HELP! Macaw regurgitating and leaving a bald spot

[nali1016]

Hello all,
My 11 year old bird has been regurgitating on himself for a few months now (about 4-5 months). I did take him to the vet and the vet said that it was just normal behavior considering it was mating season for the birds. However the behavior has not stopped and after several visits to the vet which did not help any, I am unsure what to do.
My macaw has regurgitated in the same spot (on his right wing) for so long that it has left a bald spot to where his feathers once were. I am afraid that the spot will get infected because he leaves the regurgitated food there. We do try to clean him up and wash him every time he regurgitates in order to prevent this but he just does it too often throughout the day.
We have tried to change his environment, change his diet amongst other things but nothing has seemed to work. We are now thinking if we should use a bitter tasting spray in that area so he would stop.
Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions on how to stop this behavior! Thank you in advance!

 

[MikeyTN]

Watch that spot so nothing happens, but yes even my macaw does it too. From the picture, it looks like the feathers needed a good wash....Take him in the shower with you so he can get a good bath. I usually rinse the spot real good and let it soak to get the food particles softened then I use my finger nails to pinch them off gently.

 

[MonicaMc]

I think you might need to try teaching him new behaviors to do other than regurgitating, and once he learns these new behaviors, keep reinforcing those behaviors. If you see your macaw start to regurgitate, you can cue a behavior that is incompatible to regurgitating, thus redirecting his attention.

You could teach him to fly on command, turn around, pick up an object and drop it in something, wave, big wings/eagle, etc.

I listed some ideas from a training book in the following thread....
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/31153-what-some-good-tricks-teach-quaker-parrot.html