Red-headed macaw

The red-headed macaw or Jamaican green-and-yellow macaw (Ara erythrocephala) may have been a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae that lived in Jamaica, but its existence is hypothetical.

Red-headed macaw
Hypothetical illustration, John Gerrard Keulemans, 1907
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Ara
Species:
A. erythrocephala
Binomial name
Ara erythrocephala
Gosse, 1847
Location of Jamaica

Description

Rothschild based it on a description which a Mr. Hill had sent to Philip Henry Gosse:

Head red; neck, shoulders, and underparts of a light and lively green; the greater wing coverts and quills, blue; and the tail scarlet and blue on the upper surface, with the under plumage, both of wings and tail, a mass of intense orange yellow. The specimen here described was procured in the mountains of Trelawny and St. Anne's by Mr. White, proprietor of the Oxford estate.[2]

The Ara erythrocephala could have been found in the mountains of Trelawney and St. Anne's parishes, Jamaica.[3] It was described to have been found in the mountains, and presumably in forest as well.[4]

Extinction

It is believed that the main reason for the macaw's extinction was overhunting.[5]

The macaw is extinct,[4] and it is conjectured to have been hunted to extinction in the early 19th century.[6] It was a close relative of the Cuban and Dominican macaws.[6] Its existence is considered dubious today.[7]

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References
  1. BirdLife International 2012. Ara erythrocephala. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded 2012.
  2. Rothschild, Walter (1907): Extinct Birds (Online-Version)
  3. "Ara erythrocephala". The Extinction Website. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  4. "Jamaican Green-and-yellow Macaw Ara erythrocephala". birdlife. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  5. Wiley, James. The extinct macaws of the West Indies, with special reference to Cuban Macaw Ara tricolor (PDF). 2013 British Ornithologists’ Club. p. 137. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  6. "Jamaican Green-and-yellow Macaws (Ara erythrocephala)". BeautyOfBirds. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  7. Hume, J. P.; Walters, M. (2012). Extinct Birds. A & C Black. ISBN 140815725X.
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