Severe Macaw

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Ara severa

Chestnut-fronted Macaw

1. Ara s. severa

Chestnut-fronted Macaw

Description: generally green; forehead, feathers to naked cheek, foreparts of cheeks and chin dark reddish-brown; crown washed with blue; bend and edge of wing as well as lesser under wing-coverts red; outer webs of outer primaries and primary-coverts blue; tail upperside reddish-brown with green base and blue tips; underside to tail and flight feathers dark orange-red; skin to naked area on cheeks as well as around eyes and lores whitish; bill blackish; iris orange; feet grey to dark grey.

Immatures with duller plumage and darker iris.

Length: 46 cm (18 ins), wing length 220 - 245 mm (8.5 -9.5 ins)

Distribution: south of Orinoco in Venezuela across Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana to Maranhao, northeast Brazil.

1. Ara s. castaneifrons Lafresnaye 1847

Lafresnaye's Macaw

Description: as severa, but on average larger.

Length: 48 cm (19 ins), wing length 230 - 255 mm (9 - 10 ins)

Distribution: from eastern Panama and western Colombia across eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, Ecuador, eastern Peru to northern Bolivia and northern area of Mato Grosso in northwest Brazil.

Habitat: open forest, meadow woodland, gallery forest, savannah with adjacent forest, edges of rainforest, secondary vegetation and swampland with palm trees to 1,500 m (5,000 ft); occasionally found in villages and cultivated areas.

Status: common in greater part of distribution area; numerous in localities.

Habits: in small groups of 3 to 15 birds outside breeding season; occasionally larger flocks; large gatherings on roosting trees, often with Orange-winged Amazons (Amazona amazonica) or Red-bellied Macaws (Ara manilata); roosting trees often in village squares; noisy there at dawn; leaves roosting trees in early morning in groups to fly to feeding areas; mostly only seen flying during day; fairly shy; can only be approached during feeding; prefers tree tops; plumage provides excellent camouflage; possible seasonal migrations depending on availability of food; flight swift and direct; call raucous cries or rapidly repeated harsh croaking sound.

Natural diet: seeds, fruits (figs, palm fruits), berries and nuts; maize and grain in cultivated areas.