Bonded Macaws

[pjkookies]

I own two Blue and Gold Macaws, one male and one female. T I let my parrots out at 10:00 every morning and they go back into their cages at 18:00, my macaws are free flighted and the whole living room is free for them to roam with playstands scattered around the room. These two macaws spend pretty much every second of the day together, whether it's on playstands or in their cage. Nowadays, the male macaw, Billy won't let me interact with the female, Elly, unless it's simple things such as giving them food or changing their bowls. Whenever I try to approach Elly for a step up for example, he tries to intervene by pushing my hand away or ushering Elly away from me because of this Elly is now fearful of my hand due to lack of interaction with it. She backs away from my hand and only approaches it when I have food. I don't know what to do as she no longer steps up, which makes it a hassle to put her back into their cage at night. When Billy isn't around however, Elly steps up with no problem and enjoys pets from me. Billy also does not mind stepping up and spending time with me at any time of the day. However, when the two are separated, even for a few minutes, Billy calls out to her and they both become worried and stressed. I have tried distancing them in the same room, but they either simply fly towards one another or just panic. Therefore, separating them is not an option. I no longer know what to do.

I feel like I am losing my bond with Elly. I have raised her for years ever since 2008 after she was hatched for a few months, and Billy since 2007. I share a tight bond with both of them. Normally, even though they are a mated and bonded pair, their nesting and mating behaviour has never truly affected me, for example they have not bitten me and displayed aggressive behaviour towards me in a long time until a few days ago, when Elly did a slight bite onto my finger when I was trying to pet her with Billy next to her. I am open to any suggestions because I just don't know what to do at this point. I do not want my birds to become fearful towards me. Feel free to ask questions as well if you want to know more about my situation.

 

[MayMaroa]

well those are cute macaws
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

 

[zERo]

I own two Blue and Gold Macaws, one male and one female. T I let my parrots out at 10:00 every morning and they go back into their cages at 18:00, my macaws are free flighted and the whole living room is free for them to roam with playstands scattered around the room. These two macaws spend pretty much every second of the day together, whether it's on playstands or in their cage. Nowadays, the male macaw, Billy won't let me interact with the female, Elly, unless it's simple things such as giving them food or changing their bowls. Whenever I try to approach Elly for a step up for example, he tries to intervene by pushing my hand away or ushering Elly away from me because of this Elly is now fearful of my hand due to lack of interaction with it. She backs away from my hand and only approaches it when I have food. I don't know what to do as she no longer steps up, which makes it a hassle to put her back into their cage at night. When Billy isn't around however, Elly steps up with no problem and enjoys pets from me. Billy also does not mind stepping up and spending time with me at any time of the day. However, when the two are separated, even for a few minutes, Billy calls out to her and they both become worried and stressed. I have tried distancing them in the same room, but they either simply fly towards one another or just panic. Therefore, separating them is not an option. I no longer know what to do.

I feel like I am losing my bond with Elly. I have raised her for years ever since 2008 after she was hatched for a few months, and Billy since 2007. I share a tight bond with both of them. Normally, even though they are a mated and bonded pair, their nesting and mating behaviour has never truly affected me, for example they have not bitten me and displayed aggressive behaviour towards me in a long time until a few days ago, when Elly did a slight bite onto my finger when I was trying to pet her with Billy next to her. I am open to any suggestions because I just don't know what to do at this point. I do not want my birds to become fearful towards me. Feel free to ask questions as well if you want to know more about my situation.

Hmm, this is kinda tough. Let's see, have you done target training with them? Having a mated pair can be a struggle for the human caregiver. I have a mated pair of cockatiels, the male used to be more tame and knew many tricks, now he sort of just drifted away from me and more towards his mate, I can still pick him up but that's about all. I would say just keep interacting with them as much as you can and try and maintain your relationships with them. Hope this helps

 

[MayMaroa]

here's a person who had the same problem

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

I can't help. But just want to say that you are amazing and so are your birds.
My Blue and Gold is bonded to my partner and Max the macaw is a royal pain in the butt.
I'm the one who feeds him and keeps his perching areas clean and all I get are bites.
Good luck.

 

[StormyPica]

here's a person who had the same problem

Pretty sure that's not the same problem...
They're dealing with bonding issues, not birdie balance and flight issues!

 

[StormyPica]

I own two Blue and Gold Macaws, one male and one female. T I let my parrots out at 10:00 every morning and they go back into their cages at 18:00, my macaws are free flighted and the whole living room is free for them to roam with playstands scattered around the room. These two macaws spend pretty much every second of the day together, whether it's on playstands or in their cage. Nowadays, the male macaw, Billy won't let me interact with the female, Elly, unless it's simple things such as giving them food or changing their bowls. Whenever I try to approach Elly for a step up for example, he tries to intervene by pushing my hand away or ushering Elly away from me because of this Elly is now fearful of my hand due to lack of interaction with it. She backs away from my hand and only approaches it when I have food. I don't know what to do as she no longer steps up, which makes it a hassle to put her back into their cage at night. When Billy isn't around however, Elly steps up with no problem and enjoys pets from me. Billy also does not mind stepping up and spending time with me at any time of the day. However, when the two are separated, even for a few minutes, Billy calls out to her and they both become worried and stressed. I have tried distancing them in the same room, but they either simply fly towards one another or just panic. Therefore, separating them is not an option. I no longer know what to do.

I feel like I am losing my bond with Elly. I have raised her for years ever since 2008 after she was hatched for a few months, and Billy since 2007. I share a tight bond with both of them. Normally, even though they are a mated and bonded pair, their nesting and mating behaviour has never truly affected me, for example they have not bitten me and displayed aggressive behaviour towards me in a long time until a few days ago, when Elly did a slight bite onto my finger when I was trying to pet her with Billy next to her. I am open to any suggestions because I just don't know what to do at this point. I do not want my birds to become fearful towards me. Feel free to ask questions as well if you want to know more about my situation.

They are CUTE!!! I am dealing with a similar problem. My budgies are a flock, and would rather spend time with each other than me.
A way you could combat the problem would be to desensitize Billy to your hand being near Elly. There are TONS of YouTube vids explaining how to do this, best of luck!

 

[MayMaroa]

Pretty sure that's not the same problem...
They're dealing with bonding issues, not birdie balance and flight issues!

no not with bonding issues he said that his parrot doesn't trust him to go on his finger because he is afraid to fall same in the video