Red Fronted Macaw and temperament

I understand the red fronted macaw has a pretty good temperament but I would love to hear from owners of RFM. I am no stranger to getting bit by a parrot. Diego my Illiger's macaw had a spicy personality and if I displeased him he would nip or peck at my hands. If he applied enough pressure it did hurt but the pain was negligible. I have also been bit by both my Noble macaw and my Eclectus. I noticed that Diego's was a little bit worse because his beak was way harder than the other two beaks (horn colored and candy corn colored).

Anyway with the RFM being a bigger bird I am wondering if they have been considered nippy. I understand that a baby will probably loose balance and grab at me so they will not fall but I would like to know how nippy an adult male could get.

The baby will be trained using positive reinforcement. This method works the best for me and for recall flying and trick training food always is a great motivator.

I am very excited to get my baby. He is half paid off so I think springtime I will finally get him.

Noblemacaw

do you have a good rapport with ur breeder? He/she would probably have all the skinny on the specifics of the personalities and tendancies of their birds. My breeder (Hahn's Macaw) walked me thru every question I had, and still have when it comes down to the breed specifics.

His breeder and I did go over what I need to help for a successful match. I was hoping that some one on here actually has a red front and could tell me about the stages of growing up and personality. My Illiger's macaw was bonded to me but he could get a bit beaky but I was able to give him a look and he would smarten up quick enough. An old fashion "stop it" with the stink eye always did the trick.

For Diego I use to have this "punishment box" that he would go into when he was screaming excess or being a brat. However the box was not punishment but a toy to him or a place to mellow out. All I had to do was point to it or carry it to him and he would crawl inside and soon I would hear him "whispering" to himself. I stopped using the box when he got older because it "liked" it too much. I never allowed him to be in it more than 2 mins.

I have a 16year old noble macaw and he has always been a very social parrot. Everyone that meets him LOVES him. People always remember his name but always forgot mine. That is how memorable he can be interacting with people. My noble was my first "larger parrot" but he is small enough for me to sneak him into places. I have taken him to the movies, Target, Dairy Queen, drive in movies, conventions, and where ever I could get him into. I love him very much and at this moment we are struggling with health issues with his cholesterol. He will be re-checked in mid November to check the levels. I pray and work very hard to get those numbers to lower.

I hope you enjoy your Hahn's as much as I do my Noble Macaw.

Noblemacaw

I am glad you enjoy your Hahn's. I remember back when I got my Noble I was originally looking for a Hahn's because of what I researched about them I loved. I enjoy mini macaws very very much and have had no issues with being able to handle them, train them, and...love them (very much)

I guess I am more nervous about having a baby in the house because its been 9 years since Diego was a baby. I flew out to California to get him in 2002 and it was an awesome adventure for us. I believe the RFM will be a little bit bigger than the Eclectus I had. The Eclectus was the biggest bird I have experience with and as we know the Eclectus is nothing like a Macaw. I think I can imagine the RFM being 10X the two mini macaws I have/had. I look forward to getting him.

Noblemacaw

I have a RFM. Great bird!!!! LOVES attention, LOVES to be held, LOVES to roll over on his back in my arms. Can be a bit of a nipper if he gets too wound up. I have found that he prefers to be in my lap or shoulder than perched on my hand and will sit in my lap and let me preen him forever. Loves to destroy toys. I don't allow my birds on my shoulder you just never know....

I also have a RFM. She is very social and sweet bird. She can be loud sometimes, she has a very shrill call. She is very energetic and needs lots of attention.
My RFM can sometimes get a little nippy when she's hyper like fidsandfrats said above but,it doesn't really hurt.
How funny my RFM doesn't like to perch on my hand either.

Thank you both for giving inputs. If you have the time and don't mind sharing I would love to hear more about your RFM's how old they are, did you get them as babies, and more about their growing stages. I appreciate any input you give me as I will be getting my baby RFM male in Spring.

I had an Illiger's macaw that could also nip when he got overloaded (LOL I almost wrote loaded but realized how that would be taken) He use to peck my hand which hurt when he got to knocking on it and would rub his beak back and forth across my knuckles which was just weird.

Its not like I have never been bit by a parrot. Even my tamest most socialized Noble macaw has BIT me but it is very very rare and I can count on one hand how many times and he is 16 years old. The Illiger's was more nippy than my noble ever was but I was his bonded one so his nips didn't hurt...too much.

I live in a town home and will need to train the baby not to yell a lot. I do hope I can get one that is more of the quieter ones if there is such a thing.

My Illiger's was not really a hand bird unless I was talking walks with him outside in his harness. It would seem I would be having a lap bird? LOL Thanks again and I hope to hear more from both of you about your RFM's

Noblemacaw

My RFM is a 7 year old female. She is a rescue bird, I am her third home. I got her in February.

I live in a townhome also and so far none of my neighbors have ever complained.

She is really a fun and sweet bird. She requires more attention then my bluefront amazon.
Also she is very mechanical. She can take apart most chains and clips that are used on bird toys.we got a kings cage for her and have had to modify the front latch and food doors because she can open them.

Oh my....I am going to use Diego's King's cage (its a stainless steel 302 cage) and now I have images of the baby RFM escaping this wonderfully constructed cage, running around taunting the cat and making a mess in the house.

Oh geeze..I also have images of the baby RFM liberating Mihijo my Noble Macaw as they reek havoc all over my house.

npandora I thought about getting a rescue RFM but they are pretty hard to find up here in MN. I think it might be because I am not in the bird circle anymore and the people I use to know that were into parrots are either not into birds anymore or have moved away. It is almost like starting over in my community getting to know bird people again. I think you got very lucky with Isis and I am very happy she found you as her home now.

Please...tell me more about her. THANKS!!

Noblemacaw

There isn't any other rescue RFM's here either. We were lucky and our vet basically gave us isis.
She got out of her kings cage twice, it was very scary. We came home from the beach one night and she was hanging on the top of the upstairs railing saying "hi guys" as we walked in. We have two cats and by some miracle they left her alone.
I was disappointed with all of the latches on the kings cage!

Oh My! I remember that Diego has gotten out also from his kings cage but it was because I did not latch down the food dishes. Once he got out while he was covered and I came downstairs to feed the birds and I saw this lump moving under the sheet covering his cage. It was funny. Lucky for me the times he did get out he just stayed on the top of his cage and pooped over the side. Just had to clean up the floor but at least he was somewhat safe up there.

I was wondering how you reinforce your kings cage against Isis's liberating herself? It would seem that I will probably have to do the same thing to mine as well. During quarantine the baby RFM (no name yet but I ordered a male) will be using Mihijo's freedom cage (its smaller but its a heck of a lot lighter to move upstairs than the kings cage) and Mihijo will live in the kings cage until the baby is out of quarantine. I am sure the baby will not break out of the freedom cage but now am worried that he will liberate himself out of the kings cage like your Isis.

I was wondering what toys work best for RFM. I am sure Diego's toys the bugger will take apart. I am going to use Diego's corkscrew I got at Mother Pluckin" bird toys web site. You just shove on pieces of wood and the bird destroys the wood but cannot take apart this particular toy. I will have to reorder the wood for it since I threw out Diego's leftovers that were pretty much chewed on and were almost done with. I know the RFM will LOVE this toy.

Thanks for answering my questions.

Noblemacaw

My RFM just turned a year in september. I got him when he was 7 months old from a family that was moving overseas and could not take him with them. Ditto everything npandora said. heavy chain and quick links needed for sure-lol.

I find my RFM a little on the nervous side and is a one person bird unlike my grey who likes the entire family. He is a very quick learner.

Sounds like you will do fine with your RFM. Great you will be using positive reinforcement. They are quick learners and will respond very well. I find I have better interaction with my birds if I don't force them to do anything they don't want to do. Ex. If I ask them to step up and they don't want to, I don't force the issue i just try again in a few or offer a step up with a treat. Let them make decisions. They are a lot happier.

I think I will be okay with my baby RFM. I also love hearing about both of you and your RFM's. I like that one bird in a year and one bird is 7 and both being rescues I think you both got so lucky with such good birds. My experience with rescues is that they can come with a lot of baggage and it really takes a special person to know how to help these parrots.

I need to re think how I am going to socialize my RFM. I use to take my babies out into public and expose them to new experiences so that they can gain confidence in themselves. It is harder and harder to be able to take my birds out in public because they have been banned in places I use to take them. The RFM will be harness trained because I will not clip his wings. I did that once to my Illiger's macaw and it broke his heart. I was so sorry I did it and it took a long time for him to forgive me. After he could fly again I trained him to fly on command to where I wanted him to go and to fly to me on command. Right before he died I was training him to find me and fly to me from downstairs to upstairs. The look on his face when he found me always cheered me up.

Please continue to share your RFM stories with me. What do you love about your birds? What do you don't like so much. It would be wonderful to hear about both sides of the coin.

Thanks so much both of you are such a big help to me.

Noblemacaw

I had a male rf that was 6 before he died of some weird, rare diease, had high cholesterol, and liver diease, was probably born with it - I was heart broken!! They are escape artists and can disassemble a play stand and their cage. I now have a rehomed 7 yr old female, who was loved, so I feel very lucky!! So far she is wonderful and I am looking forward to a happy and long future together! Rfs can be nippy, but not painful and don't break the skin, unless hurt or scared. They are a loving bird and can be redirected. In my opinion they are one of the most beautiful of macaws in a smaller package!! They are smart and learn fast either tricks or I just taught my to laugh when I tickled her belly. When you open the door she yells out bye bye!!! And what other pet will ever say I love you? And when they are happy they will wrap their wings around you, it reminds me of being hugged by an angel.

npandora said:

There isn't any other rescue RFM's here either. We were lucky and our vet basically gave us isis.
She got out of her kings cage twice, it was very scary. We came home from the beach one night and she was hanging on the top of the upstairs railing saying "hi guys" as we walked in. We have two cats and by some miracle they left her alone.
I was disappointed with all of the latches on the kings cage!

Click to expand...

NAH... RFM's are the second best escape artist bird out there... second only to BTM'S...

Sweepea learned to disassemble her treat cup door when she was still a baby, and she once dismantled an entire 7 foot tall playstand... they really are THAT mechanically inclined... SMART BIRDS!!!! Scary smart at times... like "Oh my god! No...."