Scarlet Macaw
Ara macao

CLASS: Aves
ORDER: Psittaciformes
FAMILY: Psittacidae - Tribe: Araini

SIZE:
30 - 35 inches in length

RANGE:
Central and South America

HABITAT:
Forests

DIET:
Wild - Nuts, grains, and seeds
Zoo - Parrot mix

DESCRIPTION:

• Large members of the parrot family with mostly red plunge with yellow, green and blue coloration of wings
• Distinctive crooked beak used for breaking hard shells and seed coverings

FACTS:

• Besides using beak for eating, it is also used for locomotion, also like a third foot
• Parrots are the most manually dextrous birds, who like humans, can be left or right handed (footed).
• Can imitate speech

YOUNG/NEST:

• Clutch numbers 1 - 10 white eggs which hatch in 18 - 30 days
• Young are crop-fed by the parents, thus providing young pre-softened, vitamin rich food

STATUS:
CITES App. II; common where habitat is hard to get to but rare to extinct in other areas due to loss of habitat, collection for the pet trade and for feathers

REFERENCE:
"Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia," Vol. 8, Birds II, Dr. Bernhard Grzimek