Typical Macaws
Ara
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.
The Ara macaws are large striking parrots with long tails, long narrow wings and vividly coloured plumage. They all have a characteristic bare face patch around the eyes. Males and females have similar plumage. Many of its members are popular in the pet trade, and bird smuggling is a threat to several species.
15 branches of this genus, most-observed first · about 8 known species
Scarlet Macaw
speciesAra macao
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
speciesAra ararauna
Red-and-green Macaw
speciesAra chloropterus
Military Macaw
speciesAra militaris
Chestnut-fronted Macaw
speciesAra severus
Great Green Macaw
speciesAra ambiguus
Red-fronted Macaw
speciesAra rubrogenys
Blue-throated Macaw
speciesAra glaucogularis
Harlequin Macaw
hybridAra ararauna × chloropterus
Catalina Macaw
hybridAra ararauna × macao
Shamrock Macaw
hybridAra macao × militaris
Great Green × Scarlet Macaw
hybridAra ambiguus × macao
Ruby Macaw
hybridAra macao × chloropterus
Cuban Macaw
speciesAra tricolor
St. Croix Macaw
speciesAra autochthones
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ara in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 19015.