B&g macaw

[Dandand]

Hi all

I recently got a blue and gold macaw male around 4 weeks ago , he was hatched in July 2020. I made the decision to clip his wings today as he kept getting startled by birds on the lawn and flying into the walls and windows. I know it's controversial to clip but would hate to have him hurt himself. Anyway when I clipped him I wrapped him in a towel and ever since that he has been regurgitating and strutting around flapping and fanning his tail whenever he sees me�� I'm wondering if it's sent him the wrong message but also would of thought he was a bit young for that sort of behavior ?

Dan

 

[wrench13]

He's not too young to be a bit pissed off at you, thats for sure. He'll get over it. Lots of toys to destroy, lots of 1 on 1 play time and excersize, he should be OK. me personally would not want a macaw mad at me though!

 

[SailBoat]

Well Stated above!

It is very important to teach your Parrot safe flight paths around your home! Starting from the cage /perch and out into the room and then additional rooms. As part of the process you teach safe landing spots around the house. The teach like paths back to the cage /perch.

Once you have those locations in place you teach 'hard surfaces' by caring your Parrot into walls, windows, doors, mirrors, pictures, etc.. As you are further teaching flight paths, you slightly turn off course and into one of the hard surfaces. A couple of steps from that surface, you say 'hard' or a like term. As the both of you bump into the hard surface you say 'hard' again and tap on the surface. Mac's tend to like to tap (wrap) with their bill. Very quickly, you will begin to see you Parrot lean back as to not hit the surface and look at you as if you are crazy.

Why teach safe flight paths? When a Parrot takes-off when startled the first several seconds is all escape as part of the fight or flight response. They just go. When you have taught safe flight paths, you will begin to see that very quickly they will deviate from just escape to the safe path, i.e. safe path to a safe landing area. Crashing into hard surfaces, stops and safe travel replaces it.

Remember to get your Mac to flap its wings during the above training.

Yes, especial young Parrots that have not fully developed their flight muscles, heart and air sacks (lungs). It is very important for them to fly as they are far more prone to heart failure /issue in early adulthood when they do not fly.

 

[Dandand]

Well Stated above!

It is very important to teach your Parrot safe flight paths around your home! Starting from the cage /perch and out into the room and then additional rooms. As part of the process you teach safe landing spots around the house. The teach like paths back to the cage /perch.

Once you have those locations in place you teach 'hard surfaces' by caring your Parrot into walls, windows, doors, mirrors, pictures, etc.. As you are further teaching flight paths, you slightly turn off course and into one of the hard surfaces. A couple of steps from that surface, you say 'hard' or a like term. As the both of you bump into the hard surface you say 'hard' again and tap on the surface. Mac's tend to like to tap (wrap) with their bill. Very quickly, you will begin to see you Parrot lean back as to not hit the surface and look at you as if you are crazy.

Why teach safe flight paths? When a Parrot takes-off when startled the first several seconds is all escape as part of the fight or flight response. They just go. When you have taught safe flight paths, you will begin to see that very quickly they will deviate from just escape to the safe path, i.e. safe path to a safe landing area. Crashing into hard surfaces, stops and safe travel replaces it.

Remember to get your Mac to flap its wings during the above training.

Yes, especial young Parrots that have not fully developed their flight muscles, heart and air sacks (lungs). It is very important for them to fly as they are far more prone to heart failure /issue in early adulthood when they do not fly.

Thanks for the info, I will start showing him like above. I'm really not a fan of clipping but just wanting to get him use to the house and he has started his first moult so will be fairly short period. He hits with such a thud I was really starting to get worried. I have an aviator harness that I've started getting him use to so he can see that the tiny birds outside are of no concern

 

[Dandand]

Thanks @wrench13 he hasn't really shown his playful side as yet but he is still settling in, he sits with me on the couch wanting his head scratched most of the time and is getting use to my wife and 5yr son still a bit unsure . 3-4 weeks is a really short time for a big change in environment so hopefully he comes out of his shell soon and shows some personality