Sign-In
Cart
Spix's Macaw: The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird
Paperback
BirdwatchingEnvironmental StudiesZoology
ISBN13: 9781841156514
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Published: May 5 2003
Pages: 320
Weight: 0.65
Height: 0.82 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
An environmental parable for our times - the story of a beautiful blue bird meeting its nemesis at the end of the 20th-century.
In December 1897 the Reverend F. G. Dutton lamented that 'there are so many calls on a parson's purse, that he cannot always treat himself to expensive parrots.' He was hoping to purchase a Spix's Macaw, a rare and beautiful parrot found in a remote area of Brazil. Today, the parson's search would be in vain. By the turn of the millennium only one survivor, a lone male, existed in the wild.
Spix's Macaw tells the hearbreaking story of a unique band of brilliant blue birds - who talk, fall in love, and grieve - struggling against the forces of extinction and their own desirability. By the second half of the 20th-century the birds became gram for gram more valuable than heroin; so valuable that they drew up to $40,000 on the black markets. When, in 1990, only one was found to be living in the wild, an emergency international rescue operation was launched and an amnesty declared, allowing private collectors to come forward with their illegal birds, possible mates for the last wild Spix.
In a breathtaking display of stoicism and endurance, the loneliest bird in the world had lived without a mate for fourteen years, had outwitted predators and second-guessed the poachers. But would he take to a new companion? Spix's Macaws are like humans - they can't be forced to love. With exquisite detail, this book tells the dramatic story of the rescue operation, and of the humans whose selfishness and greed brought a beautiful species to the brink of extinction. The long, lonely flight of the last Spix's Macaw is both a love story and an environmental parable for our times.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Juniper, Tony
Also in
Birdwatching
National Audubon Society Pocket Guide to Familiar Birds: Eastern Region: Eastern
National Audubon Society
Paperback
North American Bird Watching for Beginners: Field Notes on 150 Species to Start Your Birding Adventures
Stiteler, Sharon
Paperback
Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern & Central North America, Seventh Ed.
Peterson, Roger Tory
Paperback
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of the United States and Canada, 8th Edition
Floyd, Ted
Paperback
What It's Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing--What Birds Are Doing, and Why
Sibley, David Allen
Hardcover
A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird
Mosco, Rosemary
Paperback
The Backyard Birdsong Guide Eastern and Central North America: A Guide to Listening
Kroodsma, Donald
Hardcover
Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans
Marzluff, John
Angell, Tony
Paperback
The Backyard Bird Journal: Pages for Writing, Sketching, and Living Deeply in Nature
Tan, Amy
Hardcover
What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World's Most Familiar Bird
Montgomery, Sy
Hardcover
Bird Watchers' Field Guide Sticker & Logbook: Identify 75 North American Birds
Editors of Chartwell Books
Paperback
National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd Edition
Alderfer, Jonathan
Paperback
Sibley Birding Sticker Book: With More Than 300 Stickers: Stickers for Journals, Water Bottles, Laptops, Planners, and More
Sibley, David Allen
Hardcover
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of the United States and Canadaâ "West, 2nd Edition
Floyd, Ted
Paperback
A Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Trees: Eastern United States and Canada, Including the Midwest
Wehr, Janet
Petrides, George A.
Paperback
Birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi Second Edition
Fanshawe, John
Stevenson, Terry
Paperback
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think
Ackerman, Jennifer
Paperback
Birds of Wyoming Field Guide: Includes Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
Tekiela, Stan
Paperback
Pacific Coast Bird Finder: Identifying Common Birds Along the Pacific Coast
Lederer, Roger J.
Paperback
Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest
Sayre, Jeffrey P.
Kaufman, Kimberly
Kaufman, Kenn
Paperback
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of the United States and Canadaâ "East, 2nd Edition
Floyd, Ted
Paperback
East Africa Birds: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar Species in Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda
Kavanagh, James
Paperback
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds--W: Western Region - Revised Edition
National Audubon Society
Hardcover
Birds: A Fully Illustrated, Authoritative and Easy-To-Use Guide
Zim, Herbert S.
Gabrielson, Ira N.
Paperback
Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard
Strassmann, Joan E.
Hardcover
Birds of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Guide
Opperman, Hal
Aversa, Tom
Cannings, Richard
Paperback
Birds of Maryland & Delaware Field Guide: Includes Washington, D.C., & the Chesapeake Bay
Tekiela, Stan
Paperback
Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Fully Revised and Updated Third Edition
Raffaele, Herbert A.
Petrovic, Clive
López, Sergio A. Colón
Paperback
How to Look at a Bird: Open Your Eyes to the Joy of Watching and Knowing Birds
Leslie, Clare Walker
Paperback
Hansen's Field Guide to the Birds of the Sierra Nevada
Beedy, Edward C.
Donkin, Adam
Hansen, Keith
Paperback
Bird Nest Finder: Identifying Aboveground Bird Nests in Eastern North America
Miller, Dorcas S.
Paperback
Birding for Boomers: And Everyone Else Brave Enough to Embrace the World's Most Rewarding and Frustrating Activity
Collard III, Sneed B.
Paperback
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
Meiburg, Jonathan
Paperback
Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird
Blechman, Andrew D.
Paperback