New military. Loves family, is mean to my wife.

[BCDial]

Hello, I am a new member to this forum -as well as a first time Macaw owner. We acquired a four year old female Military almost two weeks ago. After talking at length with some breeders/macaw trainers at an exotic bird fair, we were confident in our handling and care of our beautiful new family member. She eats well, plays readily, steps up, and allows our oldest son and I to touch /pet her anywhere. She will step up for our other four children and let them pet her head. The problem is, with the exception of the first few days, my wife hasn't been able to handle her without a significant conflict. I know that our bird is trying to dominate my wife with intimidating actions. She lunges and charges her very often. We need advice to help correct this behavior. My wife is quite brave with the less violent displays, but is very much intimidated by our birds escalating lunges. Please help. My whole family has become very attached -very quickly to this wonderful and beautiful bird. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[PortaPerch]

It took longer than four weeks, but our Greybeard bonded to my wife, and sees me as competitor, so I can't handle him, except on the PortaPerch. He even speaks in my voice, and learns what I say.

When we first got him, he liked women and children, but not men. Somebody speculated he could smell testosterone.

Maybe you have the opposite situation.

Good luck.

 

[skylavaulter]

I was just about to say the same thing. If it's a female, perhaps she's bonding so well with you and your son because she prefers males. I'm nowhere near an expert, but have read on several occasions that birds, including macaws, can (not always, but CAN) choose to bond with a person of a specific gender. More often than not, if you have a male bird, he will bond with the female in the house. And vice versa. When I finally convinced my husband to let me get a macaw, I was devastated that our bird bonded to my husband instead of me! After talking with several bird experts, we were advised that my husband should step back and let me handle Rio more often, take sole responsibility for feedings, always let it be ME who takes him out of the cage, gives treats, etc. After a few weeks, our macaw really warmed up to me and even now he will fly to me over my husband. He knows I'm his mama bird Of course he still likes my husband too, so it's a good balance. Perhaps let your wife take over your bird's care, and ignore the bird for a while. She'll learn that your wife means food, treats, and time out of the cage pretty quickly!

 

[suebee]

sky has hit nail on the head so to speak, i am currently typing with my little nut, sleeping on my knee, under the computer table

but please remember, when the birds get hormonal, remain as the main care giver, but be aware that this bird could regress back to its basic instint, to drive away competition

nut likes my company more now she is outta season, but when she gets hormonal, i am still her main care giver, but she spends less time on me, and will bite, lunge, swoop on me, especially when my mans about, so i don't even stand next to my man, when she is this way out

it also helped as i was the main person in the house, when man and son are at work/school

oh and any meanest shown to your wife by the bird in front of you, tell it off! not loud, a simple grumbling/disapproval sound is enough, this also works when your bird starts trying to chew things it shouldn't etc

 

[mtdoramike]

First off, wasthe previous owners male or female and how did the bird get along with them? Also, why did the previous owners get rid of her? Do you have any previous bird experience?

Macaws will try their best to intimidate you even if they are bonded to you. They can become aggressive and will bite if given the opportunity. There are so many macaws in rescue centers after being closed off in a cage for years after an aggressive incident and intimidated the owners to the point they were afraid of them.

If you own a macaw, the question isn't IF, but more like WHEN will you get bitten and how hard. They can get progressively more aggressive during breeding season. Let your wife become the primary care giver to the bird for a while and see if that helps.

 

[mtdoramike]

I must add here that the bird may not ever come around to accepting your wife. The best that she can hope for is that the bird is willing to tollerate her to the point that she can at least handle the bird without being bitten.

 

[BCDial]

Thank you all so much for the advice! Her previous owner and primary caregiver was a man. He said that she was more of a woman's bird, but would allow him to do just about anything. She has never bitten anyone, although lately I believe she means to with my wife. Duckie's story started out very sad and may have something to do with her current behavior. The first two and a half years of her life were spent isolated in a small cage located in a back bedroom. Her second owner saved her. He bought her a large cage, which she was allowed out of for the vast majority of the time. The whole family gave her love and attention she so desperately needed. They healed her hurt feelings and made her the happy bird she is now. The man took a job where the hours didn't allow for any attention for her. Instead of being selfish, he searched for a new family to give her what she'd grown accustomed to. That is where we are today, two weeks after we brought her home. We will keep trying to correct this problem, which is at this point seems to be a small glitch in her rehoming. I can't complain about her behavior too much.