So I'd like to adopt a greenwing...

[lizardsmells]

I've already alerted my husband (who just cut his eyes sideways at me and didn't speak) that I'd like to add a greenwing at some point in the future. I've always wanted one, my interactions with them have always been positive and I just adore all the ones I've met.

However. Kazi is and has been my only parrot ever, so my knowledge of greenwings is somewhat lacking. Can some experienced GW owners give me some pros and cons of living with these guys? Stuff I may not be thinking of?

I don't know when this will happen, unless a magical bird arrives that just charms the sense out of my husband, it's still some time off, but I'm pretty sure I'll get my way. He really can't say no to me, but he sure likes to put on a good show

 

[Molcan2]

I don't have one but they have always been an absolute favorite of mine. I think that you have made a fantastic choice.

 

[WharfRat]

I love my 2 GW's but I also hand raised them. ReaRea is "da bomb", VERY easily handled and played with (by us, really not socialized with others). My oldest can visit & walk thru the house and not get attacked, Miri will actually fly to his shoulder but won't stay there long. Miri can be on the "moody" side sometimes, which I can handle no problem, but can sometimes be a challenge for my wife. I think the only reason for this is because she is barely over 5' tall, I'm right at 6' tall so cage height is an issue there. Now once Deb has Miri, no issues, she is just as lovable and playful with Deb as ReaRea is. Miri CAN be a handful and it takes a firm hand to control her when moody, that is one big powerful beak!!! She definitely responds to "No" when she gets "beaky" & I have to grab her beak. What I'm trying to say is make sure you are able to spend some time with a potential adoptee so you have a real good idea of what you're getting into. I have been around untrained GW's (breeder pairs) and they can be downright dangerous. Of course, best case scenario would be to get a baby & raise it, not sure if that's an option for you. Hope this helps & ask away if you have any questions.

 

[lizardsmells]

Thanks for the insight, WharfRat! I'd be adopting an older bird. I'm nearly 40 and buying a baby would be unfair to the poor bird eventually, not to mention I'm a rescue person. All my animals are rescues (except the snake, we did buy him) and my next parrot is no exception. I volunteer at the rescue I'd be adopting from, so I'm definitely spending plenty of time around them all!

I'm mainly worried about what I need to keep an GW occupied. Kazi is like a cat, almost. He loves attention, but he's also perfectly happy on his own for hours at a time. (He's been sitting in the kitchen for the past 3 hours in one spot he's decided is just where he wants to be today, I guess!) Keeping him occupied is relatively easy, to be honest. I imagine GWs need a bit more attention and interaction, though!

 

[WharfRat]

Well obviously toys are a big thing to keep them occupied (and MAN can they go thru toys FAST :20 Which is why we make most of our own, much cheaper & built tougher. I guess it goes without saying, at least with ours, is their #1 want/priority is to spend time with/on us!! We do have to go out of our way to spend time with the different breeds, we can't really have them in the same room together while loose. (not very relaxing for us at all especially). No if's, and's, or but's, the GW's are happiest when ON us, no doubt about it.

 

[plax]

I can't say that I'm an 'experienced' Greenwing owner, because I've only had Salsa since June 14. But I've had my other 3 Macaws for a long while (two of them for decades, in fact).

Salsa was acquired by a special friend of mine when he was a baby. She took over hand-feeding duties for him from the breeder. He's almost 4 years old now. Sadly, his world was flipped upside down when she died. He adored her... and she, him! I can genuinely say that Salsa was the most important part of her life.

She used to tell me that Salsa was nippy when he was in his 2's. His nippiness seemed to fade away though. At least as far as when Sals was with her it did. When I got him, the story changed.

Salsa weighs about 1490 grams and his head and beak are approximately the same size as that of my Hyacinth, Zaffer (who weighs a bit less - Zaf fluctuates between 1400 and 1430 grams).

Salsa has bitten me a few times so far. Most of the bites were within a week after I got him when he was understandably unsure of me and his new living environment. He actually bit the tendon that runs between my right thumb and my wrist, casing some slight nerve damage. I now have an area of skin around the inner part of my thumb knuckle that's somewhat numb. It's probably the best possible place such a thing could have happened though since that small portion of the hand's surface is less essential than most other areas. I don't know if full sensation will ever return to my numb-ish patch of skin there. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the bite incident occurred when Salsa reluctantly stepped onto the back of my hand realizing that he didn't yet know me that well and apparently feeling threatened to some degree. He lowered his head and clamped onto my skin and managed to grasp that particular tendon.

Since then Salsa has become quite affectionate with me. But I have plenty of respect for him - he's not and will probably never be quite like my Hy, Zaf, who is a cuddle bug and has never once harmed me in any way. Still, I hold, pet, scratch and play with Sals each day and he loves it! Sals is mostly soft-ish when he beaks me now but he can start squeezing a bit hard-ish at times on occasion. When he does I tell him "no bite!" in a firm voice and he usually reduces the pressure considerably.

Salsa is very jealous of my Hy as well. That's one factor that I'm sure contributes to his behavior. Whenever Sals is on the playstand or his cage top, I have to be careful not to walk within a couple of feet from him when my Hy is with me. Because if I do, Sals will literally leap onto us. That's not a pretty scenario. Trust me. As a result of this my Hy is somewhat afraid of Salsa. And I can't say that I blame him

When I'm holding Salsa he loves to flip upside down and be cradled in my arm and he adores it when I crack off the new feather sheaths on his neck and head that he can't reach. A lot of times when he's beaking a bit too hard I can tell it's because he's just being playful and hasn't yet set an acceptable pressure threshold for hand-beak play with me. He may think that since I'm a guy that being a bit rougher than he was with his previous owner should be OK. I'm not sure.

I'm sure that Salsa isn't entirely representative of GWs in general. It's just our situation and the way he is as an individual. So yes, I consider Salsa a bit of a handful. But he's getting lots better and I really love him! He otherwise has such an amazing personality and he's the best talker (with the largest vocabulary) in my flock.

So I'm not sure if any of that is helpful to you. But it's our story.

 

[WharfRat]

Thought I'd just throw this in here, both are right around 6-8 mos. old at the time, ReaRea is the one on her back

 

[plax]

Thought I'd just throw this in here, both are right around 6-8 mos. old at the time, ReaRea is the one on her back

Cute! They look happy.

 

[lizardsmells]

I love it! Plax, that was very helpful. Thanks so much, you two!

 

[Alisana]

Just going to weigh in here - there is a high chance that Kazi may not like the new addition - so just be prepared for some separate play times/areas

I'll leave care and ownership to the more experienced

 

[lizardsmells]

I'm preemptively assuming Kazi will dislike any new addition to the household. He does fine around the birds at the rescue (even lets himself get pushed around a fair bit) but in his home he might have a different attitude.

 

[Alisana]

I'm preemptively assuming Kazi will dislike any new addition to the household. He does fine around the birds at the rescue (even lets himself get pushed around a fair bit) but in his home he might have a different attitude.

Just so you're aware! lol - depending on the personality of your macaw, it may want to be 'friends' with him, but Kazi may not like it. It can work - but can take owners months, or even years to get up to the stage where they can have them out at the same time.

I rather like the Greenwings personality wise - they're extremely playful (well, the one I play with is) and enjoy all sorts of games. We've yet to decide for ourselves, Blue and Gold or Greenwing, but shall wait and see until we visit the breeders.

Best of luck though! Just convince your partner how sweet they can be

 

[WharfRat]

Our GW's don't play well with our YNA's at all......

 

[bumblebec]

There's someone on another forum who has both a yellow nape and greenwing, too bad he's not on here!

His amazon does indeed hate his greenwing, haha.

 

[Alisana]

There's someone on another forum who has both a yellow nape and greenwing, too bad he's not on here!

His amazon does indeed hate his greenwing, haha.

Wasn't Danny (Amazon) and Elmo (Greenwing) by chance?

 

[bumblebec]

Yup! Danny is hilarious, lol.

 

[Alisana]

Yup! Danny is hilarious, lol.

They'll get along when they want attention most of the time lol

[Edit] I think this picture was snapped right when Elmo dropped from the top rope onto my shoulder, hence why surprised-giggling face. He was giving me goosebumps lol

 

[paulhanlon]

Such a sad story and i really hope you get full feeling back in your hand where he bit you plax I can't picture how much a greenwing bite hurts but all I can say is ouch

 

[bumblebec]

Hahaha look at him behind your head, he is so freakin' cute! <3

Danny looks so cute chillin' on your lap.

 

[plax]

Such a sad story and i really hope you get full feeling back in your hand where he bit you plax I can't picture how much a greenwing bite hurts but all I can say is ouch

Thanks. I appreciate that.

It's really not that bad though. It amounts to a semi-numb patch of skin of about 1 inch by one half of an inch on the part of my right thumb (near its knuckle) that faces my index finger. It could have been a lot worse and I can certainly live with it if full sensation never returns. I still notice that when I tap on the site of the wound (which is about 3/4 of an inch from my wrist joint toward my thumb on the back of my right hand - I think you can in fact see the healed over scar in the 'Zaf on his back' video I posted yesterday) I feel pins and needles at the numbed area of my thumb. I think that pins and needles sensation is probably phantom pain from stimulating the severed nerve fibers that used to be connected to the numbed skin.

I'd just like to say that the particular bite from Salsa which caused the mild numbness in my right thumb was largely my fault. On the day it happened I'd only had Salsa for 3 days. The love of his life (my tremendous friend, Terrie) had been suddenly ripped out of his life by a brain hemorrhage -without him having a way to understand just why she left him alone- and he was then stuffed into a cargo hull on a plane and hurled 2000 away from his home to live with a stranger (me). I think I might bite such a person before getting to know them better, too.

I adore Salsa... As long as I'm around I will support, care for, and love him unconditionally!