There's just nothing else like it!

[Birdman666]

When a bird this big and powerful lays her head down on your shoulder in "mush mac melt down" mode...







Maggie almost always comes with me to the laundry mat on laundry day. It's her exclusive one on one time with me. She isn't allowed in, but we bring her portable playstand, and she sits outside while I load laundry, switch them to the dryer, and fold clothes. The rest of the time it's our play/cuddle time. The minute I get the clothes loaded, this stuff starts.



She also gets a fair amount of attention from passers by... and we all know how much macaws just HATE being the center of attention at all times...

 

[Weezerj]

Can't see pics...but maybe for the best, I'm getting mush mac envy here.

I keep making progress, but can't say I have a mush mac yet

 

[JerseyWendy]

Can't see pics...but maybe for the best, I'm getting mush mac envy here.

I keep making progress, but can't say I have a mush mac yet

LMAO! No worries, Mark and I are working on resolving this. You'll get your mush mac fix....just a matter of time.

 

[Weezerj]

Can't see pics...but maybe for the best, I'm getting mush mac envy here.

I keep making progress, but can't say I have a mush mac yet

LMAO! No worries, Mark and I are working on resolving this. You'll get your mush mac fix....just a matter of time.

Its killing me to see this pics and not be able to have this level of interaction with my Mac yet...but I understand that I just have to be patient and keep giving him the time and love he needs to build this level of trust.

I don't want to think about the other alternatives, i.e., does it happen very often that no matter how much time and love you give them they just never really develop this type of bond? He gives me kisses (presses his beak to my lips) whenever I make the kiss sound, but he just doesn't really like to have my fingers touch him that much. He would much rather play "get that fingers" (hard to explain this game, but he tries to put his beak in between my two fingers, kind of like a "nose garage" situation. I play this game as long as he is gentle with it. If he gets over excited and applies too much bite force, I back off and tell him he was too rough).

Sorry to hijack, but there is really nowhere else to find such knowledgeable macaw people and pick your brains!

 

[Birdman666]

He's very young yet. This takes time.

Maggie is 17... she's calmer now. (But she's been like this with me from about DAY 4!!! This IS her basic personality. Playful and mushy.)

Maggie is also uber-socialized, and uber-bonded. She gets handled all the time, pretty much by everyone, including complete strangers. (One of the benefits of out and about training.) My days begin and end with this kind of stuff. She doesn't just act this way to me... she does this with my daughter as well, and a few other select people she calls friends... and once with a complete stranger, a little girl who just happened to scratch in the exact right spot, and her head keeled over like a dead elephant right onto her shoulder...

The kid was thrilled... and I couldn't have been prouder of her!

 

[Allee]

She's gorgeous, Mark! Thank you for sharing her sweet photos!

 

[Birdman666]

I don't want to think about the other alternatives, i.e., does it happen very often that no matter how much time and love you give them they just never really develop this type of bond?

FYI - There hasn't been a single macaw I've ever worked with that hasn't ended up like this... With one of them, it took about 8 months. (My Ruby!)

I don't buy into that "doesn't happen very often" stuff...

So, just give it time. It'll happen eventually.

 

[Weezerj]

He's very young yet. This takes time.


... and once with a complete stranger, a little girl who just happened to scratch in the exact right spot, and her head keeled over like a dead elephant right onto her shoulder...

The kid was thrilled... and I couldn't have been prouder of her!

That is very encouraging. I have time and patience....

The kid part is amazing. I bet she had a smile from ear to ear for about a month!

 

[Birdman666]

He's very young yet. This takes time.


... and once with a complete stranger, a little girl who just happened to scratch in the exact right spot, and her head keeled over like a dead elephant right onto her shoulder...

The kid was thrilled... and I couldn't have been prouder of her!

That is very encouraging. I have time and patience....

The kid part is amazing. I bet she had a smile from ear to ear for about a month!

She left the laundrymat asking her dad if they could get a greenwing...

Dad wasn't quite so thrilled with me!

 

[Weezerj]

He's very young yet. This takes time.


... and once with a complete stranger, a little girl who just happened to scratch in the exact right spot, and her head keeled over like a dead elephant right onto her shoulder...

The kid was thrilled... and I couldn't have been prouder of her!

That is very encouraging. I have time and patience....

The kid part is amazing. I bet she had a smile from ear to ear for about a month!

She left the laundrymat asking her dad if they could get a greenwing...

Dad wasn't quite so thrilled with me!

LOL, I know how you feel there. My niece came over this weekend and Loki gave her kisses all day. Needless to say, she wants an Illigers and her dad has put me on his permanent "you know what" list....

 

[Birdman666]

The thing to keep in mind though, is I got Maggie as someone else's "throwaway" bird...

(And I honestly don't even know how it's possible to love a bird this much!)

They ALL have this potential if you work with them. They all scream, and act up, if you don't...

 

[Mariar]

I'm so envious ...I can't wait for sissy to be that mushy..she's got it in her..she tries to cuddle with me then her fear takes over...my little sissy scared of all things ..mark your amazing with birds. Sissy was also unloved..I just don't see it..doolie was too and in the time I had him he turned out awesome.

 

[Birdman666]

I'm so envious ...I can't wait for sissy to be that mushy..she's got it in her..she tries to cuddle with me then her fear takes over...my little sissy scared of all things ...

The hard part is getting them to push past that fear the first time... once they do that, they discover that this isn't going to kill them, and isn't something threatening, and after that they start to seek it out...

And once they go out and about, a whole new world opens up for them. They get used to strangers, and new things don't startle them as easily. And they start craving that excitement and attention, and then, poof, suddenly you have a different bird on your hands.

I tend to push more than most folks, but that's just my way of doing things...

They get used to being handled, by handling them. Fear, left to it's own devices, only festers and grows... the only way to overcome a fear is to face it, and push past it.

I can usually tell just by looking at the bird when it's getting to be too much, and I need to back off. But each day, it's just a little bit more, until one day... THIS HAPPENS. (And it's priceless!)

Virtually all the birds I worked with back in my rescue days had zero social skills. So, by virtue of sheer repetition, and a limited amount of time to work with them, you pick it up.

And whether it was because they sense fascination, and not fear, or if I just got really good at demonstrating I could, and would, control them from the get go, they very rarely bite me. I honestly never have figured out why...

 

[Birdman666]

Oh, and it does seem to run in the family.

My daughter and Woody were absolutely this bonded... (another "throwaway" macaw. This one was quite badly neglected and abused for over 30 years, before the person before us got him. He still had serious issues from the trauma he suffered, but he loved very deeply. Those friggin' people ruined this bird!)



Same deal. Head on the shoulder. Macaw for scratch me under my chin...

 

[Mariar]

I move sissy everyday off her play stand and move her to a different part of the house then after she stops screaming I go to her and make her want to be close to me...or I make my fiancé go get her..seems to be working...so much further to go..I should be getting her harness this week..that should be fun!!

 

[Birdman666]

I move sissy everyday off her play stand and move her to a different part of the house then after she stops screaming I go to her and make her want to be close to me...or I make my fiancé go get her..seems to be working...so much further to go..I should be getting her harness this week..that should be fun!!

Yeah. Just a little bit each day. Push the envelope, but not to the point of blind panic... and back off to the comfort zone again.

Then the next day, one more step.

Pretty soon, it's no big deal.

Desensitization training is NOT flooding. It's gradually exposing them to more and more over time, until nothing phases them anymore. A few little steps each day... and you try and make it interesting and fun for them.

Try and get them to initiate some of that contact, and when they do it regularly, okay, but you have to take it one step further this time...

 

[Kiwibird]

Awwww... sweet Maggie I would give her a hug and a scratch if I ever saw her

I'm still hoping someday Kiwi will want scritches and petting. So far, no deal. Even with Joe, he TOLERATES but doesn't enjoy. He's gotten better about being kissed on the head and back as well as being picked up around the body (by Joe), but no petting/scratching 6+ years in. He reacts to the concept as though he's about to be beaten within an inch of his life. Maybe one day he will decide human hands aren't going to harm him!

 

[Birdman666]

My Lilac Crowned Amazon is the only bird I have that doesn't care for being touched, although Tusk certainly does it on HIS terms, when HE is in the mood...

Everyone else is like this.

 

[GreatBlue320]

What a sweet birdie she is! There is nothing like a mush mac!

 

[Mariar]

Is this what you mean by initiate some contact? She has full run of the back of the couch that is next to her play stand with a rope to come down on..I sit on that couch. She will come down to me and play with my hair and give me love nips on my back, she'll even sit on the back of the pillow letting her tail and rear end rest on my shoulder. One and only time did I get her on my lap and for a good half hour I played with her feet and her beak..it was like a different bird.