Ara ararauna
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw sighting in Manu National Park on a given day, based on 1,565 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 641 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, August and October–January
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-and-yellow Macaw in Manu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in June, the lowest month.
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.
6th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Blue-and-yellow Macaw sightings, Manu National Park ranks 6th at about 30%. 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 genus: Ara
The closest relatives of the Blue-and-yellow Macaw that you can see in Manu National Park (genus Ara) are Chestnut-fronted Macaw (about 50%), Red-and-green Macaw (about 20%) and Scarlet Macaw (about 20%), 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 Manu National Park (1,565 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.
