Attacking Military Macaw

Hi everyone,

I'm fairly new to this site. I have two Macaws (a Red Front and a Military) and one African Gray.

The Military has become a problem. I bought him, or I should say adopted him about 18 months ago from a pet store. I was told that he was around 25 years old and was a male. They named him Oscar. He actually picked me out! I didn't go into the store with the intentions of buying another parrot. He got right on my shoulder which was not very common according to the workers at the store. I thought about him for a month and he was there when I went back so I figured we were meant to be together LOL!. I put a deposit on him and brought him and his new cage home. We got along quite well and he would follow me around the house and get on my hand.

He shows aggression to everyone who comes into the house except to me until recently. A few months ago he became aggressive toward me which was unusual. He started biting me. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago he bit me hard enough to cause injury and severe pain, t I had to shake him off my hand. I thought maybe it was because I was trying to give him his medicine by beak and he didn't like it plus he was sitting inside his cage.

I took him to an avian vet a month ago because his poop had an odor to it, plus I thought it was time for him to get a wellness check. The vet said he had a bacterial infection and gave me some medication to give to him for 10 days. Other than the infection the vet said he was in good health.

The only background I have on him are some conflicting stories. The clerks at the store told me he belonged to a breeder who was getting up there in years and needed to thin his flock out. The next story I got from one of the owners was that an elderly lady owned him and she had a lot of cats. She gave him up when she went into a nursing home.

I do know he is quite spoiled and wants to run the entire house. He will walk up to my dinner plate and help himself. When I'm cooking he's screaming his head off until I give him a few samples of dinner, meat, potatoes, and bread!

Tonight he was on the floor away from his cage. I reached down to get him to step up and he bit the same finger he had injured a couple of weeks ago. I had a hard time shaking him off my hand. It was a very painful bite and I just walked away from him.

I'm at my wits end and ready to find him a new home (which I hate to do). Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm attaching a couple of photos of him. Thanks for your help.

Francie

Sorry, that the MAC people are not chiming in on this Thread.

My recommendation is to read the MAC Forum Sticky Threads found at the top of the MAC Forum in light blue. Also look for anything written by Birdman666 regarding MAC's.

My guess is that your MAC has elected to take over position number one, on the pecking list in your home. In addition, you have not been Socializing your MAC with the other members of your family, visitors, etc...

This will bump your Thread back up near the top and with hope a MAC member will join in.

I second Sailboat's thoughts about your Military taking on spot #1 in the house. Some birds need daily reminders that they are not in charge -- ie. do not allow them to your dinner plate. He has his food, and you have yours. If any aggression is shown return him to the cage and wait for him to settle down and compose himself. If he is nippy, use a towel. He also seems to know that if he screams, he gets exactly what he wants -- attention from you. Stop reacting to the noise, leave the room, and don't emerge again until he is quiet.

It may also help to know your living/work situations. Has anything changed in it recently? What is your schedule like? How do all your birds get along?

Also yes Sailboat is right too about the training. If goes for dogs too...if you bring a new parrot home, you want to start training -- socialization, target training/recall, bite pressure training especially is important. I suggest you start training with him on these things and also teach him that you are #1, not him.

Good luck!

Thanks guys for your feedback. I read Birdman’s information. The first thing I did was go over and did head bobs to Oscar. He didn’t know what to make of it. I told him that until he went out and earned enough money to pay the bills and support us that I was in charge. Sometimes I think birds know what we’re saying telepathically.

Your advice gives me hope that I may win back my bird and not have to rehome him. I’ll keep researching and reading about Macaws here. I’ll post an update, later on, to let you know if things improve or not.

Thanks again!

BTW, I'm the only human living in the house. I have two other parrots and a Dalmation mix dog.

longart said:

Thanks guys for your feedback. I read Birdman’s information. The first thing I did was go over and did head bobs to Oscar. He didn’t know what to make of it. I told him that until he went out and earned enough money to pay the bills and support us that I was in charge. Sometimes I think birds know what we’re saying telepathically.

Your advice gives me hope that I may win back my bird and not have to rehome him. I’ll keep researching and reading about Macaws here. I’ll post an update, later on, to let you know if things improve or not.

Thanks again!

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Birdman666 also has a Sticky in the Amazon Forum. I am an Amazon Snob with over 45 years of living with Amazons and I will still pull-up a chair and read that Sticky to my Amazon (yes a loud!) You should be doing the same for MAC related Threads. If I can do that at least three times a Year as a refresher, why not everyone else!

Socializing is a much needed part of Training your Parrots! So every poor soul that shows-up at the front door that you and your Parrot(s) trusts gets to hold the parrot! With friends, it a game called "Pass the Birdy."

Keep-up the great work!!!

Yaaa, Head Bobbing!!! Its part of their Language and they freak a bit when you first start using 'their' language! Great Tool!

Great advice already given. As you are already on the path of, is not to accept any behavior. They are SO good at training us til accommodate their every whim.

I use time outs for bites and continues screaming. I have a dog crate with nothing in it in another room. If they bite or they keep screaming after I have asked them to quiet down, I put them in the dog crate. Usually they scream to let you know you are not allowed to be in charge. After a while after they have calmed down and relax, they get to come in and play with the rest of us.

I also need to mention, that he is probably hormonal at the moment. The days getting longer gets them into the mood and they are a lot more touchy. Usually I can push Sugar quite far, but during his hormonal month during spring and autumn, I have to be aware of his temper. If he gets too bad, a good flight will take the edge of it. If possible, take him to a batting cage (or any other large safe area) and let him fly to let off steam.

Another tip for hormonal season is to change cages. As you have multiple parrots, let them sleep in the other birds cage for some time. This takes the edge of the territorial tendencies. During hormonal season they are especially protective of their cage. Before I got to change cages I would have to get Sugar out of his cage by putting a broom stick in his cage to get him out, anything else would be dead when venturing into the cage.

Another thing that could help with the hormones is to take as much protein out of his diet as possible. Also if possible limit the hours of daylight he gets. If you shorten his days to max 12 hours of light, this should also help.

Please let us know how it goes and the best of luck. I really hope you will keep this beautiful boy

My advice is try all you can to tough it out. He WILL come around. When we got our GW almost 18 months ago, she would be extremely aggressive towards me. She’d actually run on top of her cage to try to bite me. I have sustained my fair share of painful macaw bites but I was intent on winning her trust so I armed myself with patience and kept at it-everyday. It took me more than 9 months but I’m happy to say that she has come around. In fact, she’s become the sweetest mush mac I could ever have hoped for.

Don’t give up. You will succeed.

I have been bobbing and telling Oscar that I'm the boss. Right now I'm not attempting to have him step up. My finger is still healing from the last two bites and I still have numbness in it.

I never thought of putting him in another cage. Should I try taking my Red Fronted Macaw out of his cage and sticking Oscar in it for awhile?

Also, he has never attempted to fly in the house even though his wings have grown out. Do they really get "humanized" where they just walk on the floor? My Red Front hasn't flown either.

I'll keep you guys posted. thanks again

Hi there, just saw this thread. We have a small blue and gold who is starting a biting habit. He bit me three times altogether that were enough to require weeks of bandaids so I'm working with him on that. I took some advice from the Big Beak-O-Phobes guide to macaw beaks and always have him step up onto my arm, not my finger. I don't ask for a step up if he looks feisty. I found that the fear of being bitten was making me pull my arm away or offer it hesitantly so I wrapped a towel around my arm under my sleeve. He still bit me hard enough to break the skin through a too-thin towel, so I made a leather sleeve to wear under. Still refining that, but it allows me to approach him confidently. I learned not to let him run away to the top of the cage because then it's hard to get him and I don't want to teach him he can bite to refuse, but I don't want to chase him and traumatized him, so I try to position myself so he can't run away from the arm. Once he's up he doesn't bite.

And I don't put him back on the cage for biting, he would go back inside, to sit ten minutes door closed everybody leave the room. Then come back and I pretend nothing happened. Not back on the cage where he wants to be. It would be easier except his human refuses to do that - he just says ouch, don't bite,no consequences so it's tough to have a consistent approach. Your mac will learn if you are consistent. I use nuts for now - Gus loves nuts and they get him out of a hostile mood long enough to pick up because he REALLY wants the nut. You just have to observe carefully and try to figure out what's going on in his little head...

longart said:

I have been bobbing and telling Oscar that I'm the boss. Right now I'm not attempting to have him step up. My finger is still healing from the last two bites and I still have numbness in it.

I never thought of putting him in another cage. Should I try taking my Red Fronted Macaw out of his cage and sticking Oscar in it for awhile?

Also, he has never attempted to fly in the house even though his wings have grown out. Do they really get "humanized" where they just walk on the floor? My Red Front hasn't flown either.

I'll keep you guys posted. thanks again

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Yup, I would take your military in the red's cage and vice versa for a few days, then back again for a few days and change again. That should stop the territorial tendencies.

If they don't get regular ability to fly, they loose the muscle mass to fly confidently. Also if a large bird hasn't learned to fly during their fledgeling, they don't have a good technique and it's harder for them to fly. My Sugar learned to fly as 13 year old, which means he never flies in the house. He will only walk or climb.

I would try to take them both to a batting cage and try to run with them on your arm to force them to move their wings. They might not fly, but any movement with their wings is better than none. You might end up getting more exercise than them

1. Militaries are one of the beakier species, and they do tend to "express themselves" with their beaks more quickly than some of the other big macs.

2. This one hasn't been handled regularly, so he may need a refresher course in how to behave with humans, basic step up, no bite, laddering, etc. Just to reinforce these things.

3. Watch the body language and anticipate bites. Head feathers up, eyes pinning, face turning red... these mean "expect it." Anticipate. Head them off at the pass... prevent... demonstrate to the bird that this will not be tolerated anymore... Mine all know that I'll put them on the floor so fast that their little heads will spin, and if they continue to act up on the floor, my friend, Mr. Towel won't like it... Yeah, barbaric, I know... BUT they don't act up, do they?!

Exactly.

And of course, equally or even more important, when they calm down and act nice, they get rewarded with attention, head scratches and treats. Reward good behaviors. Bad behaviors result in bad things happening... THEY GET THAT.

Mark, if I can impose, this might be a good place, if you have the capability, to make a video on what you mean when you say to control a macaw beak with only two fingers. There's a lot of confusion on this forum about what the looks like, and many interpretations. It's a nugget even tossed around d in your absence without any real clear idea of how it works and what it looks like. Some sort of video we can turn into a sticky would be a phenomenal asset O

There are lots of knowledgeable people here with great advice.

One of mine started getting cage defensive. He was insecure and scared, it just got worse over time. I would try and put him on the stand, he would fly back to his cage. If he didn't make the flight back to the cage I would pick him up to get him there safely. More times that not I would get bit for my efforts. The cycle just got worse. I was at wit's end (as you are).
I contacted a local shop and talked to them about the situation. I wanted to try boarding him to get socialized better. I took him and visited a few times a week. Some good days, some bad. In the end it took a few weeks, but he eventually calmed down - A LOT! Now we are back to being handled, going to the stands, taking treats from my, getting his head scratched etc.
The only real issue I have had was cleaning his cage. He didn't understand what was going on the one day and he tried to bite (he has pinched a couple times but nothing aggressive accept for the cleaning incident).
Right, wrong or otherwise, when he tries to bite we are done. All interaction is stopped immediately and he is alone until he changes his attitude. Sometimes that 15 minutes, sometimes the rest of the day.

My point, reading on the internet is great! There is so much information here and the advice is simply priceless. The experts here likely know more than is written in a lot of the books; however they can't see the bird and your interaction with him. That is key information for some circumstances.
I would try and find a local resource or two. Vet, breeder, long time keeper, bird shop whatever, and ask for another opinion or even just observations from an unbiased party that you can post here.

There are times when an animal may not be the right fit for a home (or owner). I would suggest you exhaust all options before re-homing. If you must do it, seek out local resources (preferably a rescue) and try to put the little guy in the best position for success.

I am not an expert, but almost every one of the smaller macaws I have come across have been aggressive. I am not sure what the reason is, if they all came from bad situations or just didn't like me (I do great with larger macaws) .

Best of luck to you.