Field guide · common
Macaw
Scarlet flash of the Amazon — a giant parrot whose raucous pairs fly over rainforest like living flags.
Vulnerable
Overview
The scarlet macaw is one of the world's most spectacular parrots: bold red, yellow, and blue plumage, a wingspan approaching a metre, and a voice that carries for kilometres through rainforest. Pairs mate for life, flying together to clay licks where they consume mineral-rich soil.
Macaws are intelligent and long-lived — over 50 years in the wild — using powerful beaks to crack nuts and hard seeds. Their colours make them targets for the pet trade, but wild flocks still paint the sky above intact Amazon forest.
Habitat
Lowland tropical rainforest from Mexico to the Amazon basin holds scarlet macaws. They need large trees for nesting and intact forest for food — Brazil, Peru, and Costa Rica offer the best wild viewing.
Countries found
Interesting facts
- 01
Macaws mate for life and can live over 50 years.
- 02
They visit clay licks to consume minerals that neutralise toxins in their diet.
- 03
Scarlet macaws can fly at over 50 km/h through the canopy.
Conservation status
Scarlet macaws are Vulnerable, declining from habitat loss and illegal trapping for the pet trade. Protected areas in the Amazon and captive breeding programmes support recovery.
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