Animal
Scarlet macaw
The scarlet macaw is a big parrot. It is bright red, yellow and blue, and it has a strong curved beak and a very long tail.
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.
Ara macao is a large New World parrot ranging from southern Mexico to the Amazon basin. A seed predator of tall rainforest trees, it forms lifelong pair bonds and raises few young slowly. It is rated Least Concern globally, but trapping for the pet trade and forest clearing have made it rare in many places, and it may already be gone from El Salvador.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the scarlet macaw
The scarlet macaw is a big, bright parrot.
Its body is red. Its wings have yellow and blue feathers. Its face is white, and its tail is very long.
The scarlet macaw is one of about 18 kinds of macaw, which are large members of the parrot family. It is mostly scarlet red, with a band of bright yellow on each wing and blue on its wing tips, lower back and tail. Its face is bare white skin, which can even blush when the bird is excited.
From beak to tail it is about 89 centimeters long, and a third to half of that is tail. It weighs about a kilogram, about as much as a one-kilogram bag of sugar.
Ara macao is a large parrot of the family Psittacidae and one of roughly 18 macaw species. Plumage is predominantly scarlet, with yellow wing coverts and blue flight feathers, rump and tail; the bare white facial skin can flush when the bird is excited. The upper mandible is pale and the lower one black.
Animal Diversity Web gives a body length of about 89 centimeters, of which the tail makes up one third to one half, and average masses of about 1,040 to 1,200 grams. Males may have longer tails than females. Its slow wingbeats and long trailing tail make it easy to recognize in flight.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.89 m
- Weight
- 1.04 to 1.2 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 40 to 50 years
Where it lives
Scarlet macaws live in warm rainforests.
They live in Mexico, Central America and South America. They stay high up in the tall trees.
Scarlet macaws live in tropical forests from southern Mexico through Central America and across much of northern South America, including the Amazon rainforest. They spend most of their time high in the canopy, the leafy roof of the forest, and are usually found in lowlands below about 1,000 meters.
Some also live in savannas. They nest in hollows in trees, usually high in the canopy.
The IUCN lists the species as native from Mexico and Central America (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama) through Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Trinidad, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It is possibly extinct in El Salvador, and a population in Puerto Rico was introduced.
The IUCN gives its habitats as forest and savanna, up to about 1,000 meters; Animal Diversity Web places it high in the rainforest canopy below 1,000 meters. The IUCN notes a continuing decline in the area and quality of its habitat. Pairs nest in tree hollows, usually in the upper canopy.
Continents
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Used to live here · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Brought here by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Used to live here · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
El Salvador, where the IUCN lists the species as possibly extinct.
Places: El Salvador.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Brought here by people · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
A small population in Puerto Rico that people introduced.
Places: Puerto Rico.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lowland rainforest and savanna with tall trees from southern Mexico through Central America to the Amazon basin. It also lives in French Guiana, which this map shows as part of France.
Places: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana and 8 more places.
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 Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Venezuela, Panama and 28 more places.
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.
What it eats
Scarlet macaws eat nuts, seeds and fruit.
Their strong beaks crack open hard nuts. They also lick clay from river banks.
Scarlet macaws eat mostly fruit, nuts and seeds, plus some flowers, nectar and leaves. Their huge curved beaks can crack hard nuts and seeds. They even eat fruit before it is ripe, when its skin and pulp are tough and hard to get into without a big, strong beak.
Flocks fly as far as 24 kilometers a day to reach trees with food. Many macaws also gather at clay banks along rivers and eat the soil. Scientists think the clay may soak up harmful chemicals in the seeds and unripe fruit they eat.
The diet is dominated by fruits and seeds, supplemented with flowers, nectar and leaves. Animal Diversity Web notes that they often eat fruit before it is ripe, when its tough skin and pulp are hard to open without a large beak, and describes them as important seed predators of large tree fruits.
The beak is a nutcracker and the tongue a tool: San Diego Zoo notes that a macaw's tongue is dry, slightly scaly and contains a bone, which helps it work open food. Macaws visit riverbanks and clay cliffs to eat the soil; San Diego Zoo notes that scientists believe the clay may neutralize toxic chemicals from the seeds and unripe fruit in their diet.
Beak, feet and feathers
A macaw's beak is big and hooked.
It can crack nuts. Macaws hold food with their toes, like hands. Their bright feathers blend in with red fruit and green leaves.
A macaw's beak is a powerful nutcracker, strong enough to crush a whole Brazil nut. Its strong, nimble toes grip branches and hold food up to the beak like a hand. Many scarlet macaws prefer to hold food in their left foot.
You might think bright red feathers would make a bird easy to spot. But in the forest, among red and yellow fruit, green leaves and blue shadows, a macaw blends in surprisingly well.
Macaw beaks are large and strongly curved for crushing nuts and seeds, and they must be worn down by constant chewing. Strong, agile toes are used like hands, gripping branches when climbing and holding food. Animal Diversity Web notes that scarlet macaws, like many parrots, tend to handle food with the left foot while standing on the right.
San Diego Zoo notes that a macaw's streamlined body and tail shape are adapted for flying through the trees. When landing, macaws drop the tail and feet and use the wings as brakes. Their bright colors, San Diego Zoo explains, can actually blend with fruit, foliage and shade in the forest.
Growing up
Macaws lay eggs inside a hole in a tall tree.
The mother keeps the eggs warm. The father brings her food. The chicks stay with their parents for a long time.
A pair nests in a hollow high in a tall tree. The female lays two to four white eggs and keeps them warm for about 24 to 25 days, while the male brings her food. The chicks hatch helpless, with their eyes shut and only a little fluffy down.
Both parents feed them. The chicks grow their feathers at about 10 weeks and learn to fly at about three months. Young macaws may stay with their parents for one to two years, and they are ready to raise chicks of their own at three or four.
Pairs breed about every one to two years, nesting in tree cavities in the upper canopy. Clutches are two to four rounded white eggs, incubated for 24 to 25 days, mainly or entirely by the female while the male provisions her. Nestlings are fed regurgitated food by both parents.
Chicks are altricial, with closed eyes for several days and sparse down; they are fully feathered at about 10 weeks and fledge at about three months. Siblings compete, and often only the oldest, strongest chick survives. Young depend on their parents for up to two years and mature at three to four. Typical lifespans are about 40 to 50 years.
Noisy flocks and lifelong partners
Macaws live in pairs and groups.
They call loudly to each other. A macaw and its mate stay together their whole life. They clean each other's feathers.
Scarlet macaws live in pairs, family groups and flocks of 10 to 30 birds. They wake before dawn, preen and call, then fly off together to feed. At dusk they return to a shared roost and squawk to sort out who sits where.
A macaw chooses one mate for life. The pair preen each other, share food and fly so close that their wings almost touch. Macaws are clever and playful, and they scream loudly to keep in touch with one another in the thick forest.
Social structure centers on monogamous pairs that remain together for life, nested within family groups and flocks of about 10 to 30 that roost communally. Pairs reinforce their bond through mutual preening and food sharing, and they stay side by side even within large flocks.
Loud, harsh calls keep flock members in contact through dense forest, define territory and feature in play. Macaws are curious and manipulate objects with feet, tongue and beak; San Diego Zoo notes that they have been seen using items as tools. Group living gives protection from predators such as large snakes and birds of prey.
Did you know?
A macaw has a tiny bone in its tongue.
A macaw's tongue is dry and slightly scaly, with a bone inside that helps it open food.
The dry, slightly scaly tongue contains a bone, making it a firm tool for working seeds out of shells.
Protecting macaws
Some people take macaw chicks to sell as pets.
Forests are being cut down too. Now people protect the forests, and visitors come to see the wild macaws.
The IUCN Red List rates scarlet macaws Least Concern, but in many places they have become rare. People cut down the forests they need, and trappers take chicks from nests to sell as pets. Scarlet macaws are protected by an international agreement on wildlife trade called CITES.
Conservation helps. Protected forests and lodges where tourists come to watch macaws give local people jobs that keep the forest standing. Some former macaw hunters now work as guides.
The IUCN assessed Ara macao as Least Concern in 2022, but its habitat continues to decline and it may already be extinct in El Salvador. The species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, the international agreement on trade in wild animals and plants.
The main threats are capture for the pet trade, in which a chick can fetch thousands of dollars, and logging and clearing for farms. Responses include protected reserves, ecotourism revenue that pays local communities, and programs that hire former macaw hunters as guides.
IUCN Red List
How is the scarlet macaw doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
See the IUCN Red List assessment · The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3
Amazing facts
-
A macaw's beak can crack a very hard nut.
A macaw's beak is strong enough to crush a whole Brazil nut.
San Diego Zoo notes that a macaw's bill can easily crush a whole Brazil nut.
-
A macaw has a tiny bone in its tongue.
A macaw's tongue is dry and slightly scaly, with a bone inside that helps it open food.
The dry, slightly scaly tongue contains a bone, making it a firm tool for working seeds out of shells.
-
Many macaws like to hold food with their left foot.
Scarlet macaws often pick up food with their left foot and stand on their right, a bit like being left-handed.
Animal Diversity Web reports a left-foot preference for handling food in scarlet macaws, comparable to handedness in people.
-
Macaw flocks fly a long way to find food.
Macaws may fly as far as 24 kilometers a day to reach trees with ripe fruit.
Daily foraging flights of up to about 24 kilometers link communal roosts with scattered fruiting trees.
Words to know
- canopy
- the leafy top layer of a forest, high above the ground
- macaw
- a large parrot with a long tail from the Americas
- preen
- to clean and tidy feathers with the beak
- pair bond
- a close partnership between two animals that mate
- clay lick
- a riverbank or cliff where animals eat clay soil
- pet trade
- buying and selling animals to keep as pets
Discovery challenge
-
What does a macaw use its big beak for?
What is a scarlet macaw's beak strong enough to do?
What is the scarlet macaw's massive bill strong enough to do?
- Cracking hard nuts
- Digging tunnels
- Catching fish
Show the answer
Cracking hard nuts
Macaws crack open hard nuts with their beaks.
Its beak can crush a whole Brazil nut.
Crush hard nuts and seeds, even a whole Brazil nut; Animal Diversity Web calls them important seed predators of large tree fruits.
-
How long does a macaw stay with its mate?
How long do scarlet macaw pairs usually stay together?
How long does a scarlet macaw pair bond usually last?
- One day
- One summer
- Their whole lives
Show the answer
Their whole lives
Macaw partners stay together their whole lives.
Pairs stay together for life, preening each other and flying side by side.
Monogamous pair bonds last for life and are reinforced by mutual preening and food sharing.
-
Where do scarlet macaws live?
Where do wild scarlet macaws live?
Which habitat makes up the scarlet macaw's native range?
- Rainforests of the Americas
- Icy Antarctica
- Deserts of Australia
Show the answer
Rainforests of the Americas
They live in warm rainforests in the Americas.
They live in tropical forests from southern Mexico to South America.
Tropical forest, with some savanna, from southern Mexico through Central America to the Amazon basin in Brazil and Bolivia.
-
Why do macaws eat clay?
Why might macaws eat clay from river banks?
What do scientists believe clay does for macaws?
- It tastes like candy
- It may soak up harmful chemicals in their food
- To build their nests
Show the answer
It may soak up harmful chemicals in their food
Clay may help their tummies.
Scientists believe clay may neutralize harmful chemicals from seeds and unripe fruit.
Scientists believe clay may neutralize plant toxins from seeds and unripe fruit.
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small country in Central America between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Volcanoes and mountains run down its middle, its forests are full of wildlife, and many national parks protect them. Since 1949 it has had no army. About 5.2 million people lived there in 2025.
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Watch
Country
Peru
Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America. It has a dry desert coast, the high Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest, and about 34 million people lived there in 2025, many of them in the capital, Lima.
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Watch
Country
Honduras
Honduras is a mountainous country in Central America, with the Caribbean Sea to the north and a short Pacific coast to the south. Its forests are home to jaguars and macaws, the Maya city of Copán stands in the west, and about 10.2 million people live there (official 2026 estimate).
Explore next
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3D
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
Hyacinth macaw
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.
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Animal
Gray parrot
The gray parrot is a gray, red-tailed parrot from the rainforests of West and Central Africa. It lives in big, noisy flocks, eats fruit and seeds, and is famous for copying sounds. Trapping for the pet trade and forest loss have made it endangered.
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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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Watch
Country
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a small country in Central America between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Volcanoes and mountains run down its middle, its forests are full of wildlife, and many national parks protect them. Since 1949 it has had no army. About 5.2 million people lived there in 2025.
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Watch
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Peru
Peru is a country on the Pacific coast of South America. It has a dry desert coast, the high Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest, and about 34 million people lived there in 2025, many of them in the capital, Lima.
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Animal
Keel-billed toucan
The keel-billed toucan lives in the forests of southern Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Its huge, colorful bill can be a third of its whole length, yet it is light, and the bird uses it to pick fruit from thin branches.
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Animal
Hoatzin
The hoatzin is a strange and wonderful bird of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. It eats mostly leaves and digests them slowly with the help of bacteria, a bit like a cow. Its chicks have claws on their wings that help them climb back up through the branches.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe how the scarlet macaw's beak, feet and tail suit life in the rainforest canopy.
- Explain what macaws eat and why they visit clay licks.
- Describe the macaw's slow life cycle and lifelong pair bonds.
- Explain why the pet trade and forest loss threaten wild macaws, and how people help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might bright colors help a bird hide in a rainforest full of fruit and flowers?
- Why does raising only a few chicks slowly make macaws more at risk from trapping?
- How can tourism help protect a forest?
Try at home or in class
- Measure 89 centimeters with a tape measure and mark how much of it would be a macaw's tail.
- Try holding a snack in one foot-like hand while balancing on one leg, the way a macaw stands to eat.
Key vocabulary: canopy, macaw, preen, pair bond, clay lick, pet trade
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)
- Ara macao (Scarlet Macaw), Red List assessment 2022 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Ara macao (scarlet macaw) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- Macaw , San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
- Scarlet macaw , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- 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.