 Apart from the smaller size and the all-red coloration of the tail feathers, it resembled the scarlet macaw and may, therefore, have been a close relative of that species.The bird ate fruitincluding the poisonous manchineel, was monogamous, nested in trees and laid two eggs once or twice a year.Early writers described it as being abundant in Guadeloupe, but it was becoming rare by 1760, and only survived in uninhabited areas.