I dont know if you guys remember me posting here back in January about her so here goes:

I bought a neglected 2 year old macaw from a lady in January, when I got her she would hide at the top back of the cage, get aggressive and bite the shit out of anyone. Her feathers were filthy and she looked like she hadn't bathed in forever.

now she loves my wife, 8 year old son, and myself. She plays with us, goes outside with us and is talking, calling to us (she says Anak for my son, Daddy for me but still cant say Mama or anything for the wife). She comes out when she wants and hates when her cage door is closed even if she has no intent on coming out.
She rides in the jeep, sits on the shoulder and loves her cuddle time.
All in all my wife and I are absolutely overjoyed with her and glad we rescued her.

Now the wife and I are considering fostering a bird or two and are always looking through the adds for a bird in need.

Tess:

Very cool!  Would love to see some video

Here's an older one, I'll upload some and post later for you guys.

How does one cuddle a bird?

Not trying to be funny, here.

How does the bird behave when you restrict its  (her) movements by cuddling?

They are reputed to be very bright, aren't they?

Awesome!

you cuddle the large ones by letting them rub up to you. My Macaw is very active so usually we are her playground but when she is really into her neck rubs she'll lay down or lean against the wife or I and get totally into the attention.

They are extremely intelligent, mine will point to her head where she wants to be scratched, grab a finger and just hold it or sit on a shoulder and preen hair. She knows how to turn the light on and off above her, knows when I'm home by the sound of the Jeep and will make sure you know when she wants to sleep, play or get a treat.



ETA: generally they hate being confined, she doesnt like being lightly wrapped in anything unless she is scared looking for shelter.

Beautiful blue and gold. Well done sir!

How does one housebreak such a creature?

I think I can guess.

Mine just seemed to know to either shit in the cage or over the paper when on her perch, she does a dance to let us know when she has to go. She's actually never shit on me or the furniture.

thankyou.  

Wow! I fully expected the answer to be "You don't."

nope, they definitely can be. My experience is with one that just naturally knew so it's hard for me to answer but I believe others train their bird to go either over paper or on command. Training them to go on command can have negative effects if the bird only goes on command no matter what vs knowing the command is only for when they are being held (i.e. they might hold it till they get sick).


on the other hand I had an Amazon that would go when and where she wanted to no matter what but she was another rescue and had been left in a cage way to small for her in a garage for several years.

I would love to know more about your process for recovery when you adopted her. We have a Macaw that we adopted as well, and she has been very aggressive and typically is unable to be held without physical harm to the holder. It is getting to the point where we are going to get rid of her, but that would break my wife and daughter's heart. Any tips?

I would say there are a few keys to success.

1. Have one person work with the bird on the onset, it's easier for them to build trust with one and then go from there.

2. Accept that you are going to get bit, and do not show the bird fear of the beak because they are smart enough to know you are easily scared away by a bite.

3. Learn to read the bird's "tells" as to when it is really pissed vs trying to scare you away. The dilation patterns in their eyes are one of the biggest tells, dilated usually means agitated.


certain things will be counter productive, gloves in my experience scare them and that is something you dont want. Macaws in particular can have the intelligence level of a human 5yo IIRC. Building that trust involves showing the bird who's boss but not in a negative way. With mine it was slowly reaching into her domain to get her to realize I'm coming in and not going to be chased away. Then it was working towards her with my finger till she leaned forward with her beak half open ready to bite, then I'd keep it there.
When you get bit they usually have a "NO!" bite that is quick and painful, and cuts... then there is a "Fuck you, I said NO!" bite when they grab and hold... and it hurts you cant jerk away unfortunately because it teaches them you are afraid to get bit (justly so)... after getting they need to know it's not okay. Hitting them is not the answer! with mine I'd grab her beak and hold it for a second or two, look her in the eye and say NO!
   I am sure actually trainers would probably say thats not the right way but it worked for us, it didnt hurt her and it let her know I was the boss, and that it was not okay to bite.

another key thing... make sure she is below your head! HDIC with birds is the one on the highest perch.

I have a really good book on training large birds, When I get home from class in a few hours I'll post the title.

patience and being firm is very important, rewarding helps too but if you find the bird only behaving until it gets the treat cut back on how often you give them the treat.


What are some of your bird's aggressive tendencies?



ETA: for the record I am not a professional trainer, breeder or anything else... just a guy who has had the crap bit out of him rescuing two different birds. an aggressive Amazon and a very scared and mildly aggressive Macaw. And yes, getting bit sucks, my hands were shredded for a while.

Thanks brother! They love this bird, but from the get go she has been eager to bite. She is very protective of her perch, whether you are taller or not than her. She seems unhappy whether she has a cage or a perch. My wife could spell out more of her more intricate mannerisms. I know from the beginning she has had a problem with pulling her own feathers out. When we first got her, she was looking like she was prepping herself for one of my delicious fried bird recipes. Again thanks for the advice. Beautiful bird.

Great story!

I rescued a Blue & Gold about 6 years ago, too.

It was supposed to be a foster but he ended up staying for about 4 years.

The bird had not been out of his cage in 4 years. I found him in a trailer crammed in a back room amidst cages full of rats, guinea pigs, hamsters and other rodents stacked ceiling to floor. On the other side of his cage was a filthy fish tank full of feeder fish.

The cage was 2 sizes too small for him.

The owners were animal breeders and when they made their first $1000 they bought a macaw. For a year or 2 he was a good bird for them and they loved him, until they got another bird and he got put in the back room. The couple's daughter and teenage friends would abuse him, yell at him, throw things at him and the poor bird was full of fear.

I took him home, got him adjusted, bought him a huge cage and within a month he was like a totally different bird.He was my buddy, went everywhere with me, said the coolest things when appropriate...one day I came home from work ready to quit my job over this asshole of a boss and the bird took one look at me and said "What's the matter?"

He never bit and was always well behaved.

He used to regurgitate his food to try to feed it to me. Told me he loved me. Just an awesome pal.

The only thing he never got over was he used to wake up screaming "I hate you! Shut the fuck up! I'll kill you!" and my wife couldn't take it any more.
I think he had flashbacks to being abused in his sleep and the wife made me choose between her and the bird.

I found him another home and even though I have been involved in wildlife rescue since my 20s (chimps, monkeys, bears snakes, lions and everything else that makes GDers wet the bed)..when I rehomed him, i felt like I lost a child and a piece of my heart.

Very good advice, in a way they are alot like dogs but they do remember shit forever.
If you flinch or react to a bite or a threatened bite...you're toast. Let them do it and let them see it has no affect.

T
The plucking tends to be one of two things: boredom or signs of mental stress. I'M going to guess boredom. Do you have toys for your bird to chew and destroy? Mine goes trough a toy a month on average.
A great chew toy is easily had from Home Depot or Lowes, get an untreated pine 1x2 or similar piece of wood, cut it so you can stick it the length of the cage and expect the bird to chew it to shreds.
Mental activities are needed too. Put a few treats in an old cardboard show box (show the bird you are putting them in there), put some loose paper inside the box too and set it on top of the cage. Your macaw will make it it's job to chew that box to shreds for fun and for the treat.

Also I find talking in a soothing voice helps too.

There is something deeply satisfying about rescuing these beautiful birds, and it sucks when you part ways with one because they become family. I had to give my Amazon away because I had orders to Japan and couldn't take here. That was in 06 and I still miss her.

Also the book is "Barron's Guide to a Well Behaived Bird"

I wish I could get a scarlet one, they are life long pets and could be passed on to kids.

Beautiful bird.

Awesome looking bird and nice job on helping him. I had a Red Lorrie with my first wife and do miss him. I think his favorite toys were red solo cups, LOL. I would love to have another parrot but they just require more time then I think I can give them. Beautiful

Beautiful. My step mom had an Amazon that I really enjoyed spending time with. Smart animal, full of personality. He died young (mid 20s I think) of a cancer on his tongue and throat.

They live 60+ years as well.
I wish dogs lived that long.

(not trying to be a smart ass)
Do they make macaw diapers? So they don't shit all over the house until trained?
Are most macaws wings clipped?
IF not, how do you prevent them from flying off (when / if you take them outside w/o a cage)

Thanks for answering all my noob questions
-Stewart

p.s. ...beautiful bird

Very nice OP.  We have a 7 year old blue and yellow.

Birds can be very cuddly.  Our macaw will cuddle with my wife for hours, but he's just friendly with me.  Our Senegal is the exact opposite and prefers me to my wife.

We also have a sun conure that we need to place with a mate as his breeding drive is too high to keep him as a single pet.  Unfortunately we can't breed him ourselves so If anyone knows a sun conure breeder in need of a DNA male let me know...

As far as pooping goes, most parrots naturally know not to poop on people, and can easily be trained to poop in designated areas.

Do they ever use that handy little function to express displeasure, as do primates?

Naw, they just bite the piss out of you.

It's interesting that gloves frighten them.

Ours will "revenge poop" if we do something they don't like, for instance a toenail trim.  It involves flying or walking to an area they know they aren't supposed to poop like on the couch, crapping right there and looking very satisfied with themselves.

that is awesome

As long as it's someone else's couch.

There was a comedian I saw years ago that did a routine with a Macaw and it would poop on command.

He'd say "Plotz" and the bird would oblige.

Give a kid a toy for Christmas and it'll be destroyed within a week.

She likes the light on:

She seriously gives me a "fuck you!" Look whenever I turn it off like that.

Made the mistake of rough housing with her on my shoulder the other day.

I have a beautiful Citron Crested Cockatoo I have had for 21 years.

My beloved Roxy.

beautiful bird!


I got another B&G Macaw yesterday. This one is a 12 YO male that was rescued by the lady I bought him off of for $300. He was a prop in a pirate show down in palm springs, then ended up with somone who kept him in a f@#ing closet for two years before being rescued by someone. because of the two years in a closet he became a plucker and has a damn near bare chest, back and under wings. the lady I got him from says his wings used to be bare as well. hopefully his feathers grow back more.

he's an odd one and is going to take some work. He is very cage aggressive, is scared of sticks and is a screamer.
oddly enough he is aggressive towards me, tolerates and is semi social to the wife. but non aggressive towards my son. I think the time as a show bird helped him learn that kids are non-threatening. He'll let my boy pet him with no problem, but I have to really work to get him not to bite.

I'll post pics soon. He has a vet appointment Monday.

....

Chico


Tess and Chico, this is as close I'll allow em for a while.

Nice looking bird you have there

My wife and I have a Sun Conure.  The lil guy is massively attached to me.  Not clipped and full talons, and still there is only 1 place in the world he wants to be and that is on my shoulder.  The few times hes been spooked he'll flap ~5 feet and flip mid air back to me lol.

He will also start calling for me as I roll up the street on the way home (Car is kind of loud and he knows its me lol)

Only thing I have to compare him to is a flying cat/dog

Loves having his "arms and shoulders" rubbed.  Will literally lift his wings and expect the actual arm part of the wing to be scratched lol.  Behind the head and under the chin too.  Gets grumpy if ye don't

Considering a 2nd bird at some point soonish to keep him company during the day when no one is at home.

I have had my blue and gold for 20 years I got him from a baby. He passed yesterday I am devastated

I'm so sorry dude.

That really, really sucks, man.  So sorry to hear that.