Howdy, friends,
David Howell here. Newbie to the board, but long time macaw owner and lover. More accurately "owned." Two blue and golds, Caribe, age 15, and Bravo, age about 7 or 8. Both rescues of a sort.
These big guys fascinate me, intrigue me, amuse, amaze and always make me think! They be SMARTER than your average bear, fer sure! Lovable, ornery, cantankerous, gentle, but with the ability to seriously hurt you, should they choose to, which they don't. That's amazes me, too. For all the constraints we place on their lives, they accept us, choose to be handled, taken care of, trimmed and bathed, messed with and just generally intruded upon. And, yet...they take it with equanamity, good humor, amusement and even enjoyment. What wonderful critters they are. SO underestimated by most, even long time "bird nerds," of which I'm proudly one.
Have a zillion pictures of my guys. We...my wife Kate and myself...foster and care for less fortunate birds, trying to reinstill in them trust, love, acceptance and the confidence to allow humans to more or less dominate them, least in terms of what I call a "dictated existence." We do, after all, put them in cages within cages. OUR cages, our homes, then the smaller cages they call home, which they most definitely "occupy" and where they can feel safe, secure, loved, cared for and pampered.
I look forward to this forum. I've not joined one in a long time because they often seem to degenerate into debates, discussions and arguments over the various opinions and observations about macaws.
I've recently developed an interest in hybrids, as we're fostering what's called a "Catalina," but I don't think so. Not sure what he is, but he's already, in only two weeks, doing feeding behavior with Kate, and this after having been dropped at an animal shelter by friends of the owner, who passed. We know little about him, but we're learning more every day. Incredibly bright bird, already picking up up OUR speech patterns. Gentle, but does NOT like to be touched, except now by Kate, literally as of yesterday, when he started doing feeding behavior with her for the first time.
I have Pinterest boards on birds. I have hundreds of pictures of all kinds of macaws, and I've written extensively for my old bird club and just for my own entertainment. Some say I compulsively write about birds, but we're living with dinosaurs here, folks! They may be delicate, but they've endured, and deserve our respect and appreciations if for no other reason than they've adapted to worlds we've never even imagined.
I look forward to being a contributing member. Please feel free to say "howdy!" When it comes to birds, especially the big ones, I'm an open book. Some pages are written on...I have a lot of theories. Most are blank pages, ready to be filled in with knowledge, understanding, observations, opinions, other folk's advice, and lately...lots of info on hybrids. (Have to admit, I'm not a big hybrid fan, but in looking at some of the combinations, I've come to realize that combining characteristics of not only colors, but temperaments and traits, ain't such a bad thing after all.) BUT, that said, there are some that should just NOT be crossbred.
I live in Tallahassee, Florida, have a bird room currently occupied by my two "guys," and the spare day cage is now home to Gandolf, ostensibly a catalina, but I don't think so. The feathers on his leather are just too lightly colored and his coloration suggests someting else, I just havent' been able to find a match yet. But...I will.
I look forward to hearing from members. I'll probably post more pictures than y'all ever want to see, and I'm rarely at a loss for words about my feelings on care, feeding, first aid, overall socialization and general rearing of the really BIG birds. Outreach is a priority for me and Caribe and Bravo have stepped on thousands of arms, from the youngest to folks over 100 years old. I'm very fortunate in saying that no one has ever been bitten by my birds. Now...I HAVE, and got the scars to prove it.
My philosophy about big birds, in a nuthsell, is, "If you're gonna have big birds, just realize that from time to time, you're gonna bleed."
Hope to hear from y'all and that I'm considered welcome. Been a long time since I've shared much about my guys. They're as different as night and day and I have a theory about that...for another time.
Thanks for having me....................DavidZye
David Howell here. Newbie to the board, but long time macaw owner and lover. More accurately "owned." Two blue and golds, Caribe, age 15, and Bravo, age about 7 or 8. Both rescues of a sort.
These big guys fascinate me, intrigue me, amuse, amaze and always make me think! They be SMARTER than your average bear, fer sure! Lovable, ornery, cantankerous, gentle, but with the ability to seriously hurt you, should they choose to, which they don't. That's amazes me, too. For all the constraints we place on their lives, they accept us, choose to be handled, taken care of, trimmed and bathed, messed with and just generally intruded upon. And, yet...they take it with equanamity, good humor, amusement and even enjoyment. What wonderful critters they are. SO underestimated by most, even long time "bird nerds," of which I'm proudly one.
Have a zillion pictures of my guys. We...my wife Kate and myself...foster and care for less fortunate birds, trying to reinstill in them trust, love, acceptance and the confidence to allow humans to more or less dominate them, least in terms of what I call a "dictated existence." We do, after all, put them in cages within cages. OUR cages, our homes, then the smaller cages they call home, which they most definitely "occupy" and where they can feel safe, secure, loved, cared for and pampered.
I look forward to this forum. I've not joined one in a long time because they often seem to degenerate into debates, discussions and arguments over the various opinions and observations about macaws.
I've recently developed an interest in hybrids, as we're fostering what's called a "Catalina," but I don't think so. Not sure what he is, but he's already, in only two weeks, doing feeding behavior with Kate, and this after having been dropped at an animal shelter by friends of the owner, who passed. We know little about him, but we're learning more every day. Incredibly bright bird, already picking up up OUR speech patterns. Gentle, but does NOT like to be touched, except now by Kate, literally as of yesterday, when he started doing feeding behavior with her for the first time.
I have Pinterest boards on birds. I have hundreds of pictures of all kinds of macaws, and I've written extensively for my old bird club and just for my own entertainment. Some say I compulsively write about birds, but we're living with dinosaurs here, folks! They may be delicate, but they've endured, and deserve our respect and appreciations if for no other reason than they've adapted to worlds we've never even imagined.
I look forward to being a contributing member. Please feel free to say "howdy!" When it comes to birds, especially the big ones, I'm an open book. Some pages are written on...I have a lot of theories. Most are blank pages, ready to be filled in with knowledge, understanding, observations, opinions, other folk's advice, and lately...lots of info on hybrids. (Have to admit, I'm not a big hybrid fan, but in looking at some of the combinations, I've come to realize that combining characteristics of not only colors, but temperaments and traits, ain't such a bad thing after all.) BUT, that said, there are some that should just NOT be crossbred.
I live in Tallahassee, Florida, have a bird room currently occupied by my two "guys," and the spare day cage is now home to Gandolf, ostensibly a catalina, but I don't think so. The feathers on his leather are just too lightly colored and his coloration suggests someting else, I just havent' been able to find a match yet. But...I will.
I look forward to hearing from members. I'll probably post more pictures than y'all ever want to see, and I'm rarely at a loss for words about my feelings on care, feeding, first aid, overall socialization and general rearing of the really BIG birds. Outreach is a priority for me and Caribe and Bravo have stepped on thousands of arms, from the youngest to folks over 100 years old. I'm very fortunate in saying that no one has ever been bitten by my birds. Now...I HAVE, and got the scars to prove it.
My philosophy about big birds, in a nuthsell, is, "If you're gonna have big birds, just realize that from time to time, you're gonna bleed."
Hope to hear from y'all and that I'm considered welcome. Been a long time since I've shared much about my guys. They're as different as night and day and I have a theory about that...for another time.
Thanks for having me....................DavidZye
Look forward to seeing pics of your Macaws
