Scarlet Macaw

The Scarlet Macaw is a large, vibrant coloured parrot native to American forests in the tropics.Stretching from extreme eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru and Brazil.

It is about 81 to 96 cm or if you like 32 to 36 inches long, of which more than half is the pointed, graduated tail so typical of the Macaws. 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. Sexes are alike; the only difference between ages is that young birds have dark eyes, and adults have light yellow eyes.

Scarlet Macaws make loud, low-pitched, throaty squawks and screams.Like most parrots, the Scarlet Macaw lays 2 to 4 white eggs in a tree cavity. The young hatch after 24 to 25 days. They fledge about 105 days later and leave their parents as late as a year.

Scarlet Macaws are popular cage birds for those who can pay both the high price of the bird and the price of the big cage needed, can stand their loud calls, and can give them considerable time outside their cages. They are considered sociable and affectionate, and some talk well.

Populations have been decimated by habitat destruction and capture for the pet trade.