Howdy, friends.  Today’s bird is the Lear’s macaw or indigo macaw.  The bird is named after poet, author and illustrator Edward Lear, who as a young teen in 1830, published a book  including drawings of animals he had seen in zoos.  He assumed it was a hyacinth macaw, a related species that I believe I have featured in a previous low-effort header.  Scientists disagreed about whether it belonged in its own taxon, before genetic testing confirmed that it was a separate species in the late 1970s.  From my cursory glance, Lear seems like a really interesting person.  He painted some neat stuff and popularized the limerick.  Still, this ain’t the interesting people header, this is birds header.  

Lear’s macaws have a very small range in north-east Brazil, which is so small and remote that it wasn’t conclusively found until 1978.  The macaws nest in preexisting cavities in sandstone cliffs, but also make their own by wetting the sandstone with their saliva and scooping it out with their claws and beak.   It has been suggested that creating artificial cavities in which to nest would help in increasing their numbers.  The birds feed on seeds and nuts, but primarily the nuts of the licuri palm, eating as many as 350 a day.  It bird’s large black beak appears to have evolved specifically to eat this nut. Lear’s macaw is thought to play an important role in dispersing the licuri palm’s seeds.  In the distant past, megafauna could be counted on to eat the fruit and pass the seeds through their digestive system whole, allowing the palm to move to a new location.  Humans killed off all such animals thousands of years ago, but the Lear’s macaw is a messy enough eater that it will disperse the seeds in the process of harvesting them and trying to eat them.  Another way they help with seed dispersal since the arrival of larger livestock in south America is that they will follow cattle, who eat the fruit of the lucuri palm and regurgitate the seeds whole and often in good enough shape to be eaten.  The macaws will gather where ruminant livestock hangs out and carry the seeds off to be eaten or dispersed.  One thing I thought was particularly interesting is that cattle ranching may be transforming the landscape to the state it was before the megafauna died out.  This would theoretically make the biome more favorable for Lear’s macaw, but it also involves deforestation, so maybe its a wash.  

As is to be expected due to its lovely plumage, remote habitat and very specific niche, Lear’s macaw is really, really endangered.  One estimate put the total population at sixty individuals in 1983.  Due to concerted efforts by the Brazilian government and private individuals, about half a million hectares of land have been put aside as sanctuaries to allow space for Lear’s to recover.  The total population is now estimated to number around 1,600.  That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s way more than 60, so the number is moving in the right direction.  Aside from deforestation and human encroachment, the parrot faces pressure because they don’t reach sexual maturity until they are two to four years old.  However, studies have shown that around 80% of nesting sites result in breeding success, which is apparently high among parrots.  Lear’s macaw may bone its way out of trouble yet.  These birds mate for life and may spend several years living together before breeding.  Honestly, the idea of parrots taking some time to be DINKs and just enjoy each other’s company is pretty great.  

Have a good holiday weekend, folks.  I hope you get to spend it peacefully under a blanket, it is scary cold out there.  Sorry if anything is formatted weird or the photos aren’t up to my usual standard, this week’s entry was partially written and uploaded on my phone from the passenger’s side of the car while we drive to visit Ma Killsock.

Forgot to credit images this week, but here are links to the sources I used to write this week’s header: https://tinyurl.com/mbakc4h6, https://tinyurl.com/2732zu36