Birdfinding.info ⇒ The last known pair of Cuban Macaws was reportedly shot, but not preserved, at San Francisco de la Vega on the Isle of Youth in 1864. Reports of macaws in central and southern Cuba continued until the late 1880s, but the details of these reports appear to be lost.
Cuban Macaw †
Ara tricolor
Extinct. Formerly endemic to Cuba and the Isle of Youth.
Its habits and habitat are not well-documented, but the areas where specimens were collected are generally in or near palm savannas, which is a habitat favored by other macaw species.
Identification
A large red-and-blue macaw with a mostly scarlet head and body, orange from the crown to the mantle, maroon on the back and tail, and royal blue on the wings, rump, undertail coverts, and outer tail feathers. The bill was large and bicolored: blackish at the base and pale on the outer portion.
Cuban Macaw, frontal view. © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Cuban Macaw, dorsal view. © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Extinct.
References
BirdLife International. 2021. Ara tricolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T22724513A194916284. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22724513A194916284.en . (Accessed January 28, 2022.)
Forshaw, J.M. 2010. Parrots of the World. Princeton University Press.
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.