My GW's hello

[TurkeyBird]

To start I have a 16 year old male (DNA tested) greening macaw named Da-Vi (like Leonardo da Vinci) which I have known for 15 years, but have only been the owner of him since October 2016. I have always had contact with him, but at the longest I didn't see him for 3 years (during college) of which he didn't act like it was more than a week apart. He always preferred me over my mother (the main owner), I always agreed to take him when the time was right, and after my last visit to my mothers in July 2016 he was a complete jerk for weeks after I left so along with her age and his never-ending daily demands the time had come. In October 2016 he moved into my house as my first (by first I mean as an adult with full responsibility) avian pet, joining 3 cats who who at first were terrified of the can openers loud noises, but now don't care one bit.
First of all the only reason I have him is because he chose me years ago, he is a oddly quiet for a macaw (I know because I grew up with an attention needy goffin and grey)and, I am perfectly suited to care for this bird for the entirety of his life. I wanted to find a place to talk and share ideas because everything that I have found he enjoys toy wise is something I would have never though of in my life. Ill stop blabbing but, he also loves my wife who is in the middle of her second year of vet school but has only had experience with him, no other birds (she thinks hes normal sized, and sees a B&G and calls it small hah) . He is not flighted, he is what I like to call my OCD bird, and he couldn't be happier now that he doesn't have to listen to my mother stupid jack Russell terrier whimper all night and bark all day long. I want to do everything in my power to make his life enjoyable and keep him dancing all day long, but I have a list of questions so long and is being added to multiple times daily. I hope to learn tons more about my fat turkey bird on here to keep him happy!

 

[Kentuckienne]

What a gorgeous bird.

 

[LeaKP]

This is one beautiful MAC. Oh my goodness!

 

[Luckyandjenn]

O my glob what a cute mac sounds like you guys are the perfect match what a great storie and im sure hes happy not having to deal with that jack russle barking and wimpering all night thats enough to make one crazy lol

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Love love love the first picture of him looking directly at the camera. What a handsome guy he is.
PLEASE...do NOT feel awkward about posting ANY questions you may have him!
There are many members here who are very knowledgable on all sorts of birdies,and NO ONE will chastise you for anything you might feel as "dumb".
We are all here to help each other,in learning and understanding our fids..so ask away!
It IS all about the birdies..yanno?


Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome. Glad you found us!

Great-looking bird, great story.

 

[chris-md]

What a beautifully companion you have!! It's like a wonderful homecoming story

When you say he is not flighted, what do you mean exactly? Clipped wings? Refused to fly? Not free flighted?

 

[TurkeyBird]

Also I should mention my mother has had birds since I was probably 10, starting with a Jardine (who died at 10 years) and a gray who just died last year at 27 years from a fire and the complications there after. We also had a goffin in there at some point all three birds at the same time, but separate cages. The goffin is a HUGE baby, just needs constant attention unless he gets loud.

Back to the question, when I say flighted I mean he just has one primary clipped to make him suck more, he can glide down like buzz light year (falling with style) but he never learned to fly and doesn't know that he can clear any distance with his wings as an aid. If he cant touch it with his beak or his foot he wont even jump or hop a little. When I got him his cardio-respiratory strength sucked so I have been exercising him around the house, I was never if this problem was simply from him never using / having the muscle mass and cardio strength, or from after causes of the fire. If I never mentioned the fire, he was in basically a sleeping walk in closet and it was a small fire, he has been checked MANY times since the accident by a DVM.

 

[chris-md]

My ekkie was exactly the same way, just refused to fly or hop. Didn't understand the power of his wings. I actually overcame this in about a month with target training, which evolves into flighted recall training. The key to making the jumps from walking to hopping is finding the biggest motivator.

For training I use bits of pistachios. If he's being stubborn or is scared to make the next big step (like from walking across perches to a quick leap) then I'll use the whole pistachio or a bit of cheese. He goes NUTS for these two items. They will suddenly get his attention, and give him the motivation to do what he needs to do.

If you're interested in trying to overcome his issue with flying, it was this exsct scenario for which I put together this video. It's a "i wish I knew how it fully worked when I first started" kind of video. Even demonstrates this motivation issue "I won't move for small bits of pistachio! But I'll move for a whole pistachio!"

[ame="https://youtu.be/DomDr-dXZtU"]Evolution of parrot flight recall training, a tutorial on how to recall train your parrot - YouTube[/ame]

 

[TurkeyBird]

At first I took him not using his wings as a blessing, he cant fly and get him self hurt or into a dangerous situation. But the more I learn, it seems to be the best option health wise and for happiness, I have seen target training and read into it, I'm just waiting till the harness stuff happens first when I get to that, since right now I would still say I'm in the period of learning how to keep him busy and fed all day. Trust me just knowing that he would have so much fun and LOVE to be able to jump and fly to any area that I cant keep that from him, I just need to introduce it to him when I have time to properly.