Historical documents and naturalists' travel accounts
The historical documents and naturalist travel accounts are listed by type of blue macaw by date for ease of reference. Just click on the heading below to jump down to the list of articles for the species/sub-species chosen. If your browser does not allow this, just simply scroll down
Much of the biographical information has been gleaned from the excellent series of articles by Dr. Hans Stründen on naturalists, which appeared in " Papageien " between 1994 and 1996. Otherwise this information has been obtained from standard reference works such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chamber's Biographical Dictionary and Webster's Biographical Dictionary.
Please note that all documents, which were published in a language other than English, have been translated by the website editor, who has copyright on the
translated texts.
The Hyacinthine Macaw
Generally accepted original description of Hyacinthine Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) in Latin by John LATHAM in Index ornithologicus (1790) together with the entry on page 80 of his Supplement II to the General Synopsis of Birds published in 1802 and the entry in Latham's General History of Birds published in September1821.Entry on the Hyacinthine Macaw on Pages 57-60 of the Museum Leverianum, a work containing select specimens from the museum of the late Sir Ashton Lever written by George SHAW and published in 1792-6 followed by the entry in
the Fifteenth Volume of the Naturalists's Miscellany by George Shaw
and E. Noddy, published not long after the Museum Leverianum, and in Shaw's General Zoology (Vol. VIII, P.393)
published in 1811/12.
Depiction of Hyacinthine Macaw in a painting by Alexandre Isidore LEROY DE BARDE (1777-1828) entitled Collection of Foreign Birds dated 1810.
Illustration of Hyacinthine Macaw by Sydenham EDWARDS in 1812 acquired by the 13th Earl of Derby for his famous library at Knowsley
Description of the Hyacinthine Macaw
by L.J.P. VIEILLOT on page 260 of the Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire
naturelle pulbished in 1816
Entry on a blue macaw entitled L'ARA
HYACINTHE, MACROCERCUS Hyacinthinus in La Galerie des Oiseaux (Vol.
1) published in Paris in 1825. The authors were L.J.P
VIEILLOT and M.P.OUDART. Vieillot was responsible for the text and Oudart
provided the illustrations.
Excerpts from " An account of travels in Brazil at the command of his Majesty, Maximilian Joseph I, King of Bavaria, in the years 1817 to 1820 by Dr. J.B von SPIX and Dr. C.F.P. von MARTIUS. (German title:Reise in Brasilien auf Befehl Sr. Majestät Maximilian Joseph I Königs von Baiern in den Jahren 1817 bis 1820 gemacht von weiland Dr. John. Bapt. Von Spix und Dr. Carl Friedr. Phil. Von Martius). Published in three parts - 1823, 1828 and 1831 - in Munich
Entry on the Hyacinthine Macaw or Macrocercus hyacinthinus in " The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society Delineated Vol. II (Birds) published in London in 1831 with the sanction of the Council under the superintendence of the Secretary and Vice-Secretary of the Society" followed by an exchange of correspondence - in part acrimonious - between William Swainson and E.T.Bennett in The Magazine of Natural History on this entry in the same year
Entry on Hyacinthine Macaw in the Ornithologischer
Atlas by Carl-Wilhelm HAHN, 1834-5
Depiction of a
Hyacinthine Macaw in the so-called Disciples edition of Le Règne
Animal distribué d'après son organisation (Edition accompagnée de
planches gravées) by Georges CUVIER published in 1836 (four years
after his death).
Use of species name Anodorhynchus, albeit slightly differently spelt, by K. LICHTENSTEIN in his Nomenclator Avium Musei Zoologici Berolinensis published in Berlin in 1854.
Extract from presentation by Dr. P. CHALMERS MITCHELL on Longevity and Relative Viability in Mammals and Birds reported in The Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1911(Page 495).
Report on the sighting and shooting of Hyacinthine Macaws in
north-western Bahia during the expedition of the Austrian Academy of
Sciences in north-eastern Brazil in 1903. Published by Otmar Reiser in 1926 in
the
Denkschriften der mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse, Vol. 76
under the
title (translated) of "The results of the zoological expedition of the
Academy of Sciences to north-eastern Brazil in 1903" The report was
presented at a meeting on 19th April 1923.
Entry on the
Hyacinthine Macaw in Parrots and Parrot-like Birds by the Duke of
BEDFORD published c. 1954.
The Glaucous Macaw
Entry on the Glaucous Macaw or guaa obi in Father José SÁNCHEZ LABRADOR's Peces y Aves del Paraguay Natural originally written in manuscript form in 1767 and published in paperback in 1968.
Entry on Glaucous Macaw in the Ornithologischer
Atlas by Carl-Wilhelm HAHN. Published in 1840.
Entry with comments on blue macaws in the collection of Prince Massena d'Essling in Revue et Magazine de Zoologie by Charles de SOUANCÉ published in February 1856.
Various reports on the Glaucous Macaw in the Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London.
Entry on Corrientes Province in "Geography or first division of " The English Cyclopaedia" conducted by Charles Knight. Published in 1866.
Extract relating to the Paraná-Paraguay river system from the entry on the Argentine Confederation in "Geography or first division of " The English Cyclopaedia" conducted by Charles Knight. Published in 1866.
Important observations in the Paraguayan
forests. By
Hans, Baron Berlepsch.
Published in 1917 in the Journal für Ornithologie and translated
by the website editor.
Entry on the
Glaucous Macaw in Parrots and Parrot-like Birds by the Duke of
BEDFORD published c. 1954.
The Lear's Macaw
Entry with comments on blue macaws in the collection of Prince Massena d'Essling in Revue et Magazine de Zoologie by Charles de SOUANCÉ published in February 1856.
An article on the Lear's Macaw in the Avicultural Magazine, the Journal of the Avicultural Society by the Rev. Hubert D.ASTLEY published in February 1907 (Vol. V, No. 4, Pages 111-113)
Short extract from a report on the Crystal Palace show in the magazine of the Avicultural Society published in March 1926 (Fourth Series, Vol IV, No 3)
Entry on the
Lear's Macaw in
Parrots and Parrot-like Birds by the Duke of BEDFORD published c.1954.
The Spix's Macaw
Entry on Spix's Macaw or la Petite
Perruche-Ara Glauque in Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets Laisses Inedites
par Levaillant ou Recemment Decouverts by Alexandre Bourjot Saint-Hilaire
published in 1837-8.
Entry with comments on blue macaws in the collection of Prince Massena d'Essling in Revue et Magazine de Zoologie by Charles de SOUANCÉ published in February 1856.
Report on the Spix's Macaw by P.H. SCLATER, Secretary to the Zoological Society of London, in the Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1878 (Page 976).
Entry on the Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) in the Catalogue of the Psittaci, or Parrots in the Collection of the British Museum(page 150) by Count Tommaso SALVADORI published in 1891
Excerpts from articles and letters in the Avicultural Magazine, the journal of the Avicultural Society, from 1897 to 1902 referring to the Spix's Macaw in captivity.
Extract from report on Paignton and District Fanciers' show in the magazine of the Avicultural Society published in January 1926. Fourth Series, Vol IV, No. 1
An extract from "Mr Karl Plath's Collection" by Karl PLATH published in May 1930 in the
journal of the Avicultural Society.(Fourth Series, Vol. VIII, No 5, Page 134)
An article entitled "The Spix Macaw"
by Karl PLATH published
in "Aviculture" the journal of the Avicultural Society of America, in April
1931. It includes a coloured plate by Karl Plath of the Spix's Macaw.
Anodorhynchus purpurascens
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