Spix's macaw

Nobody knows

Cyanopsitta spixii

Brazil, Curaçá (Bahia), Caatinga

Last reported November 2025 by Brazil's ICMBio via Agência Gov; no wild figure given.

Spix's macaw, captive (a zoo, not named) — Photo: Etna 1984, CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia CommonsLicence: CC BY-SA 4.0In the photo: captive (a zoo, not named)

The Spix's macaw has no current wild number: in November 2025, ICMBio (reported by Agência Gov, the Brazilian federal government news agency) said the birds from the 2022 release that were living free had been recaptured, and it does not say whether any others remain free.

Every bird recaptured from the wild in November 2025 tested positive for circovirus, which has no cure, ICMBio says.

How it was counted

ICMBio reports birds, not pairs or nests, and its November 2025 report gives no figure for birds living free; a breeding facility in Curaçá holds birds in captivity, which are not a wild number. An earlier figure for the reintroduced wild flock was 20, in 2022.

No current wild figure exists for the Spix's macaw: ICMBio reports that the released birds living free were recaptured and does not say whether any others remain free.

Earlier figures

20 in 2022: the previous count. Source: ICMBio.

What moves it

ICMBio names circovirus, which has no cure and kills most infected birds: every bird recaptured from the wild in early November 2025 tested positive. ICMBio also names logging of riverside forest and grazing by goats, sheep and cattle, describes capture and trafficking as feared for the reintroduced flock, and puts the bird's original disappearance from the wild down to habitat destruction and capture for the illegal trade.

circovirus (psittacine beak and feather disease), which has no cure and kills most infected birds: the 11 birds recaptured from the wild in early November 2025 all tested positive. A enfermidade não tem cura e mata a ave na maior parte dos casos. Source: ICMBio via Agência Gov (Brazilian federal government news agency).
habitat destruction and capture for the illegal trade (the original extinction in the wild). Source: ICMBio.
logging of riverside gallery forest and grazing by goats, sheep and cattle. Source: ICMBio.
capture and trafficking, feared for the reintroduced population. Source: ICMBio.

Who is helping

ICMBio and ACTP made the transfer of Spix's macaws possible under a technical cooperation agreement (since ended by ICMBio); birds repatriated from Europe were held at the Curaçá facility and released there in 2022.