Military Macaw (Ara militaris)

Family
Psittacidae (Parrots)

Size
70 - 85 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Habitat
Humid lowland forest and adjacent cleared areas, wooded foothills and canyons, arid and semi-arid woodland, and pine-oak, humid lowland and riparian forest, moving seasonally to dense thorn-forest, shade coffee plantations and degraded remnant forest patches. From sea-level - 3,100 m, but mainly 500 - 1,500 m.

Range (Guide)

Argentina (B), Bolivia (B), Colombia (B), Ecuador (B), Mexico (B), Peru (B), Venezuela (B).

Population
Estimated population is 2000 - 7000 (2020) and decreasing.

Status VU
Habitat loss and especially domestic trade are the main threats.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
A noisy and harsh 'cr-a-a-a-k' and various shrieking cries.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (43)...)

Military Macaw (Ara militaris) [XC390434]
by Jacob Wijpkema from Wild Sumaco, Napo, Ecuador (flight call)

Military Macaw (Ara militaris) [XC741557]
by Manuel Grosselet from canyon del sabino Santa Mar\u00eda Tecomavaca, Santa Mar\u00eda Tecomavaca, Oaxaca, Mexico (call)

Subspecies
Sometimes treated as conspecific with Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus), but in spite of evidence of interbreeding the characters of the two forms are consistently different over their respective ranges.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

mexicanus Ridgway, 1915 - Arid western Mexico (Sonora to Isthmus of Tehuantepec).
militaris (Linnaeus, 1766) - North-western Venezuela, Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northern Peru.
bolivianus Reichenow, 1908 - Tropical Bolivia and extreme north-western Argentina.
sheffleri van Rossem & Hachisuka, 1939 - Arid western Mexico (Sonora to Isthmus of Tehu�ntepec).

Similar Species
Almost identical, but probably allopatric, Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) which has a greener hindneck and pale-tipped maxilla.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Military Macaw (Ara militaris) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Military Macaw see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Military Macaw

If you would like to read any articles about the Military Macaw...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Military Macaw

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Military Macaw or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (10)

No Videos of Military Macaw

If Birdpedia has no videos of Military Macaw or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)

Where can I observe this species?

Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area

All

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	Find GPS using Google Maps

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

On What Field Trips was this species observed?

Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area

All

From	To

Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or	GPS help

Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)

Deg	Min	Sec			Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
				or

Distance	Bearing
		Get Sample GPS readings

Latest Sightings for Military Macaw