Today, we're thrilled to announce the addition of five new parrot species to Birdorable: the majestic White-crowned Parrot, vibrant Blue-fronted Amazon, rare Spix's Macaw, elegant Alexandrine Parakeet, and charming Peach-fronted Parakeet.

Our collection of bird species continues to expand, particularly in the family of parrots and parakeets. Out of the 125 bird species represented on Birdorable, 32 belong to the parrot and parakeet families. One of the rarest and most critically endangered parrots in the world is the Spix's Macaw. It is believed to be extinct in the wild! The species was feared to be extinct in the early 1980's, until it was rediscovered in 1985 when just 5 birds were located in the north of Bahia, Brazil. Sadly, by 1988 it appeared the last 5 birds had been removed by trappers.

\In 1990, an exhaustive survey in the area resulted in the discovered of a single wild survivor! The Brazilian Authorities located a wild caught female Spix's Macaw at a private breeding facility. In 1995 the female was released in the wild to join the last remaining one, but unfortunately shortly after she was found dead. The one remaining bird was last seen on October 5th, 2000 and is thought to have died of natural causes as he was in excess of 20 years old. Currently there are approximately 120 individual Spix's Macaws in captivity around the world. 78 of these are participating in an international breeding program managed by the Institute Chico Mendes of Biodiversity Conservation, the Natural Heritage Branch of the Brazilian Government. 50 of these are managed at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation in the State of Qatar.