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A blue-and-yellow macaw flying with its wings spread wide over green trees.
Photo: Luc Viatour, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Ara ararauna

A big blue-and-gold parrot of South American rainforests that mates for life and eats clay from riverbanks.

🦜 Parrots
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About the Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Blue-and-yellow macaws live in rainforests, especially near swamps and rivers, from Panama through much of South America. They are blue on the back and wings and yellow underneath, with a green forehead and a bare white face lined with black feathers. They eat mainly seeds, nuts and fruit. These macaws usually live in pairs but sometimes gather in flocks.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Ara ararauna[1]
Size
81 to 91.5 cm (32 to 36 inches) long, with a wingspan of 104 to 114 cm.[1]
Weight
0.9 to 1.8 kg (about 2 to 4 pounds).[1]
Lifespan
Up to 50 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Mainly seeds, nuts and fruit, plus clay from riverbanks.[1]
Habitat
Rainforests, especially near swamps and rivers.[1]
Where it lives
Panama and South America, including Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.[1]
Group life
Mostly in pairs that mate for life. Sometimes gathers in flocks.[1]
Babies
2 or 3 eggs, nested high in trees, hatch after 24 to 28 days.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • Blue-and-yellow macaws eat clay from riverbanks to help them digest toxins in unripe seeds.[1]
  • They can mimic words and sounds.[1]
  • Their bare white faces have lines of tiny black feathers around the eyes.[1]
  • Young macaws become independent within about 3 months of leaving the nest.[1]

Vocabulary

macaw
A large, long-tailed parrot from Central and South America.
mimic
To copy the sounds or actions of something else.
toxin
A poison made by a living thing.
mate for life
To stay with the same partner for as long as both live.
reintroduce
To return a species to a place where it used to live.

See it in person

These zoos had this animal when we gathered our information, but animals sometimes move. Check the zoo's website or contact the zoo before you visit.

Sources

  1. [1] Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. “Ara ararauna (blue-and-yellow macaw).” https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ara_ararauna/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Ara ararauna (Blue-and-yellow Macaw).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22685539/131917270 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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