Animal
Hyacinth macaw
The hyacinth macaw is the biggest parrot. It is deep blue all over, with a yellow ring around each eye and a huge curved beak.
The hyacinth macaw is the largest parrot in the world, about a meter long and deep blue from head to tail. It lives in the open woodlands, palm groves and wetlands of central South America, especially Brazil's Pantanal, and cracks very hard palm nuts with its enormous beak.
Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus, the largest parrot, lives in semi-open palm savanna, woodland and cerrado in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. A specialist on hard palm nuts with a very slow breeding rate, it was hit hard by trapping for the pet trade and habitat loss. The IUCN rates it Vulnerable, with 4,700 to 11,000 mature individuals (2025).
Photo: © Giles Laurent, gileslaurent.com, License CC BY-SA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the hyacinth macaw
The hyacinth macaw is the biggest parrot in the world.
It is bright blue all over. It has a yellow ring around each eye and a yellow patch by its beak. Its black beak is very big.
The hyacinth macaw is the largest of all parrots. It measures about 95 to 100 centimeters from beak to tail, and half of that is tail. Its wings stretch up to about 127 centimeters.
Unlike most macaws, it has hardly any bare skin on its face. Instead it is glossy ultramarine blue all over, with just a bright yellow ring of skin around each eye and a yellow strip at the base of its lower beak. Its massive black beak is hooked. Males and females look alike.
Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus is the largest parrot: Animal Diversity Web gives 95 to 100 centimeters, half of it tail, 1.2 to 1.7 kilograms and a wingspan of 117 to 127 centimeters, and San Diego Zoo names it the heaviest macaw. The sexes are alike.
Most macaws have large bare facial patches; this species has bare skin only in a small ring around the eye and a band at the base of the lower mandible, both rich yellow. The rest of the plumage is a uniform, glossy ultramarine blue. The massive, hooked black bill is notably efficient at opening hard nuts compared with other macaws' bills (ADW).
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.95 to 1 m
- Wingspan
- 1.17 to 1.27 m
- Weight
- 1.2 to 1.7 kg
Palm groves and the Pantanal
Hyacinth macaws live in South America.
They live where there are open woods, tall palm trees and wet, grassy plains. Many live in a huge wetland called the Pantanal.
Hyacinth macaws live in central South America, in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. They do not live in thick rainforest. They prefer semi-open places with a dry season: open woodland, the grassy cerrado, palm groves and the palm savannas of the Pantanal.
The Pantanal is a giant wetland in southern Brazil, and it is especially important for these macaws. They live from lowlands up to about 800 meters above sea level.
The IUCN's 2025 global assessment lists the species as resident in Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, with habitats of forest, savanna and grassland from sea level to 800 meters. ADW describes a preference for semi-open habitats where a dry season prevents tall, closed-canopy forest: deciduous woodland, cerrado, palm groves and the palm savannas of the Pantanal.
ADW calls the Pantanal a particularly important habitat, a large, lush oasis in southern Brazil. The IUCN notes a continuing decline in the area, extent or quality of habitat. Home ranges depend on where food grows: some birds stay close, while others fly long distances to feeding grounds each day.
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Semi-open palm savanna, woodland, cerrado and the Pantanal wetlands of central Brazil and nearby eastern Bolivia and northern Paraguay. Hyacinth macaws live in only part of each country shown.
Places: Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, United States, Australia, Canada, France and Sweden.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Nutcracker of the palms
Hyacinth macaws eat palm nuts.
The nuts are very hard. The macaw files the shell with its beak, then cracks it open. It finds many nuts on the ground.
Hyacinth macaws depend on the nuts of palm trees, which are rich in fat. ADW lists eight kinds of palm nut in their diet. The shells are very hard, so a macaw first wears the shell thin in one spot with its beak, then breaks it neatly in half.
Most feeding happens on the ground, though the birds also climb to pick nuts from clusters in the trees. They even eat palm nuts that have passed through cattle, which come out with their tough outer coat removed.
The species is a palm-nut specialist: ADW records eight palm species in its diet, including Acrocomia and Astrocaryum palms, whose nuts are rich in nutrients and fat, with occasional small seeds, palm sprouts and snails. It files down the shell in one place with its bill and then splits it cleanly, a technique ADW describes as notably efficient compared with other macaws.
Much feeding takes place on the ground. Macaws also take nuts from palms that cattle have eaten: San Diego Zoo explains that the nuts pass through the cattle with their hard coating removed, making them easier to eat. ADW notes that the species plays a role in dispersing seeds and nuts through its territory.
A beak that works like a third foot
The hyacinth macaw's beak is huge and strong.
It uses its beak to hold on when it climbs, like an extra foot. Its legs are short and strong, so it can hang upside down.
A hyacinth macaw's huge, hooked beak is not only a nutcracker. Like most parrots, it uses its beak as a third foot, gripping branches to pull itself up when it climbs. Its short, sturdy legs let it hang sideways and even upside down.
Macaw tongues are special too: San Diego Zoo explains that a macaw's tongue is dry, slightly scaly and has a bone inside, which makes it a good tool for opening food.
ADW notes that the massive bill doubles as a third foot for grasping and climbing, and that the short, sturdy legs suit hanging sideways or upside down while feeding. Toes are strong and agile and used like hands, as in other macaws.
San Diego Zoo describes macaw tongues as dry, slightly scaly and containing a bone, making them effective tools for breaking open food, and notes that macaws are big chewers, which keeps their bills in good shape.
One chick at a time
Hyacinth macaws nest in holes in big trees or cliffs.
The mother lays one or two eggs. Even if two chicks hatch, she raises only one. The chick stays with its mother for a long time.
Pairs nest in hollows of trees, usually 4 to 14 meters up, or in cliffs. In the Pantanal, about 9 out of every 10 nests are in one kind of tree, the manduvi. Nesting happens mainly in the wet season, from November to April.
The female lays one or two eggs and sits on them for 25 to 28 days while the male brings her food. If both eggs hatch, she usually raises only one chick. It leaves the nest at about 13 weeks but stays with its mother for about 18 months. Hyacinth macaws are not ready to breed until they are 6 to 10 years old.
Nests are in dead or living tree hollows 4 to 14 meters above ground, or in cliffs. The Instituto Arara Azul reports that in the Pantanal 90 percent of nests are in manduvi trees (Sterculia apetala), a species declining as old trees wear out. Most nesting is in the November to April wet season.
Clutches of one or two eggs are incubated for 25 to 28 days, with the female on the eggs about 70 percent of the time and fed by the male. If both hatch, the mother usually rears only one. The chick fledges at about 13 weeks and remains with its mother for about 18 months; maturity comes at 6 to 10 years. ADW estimates that 100 pairs produce only about 7 to 25 young a year.
Gentle giants in pairs
Hyacinth macaws live in pairs.
Most pairs stay together for life. They fly to find food in small groups. In the evening they go back to their roosting trees.
Hyacinth macaws are very social and are usually seen in pairs. A pair usually stays together for life, and partners court and bond all year round.
They are most active from morning to mid-afternoon, flying to and from feeding grounds in groups of two to eight. Around sunset they return to their roosting trees for the night. When alarmed they give harsh, guttural calls. ADW notes that they are often described as gentle giants.
Pairs are monogamous and usually stay together for life, performing courtship and bonding behavior throughout the year (ADW). Activity peaks from morning to mid-afternoon, when birds commute between roosts and feeding grounds in groups of two to eight, and they return to roost trees around sunset. The IUCN describes the species as congregatory.
Calls are harsh and guttural, often given in alarm. Their nests face a web of other animals: eggs are taken by jays and crows, coatis, skunks and toucans. A 2008 study in the Pantanal found that toco toucans took about 53 percent of preyed eggs, yet the same toucans dispersed about 83 percent of manduvi seeds, so the macaw depends indirectly on one of its own nest predators.
Did you know?
The hyacinth macaw is the biggest parrot in the world.
At about a meter long, the hyacinth macaw is the largest parrot of all.
ADW and a 2008 Pantanal study both describe the hyacinth macaw as the largest parrot; ADW gives a length of 95 to 100 cm.
From trapping to nest boxes
People once took many hyacinth macaws to sell as pets. Their homes were cleared too.
Now the law protects them. Scientists build nest boxes so the macaws have safe places to raise chicks.
The IUCN Red List rates the hyacinth macaw Vulnerable. Capturing wild birds for the international pet trade caused a sharp drop in its numbers, and its habitat is being lost to farming and ranching. Taking wild macaws is illegal in Brazil, and since 1987 the species has been listed on Appendix I of CITES, the international agreement on trade in wild animals and plants.
In the Pantanal, the Instituto Arara Azul builds and checks nest boxes because good nesting trees are scarce. Some landowners there do not allow trappers on their property.
The IUCN assessed Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus as Vulnerable (criteria A1bd) in 2025, with 4,700 to 11,000 mature individuals and a population trend listed as stable. Threats named in the assessment include agriculture, plantations and ranching, hunting and trapping, logging, fire, drought and disease. ADW reports that capture and export of wild birds, illegal in Brazil, caused a sharp decline, and the species has been on CITES Appendix I since July 1987.
The Instituto Arara Azul works in the Pantanal, where natural nest hollows are lost faster than new ones form. In the 2023 breeding season its team monitored 215 nests, installed 16 boxes or nests, and recorded 157 nests used by hyacinth macaws. ADW adds that some Pantanal landowners keep trappers off their property.
IUCN Red List
How is the hyacinth macaw doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
The hyacinth macaw is the biggest parrot in the world.
At about a meter long, the hyacinth macaw is the largest parrot of all.
ADW and a 2008 Pantanal study both describe the hyacinth macaw as the largest parrot; ADW gives a length of 95 to 100 cm.
-
Hyacinth macaws eat nuts that cows have already swallowed!
Hyacinth macaws eat palm nuts that have passed through cattle, which removes the nuts' tough outer coat.
Palm nuts passed by cattle lose their hard coating, which San Diego Zoo says makes them easier for macaws to eat.
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A hyacinth macaw uses its beak to climb.
Like most parrots, the hyacinth macaw uses its beak like a third foot when climbing.
The bill serves as a third foot for gripping branches while climbing (ADW).
-
A young hyacinth macaw stays with its mother for a long time.
A young hyacinth macaw stays with its mother for about 18 months after leaving the nest.
Fledging at 13 weeks is followed by about 18 months of dependence, part of a very slow life history.
Words to know
- Pantanal
- a huge tropical wetland mostly in Brazil
- cerrado
- a dry, grassy savanna with scattered trees in Brazil
- palm nut
- the hard seed of a palm tree
- nest box
- a box people build for birds to nest in
- CITES
- an agreement between countries that controls trade in wild animals and plants
- vulnerable
- at high risk of becoming endangered in the wild
Discovery challenge
-
What color is a hyacinth macaw?
What color are most of a hyacinth macaw's feathers?
Which color makes up nearly all of the hyacinth macaw's plumage?
- Deep blue
- Bright red
- Green and yellow
Show the answer
Deep blue
It is deep blue all over, with yellow around its eyes.
It is glossy ultramarine blue all over, with only small patches of yellow skin.
Uniform glossy ultramarine plumage, with bare yellow skin only around the eye and at the base of the lower mandible.
-
What does a hyacinth macaw love to eat?
Which food does the hyacinth macaw depend on?
What is the hyacinth macaw's main food?
- Palm nuts
- Fish
- Flower nectar
Show the answer
Palm nuts
It cracks hard palm nuts with its big beak.
It depends on the hard, fatty nuts of palm trees.
It specializes on palm nuts of about eight species, filing the shell before splitting it.
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How many chicks does a mother usually raise at a time?
How many chicks does a hyacinth macaw mother usually raise from one nest?
How many chicks are usually reared per nesting attempt?
- One
- Five
- Ten
Show the answer
One
She usually raises just one chick.
She lays one or two eggs, and even if both hatch she usually raises only one chick.
One or two eggs are laid, but the mother usually rears only one chick, part of a very low breeding rate.
-
Which agreement between countries protects hyacinth macaws?
Under which international agreement is the hyacinth macaw listed on Appendix I?
Under which agreement has the hyacinth macaw been listed on Appendix I since 1987?
- CITES
- The Olympic Charter
- A sports league rule
Show the answer
CITES
A rule between countries called CITES protects them.
The species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, the international agreement on trade in wild animals and plants.
CITES Appendix I, since July 1987 (ADW); capture of wild birds is also illegal in Brazil.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Brazil
Brazil covers about half of South America and is the fifth-largest country in the world. It holds most of the Amazon River basin and much of the world's largest rainforest, and about 214 million people lived there in 2026, most of them near the Atlantic coast.
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Watch
Natural wonder
Pantanal
The Pantanal is one of the world's largest freshwater wetlands, mostly in Brazil and reaching into Bolivia and Paraguay. Each rainy season its rivers overflow and flood the lowlands, making shallow lakes and marshes; in the dry season the water slowly drains away. This rhythm feeds an amazing number of animals, from jaguars and giant otters to about 600 kinds of birds.
Explore next
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3D
Animal
Scarlet macaw
The scarlet macaw is a large parrot of the rainforests of Mexico, Central America and South America. It is famous for its bright red, yellow and blue feathers. It cracks hard nuts with its powerful beak, flies in noisy flocks and stays with one mate for life.
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Animal
Blue-and-yellow macaw
The blue-and-yellow macaw is a large parrot of South America and Panama. It is bright blue on top and golden yellow underneath, with a green forehead and a white face lined with black. It lives near swamps and rivers, cracks nuts with its strong black beak and stays with one mate for life.
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Animal
Toco toucan
The toco toucan is the biggest toucan, and its huge orange bill is the largest of any bird compared with its body. The bill is light and hollow. It is a tool for picking fruit, and scientists have found it also works like a radiator that lets out body heat. Tocos live in open woodlands and savannas of South America.
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Animal
Capybara
The capybara is the largest rodent alive, a giant cousin of the guinea pig. It lives in groups beside rivers, lakes and marshes in South America, grazes on grass and water plants, and dives into the water to stay cool and safe.
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Watch
Country
Brazil
Brazil covers about half of South America and is the fifth-largest country in the world. It holds most of the Amazon River basin and much of the world's largest rainforest, and about 214 million people lived there in 2026, most of them near the Atlantic coast.
-
Watch
Natural wonder
Pantanal
The Pantanal is one of the world's largest freshwater wetlands, mostly in Brazil and reaching into Bolivia and Paraguay. Each rainy season its rivers overflow and flood the lowlands, making shallow lakes and marshes; in the dry season the water slowly drains away. This rhythm feeds an amazing number of animals, from jaguars and giant otters to about 600 kinds of birds.
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Watch
Animal
Adélie penguin
The Adélie penguin is a medium-sized penguin, about 70 centimeters tall, with a black back, a white front and a bright white ring around each eye. It breeds in summer on rocky, ice-free ground all around Antarctica, building nests of pebbles, and spends the winter far out at sea among the pack ice.
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African fish eagle
The African fish eagle is a big eagle of Africa's lakes, rivers and coasts, with a white head, chest and tail and a chestnut-brown body. It snatches fish from the surface of the water, and its loud, ringing call is one of the best-known sounds of Africa.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the hyacinth macaw's beak and legs help it eat palm nuts and climb.
- Explain why a very slow breeding rate makes the species vulnerable.
- Describe how manduvi trees, toco toucans and macaws are linked in the Pantanal.
- Explain how trapping for the pet trade affected the species and how CITES and nest boxes help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might an animal that raises only one chick at a time recover slowly when many are taken?
- How can a toucan both help and harm hyacinth macaws?
- Why might people build nest boxes when old nesting trees are disappearing?
Try at home or in class
- Measure 98 centimeters with a tape measure, then mark the halfway point to see how much of a hyacinth macaw is tail.
Key vocabulary: Pantanal, cerrado, palm nut, nest box, CITES, vulnerable
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus (Hyacinth Macaw), Red List assessment 2025 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus (hyacinth macaw) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- Macaw , San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
- Adopt a nest , Instituto Arara Azul
- Conservation puzzle: Endangered hyacinth macaw depends on its nest predator for reproduction (Biological Conservation, 2008) , Unesp institutional repository
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.