The scarlet macaw (Ara macao Linnaeus 1758) is a member of the genus Ara (Lacepede, 1799), one of 6 genera of Central and South American macaws. Carolus Linnaeus described and named the scarlet macaw in his Systemae Naturae in 1758. Protonym: Psittacus macao. Both subspecies can be recognized by size and color detail in the feathers on its wings.: * A. macao macao South American scarlet macaw, the nominate subspecies. In the wings the medium and secondary coverts have green tip. * A. macao cyanoptera (Wiedenfeld 1995) North Central American scarlet ma]\