The Lear's macaw is a beautiful large blue parrot with a long tail. It was first described in 1858 by Napoleon's nephew, Lucien Bonaparte, from an illustration by the famous British nonsense poet, Edward Lear. This parrot remained elusive in the wild however, and was only accepted as a distinct species in 1978 when naturalist Helmut Sick finally located the wild population. The head, neck and underparts of this parrot are greenish-blue, whilst the rest of the body has a violet/indigo appearance. Bare skin around the eyes and at the base of the lower bill is pale yellow.