The discussion

Well Lupe and I had the discussion tonight. This is not a new discussion but the subject of a second parrot came up during dinner while Valentino ate his nuts standing on the table between us.

Valentino, my RFM, happened to be my dream bird. Lupe's experience with the RFM involved capturing one from the tree for her Grandmother. She sports a scar on her forearm from that adventure. Needless to say Valentino was my purchase, my wants, and I am the one who takes care of him and trains him. Lupe loves him but she is nearly not as hands on with Valentino as I am. I would like the second parrot to be something that Lupe is more comfortable handling and bonding with because I know Valentino is too much parrot for her. Valentino can be sassy and spicy.

Me: "Soooo...I read about Yellow Collar macaws today and am learning they seem to be pretty good parrots for companions.

Lupe: "The baby's a handful. Are you ready for another parrot?"

Me: "Not right away but I like to plan, prepair, research and get things lined up for when it does happen." So I take the plunge and ask her. "So what kind of parrots do you like?"

Lupe: "I want another Mihijo."

Mihijo was my 17 year old Noble macaw who fell in love with Lupe and wanted to have eggs with her when he met her in 2000. He loved Lupe and they had their own special bond. Mihijo helped Lupe overcome her fear of parrots and in her eyes that little parrot could do no wrong. I brought home Mihijo at 2 and half months of age. He was my companion and love for almost 18 years. I still grieve his loss and my little friend has left a hole in my heart. I don't think I can handle another Noble in the house. There will never be another Noble macaw even remotely like Mihijo not to mention FINDING a noble macaw would be a almost miraculous.

Me: "Lupe, I don't think that is going to be possible. I don't think I can find another Noble macaw because they are pretty rare."

Lupe: "You asked me and that is what I want. I want another Mihijo."

Me: "I'll see what I can find."

So here I am on the computer suppose to be finding Noble macaws. I also realize that Lupe is also missing Mihijo and the conversation was probably the result of this grief but I also know Lupe and she does want another Noble macaw.

I also am going to try to learn about parrots simular to Noble macaws. I know Hahn's macaws are a sub species of the Noble but my experience with Hahn's is they are not as laid back and even tempered as a Noble macaw. I think the Hahn's macaws are awesome but are going to be on the nippy side for Lupe. The closest I can think to like personality that is sweet would be the illegal Golden Conure.

At this time I am going to suck it up and try to find Noble macaws. Maybe this will also help me with my grief.

Good luck on finding a noble macaw!

Holy **** snacks! I was going searches on Noble Macaw in several search engines and a lot of my blogs and stories about my Noble macaw is coming up on the search. Wow....I blogged about Mihijo a LOT!

*sigh* This species is not a easy one to find breeders for. Lots of Hahn's macaws but not hardly if any at all breeders for Noble macaws.

Lupe is going to have to figure out what other parrots species she likes.

I wish you luck on finding a noble macaw. Mihijo, sounds like he was a great bird and I can tell you loved him. I am hoping when I do get a Hahns Macaw (being as it will be a weaned baby) it will grow up to be a loving bird with the time I plan to spend and invest with it.

I can't hold my breath in the search of the Noble Macaw. There are not many out there and they are very hard to find. Since 1995 when I got Mihijo I see less and less breeders for the Noble which is a shame because their size and temperament is so wonderful.

Abigal, with what you put into your Hahn's you will get back. I am sure your little baby will turn out to be a awesome parrot. Mhijo was my only parrot for about the first 6 years of his life and I put a lot into this parrot. We have had many adventures together and everybody loved Mihijo. Even respectful children could handle him. I miss my Mihijo every single day.

Fly free my little friend.

I also do not understand why noble macaws are now hard to find. I would imagine min macaws would be popular since they are smaller, have smaller beaks, probably money wise cost less, and less loud then the large Macaws. My research is discovering some large Macaws are rehomed because of how much money is needed to be spent on them. Maybe Lupe can meet some other mini macaw species (I am sure there is a sweet one out there).

I love the mini macaws very much. Mihijo the Noble Macaw was my first larger parrot. He was my best friend. Unfortunately finding him was sort of a fluke because I was looking for a Hahn's macaw and the breeder was a bird club member whom I met because of my search for the Hahn's. I never once regretted getting Mihijo instead of a Hahn's macaw.

I honestly think Mihijo is a one in a million parrot. His personality was very stable and laid back but he was silly, extremely friendly, loved people and he loved to eat. I was able to train Mihijo to do all sorts of untraditional tricks because of his intelligence and love for food. Never once, not ever has he ever nipped or bit anyone. If he did not like what you were doing to him he would tell you "NO!" and that was enough for people to understand his needs. Mihijo also was very even tempered. He never got angry or upset if I did terrible things to him. I have dressed this parrot up in a Santa suit for the children, which he hated but put up with. My friend put him inside his food jar and he just laid in there eating as fast as he could. I would think he would of no liked to be inside a jar but he didn't care at all.

Instead of becoming aggressive with hormones he plucked. Once I was able to ascertain it was the hormones with his vet we were able to get him into balance the plucking became habit but his personality returned. Other than the heart disease and plucking issues Mihijo was always very healthy and happy parrot.

Mihijo was not just a pet parrot to me, he was my best friend. Because I have had almost 18 years living with him I have had many adventures with him. Many stories have been written about him and when I can without crying my eyes out I will write more. Everyone who met Mihijo loved him. Since I do not know of other Noble macaw owners I cannot say if his personality and traits are typical of Noble macaw. Something tells me they are not that Mihijo was truly one in a million most loved and perfect friend for me.

I totally understand why Lupe wants another Mihijo. She grieves his loss probably as much as I do but I also do not want to end up with the "typical" Noble macaw and everyone look at the young Noble and be .....what??....disappointed? I am not sure if that is the word to use but I am sure in my heart no other parrot Noble or what ever can ever be remotely like my Mihijo was.

I have noticed Lupe does cuddle with Valentino my RFM on her own terms and his. I am never present and their time is between them. I also know that she considered Valentino my parrot, he is a handful and can be sassy and willful which Lupe is very kind heart and too soft to handle such personality. As much as I can appreciate Valentino's spicy personality I know he is too much for Lupe.

Diego was my Illiger's macaw and he was truly my parrot. He loved only me when i was with him and tolerated Lupe when I was not in the room. Lupe was able to handle him but Diego preferred me above everyone else. This didn't really matter because there was Mihijo, Lupe's love.

If I add a second parrot to our family I am trying to find one that is similar in personality of my Noble macaw Mihijo. This is a very TALL order as parrots like Mihijo are very very rare. I have my sassy, loving, melting, RFM Valentino to love, train and play with and hopefully I will be able to find a gentle sweet parrot for Lupe to love.

Here is a picture of Mihijo in his food jar after my friend put him in there.

Wow, Golden Conures are illegal where you live? Wonder why...

We can get them in Australia, but they're priced at about 10k each.

As for other mini macaws, Hahns is the next from a Noble, otherwise, your Illgers, Golden Collared, Severes.. there are a few.

What about larger conures around the Hahn's Macaw size?

The reason I say Golden conures are illegal is because of the permit and license needed to get one to where I live. Now if there was a GC breeder in my state I would not have to worry about crossing state lines to get it home without the paperwork needed to have it legally. The permits or licenses are only for breeders and since I only want one as a pet I would never be granted the proper paperwork to get one. They cost about 3 grand USD here. That is out of my price range.

Lupe really wants another Noble macaw but there is no guarantee that this second Noble macaw will actually be full blooded Noble nor the temperament will be as sweet as Mihijo's was. I could move ahead with the work it is going to take to find a noble macaw parrot but she needs to understand this parrot will not be like Mihijo.

Back when the movie Paulie was released people confused Mihijo for a blue crown conure all the time. I don't have any experience with the BCC and this parrot seems to be more available than the Noble but I don't think the BCC will be as sweet as the Noble macaw.

Before Valentino came home after my Mihijo had died there was no parrots in the house and it was very distressing for me. I looked into volunteering at a parrot rescue here locally. I spoke with someone for over 2 hours and was moving forward with looking at a brown throat conure that needed a home along with spending time with their birds helping out so I can at least experience parrots while my home was so empty.

She was a very nice lady but has since not called me back as promised. (this was in Oct/Nov. last year) I could always go back to the site and re-email or re connect and I do understand real life happens but for what ever reason on my part I have not done that or can't seem to do it.

Maybe with the Spring things will fall into place better on the rescue end. It being winter here is hard for me to move about and I have a hard time with the cold and crappy driving conditions at times.

I do have the second cage that had been sanitized, detailed and taken apart for storage to use for the second parrot and have the room for the quarantine but right now I am going to continue research, asking questions, and see if things fall into place. I never even heard of a brown throated conure and there is not a lot of information out there about them.