Wingnut wants his mamma, and that's THAT!

Yesterday, all day long, I got nothing but a hard time from our 8 month old Military Macaw, Wingnut. No matter WHAT i did, he was going to chew on me and yell, be cranky, and just disagreeable. All the things he usually loves were rejected. Green bean? "NO." Want scritches? "....maybe...CHOMP!" Want a nut? "No, I want the whole bowl....oh, and CHOMP!" We are in the middle of moving, and I was just exhausted, and when I lied down to take a short nap, he was invited to come cuddle........ "CHOMP!" it was ridiculous. He would go to beak me, and just clamp down too hard.

It went on ALL day, until finally at 10pm I said that's it. No more! Birdy Bedtime! We started getting all birdies ready for bed. I took the food and water bowls to the kitchen, to be washed and re-filled. All of a sudden my boyfriend called from the bedroom "Hurry Up! C'mere!" I ran back, and opened the door to see Wingnut climbing through the food bowl door (that I had neglected to close properly) and down the side of the cage. I stood in the doorway as he proceeded to run across the floor, stepping on my boyfriends foot as he waddled frantically past him, towards me. I was sure I was about to lose a toe. He ran right up to me, sat on my foot, looked up and said "MAWW!" I didn't know what to do.

I stepped back, walked back to the kitchen, and called him. He came running immediately to me, and when I sat down on the floor, he climbed into my lap, and leaned into me. No more gnawing, biting, or fussing. The holy terror was replaced by a mushy, love thirsty ball of feathers. I rubbed his neck and held him. "Are you OK Wingnut?" I asked. "Meh!" he said back. "Are you mad because mommys been busy?" I asked him. "Meh!" his face blushed, and he bobbed his head like a baby. "I love you Wingnut. I'm sorry I didn't have a lot of time today, but I promise we will have table time all morning tomorrow." I told him. Then we just sat there together, him in my arms, on our kitchen floor, and I knew that this bird loved me more than some people will ever be loved in their entire lives. I almost cried for having been upset with him. I am his world, and I am honored to be entrusted with his happiness and well being.
I'm his mamma.

What a sweet story [ love Macaws]

What a fantastic story! You brought tears to my eyes

Okay.. Well firstly... AWWWWWWHHHHHH.
Not gonna lie. I'm a sucker for a sad/happy story and I was just about in tears by the end of that post.
Secondly... if you'll excuse me.. I'm off to cuddle my fids before bed!!
Poor Wingnut. He was just frustrated and didn't know how else to tell you.

That's so sweet!

Awwwwwww.....Wingnut is such a sweet baby! I remember when you first got him. What a sweet little angel he's become.

He lost one of his long tail feathers this morning. He is molting at the moment, and I'm sure the poor guy is cranky because of it. He's a sweetie

Very cute story Michele

Thanks for sharing, Michele. Sometimes our fids can be difficult to fathom, but they really are just filled with love, aren't they? That was a beautiful story.

NNNAAAWW!!! I'm melting over here, Michele! Sweet, lovable, mooshy Wingnut! You told the story SO well, I could literally imagine and hear him hobbling on the floor, getting to his mommy.

I really enjoyed your story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. What you have described is why I love macaws so much. They really know how to demonstrate the strong bond they have with you. When frustrated they tend to "act out" if they are having trouble communicating with you their needs. I have had this happen with Valentino when the stress levels in the household are too high and he knows I am not doing well. Once bonded to their person/people macaws are really good with being able to read your emotions.

I believe as Wingnut grows older he will get better with communicating his needs to you. You will also become better with reading him and knowing his needs. When trying to describe parrot companionship to non bird people I will talk about this to try to convey how in tune our parrot companions can be and because of the high intelligence it takes time to be able to establish a strong bond. People will talk about their dog and cats in this same manner and will normally understand what I am trying to tell them. When speaking to non animal people about my bond with parrots it is very hard for me to be able to help them understand about parrot companionship and most of the time fall short with them walking away thinking I am the crazy parrot lady.

I am happy that Wingnut is doing well health wise and is growing into a beautiful wonderful Military macaw.