BirdKeeper

12/10/2025

Thanks to all who volunteered and organised such a terrific event.

10/10/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝘅’𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁

“The greatest obstacle now facing the wild Spix’s Macaw is political,” says Cromwell Purchase, Scientific and Field Projects Director at the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP). For more than twenty years, ACTP has led the effort to bring Brazil’s most iconic parrot back from extinction — a mission once thought impossible.
In 2022, I was present for the release of twenty Spix’s Macaws into Brazil’s Caatinga woodlands, and my business interests had the honour of sponsoring one of these birds. It was a historic moment: the first return of the species to the wild in over two decades. The birds adapted, paired, bred, and thrived beyond expectations. What was a triumph for Brazilian conservation has instead become entangled in conflict and bureaucracy.

This week, a Brazilian court enforced the Brazilian conservation authority (ICMBio) notice, ordering ACTP to capture all wild Spix’s Macaws within twenty days. ICMBio has been authorised to directly carry out these captures. The order stems from claims that a circovirus (PBFD) was detected among the wild population.

But as Cromwell has made clear, the science tells a different story. The infection first appeared in a single wild-born chick, not among imported or captive birds. Repeated rounds of testing across 94 individuals confirmed that ACTP’s strict biosecurity measures worked — breeding, flocking, and social aviaries all remained negative. Meanwhile, PBFD has been documented in Brazil for nearly three decades, with records in pet and feral parrot populations in close by cities and towns, where exotic parrots, budgerigars, cockatiels and lovebirds are traded openly. “It strains belief,” Cromwell notes, “to claim that a highly contagious virus circulating in Brazil’s aviculture for almost thirty years never reached wild birds in the region.”

Despite the evidence, authorities have persisted in blaming ACTP, now forcing the capture of the very birds that symbolise the success of the reintroduction. “Those determined to get their way will destroy whatever stands before them — even an iconic Brazilian parrot species,” warns Cromwell.

The Spix’s Macaws will once again be caged, not because of disease but due to politics. And Brazil will become the first nation in history to drive a species to extinction twice in a single lifetime.

Sam Davis
BirdKeeper Pty. Limited

08/10/2025

We're attending the Hunter Valley Finch Club Inc sale this Sunday 12 October 2025. Swing by and say hi!

07/10/2025

Beautiful

07/10/2025

A visit is highly recommended

28/09/2025

How to build nest boxes with Jeremy. 😁😆😂

23/09/2025

18/09/2025

We’re pleased to support Save the Gouldian Fund
Why not grab a copy? www.birdkeeper.com.au

13/09/2025

😁😁😁

13/09/2025

Thanks for your support Myko's Aviary

07/09/2025