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  (disputed) | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| 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]
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]
References
- BirdLife International 2012. Ara erythrocephala. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded 2012.
- Rothschild, Walter (1907): Extinct Birds (Online-Version)
- "Ara erythrocephala". The Extinction Website. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- "Jamaican Green-and-yellow Macaw Ara erythrocephala". birdlife. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- 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.
- "Jamaican Green-and-yellow Macaws (Ara erythrocephala)". BeautyOfBirds. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
- Hume, J. P.; Walters, M. (2012). Extinct Birds. A & C Black. ISBN 978-1408157251.