Clustered Fanpetals vs Scarlet Macaw

Sida glomerata compared with Ara macao

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clustered Fanpetals	Scarlet Macaw
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Malvales (Malvales)	Psittaciformes (Parrots)
Family	Malvaceae	Psittacidae (True Parrots)
Genus	Sida	Ara (Macaws)
Species	Sida glomerata	Ara macao

Conservation Status

Clustered Fanpetals

LC — Least Concern

Scarlet Macaw

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~50.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clustered Fanpetals	Scarlet Macaw
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	50 years
Average Length	—	85 cm
Average Weight	—	1.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clustered Fanpetals

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Samoa.

Scarlet Macaw

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, forests, and vegetated habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (5 countries) and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela). Population trends indicate a declining trajectory in parts of its range.

Clustered Fanpetals

Sida glomerata, the clustered fanpetals, is a perennial herb or subshrub in the family Malvaceae native to tropical and subtropical Americas, with distribution also recorded in the Pacific Islands. The genus Sida is a pantropical group of about 150–200 species of mallows, many of which are weedy pioneers of disturbed habitats. S. glomerata produces small yellow, five-petaled flowers typical of the mallow family, with flowers clustered in the leaf axils. The leaves are alternate, simple, and often covered in stellate hairs. Like other Sida species, it grows in disturbed open habitats including roadsides, waste ground, pastures, and forest margins. Members of the genus are used medicinally in traditional systems across tropical regions, with fiber extracted from stems in some species. S. glomerata is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, being a common and adaptable species across its tropical range. The pantropical distribution of many Sida species has been facilitated by their association with human-disturbed habitats and their ability to produce abundant, persistent seeds.

Scarlet Macaw

One of the most brilliantly colored birds in the Americas, scarlet macaws display vivid red, yellow, and blue plumage with wingspans reaching 1 meter. Found in humid lowland forests from Mexico to Bolivia, they are highly intelligent, long-lived — up to 75 years — and form lifelong pair bonds. They travel long distances to clay licks where they consume mineral-rich soil to detoxify seeds. Listed as Least Concern but locally threatened by habitat loss and the pet trade.