Ara ararauna
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw sighting in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 239th most-seen of the 308 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, against under 5% in July to December, the lowest months. Those are among Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in January. January to April have too few records to rate.
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.
12th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Blue-and-yellow Macaw sightings, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas ranks 12th at under 5%. The best odds are in Emas National Park (Brazil, about 80%), Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve (Ecuador, about 70%) and Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Psittacidae
The closest relatives of the Blue-and-yellow Macaw that you can see in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (family Psittacidae, New World and African Parrots) are Monk Parakeet (about 60%), Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (about 60%) and Blue-fronted Parrot (about 50%), 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 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (20 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
