Ara ararauna
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna), also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large Neotropical parrot with a mostly blue dorsum, light yellow/orange venter, and gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws. It inhabits forest (especially varzea, but also in open sections of terra firme or unflooded forest), woodland, and savannah of tropical Central and South America, as well as the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. They are popular in aviculture because of their striking color, ability to talk, ready availability in the marketplace, and close bonding to humans. It is the most commonly kept macaw species in captivity worldwide as a pet or companion parrot and is also the cheapest among the large macaws. As of 2025, there are 1 million blue and gold macaws living in captivity worldwide, one of the highest populations of any large parrot in captivity.
The blue-and-yellow macaw was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Henri Pittier National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 11 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 12 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw sighting in Brasilia on a given day, based on 89 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 46th most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw in Brasilia on a given day, against under 5% in March and April, the lowest months. That is one of Brasilia's wettest months, with about 220 mm of rain against almost none in July.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue-and-yellow Macaw sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Blue-and-yellow Macaw sightings, Brasilia ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Caracas (Venezuela, about 80%), Campo Grande (Brazil, about 80%) and Goiânia (Brazil, about 50%).
Same family: Psittacidae
The closest relatives of the Blue-and-yellow Macaw that you can see in Brasilia (family Psittacidae, New World and African Parrots) are Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (about 90%), Blue-fronted Parrot (about 10%) and White-eyed Parakeet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue-and-yellow Macaw is recorded against all the birds logged in Brasilia (89 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
