African Grey or Blue and Gold Macaw

Hard decision to make so were asking for keepers of both species to please chime in and share your experiences with us...

About us. Over 40,, stable home.. past bird experience but no Parrot experience.. we understad the caging requirements for both species... were both crafty, handy and very imaginative.

Thank you for sharing with us..
James.

We have a B&G Macaw that is a bit past 2.5 years.

Caring for a large bird is a huge commitment.

Many things need to be considered such as:

How much time you have to give the bird time out of it's cage.

Vacations (or the lack of). Mac travels with us. We really don't trust boarding him. He would not get the care he gets from us at home.

Mac has changed our lives, mostly for the good but owning a large bird can become very complicated.

The cost of toys, food, noise, vets, general upkeep.

To us it is well worth the complications!!

I'm sure others will chime in. The are very knowledgeable folks hanging out around here.

Below is Mac's travel wagon. He does let us stay in it also.

azdesertrhino said:

We have a B&G Macaw that is a bit past 2.5 years.

Caring for a large bird is a huge commitment.

Many things need to be considered such as:

How much time you have to give the bird time out of it's cage.

Vacations (or the lack of). Mac travels with us. We really don't trust boarding him. He would not get the care he gets from us at home.

Mac has changed our lives, mostly for the good but owning a large bird can become very complicated.

The cost of toys, food, noise, vets, general upkeep.

Click to expand...

Any pet can change your life.. What you have listed is basic pet info,I do appreciate it,but im asking for more depth.. What are some habits that the B&G has that we need to know,, do they all scream alot?how noisy are they?? I know they can be destructive but i dont know the extremes?
You have a very beautiful Parrot

wenz2712 said:

Hi James,

I would say if you have no Parrot experience, then you would be best to go with the Grey!

Click to expand...

Pre-Shate the response- Can i ask why you say that? are Macaws not good for first time Parrots?

Moony said:

wenz2712 said:

Hi James,

I would say if you have no Parrot experience, then you would be best to go with the Grey!

Click to expand...

Pre-Shate the response- Can i ask why you say that? are Macaws not good for first time Parrots?

Click to expand...

The reason I say this is... Macaws are very large Birds and can be very intimidating. They also have very large, powerful beaks that can do mega damage, not just to you, but Furniture and decor as well

I have heard that the B&G Macaw is more laid back than other species of Macaws, but generally most people would say they are not suitable as first time Birds.

Greys are alot more laid back, but, if you have your heart set on a Macaw you could try spending some time around them and see how you feel about it

Thanks. I think were going forward pursuing the African Grey.. A more relaxed laid back Parrot is what we need... We have posted on quite a few boards and were hearing the same ... thanks again..
James and Cindy...

Of course not all Macaws act exactly the same but with Mac:

He is usually pretty calm and laid back but when he screams it will rattle the windows.

He took a good sized chunk out of our wooden dining room table in a split second.

His very large beak breaks a Brazil nut with minimal effort.

He has drawn blood but could do a lot more damage if he wanted to really hurt.

On the other side.

A really neat companion.

He stays in his play area most of the time. Has a separate room for his cage which is pretty much used for sleeping or if we go out for a while. My wife works from home so he spends little time in a cage.

His vocabulary is increasing and it is hilarious listening to him chatter.

We've had dogs & cats and other birds but nothing compares to caring for a large bird, it is very rewarding.

Best of luck in finding the right bird for your home.

I have a grey and today I brought home my new greenwing macaw baby. I consider myself very comfortable around birds and have never been intimidated by any bird around the size of my grey or amazon (and my amazon packs quite a punch!) It took me awhile to actually feel comfortable around macaws. Now that I do, it was my dream to have a greenwing. Well that said, it is like comparing apples to oranges. They are two entirely different types of birds. I always say if the commitment is there and you have spent time around birds of the species you are interested in then any bird can be a first bird. I don't like the idea of a "first bird" it sounds like you get a bird to practice on then get what you really want. However, let's say you loved both greys and macaws, I would say get the grey first. This is not to say that a grey is an easy bird. I think it takes loads of thought and time to make sure that this intelligient bird is not getting bored, gets the right nutrition, housing etc. It is however less intimidating & quieter than the grey. My grey is quiet, sweet, smart and laid back. Just from visiting our new greenwing Moses I can tell you he is not quiet, he seems very smart as well but much more goofy and outgoing! He is like having a big puppy with feathers and wings. He wants what he wants when he wants it (like a 2 year old) He is convinced that he would love to be a shoulder bird. I always wait with this until a bird is older and is reliably trained to be allowed on my shoulder. I don't care what I do to curb this behavior he keeps trying. It definatley did not take this long with my grey. I don't know if it is these two particular birds but I am thinking that the macaw is a bit more bull headed. He is sweet as can be and loves to be pet as does my grey however he is MUCH bolder. The mess that he can make is unbelievable in the short amount of time he has been here. I'm just trying to give you some of the obvious differences. I love the gregarious behavior of my new baby & this is one of the reasons I wanted a greenwing! These two types of birds are very, very different however I would read, go out and meet the both of them (as many as you can) and then think about who would fit in best with your family.

I have a Blue and Gold, she is my dream bird, but is challenging as well. She is smart, friendly, cuddly, and relatively quiet. On the flip side she is also intimidating, moody, and destructive. I am not a huge grey fan, I love the warm and outgoing side of the macaws that I have not seen out of greys. That is not to say that greys cant be great but aren't for me. If you do not have parrot experience I would suggest that you spend so time with some. Consider volunteering at a rescue or calling several breeders to see if they need help cleaning cages. Some people are truly intimidated by the large macaws, but their are also smaller macaws that can be very rewarding. Either way it really comes down to the individual.

Thanks Rhino,, Brian... im not easily imtimidated, i bred large boids for many years but am out of it now.. i have been around a 8 yr old B&G. I was taught how to make the C hand and let them climb on, close your hand onto the feet gently for control.. i was also taught how to leg the parrot... this parrot was highly trained and very gentle,i dont expect to get one like that right off the bat. Pretty lucky if you did... i never heard that parrot scream which i thought was odd... the only greys i have seen were in pet shops,i have held them but im leary to spend 800 to a grand in this particular pet shop.... i think Cindy would be more comfortable with a grey especially after readind some of the posts we have read on the boards today. I think the power that B&Gs posess make ya a bit leary..

Were probably looking to buy from a breeder. We just dont know what to expect,so i guess we are getting ready and preparing to have our hands full..

We adore our rescue macaw, but if you haven't had a parrot before, I'm not sure I would start with a macaw. Macaws by their nature like to take over the house and if possible be the top dog. They need a firm and loving hand by someone who understands parrot mentality. They are not dogs and will not respond to the same kind of discipline. They have a great sense of humor and are a riot to be around, but they will dominate the timid if allowed. I have never had a grey, but know they are sensitive and might also suffer if not understood. Are you sure you want to start there? We started with a Quaker, all parrot with big personalities in a less intimidating package and I am sure lots of conure owners will extoll their virtues also. The smaller birds are just as fun filled but less intimidating.

I have a grey as my first bird-my husband had owned a pionus previously. We found a rehome and after much discussion with Pepper's previous owner on the phone, we decided she'd be a great fit for us. The things that attracted us to greys were:
relatively quiet: Her alert call is shrill, but it is brief and she only makes it a couple times a day. I have been in the presence of a B & G squawk and it was so loud it hurt my ears and I didn't even want to be in the same room as the bird-and that was it's normal noise. Greys talk or whistle more than calling. If they have been around other birds they can pick up that bird's noises too. Pepper can do caique and indian ringneck because they were in her previous home.
Ok around kids: The kid's handle Pepper a little bit, but overall she's my and my husband's bird and we hold her the majority of the time. However, she is fine with my busy and noisy house and she isn't aggressive (doesn't attack other people to protect me from them) If she doesn't want to interact with you she moves away from you, if you persist on bothering her you will get a nip but it's not a hard nip.
size: Ours is a Timneh, a nice medium size.
ok with multiple people: we needed a parrot to be ok with multiple people handling it. She was a family bird and has been fine with both me and my husband holding her and training her. I am her preferred and she wants cuddles and scritches from me, not from hubby.

A lot of it depends on bird personality, however, not all greys have those personality factors, but Timneh greys are very likely to have them! Congo greys generally are a bit more reserved and a bit more likely to have phobic issues if they haven't had a healthy home. But the best thing to do is be able to meet your bird ahead of time.

Whatever bird you get, be prepared that your bird may pick one of you as a favorite. As long as both work with the bird, it's likely both can have a relationship, but occasionally a bird decides the spouse is the rival. It can even pick the one who doesn't do all the cage cleaning and feeding duties as the favorite.

If you are looking into greys I'd recommend the African Grey Parrot Handbook. It really explains how they think and how to deal with setting up a healthy home and behaviors really well.

Thanks Pooka, we have been reading a series of articles on African Greys.. there is about 35 and we have about 15 to go.. The writings cover alot of ground and it looks like its going to boil down to the individual grey we get.. We have to earn trust and a relationship with it, were not expecting any overnight success...

We are trying to find some local Greys but havnt had much luck so far... We want to spend time with the Grey we get if at all possible,we too think thats a great idea..

You can try a few different websites-ebay classifieds, Oodle facebook marketplace, birdsnow, and craigslist. Watch out for scams, they tend to have bad writing, advertise a young trained friendly bird at a very cheap price, and when you contact them they want to use a shipping company and you to send them money and they ask for your name address nearest airport etc. They will post in your local ads when they are not local and when you say you want to meet the bird in person you will never hear from them again. Also, where are you located? There are a lot of rescue organizations out there but some will really only adopt to people who can come in person to the bird classes. You have a lot more luck getting honest answers from a rescue organization-they are not just trying to make money and will be honest about a bird's challenges. Every bird has challenges-but you should know what they are before you get the bird.