Green Winged Macaw

The Red and Green Macaw (Ara chloropterus), also known as the Green Winged Macaw, is a large, mostly-red macaw of the Ara genus. This is the largest of the Ara genus, 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 but can occasionally sport a few yellow feathers above the band of 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 viewer. Iridescent teal feathers are surrounded by red on the tail. If seen together, the Green Winged Macaw is clearly larger than the Scarlet Macaw as well.