excitement

[hsb_birds]

I know shes not a macaw but it was all from the same day and I was terrified I am in yellow and Mandy in green and I wont lie I was always to scared to hold her because of the horror stories I was told about her (she gave a lady a tongue piercing once.... can ya blame me for being a tensie wensie bit scared//:54::54: ) but we did it we held her and it wasn't all that bad and I will continue to hold her and work with her

 

[Birdman666]

Now, that eckie was a biter, and she did nail me one time. But by the end of one session, she was stepping up nice for everyone, and the biting could be controlled with one finger on the top of the beak.

With me she relaxed enough to chew some of the buttons off my shirt.

 

[Anansi]

I see you made sure to wear your cross just in case she decided to go all vampiric on you! Lol!

Any more pics?

 

[Birdman666]

i see you made sure to wear your cross just in case she decided to go all vampiric on you! Lol!

Any more pics?

actually, one of the macaws ate that cross later in the day...

 

[Anansi]

Hahahahahaha! 😂 Seriously?!? I am laughing so hard over here!

 

[Anansi]

Uhmmm.... wait, he didn't ingest it, did he?

 

[Birdman666]

WOW!! Good God Im impressed Do you feel like you maybe just "Get" some species ?

I don't know what it is, really. I've been trying to figure that out, to teach it, for years. I can tell you there's no such thing as "bird whispering."

I think how you approach them has something to do with it. If you have fear, they will sense it, and react to it. The macaw may be bluffing, but he quickly finds out, I am not...

I've said it for years, BOUNDARY SETTING is a key. I establish mine from the get go... and I chip away at their booundaries with the exercises I do with them, while establishing mine. Deep down big macs are goofy, and mushy by nature.

I handled so many of the aggressive ones, that I just do it with minimal fuss. Some of this stuff is just "second nature" to me anymore...

Oh, yeah, and there's a little "old school" bird trainer's trick that isn't obvious from the pictures. It's a loose fitting long sleeved shirt. But under those sleeves on both forearms is a towel, wrapped in an ace bandage... That bird could have bitten my forearm all day, and it wouldn't have mattered...

Go ahead. I don't care. You're gonna do it.

See how this works bird? Now you behave, and I'll scratch your head and give you a treat, and you'll be out of your cage and the center of attention. Trust me, you'll like it...

And once we get through this stuff I make it fun for them, so they like it. And the next time isn't so hard to step them up. And once they start to open up, you keep pushing the boundaries a little each day, until they just open up to you.

NO WHISPERING REQUIRED.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I see you made sure to wear your cross just in case she decided to go all vampiric on you! Lol!

.....actually, one of the macaws ate that cross later in the day...

ROFLMAO!!!! Hilarious!!! Too funny!!!!!

 

[Birdman666]

Uhmmm.... wait, he didn't ingest it, did he?

Nah, just reached up and bit it in half...

 

[Anansi]

Uhmmm.... wait, he didn't ingest it, did he?

Nah, just reached up and bit it in half...

Hahaha! Quite the statement, that. [emoji57]

 

[Birdman666]

Snapped it like a twig... (this was the same bird that accidentally snapped a finger like a twig.)

So, yeah. Macaw bite pressure is nothing to be trifled with.

 

[Birdman666]

WOW!! Good God Im impressed Do you feel like you maybe just "Get" some species ?

Years ago, I did an "aggressive bird" workshop down at the rescue...

There was a lady with a blue and gold that was lunge biting everyone. And everyone in the house was afraid of him. She was at her wits end...
(She cautioned me several times about what a biter he was.)

Well I reached my toweled arm (same deal as here. The bird couldn't see the towels, and didn't know.) into the carrier, and he predictably latched onto my arm. And I pulled him out dangling by his beak. (Biting my arm didn't have quite the usual deterrent effect he was used to. And he was somewhat shocked at my response.)

Swiped an arm under his feet, put a thumb over his foot, so he wasn't going anywhere. When he let go of my arm, to bite my thumb, I got his beak with two fingers, and controlled it. Then I started scratching his head under his chin. He put his head upside down on my shoulder and began talking macaw baby talk. Inviting me to give him an all over head rub, which I happily did.

"You little ba$tard! You made a liar out of me..."

Fifteen minutes later, when she used the same technique, AND DID NOT SHOW FEAR, OR ALLOW HERSELF TO BE INTIMIDATED... he had his head upside down on her shoulder... We were pretty much all crying at that point. It was a very moving experience.

If you've never had a bird that big and powerful do that for you the first time it happens, it's truly amazing...

I do GET large macaws. But there's really no great secret to them...

 

[Christinenc2000]

Please know I was joking...all in good fun, I promise!!!

Thank you so much for your super kind words, Christine!!! You've come miles and miles and more miles with your BB!!

I know you were. I just can not say enough good things about the people on this forum

One mile forward two back. He would not go into his cage last night. Roosted on the top. Fine with me he went inside as soon as I got up this morning. Not sure what is up with the old mean guy today. Bit me twice. Just enough to turn skin red.

 

[Christinenc2000]

More pictures ?

 

[Birdman666]

More pictures ?

Honestly, we were so busy working with the birds, that we really didn't take any...

There are a lot of patrons to the resort though, that have pictures of themselves with Maggie...

 

[Anansi]

Did your daughter get to work with them too, Mark? Or did you hog all the fun? Lol!

 

[Birdman666]

Did your daughter get to work with them too, Mark? Or did you hog all the fun? Lol!

She went straight to the cockatoos.
In fact, one of them nipped her on the nose! (He's "a tad" exciteable...)

After that she went to the pool. (Gee, who saw that coming?!)

 

[hsb_birds]

Did your daughter get to work with them too, Mark? Or did you hog all the fun? Lol!

She went straight to the cockatoos.
In fact, one of them nipped her on the nose! (He's "a tad" exciteable...)

After that she went to the pool. (Gee, who saw that coming?!)

he's a "tad" more like really excitable hahaha I just walked by him today and said hi to him and everyone else in the order they have to be in ( ralph him first duh , gracie , scooter , apple :red: , satan and huey) and by the time I got to satan he was freaking out couldn't even hear myself say her name but ya know I used to have a glitter jar and it was beautiful and that would calm him down its like a time out jar for kids or an anxiety type thing which I get and he loved to sit and watch the glitter fall with me

 

[Birdman666]

She actually dealt with it quite well... I thought.

Split personality bird. Overstimulate at your own risk... went for her face, ended up doing summersaults in full display mode on the end of her arm instead.

Absolutely no warning that was gonna happen.

Which is why I like working with macaws and amazons so much better. If you know what to look for, you get a warning, and you can see it coming...

Not so much with a Sybil-Too...

Sarah's probably better with toos than I am. (At least as good...)

 

[hsb_birds]

She actually dealt with it quite well... I thought.

Split personality bird. Overstimulate at your own risk... went for her face, ended up doing summersaults in full display mode on the end of her arm instead.

Absolutely no warning that was gonna happen.

Which is why I like working with macaws and amazons so much better. If you know what to look for, you get a warning, and you can see it coming...

Not so much with a Sybil-Too...

Sarah's probably better with toos than I am. (At least as good...)

yes for sure she handled it in a most impressive way I must say it was a scary situation and she handled it well he is a spaz for sure though