Catalina macaw get really aggressive after a day

[Bullitr]

We bought a Catalina macaw from a store its was well behave in the store but after a day in the house it became so hostile towards me. I don't know why?
I keep a few macaw in the past without issues even a untamed green wing and my favorite scarlet macaw.
I removed all the other macaw before it arrive in the house so no jealousy yet a day later its really aggressive towards me. My son can pick him up but he is not very trusting with her. Its been 2 days and I don't want it to get worst.

Please advice

 

[Merlee]

The bird is in a new environment, please allow it some time to adjust.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Please give the bird some time to adjust to his new home, surrounding, new sounds, new sights, new EVERYTHING.

He is probably a bit traumatized from being relocated. Speak to him softly, offer him some treats, but try and refrain from picking him up until he's calmed down and made himself comfortable.

You have to earn his trust. It sounds like right now he's lashing out because he's afraid. Patience will preserver.

 

[Bullitr]

Now its screaming on top of her lungs
All of my macaws before I pick up right away so they feel comfortable from the get go

 

[Bullitr]

[ame=http://youtu.be/YdeWTaSkqXI]Catalina being hostile towards me - YouTube[/ame]

This is some of the aggression even though I treat her well

 

[JerseyWendy]

I truly feel are expecting MUCH too much from her, and she can sense your frustration and is lashing out at you.

Why not just leave her alone for a few days, speak softly to her, have NO expectations, and take baby steps with her.

When I first picked up my GW, he, too, screamed periodically, especially when he saw something new, or when he was frightened.

They all need an adjustment period. PLEASE provide that for your new bird.

 

[aliray]

What a beautiful bird . Congrats on your new baby. I do agree with Wendy se is brand new and needs time to get used to everyone and his new environment and new sounds. Take it slow and just give him time

 

[MikeyTN]

Like its already been mentioned, you can not expect every macaw to be the same or act the same. He's in a new environment and he is scared! If you can get him onto a playstand it would be a lot easier to train then on top of a cage! When training do it alone! With another person around makes them nervous! Use a perch to start with the step up process. I just adopted a macaw with similar situation but I was able to train her to calm down within two days.

 

[Birdman.]

Don't let her get so high above you. Use a lower perch and wrap your forearm in an ace bandage under your shirt. Practice moving in with your forearm, hAnd closed in a fist, and picking her up. When I saw that video I saw a scared human and a scared bird feeding off one another. You gotta break that cycle.

 

[dragonlady2]

JMO but it looked like she was trying to find a way back in the cage the way she kept looking down into it. Do you let her out on her own? Can she get back in on her own? I would let her set the pace if you can. Good luck...she's a beauty.

 

[Bullitr]

Its not scared of my son actually my son is holding her now.
She is not our first macaw


She is just very very aggressive towards me no one else.

 

[MikeyTN]

Its not scared of my son actually my son is holding her now.
She is not our first macaw


She is just very very aggressive towards me no one else.

Are you the only female in the house? She may not like women! That happens.....

 

[Bullitr]

I am not a female.
the store owner claim she ( catalina) likes women that is why I pick her since my scarlet hates my wife. My wife never spend time with mango ( scarlet ) that why she got bit on her toes

Other than that my kids play with mango all day and never bit anyone but my wife.

So what can I do with the Catalina ( she grabbing my arms with her feet everything I go near the cage. I will be the principal care taker for her. Wednesday night she are willingly go to my arms but it totally change yesterday.

 

[MikeyTN]

My bad! Let me get this straight, Mango is the Scarlet right? Mango likes everyone BUT your Wife correct? You got the Catalina cause supposedly she prefers females right? IF Catalina prefers females and she's decided to nip at you instead of your wife, now your upset? But your kids was able to hold her. Use a perch to get her off her cage to start cause it really is NOT good to try to train a macaw or any bird period on top of their cage! Plus she just came to live with you. You can not expect her to settle in instantly, birds sometimes will change the moment they come to your home, it's a different surrounding and they're scared. Not all birds act like that no, cause you think since your other Macaws settle in quiet well without biting you. You probably think that's how they should act since they were handfed correct? Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, it takes time and patience for them to readjust!!!! How long have you guys had your other macaws???

 

[Bullitr]

We had the scarlet for over a year
Its with a friend that really loves him right now so the transition will be better for summer( Catalina.

It just suprised me that Summer will go out of her ways to try to hurt me
I am not upset, just concern because it will be me taking care of her
Taking her in and out of the cage, perch, and other places since I take my parrots with me almost everywhere so they are they get used to different people and never aggressive nor will be bored and start flucking.

I rescue a green wing before too and its cage all the time, although its never scream, never fluck, never aggressive, we can't take him out as much because it will nips and that's not good existence for this amazing animals.

 

[MikeyTN]

Out of all the birds I've been around, Cockatoos to me are the worst when it comes to training. Macaws to me is easier to train over a Cockatoo any day. But to hear you keeping that GreenWing locked up without trying to train him some more is kinda bothersome. From the sound of it you guys really don't have all that much experience with Macaws. But you get one after another without correcting your current issue which is the GreenWing! It takes time and patience to train a Macaw and any parrot period. I really do suggest you guys seek out a local Macaw owner that can show you guys on how to approach and train a Macaw! IF I was in your area I would of come and help. I've been to several people's home in my area to help with their bird issue including a member on here. If she reads this she could tell you I got Keiko the B&G Macaw on my arm with a simple trick. We have Keiko now and I got her trained pretty good. She was doing the normal thing of a scared Macaw would do which is like what Summer is doing. But you MUST understand on how to deal with it so please do take my advice and visit someone locally or have someone stop over to help with the issue. Maybe you guys would learn something that would be quite helpful!

 

[Bullitr]

The green wing never allows us to pick him up without making a fuzz but we always pet him inside his cage.
It was on a house that it was never let out of the cage nor get petted for 10 years so it was happier the 6 months that it was here. He went to a great home that let him out of the cage
95% of the time but he also never him step up on his arms on command even though he is a lot more experience than me.

 

[HalfInsane]

Okay... I'm not trying to be rude here, but you have gone through a LOT of birds in a very short period. Am I correct in the following:

Umbrella Cockatoo- September 2011- was rehomed, unsure of date

B&G- August 2011 - rehomed November 2011

Greenwing- October 2011 - unknown date (you do state he was rehomed after 6 months)

Scarlet macaw - "had this bird for over a year"... Also rehomed?

The cockatoo bit you, you were concerned he might bite your kids, so you rehomed him. The B&G was rehomed becomes it became attached the the cockatoo and you felt it was best for the bird, the greenwing you were unable to handle (you say he's in a new home where he gets lots of time out of his cage, so that's good news ), and the scarlet I don't think you've posted about before.

And now you have a Catalina macaw...

PLEASE don't take this the wrong way... But I think you really need to ask yourself some questions:

- What is your motivation for getting these birds?
- Are you able to put in the work required to live with large parrots? Are you willing to do research, get bitten a few times, learn from your mistakes, and commit a lifetime of time to a bird such as a macaw (60-80 years)?
- What is best for the birds?

And,

- What is best for your family?

I'm not trying to attack you, but I think sometimes we all need to take a step back and think. You seem to have a lovely family, and a lot of your decisions are made because you want what's best for them (you don't want your kids to get bitten - you wanted a bird that wouldn't be aggressive towards your wife). And that's great, really. And I think you also are hoping to get a bird your whole family can be safe with and enjoy. I don't doubt your motives. But, you also must understand how complicated parrots are. Especially large ones. They DO bite and they DO become fearful and aggressive. They are wild animals that can't be fully trusted around children (unless maybe if you've had them for years and years. But there's no guarantees). Maybe all your family members are on board with the huge commitment parrots takes... Maybe they aren't. I think you really need to think about this.

 

[Bullitr]

Thank you for your input it makes me feel that I am the worst parrot owner.
I admit that the cockatoo was a mistake, we hold on to him as long as we can until we found a perfect home for him and we did. He is in a private home that keep him as a display bird and not as a pet.

Billy the blue and gold the went to a very experience owner that you guys rip for having a temporary screen aviary while his custom cage is being built in on his ranch. Anyway the cage was complete but I erase the picture. He calls me once in a while to tell my how she is doing and yes, she is doing great.

Mikey the green wing is living in a large outside aviary in Beverly Hills. He is out of his cage 90% of the time yet its still not good enough? He is still doesn't step up but he is happy with the other macaws in the aviary.

Mango our scarlet macaw you never heard of him because he was perfect for us and we thought he is it. He flies and walks around in the house like he is a flying dog. All my kids hold him like he is a part of the family. He was walking around one day and he thinks he would like to play with my wife (SHE NEVER PLAY WITH HIM) and nips at her toe, my wife panic, so mango panic too and bite her. After that incident mango got really aggressive towards my wife so after 2 months of social acclimation, he is with a friend thats let him flies around and walk around her house. Me and the kids really wants to keep him but I dont want my wife to be uncomfortable inside the house when he is walking around.


all of the bird are not rehome on distress and we found the perfect home for them the best that we can.

BTW We are prepared to keep mango forever but my wife is afraid of him,so we are trying to find less aggressive version of mango and we look for months now i am struggling on taming her but i will still find a way to train SUMMER with or without your help.

Thank you

 

[MikeyTN]

We're not trying to make you feel like your the worst owner in the world, we're only trying to educate you a bit about birds. But you have to be willing to listen and understand. I wasn't trying to be harsh towards you in my comment, I was trying to understand. IF you had read where I've said you need to talk to someone locally who can help you with more in depth issues with training your macaw. I even said I would come if you were near by but unfortunately I'm all the way in TN. We can give you suggestions on here but it only goes so far cause we're not there to observe. But the main thing is you must be patient!

I absolutely understand the part about having to re-home a bird that's out of control when you've tried all you could. Especially on a Cockatoo! I just re-homed one myself so I have no room to talk about that part. But to do one after another is very hard to swallow, I couldn't do it again cause it broke my heart having to re-home Java cause the other person have double the experience with Cockatoos then I do as he worked with them for over 30 years.

Macaws are a lot easier to deal with then Cockatoos like I've said from the beginning. But if your agitated they know and will fear you. Or if you fear them, they will use it to their advantage. You must be firm with a Macaw! Like I've told you before, use a perch! Get him off his cage and train him on a play stand. Train alone! Bribe him with treats and when he does something good, praise him for it. They're like children, they need to reassurance from their owner.