Chestnut-fronted Macaw
Ara severus
Small for a macaw but still larger than any of the long-tailed parakeets. Mostly green with whitish face and reddish underwings (only visible in flight). Sexes similar. Found in pairs or small flocks, in forest and also in disturbed open habitat including agricultural land and clearings. Listen for very harsh scratchy calls.
Identification
The chestnut-fronted or severe macaw is mostly green in colour with patches of red and blue on the wings. The head has a chestnut brown patch just above the beak. The beak is black and the patches around the eyes are white with lines of small black feathers. It is the only one of the miniature macaws that has lines of feathers in the bare patches around its eyes. In the wild their typically gregarious personality can become more aggressive at puberty giving them the name Severe. This tendency can be curbed in captivity but the species requires significant handling to make a tame pet. It is 45–50 cm (17.5–19.5 in) long and weighs 300–410 g (11–14 oz).
Taxonomy
The chestnut-fronted macaw was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus 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 severus. This macaw is now one of the eight extant species placed the genus Ara that was erected in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède. The genus name is from ará meaning "macaw" in the Tupi language of Brazil. The word is an onomatopoeia based on the sound of their call. The specific epithet severus is Latin meaning "grim", "cruel" or "stern". The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Ara severus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittacidae
- Genus
- Ara
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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