Blue gold macaw won't stop yelling pls help

Hello!
I'm new here. About 2 years ago me and my husband got a rescued blue gold macaw. Looks like he's been abused because he was in a really bad shape and he's plucking his feathers.
The problem we are having now is that recently he started yelling in the early morning for a looong time. He starts about 7 a.m. and he doesn't stop till like 9-10 a.m. We almost haven't slept since 2 weeks.
Before we were home more,but now we work 6 days a week all day. Can this be the problem? I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with him in the evening and the morning. I take him with me in the shower,I take him with me when I clean...Any suggestions? Please help!

Large parrots like macaws often develop screaming/yelling habits when they do not get enough attention. It is probably the most common reason they get rehomed so often. Sadly it's the only way they know to communicate when they are upset. Macaws also are more sensitive to change. If you didn't work before and were able to spend a lot of time with him and now are working almost every day (and he is presumably spending a lot more time in his cage), then of course he will start to scream. Spend as much time with him as you can, continue to work on training to keep him tame and his mind active. Tasty treats help greatly!! If he likes toys, constantly rotate them around, daily. If he's particularly destructive, get him some wood to chew up, most macaws love to chew chew chew!

I've heard of macaws screaming in the morning and a way to combat this is to wake up earlier than him, get his food ready (chop, or whatever you feed him) and by the time he usually decides to start screaming he will be eating his breakfast and content. I've heard of another member doing this, but as I don't own a macaw, I'm hoping another macaw owner can shed some light on this!

He doesn't stay in a closed cage. His cage has always been open, it's actually a big dog kennel turned in a way the little door is facing up and he has a big playground made of wood and plastic pipes,where he usually sleeps. The only thing he really does in his cage is eat. We give him tasty snacks pretty often. He has a lot of toys but he doesn't play with all of them. And during the day,when we are not at home,he has a playlist of kids movies that plays on the TV.

I can't really find a way to upload a picture here so i can show his house. But it's huge. And it's by the window so he sees outside too. Today when he started yelling I took him to the bedroom with us and he got calm again and he fell asleep.

Maybe he isn't getting his 12 hours of dark/quiet sleep time? Is that at all possible? Perhaps there is something going on with that like he's getting interrupted or ifhe is in a busy room trying to sleep he might not be able to.

My sympathies...

And my thoughts.

Insofar as light is related to hormones and noise...
Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.


And on working hours...
I got the Rickeybird in 1984. I was in college and then grad school, so I spent LOTS of time with him. Then it was time to go to work!
There were were years (about 25 of them) when 5-6 days a week, I was gone at 7:30-ish and back at 6-ish.
Some did and will consider me wrong and think I should have re-homed him. My husband at that time detested the bird. My current ol' man tolerates him with good humor. No, the bird was not the reason for the divorce. Well, partly!
Anyway, here is what I think made it work.
I moved and got new jobs maybe 5 times or so. BUT...
Every morning, he had at least ten minutes, and every evening, he had 20 or so. I have always kept him on a natural light schedule, in a separate room, so sometimes those times together were in the dark. During the day, he had a big window looking out on something interesting, a television on one of his favorite channels (Music channels, CNN - he loves talking heads), a biggg cage, lots of fun foods, and a few toys that I changed out regularly).
He KNEW he could count on those two crummy sessions a day. Somehow we both made it.
I'm now retired and times are good again.
Good luck to you! And welcome to the Forum... you'll get lots of empathy and advice here.

I'm glad you're here.

I'm so glad we don't have this problem with Gus. The late Oliver used to scream, but in short enough bursts that I could treat and fuss him when he stopped. Had to catch him exactly the right moment, and he picked up on it quickly. Gus isn't that bright and this doesn't work with him...luckily he only screams when we are on the phone. Something that also worked with Ollie was modeling...you get a partner to scream parrot screams, but keep your back turned, then have the partner stop screaming and immediately turn around and give a treat. Parrots hate seeing someone else get a treat and will learn to compete for the prize. Google up model/rival bird training, you might find something specific to screaming. And good luck!

Hi Kris,
You could try putting him in his cage at night and cover the cage. If you don't want to do that you could put heavy curtains on windows of whatever room he is in, so the morning light doesn't trigger his squawking.

Dear Kentuckienne,

When you said you had to catch your bird at just the right time to stop him screaming, what was just the right time? And what kind of bird was he? I have a Nanday who screams more than he used to, although he is quiet most of the day. But being a Nanday he is quite loud and I need him to keep it to a minimum because it hurts my dog's ears (new development in the last year - she's old). I'm gonna check out the video!

Bobos_mom said:

Dear Kentuckienne,

When you said you had to catch your bird at just the right time to stop him screaming, what was just the right time? And what kind of bird was he? I have a Nanday who screams more than he used to, although he is quiet most of the day. But being a Nanday he is quite loud and I need him to keep it to a minimum because it hurts my dog's ears (new development in the last year - she's old). I'm gonna check out the video!

Click to expand...

The right time is the exact moment when they stop screaming. Then it can be the exact moment they perform a substitute behavior. Here's an example.

Oliver was a beautiful BFA who thought he was a person, and was totally bonded to my husband. Overbonded really, and he had learned that if he screamed he would get picked up. Luckily he was very interactive. I would be in the kitchen fixing food. Oliver knew what that meant so he would scream his head off. I stop what I'm doing and look at him. Eventually he stopped screaming and looked back. I whistled at him. He whistled back. I immediately start with excited good bird, good bird, and give him a treat. He figured out pretty quickly that screaming got no desirable response, but whistling and talking were profitable ventures.

Later he accidentally turned a somersault on his perch and I like to exploded with praise. Within ten minutes he had totally learned to "flip". I started rewarding him for that every time. It got to where I would be fixing dinner and hear this kind of rattling noise, look over and see Oliver just flipping and flipping without making a squawk, which marked the transformation of an incredibly annoying habit to a delightful one.

There's good info online about teaching dogs to not bark, and it's the exact same process.