Northern Gannet vs Scarlet Macaw
Morus bassanus compared with Ara macao
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Northern Gannet | Scarlet Macaw |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Morus bassanus | Ara macao |
| Order | Suliformes | Psittaciformes |
| Family | Sulidae | Psittacidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 93.0 cm (36.6 in) | 85.0 cm (33.5 in) |
| Wingspan | 180.0 cm (70.9 in) | 110.0 cm (43.3 in) |
| Weight | 3000.0 g (105.82 oz) | 1000.0 g (35.27 oz) |
| Diet | Shoaling fish, especially mackerel, herring, and capelin. Plunge-dives from heights of 30 meters at speeds … | Fruits, nuts, seeds, and flowers from rainforest canopy trees. Visits clay licks to detoxify compounds … |
| Clutch Size | 1 | 1-4 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Northern Gannet
Open ocean and coastal waters. Breeds in dense colonies on steep rocky islands and sea stacks.
Scarlet Macaw
Humid tropical lowland rainforests, gallery forests, and forest edges. Requires large mature trees with cavities for nesting.
Song & Call Comparison
Northern Gannet
Loud, harsh 'urrah-urrah' grunting and croaking at breeding colonies on sea stacks. Also gives a softer 'karrr' in flight. Large colonies are extremely noisy during the breeding season.
Scarlet Macaw
Very loud, raucous squawking screams 'araak-araak'. Also gives chattering contact calls in pairs. Capable of mimicking human speech in captivity. Highly vocal throughout the day.
Geographic Range & Migration
Northern Gannet
North Atlantic, breeding from Newfoundland and Gulf of St. Lawrence to Norway, Iceland, and Britain. Winters at sea south to the tropics.
Scarlet Macaw
Southern Mexico through Central America to Amazonian South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia.
Conservation Status
Northern Gannet
Scarlet Macaw
How to Tell Them Apart
Northern Gannet
Brilliant white body with black wingtips and a golden-yellow wash on the head and nape. Blue-grey bill with dark lines and pale blue eye-ring.
Long, straight, pointed, pale blue-grey bill with serrated edges
Scarlet Macaw
Brilliant scarlet red body with bright yellow wing coverts and blue flight feathers and tail. Large white bare facial patch around the eye.
Large, strongly curved bill — pale horn upper mandible, dark lower mandible
About These Birds
Northern Gannet
The northern gannet is a spectacular plunge-diver, folding its two-meter wingspan into an arrow shape to hit the water at up to 100 km/h. Air sacs under the skin and a reinforced skull protect it from the impact. Bass Rock in Scotland hosts over 150,000 gannets, the largest single colony of any seabird in the world.
Scarlet Macaw
The scarlet macaw is one of the most iconic tropical birds with its dazzling tricolor plumage. These highly intelligent parrots form lifelong pair bonds and can live over 75 years in captivity. They play an important ecological role as seed dispersers in Neotropical rainforests.