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The Spix's Macaw, the Brazilian blue parrot that inspired the hero of the animated film 2011 Rio, is one of eight species of birds currently considered extinct in the wild.
The study that determined the new extinctions of birds attributed the tragedies to a usual suspect, but also discovered a disturbing trend.
Macaw of Spix now gone, with 8 others
In Rio, the main character, Blu, saved his species by traveling to Brazil to mate with Jewel, Spix's last known Macaw in the wild. The family film has seen Blu overcome the chances of survival in nature, having been raised as a domestic bird.
Unfortunately, there is no happy ending for the species in real life, as the Spix Macaw is one of eight new bird species on the list of missing animals.
An eight-year study by the conservation group BirdLife International identified Spix's Macaw, or Cyanopsitta spixii, as one of eight new or confirmed extinction species confirmed to be extinct. Five of the eight extinctions of confirmed or suspected birds occurred in South America and four in Brazil.
The Spix Macaw is now extinct in the wild, the last being supposed to have died in 2000. However, hope remains for the species as there are about 60 to 80 birds living in captivity. One sighting in 2016 sparked the enthusiasm that the blue bird still persisted in the wild, but it is now thought to be a Spix Macaw that escaped from captivity.
The Brazilian cryptic tree hunter, the Brazilian alagoas flyer and the Hawaiian black-faced mellifera have been classified as extinct. Meanwhile, New Caledonia lorikeet, Java lapwing, Pernambuco pygmy owl and Brazil macaw have been tagged as critically endangered and other efforts. are needed to confirm their disappearance.
Alarming extinction rates
Recently extinct bird species highlight the devastation left by high rates of deforestation, especially in South America.
The BirdLife International study also highlighted an alarming trend of continental extinctions exceeding island extinctions.
"Ninety percent of extinctions of birds over the past centuries have been made on islands," said BirdLife's chief author and chief scientist, Stuart Butchart, in a statement. "However, our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss and degradation due to unsustainable agriculture and to logging ".
In 2017, tropical forests lost a total of 39 million acres of forest cover and Spix's Ara is one of many animals that have suffered.
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