Blue-and-gold Macaw

Looks how to spot one

Feathered; large, long-tailed parrot with a massive hooked beak

A big, slim macaw with a long pointed tail and a wingspan of roughly 1-1.1 m. The back, wings and tail are a rich turquoise blue, while the chest and belly glow golden yellow to orange. The forehead is green. The face is bare white skin crossed by thin lines of tiny dark feathers, with a black band under the chin. The heavy beak is black and the eyes are pale yellow in adults (grey-brown in young birds). The feet have two toes pointing forward and two back. Males and females look alike.1243

Personality what they are like

Behind the imposing size and beak sits a gentle, sensitive and very affectionate bird. Blue-and-gold macaws are bright, playful and nosy, and many learn a handful of words and phrases. They are naturally loud: flock calls, especially around dusk, are part of normal life, and they can blush their bare facial skin and fluff their head feathers when interacting with people. Some individuals bond most closely with one person. They thrive with owners who have plenty of time, space and patience, and because they can live for many decades, planning for their long-term care is part of ownership.625

Daily activity how busy a day looks

High. These strong fliers and climbers need several hours a day out of the cage, room to stretch and flap their wings, and constant chewing and foraging work. The World Parrot Trust recommends access to a very large flight (around 15 m long) where possible.125

Grooming and care the hands-on bits

Offer regular baths or showers. Keep a steady supply of hardwood, leather, cardboard and other bird-safe chew items, which also help keep the beak in trim. Nail care can be handled by an avian vet if needed. Chewing is a natural and important behaviour, so bird-proof the room during out-of-cage time.152

Home where they are happiest

A very large, sturdy cage of at least 120 cm wide x 152 cm long x 152 cm tall (VCA minimum), built to resist a strong beak, plus a play stand and safe room to fly. Provide perches, swings, ladders and large toys, and rotate chewables such as fir branches, pine cones and bird-safe wood.51

Food basics what goes in the bowl

Wild birds eat seeds, nuts, fruit, flowers, nectar, palm nuts, leaves and bark, and visit riverbank clay licks for minerals. As pets they do well on a quality formulated macaw diet (pellets) as the base, with fresh vegetables and fruit such as banana, orange and corn on the cob, plus nuts like walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts and pine nuts in moderation and sprouted seeds.1762

Company who they like around

Very social. In the wild they live in lifelong pairs and gather in flocks of up to about 25-30 birds. A pet macaw needs a lot of daily attention, interaction and company from its household.1756

The story where it all began

The name ararauna goes back to the Tupi language of Brazil and was written down by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in 1648; Linnaeus formally named the species in 1758. The genus name Ara also comes from Tupi and imitates the bird's call. People have prized this macaw for a very long time: its feathers turn up in a pre-Inca Ychsma tomb near Pachacamac in Peru dated to around 1000-1470 CE, showing that the plumage was traded across the Andes, and pre-Columbian cultures made feather textiles with its blue and gold plumage. In the wild it remains widespread across much of mainland South America. On Trinidad it had almost vanished by the 1970s, and between about 1999 and 2004 wild birds from Guyana were released around Nariva Swamp to bring it back. Its colours, ability to talk, easy availability and closeness to people made it the most widely kept of the large macaws, and small free-living populations descended from escaped birds live in Puerto Rico and in Miami-Dade County, Florida.2631

Recognised by the official bits

Taxonomy

Described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Psittacus ararauna; now placed in the genus Ara (Lacépède, 1799). No subspecies are recognised.2

IUCN Red List

Least Concern.1

CITES

Listed on Appendix II, so international trade is regulated.3

Aviculture

Described as the most commonly kept macaw species as a companion bird, and the most affordable of the large macaws.2

Popularity Most commonly kept macaw worldwide; Wikipedia states that as of 2025 about 1 million live in captivity worldwide (secondary source, not confirmed by a primary source).25