Lesser Antillean Macaw

The Guadeloupe Macaw (Ara guadeloupensis ) is an extinct parrot species in the genus of macaws authentics. He was first mentioned in 1654 and 1667 by Jean -Baptiste Du Tertre and then in 1742 by Jean- Baptiste Labat. The scientific description was in 1905 by Austin Hobart Clark. The bird is said to be colored similarly to the Scarlet Macaw, but it was considerably smaller, with red tail and yellow wings drawings. The species was endemic to the belonging to the Lesser Antilles islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Rothschild described the two forms Anodorhynchus ( sic. ) purpurascens from Guadeloupe (based on a travel report by Don Manuel de Navarrete in 1838 ) and Anodorhynchus ( sic. ) martinicus of Martinique (based on the records of boutons from the year 1640). However, there is no reliable evidence that these have two (hypothetical) taxa of Ara guadeloupensis distinguished. Already in 1760 the Guadeloupe - Ara was extremely rare and was soon wiped out by strong hunting.