Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need help deciding on a Macaw. I just love them all. I am a little intimitated by the large beak of the greenwings. I am looking for a loving, affectionate, interactive Macaw. I want it to interact with all members of the family. Been reaserching on internet, but want to get personal oppinions. Thanks Roxanne

Well it is going to depend a lot on the specific bird. Birds even of the same species may have completely different personalities especially depending on age, bonding and early care.

If you are intimidated by the larger beaks I would suggest possibly one of the mini macaws. I love the Hahn's macaws they can be regular little clowns and with the right care and interaction can enjoy the whole family. We have a little buddy Gomez that likes to entertain everyone and loves to be picked up not matter if it is the kids (supervised younger ones) or the adults. The Severe macaw might also be a good choice.

As far as the larger macaws I would steer clear of the military macaws for a family bird unless you are already used to the larger macaws. They can be great additions to the family but tend to be very tempermental. We have had several in through the rescue because the "tame" bird started biting and nipping family members and the household decided they were disposable instead of wanting to work with them. Greenwings and Scarlets are both beautiful birds and would be one of my first choices for their beauty but not necessarily their attitude. I have met and seen both greenwings and scarlets that have bonded well with their owners and families but again have heard of many cases where they become quite tempermental and territorial especially when in season.

For these reasons if you are set on a large macaw I would go with the blue and gold. They are a very pretty bird and usually have the most mellow and clowning attitude. We have worked with many from broken homes, lifechanging situations and cruelty situations and have been able to see their range of personalities. We do have a couple breeder macaws (surrendered/rescued but that's another story)which were not treated well in earlier life and no real human interaction that do not "like" human companionship but even they have accepted stick training and targeting.

Any we have started with (even the supposed aggressive ones) that have had human contact and have not been used as breeders their whole lives have calmed very quickly and are a delight to work with. If you start with a baby B&G or a well raised adult I think you will have a wonderful companion. Again even though these are usually calmer more forgiving birds you can't show a fear of their beaks. Macky startled my husband the first day he arrived and lunged, Rick jumped so now it is a fun game for Macky to lunge and then laugh like it was a great joke. He never bites and will go to Rick quite readily but still likes to lunge to see who will jump. He has never lunged at me but I don't scare as easily, LOL. Some birds will act on fear and will intimidate you making it impossible to train them unless you can overcome your fear. If you are not sure you can handle the larger beaks and larger birds then definitely go with the mini macaws.

thank you for your honesty. I am not to afraid of the large beaks now. I used to be intimidated alot by them. The lighter color on the greenwing beaks makes them seem much larger. I pretty much had my mind made up to get a blue & gold. I have been researching for a while now and just wanted some input from those that have macaws. Thanks for confirming my choice. I am still going to learn all I can from every where and every one. Thank you again for your time.
Anyone else have an oppinion on the larger Macaws?

I have purchased a Millitary Macaw from the bird store I go to all the time. She is about 13 and is just great. I love her already. She was not always nice to me though. She nailed me one time at the store. I didn't go near her for a while. I realy liked her at first, then was a little afraid of her. I think I just went to fast with her. I spend alot of time at the bird store and just had to try again. She was ok with me picking her up so we just sat together for a while, then I slowly took a couple of strokes at a time petting her. The end of the day came and she was letting me hold her close and wanted kisses. She almost was acting like the Cockatoos were. She melted my heart! I took many sesions with her before deciding to purchase her. I wanted to be sure, it is a lifelong com.. She is doing well and is still very loving. She gets out on her stand when I am home and has a very large cage for when I am not. Lots of toys to chew on, a variety of foods, and lots of love. I am glad we have each other. Thanks for the reply. Roxanne and my girl Rudy

I am glad you are getting along so well with your new feathered friend. This is the reason why I feel so badly trying to stereotype a "group" of birds. I can always so well in general they seem to act one way or in my opinion they seem this way but it always ends up to be the individual birds attitude and their early life treatment. That being said sometimes a bird will be on best behavior when stressed over a new situation and then show its true colors while another bird of the same specied may be a little stinker in a stressful situtation and calm down as soon as comfortable. Always take the time to meet a potential flock member and spend time with it before adopting instead of making a generalization.

We would love to see pics!!