Scarlet Macaws

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Ara macao

Scarlet Macaw

Description: general plumage bright red; bare lores and cheeks whitish with barely visible light red feather lines; some birds with yellowish edging to feathers on back of head; greater and median wing-coverts yellow with green tips; outer webs of wing feathers blue; lower back rump; upper and under tail-coverts pale blue; tail upperside red with dull blue tips; underside of tail and wings red; powerful bill horn-coloured with blackish sides; lower mandible blackish; iris light yellowish, feet dark grey.


Immatures with shorter tail; lower mandible lighter; iris brown.

Length: 85 cm (33.5 ins)

Distribution: eastern Panama north across Central America to south Tamaulipas and Oaxaca, Mexico and from northeast Columbia in Magdalena Valley east of Andes in eastern Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana and south across Ecuador, Peru, Brazil to Mato Grosso State and Santa Cruz in Bolivia.

Habitat: rain forest, open woodland and savannah with trees in tropical zone to 1,000 m (3,300 ft); in Central America also in dry lowlands and hilly country of Pacific coast as well as thorn scrubland and cultivated areas with forest patches.

Status: common in areas with primary forest, but still not so common as the Blue and Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna); has disappeared from much of distributation area, particularly in Central America; main causes habitat loss, trapping for trade and hunting for the pot.

Habits: usually seen in pairs, family groups or small flocks of up to 30 birds; conspicuous especially during flight, which is accompanied by regular cries; often large gatherings on feeding trees and in particular clay banks; occasionally 100 or more birds on latter; pairs easy to detect within group; frequently associates with Blue and Yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) and Green-winged Macaws (Ara chloroptera) on feeding trees and clay banks; very cautious when there; waits until certain no raptors nearby; within forest difficult to detect; perches quietly; presence only noticeable from falling fruit remains; when endangered flies away loudly screeching; shy near settled areas; flies regularly in morning and evening between roosting trees and feeding places; flight fairly swift and direct; characterized by regular, powerful wingbeats; call harsh rraa-aar or croaking.

Natural diet: variety of ripe and unripe fruits (Spondias mombin, Ilura crepitans, Ley cythis sp., Couma gulanensis, Cariocar villosu, Cariocar glabrum); mango, nuts (brazil nuts and various palm nuts); seeds, berries, flowers and vegetable matter foraged in trees, probably also insects and their larvae; virtually daily flights to ccollpas or clay banks to feed on mineral soil to neutralize toxins in unripe fruits.