In the early 1900s Spix’s Macaw was


sighted only rarely in its native habitat, and Tony showed us several early paintings and photographs of the bird. In 1976, three specimens were known alive in the UK, two of which were soon passed on to the prestigious Walsrode Bird Park in Germany, and their remaining disabled companion joined them some years later. Tony showed a contemporary advertisement from Denmark in 1979, in which a pair of Spix’s Macaws was offered for sale at 45,000 Danish kroner – worth about £27,000 today. There was known to be an active illegal trade in these birds


44 BIRD SCENE


throughout the 1970s, fuelled by the high price commanded because of their rarity value, and fed by Brazilian poachers. Several wealthy collectors of Spix’s


Macaws emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr Josef Hämmerli (a medical Doctor) acquired several from Brazil in the early part of this period, and bred five youngsters between 1984 and 1991. Antonio de Dios in the Philippines established Birds International Inc., and bred 39 young Spix’s Macaws in captivity between 1982-1999. A young female from BII was exchanged with a young male from Dr Hämmerli, enabling the latter to


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