Does anyone else think this animal is extinct?
- Thread starter The Carcharodontogenius
- Start date
Are you saying that the Glaucous Macaw is the Lear's Macaw.
It's this paper:
Look at this. I think the Lear's macaw doesn't have green or grey on it at all. It might be all blue.
@Fallax are you aware that the flash was on in this picture?
This is what the real coloration is like.
(Incredible! It is too big to put in here)
Last edited:
Re: genetic testing. It's not uncommon to do genetic testing on some animals that zero dimorphic differences - most common in reptiles but they do it in birds as well. OTOH - most reputable zoos do have a clear provenance of their animals (to avoid accidental illegally caught animals being sold to the zoo and for breeding purposes).
You'd be surprised. Most zoos don't even know the genetic origins of their lions or chimpanzees. I'd consider Edinburgh a 'reputable zoo' and when I was there in 2015 they were talking about only now starting genetic testing to figure out which subspecies their chimpanzees were comprised of (they assumed there were hybrids in the troop). Likewise the main reason most zoos list their lions as just 'African lions' is because they don't actually know which region of Africa they came from, or which of the two subspecies they belong to, or if they're hybrids. They only know they aren't 'Asiatic lions'.
There's also the point that most captive Bengal tigers in the US are hybridised between Bengals and other subpops.
Subpopulation. A non-taxonomical designation for genetically significant groups within a subspecies. The mainland tiger is the currently-accepted subspecies (Panthera tigris tigris) while the Bengal, Siberian, Malayan, etc. tigers are subpopulations within that subspecies (though there is still ongoing debate on this subject). The Sumatran tiger, on the other hand, is the last remaining population of the Sunda tiger subspecies, P. t. sondaica (which means that there are currently only two tiger subspecies, unless something changes again in the world of taxonomy).
The methods to determine sex in birds aren't (in most cases) the same as to determine the origin of an animal. In some reptiles (where the sex determination occurs trough temperature) genetic testing isn't really viable.
Regarding the origin of animals, most of the populations we have at zoos now were already born in zoos and, as already mentioned by NZFanatic, some years ago the origin of most animals was generally very vague and there wasn't really a point to mantain the subpopulations/subspecies separated. Nowadays it's indeed quite regullary done to determine the origin of the animals.
Actually, the EAZA chimpanzee program was quite a mess overall, all the animals got tested for the subspecies, which leds to a reduction on the hybrid population. There were similar plans for "African" lions in Europe, but that didn't seem to be as successful, sadly.
Regarding the Bengal tigers, there is also the problem with white tigers, besides all the inbreeding, there was also introduced some Siberian blood, to make them a bit more cold-tolerant.
Look at the Lear's Macaw in Prague Zoo. It isn't all blue. Could this be a possible Glaucous Macaw?
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBBK188UeUc&t=112s
Compare the 2nd Lear's Macaw to the picture below. The eye on the 2nd one looks a bit bigger than the Lear's Macaw eye below.
Compare the 2nd Lear's Macaw to the picture below. The eye on the 2nd one looks a bit bigger than the Lear's Macaw eye below.
No he's not.
Last edited:
@Urufu1997 the Macaw in the article is a Glaucous.
I have found these images showing what all the macaws look like & check out the Lear's Macaw & the Glaucous Macaw.
I have found these images showing what all the macaws look like & check out the Lear's Macaw & the Glaucous Macaw.
did I remember it wrong? I'm pretty sure if I remember it correctly that it turned out afterwards that it was just a Lear's MacawNo, the Lear's Macaw is an all - blue macaw. The Glaucous is turquoise with a greenish grey head.
Are you not forgetting the Lear's Macaw is aka the Indigo Macaw? Look at these 2 sources.
Glaucous macaw - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio
Basic facts about Glaucous macaw: lifespan, distribution and habitat map, lifestyle and social behavior, mating habits, diet and nutrition, population size and status.
Lear's Macaw - Facts, Diet, Habitat & Pictures on Animalia.bio
Basic facts about Lear's Macaw: lifespan, distribution and habitat map, lifestyle and social behavior, mating habits, diet and nutrition, population size and status.
I don't know if I think it's extinct or not, but if not I'll take it. I will take however many macaws Frontier would want to put in the game and probably more than that. I'd be happy with every single one of them TBH. Macaws are to me the iconic zoo birds when it comes to smaller birds.
Absent of any well-defined field markings and with a dearth of information, it would be very difficult (if not impossible) to determine the species of these birds from photographs alone. From what I can tell, the two species are incredibly similar (with some debate over whether they might just be different subspecies of the same species), and the only difference is the color variation. Birds can often look like different colors in different lighting/photographic conditions: look at these two pictures of the same species, the loggerhead shrike--note how one appears dusty blue while the other is a mid-tone gray. Similarly, birds within the same species often have phenological differences that make identification difficult. Just scroll through eBird to see debate about the identification of numerous common, similar species by photograph--it's very difficult! And that's even for species that have more field identifiers than just a slight color difference. I wouldn't be opposed to genetic testing of captive individuals, particularly if it helps clear up the provenance of the birds, but I think postulating that they're Glaucous macaws based on photos alone (many of them of taxidermied birds, which introduces further issues with identifying coloration) is a fool's errand.
Agreed.