| Ara
tricolor
|
HOME |
| |
| Kingdom |
Animalia |
Watercolour
by Jacques Barraband (circa 1800).
This
image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This
applies to the European Union, Canada, the United States and those
countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
|
| Phylum |
Chordata |
| Class |
Aves
(birds) |
| Order |
Psittaciformes
|
| Family |
Psittacidae
|
| Subfamily |
Psittacinae |
| Authority |
(Bechstein,
1811) |
| |
| English
Name |
Cuban
Red Macaw, Hispaniolan Macaw |
| Danish
Name |
Cubansk
Rød Ara |
| Dutch
Name |
Cubaanse
Ara, Driekleurara |
| Finnish
Name |
Kuubanara |
| French
Name |
Ara de Cuba, Ara
Cuba |
| German
Name |
Kuba-Ara,
Driefarbenara |
| Italian Name |
Ara
di Cuba |
| Japanese
Name |
ミイロコンゴウインコ |
| Polish
Name |
Ara Trójbarwna |
| Portuguese
Name |
Arara-vermelha-cubana |
| Russian
Name |
Ара
кубинский |
| Spanish
Name |
Guacamayo
Rojo Cubano, Guacamayo de Cuba, Cotorra Cubana |
| Swedish
Name |
Kubansk
Ara |
| |
| Synonyms |
Psittacula
tricolor Bechstein, 1811; Ara
cubensis Wetherbee, 1985 |
| |
| Taxonomy |
Wetherbee
(1985) described Cuban birds as A. cubensis, claiming that the type
of A. tricolor must have come from Hispaniola, but there is no
evidence for this and so the former becomes a synonym of the latter (BirdLife
International 2004). Based on old descriptions, it has been proposed to
treat the parrots from Jamaica as a separate subspecies,
Ara tricolor gossei. (Van den Hoek
Ostende 1999) |
| |
| Characteristics |
The
Cuban Red Macaw has a length of 50 cm (20 in). The adult's forehead is red
while its crown is orange merging to yellow on their hind neck. They have
a bare white facial area. Both sides of the face, the breast, chin,
throat, abdomen and thighs are orange-red, while the upper back is brownish
red, with the feathers margined green. The lower back and rump are pale
blue. The lesser wing coverts are brown, with feathered edged red. Their
primary and secondary webs are coloured purplish blue. The tail is red
becoming blue towards the tip, but the underside is brownish red. The
under tail coverts are blue. The bill is dark brown becoming paler towards
the tip. The iris is yellow and its legs are brownish. Both sexes are
alike. (Fuller 2000) |
| |
| Lifestyle |
This
macaw seem to have lived in pairs or small parties (Fuller 2000). |
| |
| Food |
It
is likely that the Cuban Red Macaw ate similarly to other macaw species.
Their food was probably fruit, nuts, seeds and shoots (Fuller 2000). It is
said that they favoured the palm tree and the flowering Melia trees for
their diet (Day 1981). |
| |
| Reproduction |
The
Cuban Red Macaw nested in holes and clefts in palm trees (Day 1981). |
| |
| Range
& Habitat |
 This
macaw was endemic to the Isle of Pines (now Isla de la Juventud) and
mainland Cuba, and probably also Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican
Republic) (BirdLife International 2004; Walters 1995). Some also believe
it occurred on Jamaica (Van den Hoek Ostende 1999), where it is described
as Ara gossei.
Image: map with the previous
range of the Cuban Red Macaw (in red). Created by Peter Maas for The Extinction Website. The
copyright holder of this work has released it into the public domain.
This applies worldwide.
|
| |
| History
& Population |
Macaws
are known from numerous historical accounts from Hispaniola, but all
specimens are now apparently lost (Wetherbee 1985). Ritter, writing in
1836, was the last to record Hispaniolan macaws, in 1820 (Wetherbee 1985).
(BirdLife International 2004)
An Jamaican skin of a red macaw from the work of Gosse in 1847, shot about 1765 by Mr
Odell, was stuffed and described in detail by a Dr. Robinson, but can no
longer be traced. In 1905, Rothschild gave it the name Ara gossei,
because he believed this was evidence enough of a species endemic to
Jamaica (Fuller 2000). Several writers have united the
Jamaican Red Macaw with Ara tricolor, the Cuban Red Macaw (Clark
1905). A painting of the specimen shot in 1765 was discovered in the Earl
of Derby's collection and it seems to confirm that these writers were
right (Fuller 2000).
The last record of the Cuban Red
Macaw was of a specimen shot on Cuba in 1864 at La Vega, close to Zapata
Swamp. Some individuals may have survived for about twenty years in
southern Cuba. (Bangs and Zappey 1905; BirdLife International 2004; Fuller
2000; Van den Hoek Ostende 1999)
|
| |
| Extinction
Causes |
Its
extinction was caused by hunting for food and felling of nesting trees to
capture young birds for pets (Forshaw 1989). (BirdLife International 2004)
|
| |
| Museum
Specimens |
Fifteen
specimens of the Cuban Red Macaw remain in the museums in New York (USA),
Washington (USA), Havana (Cuba), Tring (England), Paris (France), Leiden
(Netherlands) and Vienna (Austria) (Van den Hoek Ostende 1999). However
Moreno (1992) claims that there are at least 19 specimens (BirdLife
International 2004). |
| |
| Co-extinction |
Psittacobrosus
bechsteini, a chewing louse
species has been described from
a skin of the Cuban Red Macaw (Mey 2005). |
| |
| Relatives |
The
relatives of this species are all other macaw species, including the (hypothetical)
extinct West Indian macaw species, like the Dominica
Macaw (Ara atwoodi), Red-headed
Green Macaw (Ara erythrocephala), Red-tailed
Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara erythrura), Jamaican
Red Macaw (Ara gossei), Guadeloupe
Macaw (Ara guadeloupensis), and the Martinique
Macaw (Ara martinica). |
| |
| Links |
IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species: Ara tricolor
Cuban
Red Macaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Extinction:
Cuban Red Macaw UWSP GEOG358 [Heywood]
Naturalis
- Extinct bird: Ara tricolor (Hispaniolan or Cuban Macaw)
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| |
|
References
(Complete
website)
|
Bangs,
O. and Zappey, W. R. (1905) Birds of the Isle of Pines. Amer. Nat.
39: 179-215.
Bechstein, Johann Matthäus (1811):
[Description of Ara tricolor]. Johann Lathams Allgemeine Übersicht der Vögel
4(1): 64, plate 1.
BirdLife International 2004. Ara
tricolor. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>.
Downloaded on 25 January 2007.
Day,
D., 1981, The Doomsday Book of Animals, Ebury Press, London.
Forshaw, J. M. (1989) Parrots
of the world. Third (revised) edition. London: Blandford Press.
Fuller, E. 2000. Extinct birds.
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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. Anz. Ver. Thüring. Ornithol. 5, 201-217. (Pdf
available online)
Moreno, A. (1992) Uber den am Ende
des 19 Jahrhunderts aus gestorbenen en Kuba-Ara (Ara cubensis). Bongo
20: 65-68.
Van den Hoek Ostende, L.W. 1999.
Cuban Red Macaw - A blushing parrot. 300 Pearls - Museum
highlights of natural diversity. Downloaded on 25 January 2007.
Walters, M. (1995) On the status of
Ara tricolor Bechstein. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 115:
168-170.
Wetherbee, D. K. (1985): The
extinct Cuban and Hispaniolan macaws (Ara, Psittacidae), and description
of a new species, Ara cubensis. Carib. J. Sci. 21(3-4): 169-175. (Online
pdf)
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Last
updated: 4th February 2007.
This
page is a part of The
Extinction Website.
© 2000-2009. |