(CNN) The Spix's macaw achieved onscreen fame in Disney's "Rio" as a charming parrot named Blu who travels thousands of miles in an attempt to save his species. But a study released this week found that the Brazilian bird is now extinct in the wild. The Spix's macaw is one of eight bird species, half of them in Brazil, confirmed extinct or suspected extinct in the report from BirdLife International . Spix's macaw chicks are pictured in May 2014. "Ninety percent of bird extinctions in recent centuries have been of species on islands," said Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's chief scientist and the paper's lead author.

Source: CNN September 09, 2018 06:11 UTC