Big Red Macaws

This is Rico (above) and Lucy (below). Both are big red macaws. However, Rico is a Greenwing and Lucy is a Scarlet. The easiest way to tell the difference is by the facial "stitching" on Rico, the Greenwing. When you see a white face with no "stitching" lines, it's a Scarlet. The other difference is Rico is a bigger and heavier bird. The Greenwing typically is a gentle giant. Scarlets are typically a little more feisty and seem to use their beak to pinch. Of course, these are generalizations and those are not written in stone. The other factors that confuse the issue are the hybrids that are created. If someone allows a Scarlet and a Greenwing to have babies, they are known as Ruby Macaws. In my humble opinion, people should be discouraged from breeding hybrids. It muddies the gene pool and makes the outcome impossible to predict.