Red-and-green Macaw

About the Red-and-green Macaw

The red-and-green macaw (Ara chloropterus), also known as the green-winged macaw, is a large, mostly-red macaw of the genus Ara. It is popular in aviculture, and is the second most commonly kept macaw species after the blue-and-yellow macaw. However, they are not as common in captivity as the blue-and-yellow, and are much more expensive; prices are often double that of the blue-and-gold.

This is the largest of the genus Ara, widespread in the forests and woodlands of northern and central South America. However, in common with other macaws, in recent years there has been a marked decline in its numbers due to habitat loss and illegal capture for the parrot trade.

The green-winged macaw can be readily distinguished from the scarlet macaw. While the breast of both birds are bright red, the upper-wing covert feathers of the green-winged macaw is mostly green (as opposed to mostly yellow, or a strong mix of yellow and green in the scarlet macaw). In addition, the green-winged macaw has characteristic red lines around the eyes formed by rows of tiny feathers on the otherwise bare white skin patch; this is one of the biggest differences from a scarlet macaw to the casual... Wikipedia →