Need Advice With my Newly Adopted B&G Macaw

I have been referencing this forum (which I am very impressed with) for a few weeks now to track down answers I have been seeking but have now come across one that cannot be answered and so officially created an account in order to have my current questions answered.

I recently adopted a 15 year old, male Blue and Gold macaw from a rescue last Friday (so about a week ago). He had spent the past year at this rescue and prior to that I am pretty sure had been with the previous owner his whole life. He did not make a peep the first day/night. The second evening he went into a mini screaming tantrum. And the days following that he has had squawking fits here and there. He is beginning to talk more and more to himself (you can hear him when you are in the other room). The first night he was also excessively doing the 'Stevie Wonder Move' in which he sways back and forth, which I know can be a way for them to displace stress. He is not doing this as much as the first couple of days but still does it here and there. I can put my hands on his cage and in his cage to do things and he will not try to attack or bite or lunge but he will not step up for me. If I put my arm near him and ask him to step up he just moves away and will climb the side of the cage and occasionally hang from the ceiling of the cage until I move my arm back. He will also not come out of the cage. He will move to whatever side of the cage I am standing by and put his head close when I am talking to him and I have had a few times where I have opened the cage door and he will move himself over to the front of the cage and peak his head around the opening for a few seconds before climbing back to his perch but that is all. I was able to hold him at the rescue but since he has been home he has had no desire to come out.

He also plucked the inside of his legs and the underside of his wings/sides a little bit while at the rescue and I have been monitoring that since he's been here to make sure that it hopefully doesn't continue. There are a few feathers here and there but nothing overly concerning.

He is also eating but not as much as he was at the rescue and as much as he should be since he's come here and I am assuming that is part of his stress level too. I can feed him from my hand and he will take things gently but you can tell he is still stressed.

So I am wondering if anybody could give me some advice as to what else I can do to help make him adjust easier to his new environment. I am also wondering about how long it usually takes before a B&G will typically come out willingly. I know each bird is unique and different and I am assuming that it is perfectly normal for him to still be shy since I am still earning his trust. It's just sad to see the poor guy not sure of what's going on and especially when all you want to do is take him out of the cage and spoil him to pieces.

Thank you in advance for any and all advice/help. It is greatly appreciated by me and my feathered friend.

I am by far no expert on this. When I rescued BB in Oct of last year. the best advise I got was.. Sit on the floor or chair outside of his cage and just read out loud. Soft and slow. Every now and then I would look up and then go back to reading . Cage door open. I installed a perch on the door . It was not long before he would sit on that perch outside of the cage and chat with me. Let me scratch his head

I agree with this advice..I move sissy to a portable perch in the kitchen and I sing to her all day long..and I dance which she hated up until the other day..,hey I'm not that bad!!lol. Some days she talks and talks and talks ..but we can't understand her..her last family didn't speak English very well so we think it's Indonesian. Give it time. Your baby will come around . Just to add I was superstressed and over thinking everything when I rescued sissy from that tiny cage. But with lots of great advice and patience I overcame my fear and insecurities and gave her space...today she is 100% my bird and talks to me on her terms..I inquired her may 2015

Short answer on the willingly part:

Usually by the second or third time they come out... IT'S GETTING THEM TO COME OUT THE FIRST TIME THAT INVOLVES WORK.

Once they do it the first time or two, it's no longer a problem. Sitting next to the bird on a chair is a good idea... and let the bird come to you.

Here's one of my old tricks:

Open the cage door. Sit down in a chair next to the cage with a towel on your lap, talk to the bird, then pretend to ignore him. Reading a book or a magazine is a good idea... When you finish that, if his curiousity hasn't been peaked yet...

IGNORING THE BIRD ENTIRELY: Get a small bag of walnuts and a nutcracker in a paper bag. Shake the bag real good, let him know there's something in there, (but what ever could that be?!) Then get out a nutcracker, start slowly cracking open a walnut, picking at the shells, and throwing the shells to the bottom of his cage, and eating the nuts.

See how long it takes before that bird scrambles down to your lap.

Oh, do you want one?! You have to take it nice...

Want another one? Take it nice?

Want another one? Can you step up nice for me?

Come and sit on my lap for a little bit...

Then, when he's calm, pick him up, and walk around showing him the house. Get him used to his new environment. That will go a long way towards calming him down...

Thank you all for the advice. I have been sitting in there facing the cage reading stuff out loud from my laptop and yesterday especially he was pretty content. He just watched me and every so often would preen his feathers. Today, he's not having it so much. He's doing his Stevie Wonder swaying and squawking so I have stepped away from the room and he continued to squawk for about 30 seconds and then stopped. I am not sure when he sways like that if I should remove myself from the room for a little bit until he calms down or not but I do when he does that.

If I play music in the room he is in while I am not in there, will that help him out? He's been squawking like crazy today even when I am in there, but when we put the TV on Lip Sync Battle, he quiets down and you can hear him talking in the other room.

Have you tried scratching him thru the cage bars ? I know that is the first contact I had with BB. He would let me rub him thru the bars but not outside of the cage for the first week or more
Toys inside and outside the cage ? I hang a Grape vine wreath inside and outside the cage. This morning he will find Fresh blueberry's and dryed fruit in it when he starts moving around. When I am home I also hide some on his wreath outside the cage. Anything to keep there mind busy
A bell is the best investment I made that and the playstand.
Put something you think he will want on the top of the cage. I have a rubber chicken on mine. Serious he loves to go up and make it squeak

Edit : I know it may sound silly but when I first got him i would talk to him in a voice you would use talking to a baby. He had heard enough mean voices I think that helped to hear something silly

I have not tried scratching him through the cage bars but will have to try that the next time he sticks his face right up against the bars. He has toys inside the cage but I will try putting some outside as well. I haven't seen him really play with anything inside his cage though. He's got a couple bells in there as well but doesn't play with them. He pretty much sticks to the one perch and just kind of sits there other then when he goes to his food dish to forage for a nut or dried banana if he hasn't picked them out of his food already . He has a play stand right outside his cage as well.

I've been sitting next to his cage reading out loud to him for almost two hours now and he's been real quiet. He flips between preening himself and watching me but hasn't made any attempt to move closer.

Edit: I also talk to him in a soft voice as well. It does sound like I am talking to a baby