Often, when people think of parrots, they are thinking about the large macaws. These birds are very large, they are very colourful & they can be very loud.

They all originate from South America or Central America where most still live in the wild.

Hyacinth Macaw is the largest parrot. They are a colbalt blue in colour with a black beak and yellow around the eyes and alongside the lower beak. They are successfully being bred in captivity and although beyond the price range of most pet owners, apparently make wonderful pets. Unfortunately, these birds are difficult to find in the wild as their population decreases.

Lear’s Macaw resembles the Hyacinth, although smaller. The colour is indigo blue with a black beak and with yellow around the eyes and alongside the lower beak. These birds are not commonly kept as pets with extremely limited breeding in captivity and are not commonly seen in the wild.

Spix’s Macaw may be extinct in the wild at this time. There are a few in captivity that have limited breeding, but these birds are not kept as pets. They are a pale to medium blue with a black beak

Green-winged Macaw is a mostly red bird with green wings, bare white skin with thin lines of small red feathers on the face with a horn coloured upper beak except for black tip and a black coloured lower beak. Sightings in the wild are common in some areas that they habitate, although they no longer cover the large areas they used to. These birds are bred successfully in captivity and make good pets.

Scarlet Macaw resembles the Green-winged Macaw, although smaller. These birds have colour variations that may include green on the wings, although they also have yellow with most birds having yellow and blue on the wings. The red has a more orange brightness which also distinguishes this bird from the Green-winged Macaw and the face has tiny white feathers which makes it look as if the face is just the white skin. In the wild, they cover much of the same area as the Green winged Macaw. These birds are successfully raised in captivity and make good pets. BellaOnline's Exotic Pets Editor, Denise has a pair of Scarlet Macaws and you can read about them here.

Buffon’s Macaw is much like the Military Macaw (below) in appearance with a mostly green body, pink facial skin, red feathers across the top of the beak and a black beak. They are quieter than many of the macaws, but due to very limited breeding in captivity, they are not often available as pets.

Military Macaw is slightly smaller and not as heavy as the Buffon's Macaw and the green body is not as bright, but otherwise is similar in appearance. These birds are more common both in the wild and in captivity and they make good pets.

Blue and Gold Macaw is the most common macaw, both in the wild and as pets. They have green on the top of their head, bare white skin face with black feather lines across, a black chin and a black beak. Their backs and upper wings are blue with the breast & under wings being gold, orange or yellow.

Blue-throated Macaw resembles the Blue and Gold Macaw, but is smaller and has blue under the chin as well as blue feathers across the white face patch, which is much smaller in this bird. These birds cover a very small area in the wild and are not commonly bred in captivity or kept as pets.

Red-fronted Macaw is the smallest of the large macaws. It is a mostly green bird with red over the beak, extending to the eyes, a red patch on the sides of the neck and red shoulder patches. Their territory in the wild is quite small, but breeding in captivity has been successful, so these birds may become more common as pets soon.

For information on the Mini Macaws, please click here

Several Macaw books are available at Amazon.com

I found some wonderful parrot t-shirts at Choice Shirts