Hello, new here.

[Squawk]

I was scrolling through the endless parrot home video side of youtube and stumbled upon Santina's lovely collection--truly inspiring! As an experienced parrot owner (Senegal, conure, african grey), I'm looking to expand my nest with a Macaw addition. I have a vision of creating a rehab/rescue program for abused pet parrots, as many owners are ignorant or incompetent when it comes to caring for a feathered friend. I'll be a regular visitor to this site in the hopes of meeting others who share a similar passion. Lovely to meet ya'll!

[Periquita]

Indeed you are right. Many parrot owners just purchase them to have something to show, like when you buy a new painting or something. Later in live they find out they can't take proper care of them and end up giving them away.

If you are looking for someone to share that pasion with, well hi! I've rescued some birds on my own from people who couldn't take care of them anymore, and even thou I'm no expert, I do the best I can.

Looking foward to learn from you as well! Welcome! You sound like a great person

[Wolf]

Welcome to the forum and I really hope that you enjoy your time here, there's doughnuts and coffee in the break room.

All of my birds are rescued from bad situations, they are now a part of my family.

[Squawk]

All of my birds are rescued from bad situations, they are now a part of my family.

Quick question, Wolf: I've heard that with larger parrots, they go through a growth cycle where they reach puberty around the 5 year mark and sever ties to the "parents". When raising a baby parrot to adulthood, is there a big chance that after about 5 years with the bird (if raised from a weened age) the bird will start losing interest in the bond with me? Does this make rescuing or adopting an older bird more satisfactory in terms of the relationship between the bird and the owner?
Sorry if that's badly phrased. Just something I've been thinking over, choosing between raising a chick or adopting an older bird.

[Wolf]

Actually this occurs with all species of parrots with the smaller species reaching puberty earlier than the larger species. With this in mind, puberty I believe can begin as early as 1 year of age with the smaller species and as late as five years of age with the larger species.
Captive bred birds are imprinted at birth on humans so they don't realize that we are not funny looking birds ourselves and so they accept us as such. Hopefully the breeder will hand feed these baby birds and socialize them to the point that they are tame and ready to start bonding after weaning. You get the bird and spend the first month primarily with bonding and socializing the bird into your family. So now the bird is bonding to you, but it is still a baby and so this bond is that of parent and child and the bird depends on you for everything including teaching it what to eat and how to live in its world, what behaviors are acceptable or not, etc.
Now at a genetically determined age the bird goes through puberty. This is a difficult time for the owner as well as for the bird. With the onslaught of hormones raging through it body the birds personality changes and it becomes an adult and it seeks out its mate. It loses the bond with its parents and bonds with its mate. In captivity this still occurs and if it has no other suitable bird to bond to as a mate it will bond to its funny looking human bird and unless you are the only person to choose from it will usually bond to someone else as you were its parent bird.
This is the number one reason for there being so many birds in rescues needing homes, they went into puberty and their human parent could not accept the natural process at work in the bird. It is also why many of us recommend that you go to a rescue to find a bird. If you allow the bird to choose you then what you see is pretty much what you will get and its bond to you will be more or less permanent, their personality is set and will remain the same for the rest of their life. This is the bond that everyone is looking for in their bird to begin with, but most people don't know this and have never taken the time to do the research into their bird and how it would naturally live its life.
I hope that this answers your question.

[Pajarita]

Yes, they all go through 'changes' when they hit puberty, just as Wolf mentioned, but whether the bond breaks completely or not depends on the species, too. Macaws are, generally speaking, laid-back birds, they are late risers in the morning, not considered 'hormonal birds', do better with busy households than most parrots, etc so the chances of them not rejecting their owners are higher than with other species (like grays which are known for it). Macaws actually become sexually mature at around 2 years of age (breeders have managed to successfully breed birds as young as 1.5 years (not that I don't think it's a dirty shame to do such a thing!) but, in the wild, even though they do start looking for a mate when they are around two, they don't usually start nesting until they are four or five and that, I believe, it's the reason why they usually continue having a good relationship with their owners even after puberty. The major drawback of having a macaw is that you need very large rooms for them to fly in because they require a minimum of 30 ft.

[Harpmaker]

Welcome to the forum Squawk! Enjoy your stay.

Just to be clear, a baby bird may choose to bond with the same person during/after puberty even if others are around, but this is not the rule. Some birds will also switch bonds in adulthood, but again, this is unlikely. You have MUCH better odd of a permanent bond with rescue parrot than with a baby. I just got lucky with mine.

[Squawk]

Thank you for all the wonderful information!

I understand the growth process now with birds. Adopting a bird is what I'm shooting for.. I can't wait until the right one pops up. I completely agree with the statement that the bird should choose the owner. After all, how would the bond survive if both parties aren't interested in the first place?

My dad's a retired police dog trainer and breeder, so he's been in a similar business with animals. I'm trying to help him understand that buying a baby bird freshly weened doesn't always guarantee the right match. In his experience, if you adopt a mentally "damaged" dog, that dog will always retain at least some of the behavioral problems it experienced earlier in its life. He had the opportunity to raise a macaw from chick to adult (I think he ended up putting the bird up for adoption or something...this was a long time ago) so he considers himself "experienced" in that respect... I'm trying not to argue too much with him, but it's hard when everyone here says otherwise.

I can't wait to adopt... currently looking into turning an old unused greenhouse on the property into an enclosure for my new companion. Is there anything I should know about outdoor housing for a Macaw or larger parrot?

This site is so helpful. Thank you to everyone who replied.

[Wolf]

Probably a lot. Start with what is the size of the greenhouse. What is it constructed of? Here Pictures would be helpful. How do you plan on heating it? Any electrical wiring must be concealed so that the bird(s) can't chew on it. What is the ventilation system like?
Well that is it of the top of my head.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum but oh, geez,dog breeding and/or training does not give any insight whatsoever into parrot mentality, I'm afraid. And I am surprised that any dog trainer still believes in the 'damaged goods' myth, I thought that had been debunked a long time ago. I don't mean to criticize but this is a big beef of mine as I did full time rescue for 6 years and all my dogs are rescues which came with one issue or another but they are all perfect now - and I am not a professional trainer, just an animal lover. Also, although the idea of a greenhouse as a playstation for a macaw (the bird cannot live in it by itself) is fabulous, if you have no prior parrot experience, I would not consider adopting or buying a macaw. You need to learn to walk before you can run.