List of macaws

Last updated October 18, 2022

The list of macaws includes 19 species of macaws including extinct and critically endangered species,^[1] and does not include several hypothetical extinct species that have been proposed based on very little evidence.^[2]

Species in taxonomic order

Anodorhynchus

The three well-established species in the genus Anodorhynchus are monotypic:^[1]

Species
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range
Glaucous macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus)		70 cm (27.5 in) long, mostly pale turquoise-blue with a large greyish head. It has a long tail and a large bill. It has a yellow, bare eye-ring and half-moon-shaped lappets bordering the mandible.^[3]	South America (probably extinct)
Hyacinth macaw or hyacinthine macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)		100 cm (39 in) long, 120-140 cm (48-56 in) wingspan. It is almost entirely blue and has black under the wings. It has a large black beak with bright yellow along the sides of the lower part of the beak and also yellow eyerings.^[4]	South America
Lear's macaw or indigo macaw (Anodorhynchus leari)		70 cm (27.5 in) long, mainly blue and the head is a slightly paler blue. It has bare pale yellow skin at the base of its beak and orange-yellow eyerings. It has a large blackish beak.^[5]	Brazil

Cyanopsitta

Cyanopsitta
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range
Spix's macaw or little blue macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii)		55–57 cm (22–22 in) long. Various shades of blue, including a pale blue head, pale blue underparts, and vivid blue upperparts, wings and tail.^[6]	Brazil (probably extinct in the wild)

Ara

Ara
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range^[7]
Great green macaw or Buffon's macaw (Ara ambiguus)		85–90 cm (33–36 in) long. Mostly green, red on forehead, green and blue wings^[8]	Central and South America, from Honduras to Ecuador
Blue-and-yellow macaw or blue-and-gold macaw (Ara ararauna)		80–90 cm (31.5–35.5 in) long. Mostly blue back and yellow front. Blue chin and green forehead. The upper zone of the bare white skin around each eye extending to the beak is patterned by lines of small dark feathers.	Panama, Colombia through to south-central Brazil.
Green-winged macaw or red-and-green macaw (Ara chloroptera)		90 cm (36 in) long. Mostly red, with blue and green wings. The bare white skin around each eye extending to the bill is patterned by lines of small red feathers.	South America, from Colombia through to northern Paraguay (formerly northern Argentina)
Blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis)		75–85 cm (30–34 in) long. Blue upperparts and mostly yellow lowerparts, blue throat. Areas of pale skin on the sides of the face are covered with lines of small dark-blue feathers, with pinkish bare skin at the base of the beak.^[9]	North Bolivia
Scarlet macaw (Ara macao)		81–96 cm (32–36 in) long. Mostly bright red, with red, yellow and blue in the wings. There is bare white skin around the each eye extending to the bill.	Mexico to Colombia and the Amazon Basin.
Military macaw (Ara militaris)		70 cm (28 in) long. Mostly green, red forehead^[10]	Discontinuous distribution in Mexico and along the Andes from Venezuela to north Argentina.
Red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys)		55–60 cm (21.5–23.5 in) long. Mostly green. red forehead and red patch over the ears, pinkish skin on the face, red at bend of wings, blue primary wing feathers^[11]	Central Bolivia
Chestnut-fronted macaw or severe macaw (Ara severa)		46 cm (18 in) long. Mostly green, chestnut forehead, red at bend of wings	Panama and South America in the Chocó and Amazon Basin
†Cuban macaw (Ara tricolor) Extinct ca. 1885		50 cm (20 in) long. Red forehead fading to orange and then to yellow at the nape of the neck, dark brown bill paler at the tip; orange face, chin, chest, abdomen and thighs; upper back mainly brownish red, and the rump and lower back blue; brown, red and purplish-blue wing feathers; upper surface of the tail was dark red fading to blue at the tip, and brownish red underneath.^[2]	Extinct - formerly endemic on Cuba and probably also on Isla de la Juventud (previously called the Isle of Pines).^[2]
†Lesser Antillean macaw or Guadeloupe macaw (Ara guadeloupensis) Hypothetical, extinct		Not known if it existed. Tail feathers 15–20 inches long. Similar colour as the scarlet macaw, but smaller with an entirely red tail. Known from descriptions and possibly paintings and subfossils.	Hypothetical, extinct - Guadeloupe
†St. Croix macaw (Ara autocthones) Extinct		Only known from sub-fossil bones found at two archeological sites.^[12]	Extinct - Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and central Puerto Rico

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Orthopsittaca

Orthopsittaca
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range
Red-bellied macaw (Orthopsittaca manilata)		46 cm (18 in) long, mainly green, burgundy red patch on the belly, blue forehead and upper wings, and a grey tint to the breast. The underwings and undertail are dull yellow. Bare mustard yellow skin covers most of its face.	South America

Primolius

Primolius
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range
Blue-headed macaw or Coulon's macaw (Primolius couloni)		41 cm (16 in) long, mostly green with head, flight feathers and primary coverts blue. The uppertail has a maroon base, a narrow green center and a blue tip. The undertail and underwing are greenish-yellow/ The bill is pale greyish-horn with a black base. Unlike most other macaws, the facial skin and lores are dark greyish.^[13]	South America
Blue-winged macaw or Illiger's macaw (Primolius maracana)		40 cm (16 in) long, mostly green, the upperside of some of the wing feathers are blue, and the underside of the wings are yellowish, the tail-tip, crown and cheeks are bluish, and the tail-base and a belly-patch are red. The iris is amber. The bare facial-skin is yellowish, which may be white in captivity, the beak is all black^[14]	South America
Golden-collared macaw or yellow-collared macaw (Primolius auricollis)		38 cm (15 in) long, mostly green, yellow band on the back of the neck, tail feathers have are red at the base fading to greens and blues, dark brown or black forehead, pink legs, the beak is dark grey with a paler grey tip	South America

Diopsittaca

Diopsittaca
Common and binomial names^[1]	Image	Description	Range
Red-shouldered macaw or Hahn's macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis)		30 cm (12 in) long, mostly green, with dark or slate blue feathers on the forehead and crown. The wings and tail have feathers that are bright green above and olive-green below. The leading edges of the wings, especially on the underside, are red. The irises are orange, and the featherless skin on the face is white. There are three subspecies.	South America

Related Research Articles

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The family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the roughly 10 species of subfamily Psittacinae and 157 of subfamily Arinae, as well as several species that have gone extinct in recent centuries. Some of the most iconic birds in the world are represented here, such as the blue-and-gold macaw among the New World parrots and the grey parrot among the Old World parrots.

Spix's macaw, also known as the little blue macaw, is a macaw species that was endemic to Brazil. It is a member of tribe Arini in the subfamily Arinae, part of the family Psittacidae. It was first described by German naturalist Georg Marcgrave, when he was working in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil in 1638 and it is named for German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix, who collected a specimen in 1819 on the bank of the Rio São Francisco in northeast Bahia in Brazil. This bird has been completely extirpated from its natural range, and following a several-year survey, the IUCN officially declared it extinct in the wild in 2019.

Anodorhynchus is a genus of large blue macaws from open and semi-open habitats in central and eastern South America. It includes two extant species, the hyacinth macaw and Lear's macaw also known as the indigo macaw, and one probably extinct species, the glaucous macaw. At about 100 centimetres (39 in) in length the hyacinth macaw is the longest parrot in the world. Glaucous and Lear's macaws are exclusively cliff nesters; hyacinth macaws are mostly tree nesters. The three species mainly feed on the nuts from a few species of palms.

The glaucous macaw is a critically endangered or possibly extinct species of large, blue and grey South American parrot, a member of a large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. This macaw is closely related to Lear's macaw and the hyacinth macaw. In Guaraní, it is called guaa-obi after its vocalizations.

Lear's macaw, also known as the indigo macaw, is a large all-blue Brazilian parrot, a member of a large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. It was first described by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856. Lear's macaw is 70–75 cm long and weighs around 950 g. It is coloured almost completely blue, with a yellow patch of skin at the base of the heavy, black bill.

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Ara is a Neotropical genus of macaws with eight extant species and at least two extinct species. The genus name was coined by French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. It gives its name to and is part of the Arini, or tribe of neotropical parrots. The genus name Ara is derived from the Tupi word ará, an onomatopoeia of the sound a macaw makes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Croix macaw</span> Species of extinct macaw

The St. Croix macaw or Puerto Rican macaw, is an extinct species of macaw whose remains have been found on the Caribbean islands of St. Croix and Puerto Rico. It was described in 1937 based on a tibiotarsus leg bone unearthed from a kitchen midden at a pre-Columbian site on St. Croix. A second specimen consisting of various bones from a similar site on Puerto Rico was described in 2008, while a coracoid from Montserrat may belong to this or another extinct species of macaw. The St. Croix macaw is one of 13 extinct macaw species that have been proposed to have lived on the Caribbean islands. Macaws were frequently transported long distances by humans in prehistoric and historical times, so it is impossible to know whether species known only from bones or accounts were native or imported.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser Antillean macaw</span> Extinct bird from the Caribbean

The Lesser Antillean macaw or Guadeloupe macaw is a hypothetical extinct species of macaw that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. In spite of the absence of conserved specimens, many details about the Lesser Antillean macaw are known from several contemporary accounts, and the bird is the subject of some illustrations. Austin Hobart Clark described the species on the basis of these accounts in 1905. Due to the lack of physical remains, and the possibility that sightings were of macaws from the South American mainland, doubts have been raised about the existence of this species. A phalanx bone from the island of Marie-Galante confirmed the existence of a similar-sized macaw inhabiting the region prior to the arrival of humans and was correlated with the Lesser Antillean macaw in 2015. Later that year, historical sources distinguishing between the red macaws of Guadeloupe and the scarlet macaw of the mainland were identified, further supporting its validity.

The Martinique amazon is a hypothetical extinct species of Caribbean parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is not known from any material remains, but was said to be similar to the red-necked amazon from Dominica, the next major island to the north of Martinique. Natives are known to have traded extensively in parrots between the Antilles, and it seems that the Martinique population was in some way related to or even descended from A. arausiaca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guadeloupe amazon</span> Hypothetical extinct species of parrot from the Caribbean

The Guadeloupe amazon or Guadeloupe parrot, is a hypothetical extinct species of parrot that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. Mentioned and described by 17th- and 18th-century writers, it received a scientific name in 1789. It was moved to the genus Amazona in 1905, and is thought to have been related to, or possibly the same as, the extant imperial amazon. A tibiotarsus and an ulna bone from the island of Marie-Galante may belong to the Guadeloupe amazon. In 1905, a species of extinct violet macaw was also claimed to have lived on Guadeloupe, but in 2015, it was suggested to have been based on a description of the Guadeloupe amazon.

The red-headed macaw or Jamaican green-and-yellow macaw may have been a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae that lived in Jamaica, but its existence is hypothetical.

Primolius is a genus of macaws comprising three species, which are native to South America. They are mainly green parrots with complex colouring including blues, reds and yellows. They have long tails, a large curved beak, and bare facial skin typical of macaws in general. They are less than 50 cm long, much smaller than the macaws of the Ara genus. Macaws less than about 50 cm long, including the genus Primolius, are sometimes called "mini-macaws".

The Martinique macaw or orange-bellied macaw is a hypothetical extinct species of macaw which may have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island of Martinique, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was scientifically named by Walter Rothschild in 1905, based on a 1630s description of "blue and orange-yellow" macaws by Jacques Bouton. No other evidence of its existence is known, but it may have been identified in contemporary artwork. Some writers have suggested that the birds observed were actually blue-and-yellow macaws. The "red-tailed blue-and-yellow macaw", another species named by Rothschild in 1907 based on a 1658 account, is thought to be identical to the Martinique macaw, if either has ever existed.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Zoological Nomenclature Resource: Psittaciformes (Version 9.004)". www.zoonomen.net. 2008-07-05.
1 2 3 Fuller, Errol (1987). Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England). pp. 148–9. ISBN 978-0-670-81787-0.
↑ "Species factsheet: Anodorhynchus glaucus". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Anodorhynchus leari". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Cyanopsitta spixii". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ Collar N (1997) "Family Psittacidae (Parrots)" in Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 4; Sandgrouse to Cuckoos (eds del Hoyo J, Elliott A, Sargatal J) Lynx Edicions:Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-22-9 pp.420-425
↑ "Species factsheet: Ara ambiguus". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Ara glaucogularis". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Ara militaris". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Ara rubrogenys". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ Olson, Storrs L.; Edgar J. Máiz López (2008). "New evidence of Ara autochthones from an archeological site in Puerto Rico: a valid species of West Indian macaw of unknown geographical origin (Aves: Psittacidae)" (PDF). Caribbean Journal of Science. 44 (2): 215–222.
↑ "Species factsheet: Primolius couloni". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.
↑ "Species factsheet: Primolius maracana". BirdLife International (2008). Retrieved 24 July 2008.

v t e Macaws
Genus	Species (extinctions: † indicates a species confirmed to be extinct, ₴ indicates evidence only from sub-fossils)
Anodorhynchus	Glaucous macaw Hyacinth macaw Lear's macaw
Cyanopsitta	Spix's macaw
Ara	Blue-and-yellow macaw (or blue-and-gold macaw) Blue-throated macaw Military macaw Great green macaw (or Buffon's macaw) Scarlet macaw Red-and-green macaw (or green-winged macaw) Red-fronted macaw Chestnut-fronted macaw (or severe macaw) Cuban macaw † Saint Croix macaw † ₴
Orthopsittaca	Red-bellied macaw
Primolius	Blue-headed macaw Blue-winged macaw (or Illiger's macaw) Golden-collared macaw (or yellow-collared macaw)
Diopsittaca	Red-shouldered macaw (Hahn's macaw or noble macaw)
Hypothetical extinct macaws	Lesser Antillean macaw Martinique macaw Red-headed macaw Jamaican red macaw Dominican green-and-yellow macaw
Hybrid macaws	Catalina macaw
Neotropical parrots (tribe: Arini) Hybrid macaw List of macaws Mini-macaws