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Military Macaw Ara militaris
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Military Macaw Ara militaris
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The Military Macaw has a green coat with turquoise blue mottling on the nape, sky blue wing edges, red upper and yellow underside tail, yellow under wings and a bright bushy red forehead. Its face is usually white or light pink with black/dark brown feathered lines on the cheek, but (like some people) the face turns a redder pink when the bird is excited. The name "Military" comes from the green and red soldiers' uniform colours (cf. Soldier Beetle, a green and red beetle) but understates the true colourful plumage of the parrot. The Military Macaw comes from Mexico (larger Mexicana sub-species) and north-eastern South America (smaller sub-species). The Great Green Macaw, also called Buffon's Macaw, (see below) is similar but significantly larger and without the blue mottling on the nape and with a different iris. |
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His lady has made a nest in the grass clump (she can be seen behind the grass) . . . |
Gold underside of tail (above) |
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he is helping to dig out a burrow with his massive beak (above) and clearing soil with his feet (below). |
Topside of tail |
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| The burgundy face border | |||||||||||||
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Great Green/Buffon's Macaw Ara ambiguus
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The Great Green Macaw, also called Buffon's Macaw (and sometimes, confusingly, the Great Military), comes from Central America (including northernmost South America). It is similar to the Military Macaw in appearance but is significantly larger (at up to 3 feet long including tail, some 9 inches longer than the Military). The Great Green doesn't have the blue mottling on the nape. It also has a grey iris with thin gold border rather than the wholly pale gold iris of the Military Macaw. |
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| Green nape with no light blue mottling | Grey iris | To confuse us, the Buffons gives a Military salute |
