Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaw
Belly feathers and under-plumage
back plumage
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Psittaciformes
Superfamily:	Psittacoidea
Family:	Psittacidae
Subfamily:	Arinae
Tribe:	Arini
Genus:	Ara
Species:	A. macao
Binomial name
Ara macao (Linnaeus, 1758)
Extant distribution of the Scarlet Macaw

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large, red, yellow and blue South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. It is native to humid evergreen forests of tropical South America. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Brazil in lowlands up to 500 m (1,640 ft) (at least formerly) up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). It has suffered from local extinction through habitat destruction and capture for the parrot trade, but locally it remains fairly common. Formerly it ranged north to southern Tamaulipas. It can still be found on the island of Coiba. It is the national bird of Honduras.

Taxonomy and naming

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao Linnaeus 1758) is a member of the genus Ara (Lacepede, 1799), one of 6 genera of Central and South American macaws. Carolus Linnaeus described and named the Scarlet Macaw in his Systemae Naturae in 1758. Protonym: Psittacus macao.

Two subspecies present differing widths in their yellow wing band:

• A. macao macao South American Scarlet Macaw, the nominate subspecies
• A. macao cyanoptera (Wiedenfeld 1995) North Central American Scarlet Macaw

The Central American scarlet macaw is larger and has blue on its wings instead of green.

Description

It is about 81 centimetres (32 in) long, of which more than half is the pointed, graduated tail typical of all macaws, though the Scarlet Macaw has a larger percentage of tail than the other large Macaws. The average weight is about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb). The plumage is mostly scarlet, but the rump and tail-covert feathers are light blue, the greater upper wing coverts are yellow, the upper sides of the flight feathers of the wings are dark blue as are the ends of the tail feathers, and the undersides of the wing and tail flight feathers are dark red with metallic gold iridescence. Some individuals may have green in the wings.

At Fort Worth Zoo.

There is bare white skin around the eye and from there to the bill. Tiny white feathers are contained on the face patch. The upper mandible is mostly pale horn in color and the lower is black. Juveniles have dark eyes; adults have light yellow eyes.

It is frequently confused with the slightly larger Green-winged Macaw, which has more distinct red lines in the face and no yellow in the wing.

Scarlet Macaws make very loud, high and sometimes low-pitched, throaty squawks, squeaks and screams designed to carry many miles to call for their groups.

The Scarlet Macaw can live up to 75 years in captivity, although a more typical lifespan is 40 to 50 years.^[2]

Genetics

In May 2013 it was announced that a team of scientists, led by Dr. Christopher M. Seabury and Dr. Ian Tizard of Texas A&M University had sequenced the complete genome of the Scarlet Macaw.^[3][4]

Behavior

A typical sighting is of a single bird or a pair flying above the forest canopy, though in some areas flocks can be seen. They may gather at clay licks.^[5]

Ara macao feeding on Attalea fruits

Feeding

Scarlet Macaws eat mostly fruits, nuts and seeds, including large, hard seeds.

Breeding

Scarlet Macaws mate for life. The hen lays two or three white eggs in a tree cavity. The female incubates the eggs for about five weeks, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 90 days after hatching.^[6] and leave their parents about a year later. Juveniles reach sexual maturity at five years of age.

Distribution and habitat

The South American range is extensive and covers the Amazon basin; extending to Peru east of the Andes, to Bolivia, and Paraguay.^[7]

The Scarlet Macaw in flight

In Central American the range extends from extreme eastern and southern Mexico and Panama through Guatemala and Belize, the island of Coiba and infrequently on the mainland of Panama, and two isolated regions on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica; the Carara National Park and Peninsula de Osa.

Scarlet Macaws inhabit humid lowland subtropical rain forests, open woodlands, river edges, and savannas.

Conservation status

The habitat of Scarlet Macaws is considered to have the greatest latitudinal range for any bird in the genus Ara, as the estimated maximum territorial range covers 6,700,000 km². Nevertheless, the Scarlet Macaw’s habitat is fragmented, and the bird is mostly confined to tiny populations scattered throughout its original range in Middle America.^[7] However, as they still occur in large numbers over most of their original range in South America, the species is classified by IUCN as "Least Concern".^[1]

A pair of Scarlet Macaws at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida.

It is listed on CITES Appendix 1 due to predation for the pet and cage bird trade.^[8] Both subspecies are listed by USFWS as endangered.

Aviculture

See also

• The Ara Project (Macaw reintroduction)
• List of macaws

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scarlet Macaw.

• Tambopata Macaw project long term research project in SE Peru
• World Parrot Trust Parrot Encyclopedia — Species Profiles
• Scarlet Macaw videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Page of photographs of Scarlet and Green-winged Macaws at a clay lick from Parrots International
• Scarlet Macaw photo on PBase
• Stamps (15 countries) with RangeMap
• Ara macao conservation and reintroduction in Costa Rica
• Scarlet Macaw in Illegal Traffic in Nicaragua
• The Scarlet Macaw Genome Project