Common Ostrich vs Scarlet Macaw

Struthio camelus compared with Ara macao

Key Differences

• Common Ostrich is omnivore while Scarlet Macaw is herbivore.
• Common Ostrich is 100.0x heavier than Scarlet Macaw.
• Scarlet Macaw lives longer (50 years vs 45 years).

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Ostrich	Scarlet Macaw
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Struthioniformes (Struthioniformes)	Psittaciformes (Parrots)
Family	Struthionidae	Psittacidae (True Parrots)
Genus	Struthio	Ara (Macaws)
Species	Struthio camelus	Ara macao

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Ostrich and Scarlet Macaw share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Common Ostrich

LC — Least Concern

Trend: Stable →

Scarlet Macaw

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~50.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Ostrich	Scarlet Macaw
Diet	Omnivore	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	45 years	50 years
Average Length	2.1 m	85 cm
Average Weight	100.0 kg	1.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Ostrich

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 4 distinct biome types within the Indomalayan biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (4 countries), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru).

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.

Common Ostrich

The world's largest and heaviest living bird, common ostriches stand up to 2.8 meters tall and weigh 156 kg, inhabiting savannas and semi-arid plains of Africa. Flightless, they compensate with powerful long legs capable of delivering lethal kicks and sustaining running speeds of 70 km/h — the fastest of any bird. Their large eyes are the biggest of any land vertebrate. Ostriches lay the largest eggs of any living bird.

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.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 7 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇫🇷 France 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🇳🇴 Norway 🇬🇧 United Kingdom