Scarlet macaw

Description:

The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a among the 17 large psittacine species commonly known as macaws that are restricted to the tropical forest of the Western Hemisphere from Mexico to Brazil. The Cuban Macaw (Ara tricolor) is the only extinct macaw today and the Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) is extirpated from the wild and few individuals remain in captivity around the world. Macaws species are included in six different genera (Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, Ara, Orthopsittaca, Primolius and Diopsittaca) (AOU 1998, Banks 2008, Remsen et al. 2009). There are eight macaw species in the genus Ara. The Scarlet Macaw is naturally distributed over the forests of the New World Tropics (Neotropical realm). The species has been also accidentally introduced and naturalized in few urban areas in the United States, Europe and Latin America (Jonker 2005, Lara-Vásquez 2007).

Habitat:

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).