Hahns Macaw Help!!!

Hi All,

New to the forum and any advise would be very appreciated.

I've got Swayze a Hahns Macaw who I've had for 2 years. I'm not sure how old he is but his eyes are already orange and he has a teal blue head so I'm guessing hes a teenager. He came from a very abusive home and I've spent 2 years loving him and he's just the most incredible boy ever.

I also have Carmen a 2 year old Green Cheeked Conure who is just like a Disney character.

They get on, out of reach of each other. The do spend time out their cage together but not in close contact.

On Sunday I noticed that Swayze's feathers under the top ones were looking a little ragged (almost like moth bitten to explain it) and I think he's picking his feathers. Also, hes been really aggressive towards me and has bitten my face really badly 3 times. He's not been out his cage for 2 days since then as every time I get to his cage to feed him / let him out, he lunges at me. Could he possibly be in season? If so, what do I do to combat his aggressive behaviour? I'm the only human than interacts with him as it's just the 3 of us living in the house together.

I'm more than devastated that I can't play with my little boy and am really frustrated that I don't know how to get through to him!!

Any advise would be really appreciated!

Thanks,

Tazz

Welcome to the forum! I have a GCA and a female Ekkie but I made friends with a red macaw two months ago at the pet store. This past Saturday I visited him, he came and climbed on my arm, visited, I put him back on his perch, he comes down and reaches out to step up and he bit my arm! Punk!!!! It's a nice yellow, blue, green and purple bruise now but this was the second visit that I pointed out to the shop employees that he's hormonal right now. Two Saturday's ago he was making popcorn with his perch and I told them he needed a girl friend. So they moved him back to his cage away from visitors.

It sounds like yours may be in season. Buddy, my GCA just went through his season, but he's 25 yo so he's mellowed. There are many posts here that talk about how some bird species go a bit crazy when they go in season and to be cautious and patient with them.

I recommend not letting him get close to your face, or on your shoulder if he's a shoulder rider as he will be unpredictable. You may need to use a stick for step ups so you have more distance and he can't lung and make contact with you. Bites are definitely painful. Is Swayze stick trained?

Hi Tazz, and welcome to the forums.

I'm so sorry to hear that Swayze has been giving you a hard time. That must be quite disheartening, especially because it sounds as if you both had a great relationship up until this point.

Since I personally have no experience with mini macs, I'll venture a guess here and say that this new behavior could very well be hormonal, yes.

Taw has given you some outstanding advice already.

Thanks for the words! Swayze isn't stick trained. What I did perhaps forget to mention is he currently wont let me anywhere near his cage, even to feed him. I've had to work out clever ways to keep him occupied whilst trying to get my arm right into the back of his cage. I'm going to attempt to let him out his cage tomorrow but leave the room before he gets a chance to lunge at me again. Its absolutely devastating! Do you know how long he will stay hormonal? Thanks so much!!

Mini macs and conures are closely related, though macs have a little more attitude. This one is in need of an "attitude adjustment." Therefore, this advice still applies:

http://www.parrotforums.com/behavioral/52432-my-sweetheart-monster-disguise.html

If he's biting your face, as you describe, I'm guessing it's probably some form of displacement biting. Something he couldn't bite set him off, so he bit you instead.

He's not a shoulder bird as long as he bites faces. He's a hand/arm bird until that behavior gets modified. If he tries to go up there, block his path with your hand. If he persists, he goes to the floor. He doesn't get off the floor unless he steps up nice.

If he's attacking people, he needs to be clipped. It's a safety issue. Feathers grow back. When he behaves, they can grow in. As long as he doesn't, this is safer for everyone.

Finally, he needs to be bite pressure trained. Blood draws are not permitted.

There is probably a hormonal component to this, but macs don't generally become out of control biters just because of hormones... (that would be amazons!) so my guess is there is more to it than that.

Birdman is the Bird Whisper. Follow his advice.