Hormonal Macaw questions

[1Spongebob]

I got my 1st macaw (14 yr old female Harlequin) last July. She is wonderful, sweet & loving. I know she's hormonal right now from the screeching & my zon is courting me. She has started not stepping up in the a.m. to get on her java stand & when she finally does want to come out she pinches me. Not hard, not an actual bite, but a hard tiny pinch. Is that typical?
Also, I got a 3 yr old GW from the same family in Dec. He is loving, gentle & hysterical. He grew up in the same home as my Harlequin but they have never liked each other. Do I have to worry about unfertilized eggs when they hate each other? They are always on separate stands & I would never breed, but the Harlequin is mt first female & I'm terrified of what I've read on here about getting egg-bound. Thank you.

 

[Birdman666]

No, you generally wouldn't have to worry about eggs if they don't get along.

I've got four females in my house, and it's never been a problem. One of my zons is now 43 years old... so, I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Toes on the other hand.... that's another story! If they truly don't get along, and aren't just rough housing...

The pinchy stuff is usually less about hormones, and more about being an "opinionated" macaw expressing itself by pinching. (That would be more along the lines of "I don't wanna!" Or if they did wanna "what took you so long?!") My hormonal macs don't pinch. (That would be the zons!) They feed me constantly, and "present tail" while clucking like a chicken, and doing the "poofy head feather" thing.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there SpongeBob.

Has your hen Harlequin shown any other signs of being hormonal other than pinching you? I'm not so sure that this is a 'nesty' or hormonal sign. Yes, it IS breeding season for Amazons, but generally big macs can lay year round. They don't have a 'set' breeding season.

Is she spending any time on the bottom of her cage, or does she try to get on the floor and tries to find nooks and crevices where she could hide in?

Not all female birds lay eggs. IMO you don't have to worry about egg laying just yet. Have you tried teaching her how much beak pressure is allowed/tolerated?

 

[1Spongebob]

Thank you all. No, she isn't exhibiting any nesting behavior at all. I was going by the increase in screeching & volume of screams as I was told that was a hormonal sign. The previoys owner (great home, just huge job change) says the macs have always hated each other. I have separate java trees si they get 14 hr out of cage time with no contact. The only change in behavior has been increased screaming & the tiny pinches. Other than that they are both awesome. They give kisses & take turns for lap time. The GW wad bonded to former owner & took maybe two weeks to accept me. Zero bites since then.

 

[Birdman666]

I respectfully disagree with what you were told.

Screaming isn't generally a hormonal thing, it's generally an attention thing...

And you might see how they do together - closely supervised of course.

Beak wrestling is a form of MACAW PLAY. It doesn't necessarily mean they're fighting.

Like I say, my two are sibling rivalries, but I can have one on my shoulder, and one on my arm at the same time just fine...

IN FACT, WE'VE GOT IT ON VIDEO SOMEWHERE ON THIS SITE.

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/56693-both-macaws-were-velcro-mode-tonight.html

 

[1Spongebob]

If I try them together, like on the same java tree, do I have to worry they will bond? I don't want to worry about the desire to mate. Thank you again for all the great info. I'm home 24/7 & all 3 of my birds are out & about from 7:30 am til 9:30 pm every day. I spend all day in the same room with all my birds. They even yell if I leave the room to pee. After reading some of these other macaw posts I can't believe how lucky I am that my 1st two macaws are so loving & easy to deal with. I admit the GW beak scared me for the 1st two weeks, but I just put a heavy sweatshirt on before asking him to step up. Once he saw I wouldn't flinch, yell or react he gave up on the posturing.
I can't believe how much smarter my GW is than the other two. He unscrews all the perches from all the cages every day. He even unscrews food bowls from his java tree.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, well, all I can say to that one is try living with a blue throat some time...

 

[thekarens]

Yeah, well, all I can say to that one is try living with a blue throat some time...

Amen brother! (says the person with the BTM that dismantled her less than 1 year old cage and has already learned how to remove the doors from the new cage.)

 

[ChrisDooley]

My Harlequin (sex unknown but believed to be male) tries to feed me often. (love) Then it wipes it beak on me. (possession) But it also likes being under my desk in a dark place. (nesting?)

I got too nervous about computer cords so I built a little shelter out of toddler colored floor tiles. Square and opening into the room, the Mac goes in there and plays with the toys I have under there. It's at floor level, which is odd. The rest of my birds prefer to be high. Higher the better.

This has been going on for about a month. Is this going to go away? Is this nesting behavior specific to a male or female or will either sex exhibit this behavior? Occasionally the bird has become defensive of the little hut, but in general just seems to enjoy sitting in there once out of it's cage.

Sorry if I'm hijacking the post. I appreciate opinions.
CD

 

[Birdman666]

Maggie plays on the floor a lot, and my CAG/Lllac crowned amazon run around on the floor a lot, usually instigating...

Everyone else, NOT-SO-MUCH!