[Many Feathers]

I've watched 4 different Scarlet Macaws entirely lose their yellow over the years. It usually happens if the bird is # 1 blind in an eye, # 2 disabled in some way, (especially with a broken wing,) # 3 has been sick for a long period of time, and # 4 occasionally if the macaw is really old. I believe by removing the bright yellow coloring, it is nature's way of making the bird less visible, and thus vulnerable to predators. I see it as nature's way of protecting the bird. It is not a mutation. I know of 2 other long time macaw owners, besides myself, who have also witnessed this phenomena. You will also note that the blue tips on the the yellow covert feathers turn to a dark iridescent green, almost black, and that sometimes the overall red coloring may change from bright lipstick red, to a slightly darker shade of red, as well. I've had 2 of them sold to me at different times in the past, as "Ruby" macaws, but were not. Both of those birds were blind in an eye, and both had a broken wing. Later I was sold a Scarlet hen that was blind in one eye whose extremely wide yellow band slowly turned to red with dark green tips over the years. I also watched a friend's Scarlet hen that had been chronically ill, off & on, over a period of years entirely lose her yellow. I hope I have clearly qualified my view of this particular coloration for you with these examples. I find this coloration, without the yellow, to be extremely beautiful.