Macaw Stories

After reading that nice thread of how Plax wound up getting Zaf, I thought it might be interesting reading to share how we all came to being macaw people and obtained each of our birds. Add your story below.
Sixteen years ago my neighbor's daughter moved back with her mother next door after her divorce. She came back with a precious little cockatoo named Emily that would sit on her shoulder and say "I Love You". After holding this little gem on my arm, I purposed in my heart that if a bird ever came my way I would keep it. My family doctor and I are good friends and we sing together in church choir. He had recently remarried and we were out for dinner after church and his wife exclaimed "You don't know anybody that would want a bird do you?" I piped up and said "Yeah, I'll take him" not knowing even what kind of bird it was. I only knew that the good doctor would not have anything third rate. You can imagine my surprise when I found out the bird was a big orange Catalina Macaw named Doogie (after Doogie Howser MD on TV) Doogie was a really tough customer that had been teased by the doctor's children and had badly bitten the doc's new wife several times. I had Doogie almost two years before I could safely handle him, but I considered him a challenge and kept it up causing him to change and me to become a "Macaw Person" That was 15 years ago and Doogie is now 19. Things have never been the same since.

I had had Doogie about 5 years and kept him trimmed so I could safely take him outside. I live in Jacksonville Florida which is about 14 miles inland from the ocean. It is a quick trip to the beach and I regularly would take Doogie and walk along the beach when the sun was going down. There a girl approached me and asked me if I wanted another macaw. We arranged a meeting where I could see the bird and I went to her house. This was Kayko, a Blue and Gold macaw that was her mother's bird. Her mother had died when the bird was 13 and she had picked him up from her mother's house in Athens Georgia and brought him to Jacksonville Beach. She really didn't want him and was far more interested in riding her Harley-Davidson motorcycle. For seven years Kayko lived a very lonely existence in the back room of her house. I suspect he was greatly neglected. After she checked out my facilities she gave him to me. The same vet that she had was my vet and I found out far more about Kayko later. He had a liver disorder that caused extremely rapid beak growth and she had been told Kayko would likely not live very long. I spent some cash on him giving him good veterinary care. I got him when he was 20 and now he is 30 1/2, so the theory about him being on death's door was not really true. Kayko is a little on the small side, so I secretly was hoping Kayko was really a female. Doogie is a very nesty male and I was thinking maybe Kayko would be a mate. I had DNA testing done and Kayko turned out to be just a small boy. He is not really very smart and does this goofy thing of looking at you upside down, but he is totally safe with the idea of being on anyone's arm without the slightest fear of them being bitten. For this he has earned the reputation of being the most photographed macaw in Jacksonville. For the past 3 years I have been going places people gather and giving children the opportunity to hold and have cell phone pictures taken with him on their arm. He has been photographed at least 5,000 times.

With Doogie and Kayko in my possession, it was well established that macaws was my thing and I had what it took to be a good Parront. In the Avenues Mall a Scarlet Macaw began showing up in the pet shop there. In five years I had never seen a Scarlet for sale anywhere and was smitten by his beauty. I became a regular figure checking in on him from September 2003 on, and the management of the store was well aware I was a 2 macaw owner. They had a terrible price of $2,700 on him and he did not sell for Christmas in December. I went in to see him on January 6th 2004 with the money in my pocket from the sale of a boat I had that I didn't even like and they approached me with "We are prepared to make you a very special offer on Clifford" and they sold him to me for $1,800. and I got to bring my golden boy home. He was just 7 months old then and is 9 1/2 now. Cliff is my best talker and will readily talk to strangers out in public. He and Kayko get along well together and so when I go out, Clifford does all the talking and Kayko gets to go on people's arms for pictures.

Aww, really nice stories. thanks for sharing

Beautiful, heart warming stories, Alwese.

THIS is how Niko and I "happened".

I was running and maintaining a 180 gallon reef tank, and it was really starting to wear me out, not to mention our monthly electric bill was almost twice as much as it was before I started reef-keeping (and I was NOT using Metal Halides, but T-5s).

So on a whim I decided to sell the entire setup as a whole, much to the delight of my husband. Little did he know that I was actually dreaming about having a Macaw. :54:

I visited several nearby stores, placed many phone calls, played with bunches of babies, looked and admired several dozen Macs that needed rehoming, and finally drove to South Jersey (70 miles one way) to visit a breeder/store who had some older babies.

Walked in, walked around, talked to the Macs, felt slightly intimidated by most, and then walked by a glass enclosure and peeked inside.

OH MY WOLRD...there were 2 small B&G babies in there, not even 2 months old, not even perching yet. I asked if the enclosure could be opened, and the owner complied. One of the babies waddled over to me immediately, while the other one stayed by its stuffed animal, looking at me, tilting his head a little bit.

I only had a few bucks in my wallet and begged her to take all of it as a deposit. She did.

I then drove down to that store 2-3 times a week. On my 4th visit, the "shy" baby decided to waddle on over to me and attempted to climb onto my hand. That was it! My decision had been made, and I never had a single regret.

Niko finally came home with me when he was a little over 4 months old.

I think I've told most of my ReaRea stories already.....

At the time we only had Lani (Hahn's)
We had just moved into our new house here and out of the blue our breeder called. Her GW's had just hatched out some babies and my breeder told me I "needed" to raise one of them. After getting over my initial shock we started talking in depth about it, she told me after all I'd learned from her that a GW was what I needed. Obviously I drove down to get her (4 hrs. one way) once we had a cage and all the supplies we needed. A decision I will never regret.

Wendy, funny about the stuffed animal, our breeder gets one for all her babies, ReaRea's was a shark, which we still have of course.

Great stories everyone!

Here's a re-post of my Zaf story from the other thread...

Like lots of folks, I'd always dreamed of owning a Hy one day. In early 2005 I ran across a classified ad on a parrot site - this was before there were so many scam attempts around. I called the number and learned that Zaf's owner had passed away and the widow had placed him in boarding at a veterinary clinic. She said he had been there for about a year. She further expressed that everyone at the clinic was terrified to handle him, so he was never allowed out of his cage. I immediately felt sad for him .

While the requested price for Zaf was quite reasonable for a Hyacinth, the widow told me that someone had already agreed to take him (prior to my call). So I left my number with her and requested that if this person happened to change their mind for whatever reason to please give me a call. She agreed.

Weeks passed and I received no call from the widow. Naturally my thinking at this point was there was no chance for Zaf to become my bird. Even so, I decided to call the widow once more (just to make sure). Surprisingly, she told me that the person who agreed to take Zaf had decided to acquire another Hy from somewhere else, so Zaf was still available! I never quite learned why she hadn't called me to inform me about this development and offer Zaf to me, but she said I could have him if I still wanted him.

The widow asked if I wanted to fly out and meet Zaf before committing to a decision. Because it would have been quite difficult for me to leave my area for long enough to go visit him, she agreed to send me some photos of him instead. Quite honestly, from the talk of veterinary personnel being afraid to handle Zaf, I didn't know what to expect personality-wise. But I decided I wanted him and that I'd take the chance. As they say, the rest is history . Acquiring Zaffer is quite possibly the best decision I've ever made .

This pic is when Rea was still at the breeder's, she always slept on her "shark"

Diego my Illiger's macaw had a stroke in June 2011. His death devastated me because it was so unexpected. It was always said that Diego and Mihijo, my noble macaw, would out live me.

In 2002 I flew out to San Diego Ca to get him from the breeder. I became good friends with his breeder so I stayed with her for 4 days while interacting with the babies of that season. There were 6 total and when all together they were the "Illiger's gang" Little number 42 (his band number) chose me so he became Diego and I ended up taking him home. I had almost 10 wonderful years with him.

After he passed Mihijo my Noble macaw was the only parrot. He just was not himself or a long time and I think this is because of me. I did NOT take Diego's death well and I was very depressed and lost without my Diego. Mihijo as always would cheer me up but I also knew he was somewhat lonely for another parrot friend.

To help with my grief I was researching parrots, reading about them, watching youtube video's of them, reading other people's parrot stories. One day I found this youtube video of a Illliger's macaw and a RFM together. I of course loved to watch the Illiger's but that RFM was not to be ignored. I began to watch video's of RFM's and read a lot about them. I then remembered why I wanted a RFM since 1997.

During my extensive research of RFM I came across Wendy's Parrots. Her web site was impressive and I could tell by what she wrote the RFM was her favorite bird of all. I began to email her so communications started with questions about living with the RFM. Wendy is a very awesome person. When I told her about Diego's death we cried together as she shared with her about the death of her first parrot love. She understanding where I was coming from and her support ended up being very helpful for my recovery of losing my Diego.

I began to see myself with a RFM and it didn't hurt so much to contemplate the idea of maybe getting a RFM. It took me almost a year and a half to make the payments to get Valentino. Wendy was willing to take these payments for such a long period of time. I was willing to wait for as long as it took for me to finally get Valentino home. Now I know it is not good business sense to take such long payments but Wendy didn't mind that. She breeds for the love of the parrots. Her love for all her birds surpass any breeder I ever knew.

Two months before Valentino was to come home Mihijo suffered a heart attack and was found dead in his cage the morning of Oct 7th 2012. I almost ended up in the ER with the severe asthma attack I had after Lupe called to me to come downstairs and I saw him on the bottom of the cage. I took Mihijo home at 2 and a half months of age back in 1995. He has been with me for so long I could fill a book with all of our adventures together. Mhijo's death took so much of me I almost cancelled taking Valentino.

When I told Wendy about Mihijo she told me straight up I needed Valentino now more than ever. Because I had experience with baby parrot's regressing and hand feeding the babies I took home she sent me Valentino a week earlier. The baby RFM was eating on his own already but the delivery date was pushed up a week early.

Even though all my grief I do not regret taking Valentino. Yes, there are days that are very trying and Valentino does know how to yank my chain but all in all I love this baby parrot with the big orange feet dyed from the sweet potatoes in his fresh mix. When Valentino started flying TO me with the want to be WITH me I knew he was starting to bond to me. When Valentino started doing the RFM mush pile of love on my during our cuddle sessions I knew I had his trust and love.

Maybe down the line I will get a second parrot. I know it is healthier for there to be at least two parrots in the home and I am trying to see what would be the best fit for us. Maybe another mini macaw? Yellow Collar? Maybe a larger conure? Maybe a small amazon? I don't know right now. All I know if Valentino ended up being a Godsend to me and I would never part with him for anything.

I'm sure most of us have birds that like to regurgitate on us to show they love us. Well Auggie is no exception, only he says " do you want some " before he does it. I always get a kick out of that and some warm gooey nuts.

willist said:

i'm sure most of us have birds that like to regurgitate on us to show they love us. Well auggie is no exception, only he says " do you want some " before he does it. I always get a kick out of that and some warm gooey nuts.

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hahaha!!!!

Great stories, Everyone!

I have been doing rescue work for years, so several of mine are re-homes. Scarlett (a Scarlett) was given up because they were moving. Spencer (a GW) was given up because they had lost interest. Shasta (a Catalina) came to me when another rescuer died.

I also suffered the unexpected death of my rescue blue and gold, Murphy, not too long ago, and then very quickly after wards had a huge disappointment over another one I was actually driving on my way to pick up a re-homed one when the owner backed out after lots of planning and logistics, and excitement on my part. Those two things in quick succession kind of put me in a state where I ended up buying my current B&G, Merlin, and his buddy Delaney, a Camelot.

I am on the verge of taking the plunge on an amazing Hyacinth rehome whose owner recently died....but I'm still working out the details on that one. Fingers crossed that I can pull it off!

Then that will be all for me!!

Sonja, I have my fingers AND toes crossed for you that everything will work out for you with the Hy.

sonja: so it sounds like once you acquire your Hyacinth that will be 6 Macaws you'll have, right?

Well, a blue and gold was always my dream bird, never expected to ever own one!

Fargo was born january 28th, and i first saw him in July, so he wasn't a baby baby He was the only boy, which was what i wanted, and he was actually sold twice.. but both people pulled out of the deal.. and so i said yes to him straight away! I think his name was Titan, but i changed it of course
The first time i saw him he just wanted to be by himself, and flew away and destroyed things, he wasn't very 'friendly'


The breeders were a bit hesitant about me and him because of my age, and so the breeder kept showing me this friendly girl.. and i was like hmmm no.. i want Fargo

The second time i visited him he seemed a little bit nicer, and sat on my lap


It has now been 4 months, and i dont ever regret choosing the naughty boy over any of the friendly girls..

Plax-- Yep, if I can get the Hy, that would be six. If it doesn't work out, I'll stick with the five lovlies I have.

sonja said:

Plax-- Yep, if I can get the Hy, that would be six. If it doesn't work out, I'll stick with the five lovlies I have.

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Ah, I see. I'm hoping for your success! Best of luck

Tab: neat story... and I love the pics

Thanks! I'm cautiously excited, but trying not to get ahead of myself!

Well now, I owned my first parrots way back in 90 which consisted of 2 Amazons, an African Grey, a male SI Eclectus, a black masked lovebird and 2 parakeets. Due to a career change for my husband in 2000 I found through a mutual friend a couple who were willing to take all my birds & all their equipment. They were not a rescue, just a couple of very nice folks who kept a few small birds & had always wanted larger parrots.

I had wanted a macaw when I had my first parrots, a Green Wing to be exact but could not afford the price back then. After hubby quit driving a truck in 2005 & we were grounded again (meaning stay at home) I started keeping parakeets again.

In '06 we went to work at our current job which we do work nights. So, I never figured I could have large parrots again due to my need to sleep in the daylight hours 4 days a week. Then one day in Nov. of '11 we were in the pet shop & hubby sees a Green Cheek Conure they had out & wants it. At the time we didn't have the money for it & I didn't like the seemingly bloated price they wanted for it & began researching websites for a GGC breeder in my state. There were none available & I sprang the idea on hubby of getting a macaw. He was like, hmmm ok whatever you want.

I started looking for my dream parrot which was a Green Wing & again didn't find any in my state available. Through my searching I could not find anyone actively breeding them in my state anymore. So when I came across a breeder who had Catalina hybrids & saw the adorable face of the male baby at 2 months old, I was hooked.

That is how I came by getting my first macaw, Roscoe. He was 4 1/2 months old when I met the breeder in San Antonio to pick him up. After about a week of him settling in Roscoe has been my baby ever since. He is always ready to get on my arm as soon as I open his side of the aviary, tho' lately he has had a bit of devil creep in him & he takes pleasure in pinching on purpose. He is 16 months old now so I equate it to the beginning of the 'terrible twos'.

The photos that started it all for me Roscoe at 2 1/2 mo old.


Roscoe at 3 1/2 mo old. Still at the breeder's.