical remains, and the possibility that sightings were of macaws from the South American mainland, doubts have been raised about the existence of this species. A phalanx bone from the island of Marie-Galante confirmed the existence of a similar-sized macaw inhabiting the region prior to the arrival of humans and was correlated with the Lesser Antillean macaw in 2015. Later that year, historical sources distinguishing between the red macaws of Guadeloupe and the scarlet macaw
(A. macao) of the mainland were identified, further supporting its validity.

According to contemporary descriptions, the body of the Lesser Antillean macaw was red and the wings were red, blue and yellow. The tail feathers were between 38 and 51 cm (15 and 20 in) long. Apart from the smaller size and the all-red coloration of the tail feathers, it resembled the scarlet macaw and may, therefore, have been a close relative of that species. The bird ate fruit – including the poisonous

Caribbean islands
. Many of these species are now considered dubious because only three are known from physical remains, and there are no extant endemic macaws on the islands today.

Taxonomy

The Lesser Antillean macaw is well-documented compared to most other extinct

Comte de Buffon stated that the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus had found macaws in Guadeloupe. The French botanist Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre gave the first detailed descriptions in 1654 and 1667 and illustrated the bird and other animals found in Guadeloupe. The French clergyman Jean-Baptiste Labat also described the bird in 1742. Writers such as George Edwards and John Latham also mentioned the presence of red and blue macaws on the islands off America.[3][4][5]

The American zoologist

Julian Hume proposed in 2012 that the similarity between the Lesser Antillean macaw and the scarlet macaw indicates that they were close relatives, and that the Guadeloupe species may have descended from the mainland macaw.[1]

subfossil
bones perhaps belonging to this macaw have been found

A small parrot

Birdlife International and the IUCN Red List until 2013, but was not considered valid thereafter.[11][12]

In 2015, a terminal

Amerindians. The size of the phalanx bone matched what was described for the Lesser Antillean macaw by contemporary writers, and the authors therefore correlated the two. They conceded that this connection could only be tentative, as there were no remains of the Lesser Antillean macaw to compare with.[13]

An oil painting depicting a red-feathered parrot with yellow wing tips; a large, ungainly, duck-like bird with grey, white and yellow feathers; a parrot with a black back, yellow breast and a yellow and black tail; and a brown-feathered bird with a long bill eating a frog
Edwards' Dodo, a 1626 painting by Roelant Savery, possibly showing a Lesser Antillean macaw on the left, and a Martinique macaw on the right

Later in 2015, Lenoble reviewed overlooked historical Spanish and French sources, finding references to mainly red macaws consistent with the Lesser Antillean macaw. The writings of the French missionary

Lesser Antillean Carib language had different words reserved for men and women, Breton gave the name of the bird as Kínoulou (♂) and Caarou (♀). Lenoble furthermore concluded that the supposed violet macaw (named Anodorhynchus purpurascens based on accounts of blue parrots from Guadeloupe) was based on misidentified references to the also-extinct Guadeloupe amazon (Amazona violacea), and therefore never existed.[14][15]

As many as 13 now-extinct species of macaw have variously been suggested to have lived on the Caribbean islands, but many of these were based on old descriptions or drawings and only represent hypothetical species.

Bahamas in 1492. Historical records of macaws on these islands, therefore, may not have represented distinct, endemic species; it is also possible that these macaws were escaped or feral birds that had been transported to the islands from elsewhere.[9] All the endemic Caribbean macaws were likely driven to extinction by humans in historic and prehistoric times.[8] The identity and distribution of indigenous macaws in the Caribbean is only likely to be further resolved through paleontological discoveries and examination of contemporary reports and artwork.[10][17]

Description

An illustration of a macaw with red tail feathers, red back and breast feathers, and blue and yellow wing tips. It sits on a tree branch facing right.
An illustration of a macaw with red tail feathers, red back and breast feathers, and blue and yellow wing tips. It sits on a tree branch facing right.
Versions of the same plate by François-Nicolas Martinet possibly depicting this macaw, from Histoire Naturelle, 1765; note different nuances

The Lesser Antillean macaw was described as having similar coloration to the scarlet macaw, but with shorter tail feathers between 38 and 51 cm (15 and 20 in) long.[18] In contrast, the tail feathers of the scarlet macaw are 61 cm (2 ft) long and have blue tips, and the outer feathers are almost entirely blue. In spite of the tail feathers being shorter, it is not certain whether the Lesser Antillean macaw was smaller than the scarlet macaw overall, as the relative proportions of body parts vary between macaw species.[3] The tail feathers were longer than those of the Cuban macaw, which were 30 cm (12 in) long.[8] The morphology of the fossil phalanx bone from Marie-Galante was most similar to the second or third ungual of the scarlet macaw, though the bone is slightly smaller at 15.3 mm (0.60 in) compared to 15–17 mm (0.59–0.67 in).[13]

Du Tertre described the Lesser Antillean macaw as follows in 1654:

The Macaw is the largest of all the parrot tribe; for although the parrots of Guadeloupe are larger than all other parrots, both of the islands and of the main land, the Macaws are a third larger than they... The head, neck, underparts, and back are flame color. The wings are a mixture of yellow, azure, and scarlet. The tail is wholly red, and a foot and a half long.[3]

Though Clark converted Du Tertre's tail measurement to 18 in (45.7 cm), Lenoble pointed out that a 17th-century French foot unit was slightly larger than the English equivalent, and the measurement should rather be converted to 19.3 in (49 cm), indicating a smaller size difference between the Lesser Antillean macaw and the scarlet macaw.[14]

scarlet macaws
; the Lesser Antillean macaw was similar, but had entirely red tail feathers

In 1742, Labat described the macaw in much the same way as Du Tertre, while adding several details:

It is the size of a full grown fowl. The feathers of the head, neck, back and underparts are flame color; the wings are of a mixture of blue, yellow and red; the tail, which is from fifteen to twenty inches in length is wholly red. The head and the beak are very large, and it walks gravely; it talks very well, if it is taught when young; its voice is strong and distinct; it is amiable and kind, and allows itself to be caressed...[3]

Both authors wrote that the macaws were the largest parrots of Guadeloupe, and stressed that the parrots of each Caribbean island were distinct, and could be differentiated both based on their morphology and their vocalizations.[3] According to Hume, this means that the birds described could not simply have been escaped South American macaws. Furthermore, the docile and amiable nature described by Du Tertre and Labat does not match the behavior of South American macaws.[1]

Breton's mid-1600s accounts of the macaw confirmed it as distinct from mainland scarlet macaws:

Macaws are larger than parrots, with a very beautiful red plumage mixed with purple in the tail and wings... Macaws found on islands are called Kínoulou, f. Caarou. Coyáli is found on the continent, and is redder and more elegant than the island variety.[14]

Apart from Du Tertre's crude 1667 drawing and Labat's 1722 derivative, a few contemporary paintings depict red macaws that may be the Lesser Antillean macaw. A color plate accompanying a 1765 volume of Buffon's encyclopaedia

scapular feathers of the wing than are present on the scarlet macaw.[3][10][19] Copies of the plate differ in the nuances used, but are identical in pattern. The painting suggests that a specimen may have been present in Europe at the time. The Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus cited the plate in his 1766 description of the scarlet macaw, but his description does not match the bird shown. A 1626 painting by the Dutch artist Roelant Savery, which also includes a dodo, shows a red macaw that agrees with the descriptions of the Lesser Antillean macaw. A second macaw in the painting may be the hypothetical extinct Martinique macaw (A. martinicus), but though many parrots were imported into Europe at the time from all over the world, it is impossible to determine the accuracy of such paintings today.[1][2]

Behavior and ecology

A spherical, green and brown, apple-like fruit on a tree.
The poisonous manchineel fruit was part of the diet of this macaw

Du Tertre gave a detailed account of the behavior of the Lesser Antillean macaw in 1654:

This bird lives on berries, and on the fruit of certain trees, but principally on the apples of the manchioneel (!), which is a powerful and caustic poison to other animals. It is the prettiest sight in the world to see ten or a dozen Macaws in a green tree. Their voice is loud and piercing, and they always cry when flying. If one imitates their cry, they stop short. They have a grave and dignified demeanor, and so far from being alarmed by many shots fired under a tree where they are perched, they gaze at their companions who fall dead to the ground without being disturbed at all, so that one may fire five or six times into the same tree without their appearing to be frightened.[3]

In a 1667 work, Du Tertre gave a similar account, and added that the macaw only ate the poisonous manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) fruits in times of necessity. He also described the monogamous reproductive behavior of the bird:

A sepia line drawing showing three macaws sitting on the branches of a tree; they are labelled "Papagay", "Perique Papagay" and "Aras".
Jean-Baptiste Labat's 1722 illustration of a Guadeloupe amazon and Guadeloupe parakeet above, and a Lesser Antillean macaw

The male and the female are inseparable companions and it is rare that one is seen singly. When they wish to breed (which they do once or twice a year) they make a hole with their beaks in the stump of a large tree, and construct a nest with feathers from their own bodies. They lay two eggs, the size of those of a partridge (Perdix cinerea). The others of the parrot kind make their nests in the same way, but lay green eggs... The Macaws are much larger than the large parrots of Guadeloupe or Grenada, and live longer than a man; but they are almost all subject to a falling sickness.[3]

The twice-yearly breeding mentioned by Du Tertre may have actually been staggered breeding, which is practiced by some tropical birds.[1]

Though Clark suggested that the Lesser Antillean macaw also occurred on Dominica and Martinique, there is no evidence for this. Instead, it probably existed on other islands close to Guadeloupe.

lower sea-levels. The areas were separated by three channels, the largest of which was 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) wide. This would not have been a hindrance to flying animals, and the macaws of the Guadeloupe islands would probably have been a single population during the Pleistocene.[13]

Extinction

In 1534, German historian Johann Huttich wrote that the forests of Guadeloupe were full of red macaws, which were apparently as abundant as grasshoppers, and the native people of the region cooked the macaw's flesh together with

through the septum
of the nose. He described how the bird was hunted by the native population:

The natives make use of a stratagem to take them alive; they watch for a chance to find them on the ground, eating the fruit which has fallen from the trees, when they approach quietly under cover of the trees, then all at once run forward, clapping their hands and filling the air with cries capable not only of astounding the birds, but of terrifying the boldest. Then the poor birds, surprised and distracted, as if struck with thunderbolt, lose the use of their wings, and, making a virtue of necessity, throw themselves on their backs and assume the defensive with the weapons nature has given them – their beaks and claws – with which they defend themselves so bravely that not one of the natives dares to put his hand on them. One of the natives brings a big stick which he lays across the belly of the bird, who seizes it with beak and claws; but while he is occupied in biting it, the native ties him so adroitly to the stick that he can do with him anything he wishes...[3]

Du Tertre wrote that the macaws were prone to sickness, and an outbreak of a disease, along with hunting, may have contributed to its demise.[8] In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson quoted a letter by French writer M. de la Borde, which stated that macaws had become very rare in the Antillean islands because they were hunted for food. By then they could only be found in areas not frequented by humans and were probably extinct soon afterward. Parrots are often among the first species to be exterminated from a given locality, especially islands.[3]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4
    .
  3. ^
    JSTOR 4070159
    .
  4. ^ Du Tertre, J. B. (1667). Histoire Générale des Antilles Habitées par les François (in French). Paris: T. Lolly. pp. 247–250.
  5. ^ Labat, J. B. (1742). Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amerique (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Rue Jacques, Chez Guillaume Cavelier pere, libraire, au Lys d'or. pp. 211–221.
  6. ^ Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. p. 54.
  7. JSTOR 4070527
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8493-2001-9
    .
  9. ^
    S2CID 54593515
    .
  10. ^ a b c 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: 125–156.
  11. ^ Birdlife International (2016). "Ara guadeloupensis". birdlife.org. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  12. ^ IUCN Red List (2013). "Ara guadeloupensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  13. ^
    S2CID 18597644
    .
  14. ^ a b c Lenoble, A. (2015). "The Violet Macaw (Anodorhynchus purpurascens Rothschild, 1905) did not exist". Journal of Caribbean Ornithology. 28: 17–21.
  15. ISBN 978-2-900339-13-8
    .
  16. doi:10.3366/anh.2010.0016
    .
  17. S2CID 87386694
    .
  18. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1906.tb07813.x
    .
  19. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51460
    .
  20. JSTOR 4077680
    .

External links
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