Two weeks ago, a lonely specimen of one of the world's rarest birds made a very special trip. "Presley," a male Spix's macaw, had been found last summer living quietly in a Denver suburb with his owner, a woman who had no idea of his importance in the scheme of things. Now Presley was finally on a plane en route to his native Brazil, where it is hoped he will contribute some much-needed genetic diversity to the program to save his species -- already extinct in the wild -- from vanishing completely. As long ago as 1986, conservationists declared that it was just "a few strokes from midnight" for the stunning blue bird. It's even closer now, which is why the story of Presley was such a welcome Christmas gift for bird enthusiasts.

Maybe you've never heard of the Spix's macaw. It's worth looking up, since the bird's recent history is as gripping as any thriller. In fact, with its classic plot elements of beauty, avarice, thievery and head-turning wealth, it is probably better compared to one of the more outlandish operas. Besides, if only because the Spix's situation is so dire, it brings the critical issues of poaching and habitat destruction more sharply into focus than does any other threatened wildlife species, including the better-known African elephant and our own Japanese crested ibis.

The slow, sad demise of the Spix's macaw actually goes back several hundred years, to the early years of Portuguese colonization and settlement in the small area of northeastern Brazil where the bird ranged. Over the centuries, its habitat dwindled to just two tiny areas, with the result that by the end of the 20th century the now extremely rare bird had also become extremely valuable on the black market. As one British expert has said, it was "gram for gram more valuable than heroin."