Spix's Macaw Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird

by Tony Juniper

Spix's Macaw tells the story of a unique band of brilliant blue birds - who talk, fall in love, and grieve - struggling against extinction. By the second half of the twentieth century the birds had become more valuable than heroin, worth thousands of dollars on the black market. In 1990, only one was found to be living in the wild and an emergency international rescue operation was launched, calling on private collectors to come forward with their birds to mate with the last wild Spix's. In a breathtaking display of stoicism and endurance, the loneliest bird in the world had lived without a mate for fourteen years, outwitting predators and poachers. Would he take to a new companion? Like humans, Spix's Macaws can't be forced to love, but the stakes were as high as they could the survival of one of the world's most beautiful birds.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds, Nature, Conservation, Animals, Science Nature, Natural History

499 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[... · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story behind Rio (2011)

I avoided the book simply because the cover looks so unappealing (is that why it's not more widely read?), but it turned out to be an exciting story of a parrot that was nearly driven to extinction, featuring wildlife traffickers, bird collectors, conservationists, and of course the blue macaws.

Reading about the last wild Spix's macaw was incredibly sad. But it also made me furious; I was fuming by the time I reached the last page. The book itself is excellent - I was just mad at the whole situation, at the human greed that almost wiped the Spix's macaws off this planet, and certainly succeeded in eliminating them from the wild. The only remaining Spix's macaws alive now are the ones in captivity; they're actually slated to be reintroduced sometime this year (20 years after the publication of this book!) The ones that remain, however, may still face final extinction from lack of genetic diversity, again because of human greed.

The 2003 edition features an important update about Presley (pictured below), a single male Spix's macaw that apparently inspired the animated Rio.



4.5* Recommended to anyone interested in conservation, parrots, birds, and/or extinction.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having visited Loro Parque, a wildlife park on Tenerife which makes a great effort to breed parrot species particularly (loro means parrot), I was pleased to get a look at this book with the history of the rarest parrot and its near relatives. The bright blue Spix's Macaw is described from its finding in Brazil through its collection, black market sales and the destruction of habitat.
When conservationists started to get seriously concerned it was perhaps too late as only a couple of birds were known, and reintroducing them to the wild was not successful. Loro Parque is described as making the best efforts to save the birds and appealing for hidden birds to be produced for breeding. The end of the book is not cheerful and I would like an update.

This is an unbiased review.

[Juliet Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of the rarest bird in the world and the attempts to save it from extinction. It reads on one level as an exciting detective story with real twists and turns to grip the reader. On another level it is an incredibly sobering look at how we treat the natural world. The plans to build up a captive breeding programme for the bird have been beset by unco-operative private breeders, misfortune and slothful administration. The last wild Spix's macaw died after 19 years alone in its natural habitat, with a brief reunion with its mate who was re-released after being rescued from an illegal breeder. She however later died after colliding with electricity cables and the pair were unable to breed. Local communities in the area had become very actively supportive of conservation efforts for the macaws and very proud of the birds. There is still hope that captive bred birds will ultimately be able to be re-released but the situation doesn't look too hopeful. (Readers who really care about nature and birds will need a handkerchief from about half way through this book).

Thankfully there is some hope here, in the form of stories of other species rescued from the brink of extinction such as three birds from Mauritius - the pink pigeon, the Mauritius kestrel and the Echo parakeet, all of which now have re-established relatively healthy wild populations and have stimulated protection of their habitat alongside real community involvement. This story has also been replicated for a number of parrots and related species in the Carribean - can it work for the Spix's macaw? Only time will tell.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one surprised me. I delayed reading it about two years. My mistake.

Macaws seem so alien to me, so Jungle Jim, so Circus Boy, somehow it just didn't resonate. They’re nothing like the birds I see flitting around my East Tennessee home.

Author Juniper not only introduced me to the world of parrots but to the milieu of endangered bird collecting by uber wealthy men who long to possess something rare and almost unobtainable. A Spix’s macaw stolen from the wilds of Brazil sold for thousands that is once they were smuggled out of their homeland. Of course, it’s all very black market and illegal.

Now the species only exist in cages hidden around the world.

"Spix’s Macaw" is a real page-turner about the world’s “rarest” bird and in some circles most valuable.

[Cienna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically tragic book. Those of you who both love science and wildlife stories will whip through this book. The writing style is both complex scientific information as well as compelling storytelling. I loved the way the author wrote about these birds and the way they described the complex political situations surrounding them. This is NOT written like a magazine or newspaper. FINALLY!!! This book is also terribly tragic and there's really no glimmers of hope among any of the narratives. It's a hard read in that respect but well worth it and incredibly informative. Stories like this make my heart sad for the environment and bring up my passion as a conservationist.

[Gael Impiazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating but tragic examination of the plight of the Spix Macaw, this is a moving, well-written book from Tony Jupiter.
I despair at the selfishness of some people, makes me sad.
When I'd finished the book - which was published 17 years ago - I looked online for an update. Although the Spix has been declared extinct in the wild, some progress has been made in captive breeding and protection of habitat, but they still haven't released any birds back into the wild.

[Webcowgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to a point but most interesting to someone who really likes parrots, and for those who do it just goes over too much basic information. The whole book suffers from too much filler. And the political point of the author, specifically his belief that you can trust a government to solve this problem, is sadly going to be historically one of the things that contributed to the extinction of this bird. Should have been about 50 pages less in the end - I skimmed the last 20.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book with a promising start. Tony is a fantastic author and has written some books I've really loved. This one however got a little dry in the middle and end when going into detail about private collectors, trades and breeding attempts. Interesting to learn of the tragic politics behind trying to save a species though. In my opinion when things get as diar as this, private owners should be owners no more.

[Chris Cheatle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening and depressing at the same time. Well told, you find yourself rooting for recovery of the species and disgusted at the outcomes.

Not sure if it is left out for legal or other reasons, but more information on what was going on with the studbook would have been appreciated.

[Tayler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an important book - and a thrilling detective story. It was hard to put down. Tony Juniper does a brilliant job of recounting the frankly jaw-dropping story of the attempt to save the Spix’s macaw from extinction and the role the group of rich, entitled men who dictated their fate.

[Neil Crossley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener. Made me weep.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot about Brazil and the bird smuggling going on around the world. I hade no idea how rampant this was. The book was a bit drawn out and could have been shorter. But I enjoyed the topic.

[Sholmes3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid book. A bit tedious at times but a good overview by a nonscientist on the history of a critically endangered species, how it got to that point, and what are some potential options for recovery. The epilogue is likely preaching to the choir as I imagine the audience is mainly people interested in conservation to some extent already, but it does a very good job of getting some of the roadblocks and frustrations of conservation work to a broader audience. I imagine that it will inspire some new cheerleaders for conservation work (for this species in particular) which is always a good thing.

[Paolo]

Very interesting reading ...

[Daniel Hulmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fascinating read that manages to be both depressing and inspiring. I had not been aware of the plight of the Spix's Macaw until reading this and couldn't believe that such a magnificent species could slide into extinction with most people completely ignorant of it.

With the book being published over 10 years ago, it would be great to find out how the story has developed since that time. From the little information I could find it would appear that the captive population has increased but there has still been no progress on returning the species back to it's original habitat.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Tony Juniper (Atria Books 2004) (598.71). This volume focuses on the four types of blue parrots in the world, all of which are from Brazil: The Hyacinth Macaw (the largest parrot in the world at thirty-nine inches), the Glaucous Macaw, the Spix's Macaw, and the Lear's Macaw. In the 1980's the population of the Spix's Macaw fell below thirty birds. And most if not all of those birds were likely interrelated. This is the story of the attempt to prevent the extirpation and likely extinction of this one-of-a-kind species. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 5/11/15.

[Zeb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew nothing about the plight of this particular bird until I happened to upon this book in a bargain bin at BookPeople. It is rather astonishing to note that nothing has changed in the status of this bird since the completion of this book. Egotistical people are successfully stymieing any conservation attempt to re-establish a wild population. Interesting perspective on how development in third world countries is wrecking havoc on very critical habitat and rare species.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book interested about the mother-son smuggling ring I read that was arrested in connection with this and other rare fauna. However, I was really drawn into the book's larger, two-century tale of the discovery, decline and effective extinction of a beautiful and rare creature. It is amazing the detail unearthed on individual birds and individuals heroes and criminals.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I started last summer and never finished. The writing is pretty unexciting, but the subject is right up my alley: saving a very endengered parrot species. If you like that kind of stuff and can stand blah writing, give it a try. I have no idea if there's a happy or sad ending.

[Kateandthegirlz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I am saying another book is fantastic but this one is really great. Great though in a horribly tragic way. Such a sad story of human greed and cruelty, with major lessons in evolution, conservation and about the beautiful parrots themselves. So interesting and really well written.

[Kourtnie McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting story of a bird gone extinct. It puts endangered species into perspective.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short review for now: depressing.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but also very sad...

[sisterimapoet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and engaging throughout. Plenty to be sad about, but some slight rays of hope too.

[Ashley Thompson]

Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Tony Juniper (2003)

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and captivating book to read.