Prickly Heath vs Scarlet Macaw

Gaultheria mucronata compared with Ara macao

Key Differences

• Prickly Heath is Not Evaluated while Scarlet Macaw is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Prickly Heath	Scarlet Macaw
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Ericales (Ericales)	Psittaciformes (Parrots)
Family	Ericaceae	Psittacidae (True Parrots)
Genus	Gaultheria	Ara (Macaws)
Species	Gaultheria mucronata	Ara macao

Conservation Status

Prickly Heath

NE — Not Evaluated

Scarlet Macaw

LC — Least Concern

Population: ~50.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

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

Habitat & Geographic Range

Prickly Heath

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom.

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.

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 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇬🇧 United Kingdom