Do you feel your daughter would be responsible enough to care for a baby? If not, she is not ready for a large parrot either. Would you stick a toddler in a cage in the back yard? No? Then it's also not a suitable place to house a large parrot. These birds have the mental capacity of a 3-5 year old CHILD and require a dedicated owner for the next 60+ years the bird will live. They are not anything like other pets because they posses higher intelligence.
The are EXTREMELY loud and it is 100% natural for them to vocalize (usually in the morning at first light and night before bed). They can and do occasionally bite, which usually breaks skin and can do serious damage. They are messy, like a tornado hit the bird area within 10 minutes of cleaning it messy. They need to be cleaned daily. The must see a specialized avian vet when they get sick or injured and just for their annual checkup. Specialist vets that work on exotic birds are NOT cheap and you often need to travel to see. They require fresh fruit and veg every day, year round. They also appreciate when you cook special bird recipes for them. They do NOT live on seeds or pellets, they live on fresh foods. They require expensive wood toys to chew up to keep them entertained. By expensive, I mean $30-$50 toy that will last a week (maybe less) and must be replaced because they've destroyed it. They'll need several in the cage at a time, and this expense never goes away. If you don't train them, they will also destroy your house- doors, panelling, trim, decor, furniture ect... Those big beaks? Designed to crack nuts and hollow out trees for nesting. They require hours a day of undivided attention. When they hit puberty in 6-8 years, they become like a teenager attitude/hormone wise with the mental capacity of a toddler. Will your daughter want to deal with THAT when she is in college and starting her adult life? They also belong indoors, in the middle of the living room, in the middle of the action. They are highly social beings who adopt their human family as their "flock". In nature, when they pick a mate, that is a 50+ year relationship. In captivity, they bond to a human and it is extremely damaging for them when that human looses interest, no longer has time for them and gets rid of them x-amount of years down the line.
When they aren't cared for properly, they begin pulling out their feathers and chewing holes in their flesh, screaming and biting. Being the largest of all parrots, macaw bites and screams are INCREDIBLY loud and painful. When their favored human they have bonded to leaves for college, they begin to self harm and act out. Ask yourself does this *really* sound like a good idea to you? I think your daughter needs to wait until she is an adult capable of making a LIFELONG commitment to a difficult to care for animal.
