Blue-and-yellow macaw
Scientific name: Ara ararauna (Linnaeus, 1758)
Overview
The blue-and-yellow macaw, 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, 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.
From the Wikipedia article “Blue-and-yellow macaw”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021.3.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: North America; South America.
Common names
Names in other languages (12)
- Arabic
- مقو أزرق أصفر
- Bengali
- নীল সোনালী ম্যাকাও
- Chinese
- 琉璃金剛鸚鵡, 藍黃金剛鸚鵡
- French
- Ara bleu
- German
- Gelbbrustara
- Japanese
- ルリコンゴウインコ
- Persian
- ماکائو آبی طلایی
- Portuguese
- arara-azul-e-amarela, arara-canindé
- Russian
- Сине-жёлтый ара
- Spanish
- Guacamayo azuliamarillo
- Turkish
- Mavi-sarı ara
- Urdu
- نیلا و پیلا مکاؤ
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q205477, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Blue-and-yellow macaw”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Concerto, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026