The Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) is a large bird in the parrot family.

The Scarlet Macaw has bright blue, yellow, and red feathers. Its head is red, its back is red, yellow, and blue, and its long tail is red and blue. Its wings are also red and blue. It has a red throat and chest. It is featherless on its white cheeks. It has small, dark eyes with a white eye-ring. It has a large, strong creamy-white beak.

The Scarlet Macaw, like other parrots, has its first and fourth toes pointing backwards.

It measures up to 90 centimetres (35.5 inches) tall, with a wingspand of 110 centimetres (43.5 inches).

It is native to South America, in countries such as Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Brazil. It prefers forests, especially tropical rain forests, and also woodlands.

The Scarlet Macaw eats a variety of food, such as seeds, nuts, fruits, palm fruits, leaves, flowers, and stems. In the wild, it forages over 100 kilometres (62 miles) in search of seasonal food.

It is monogamous, mating for life. The female lays 2-4 eggs, which hatch after 25-27 days.

It lives, on average, 40-50 years in the wild.

Here is an interesting video that Avibirds sent to me and the readers of Similar but Different in the Animal Kingdom:

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM