Michigan Bird Family

[Wolf]

What do you know of Paco's background ? I may have missed it but how long have you had Paco?

[Lemic]

He is 25 and has been in rescues for the last 5 years. No one has wanted him since he isn't instantly friendly. He is fully feathered and flighted. I don't know much else except for some of the things he says. He doesn't say much but he does say his name in different tones so I am thinking he may have been yelled at a lot.
He can be very friendly but he changes moods very quickly. He also gets very intense and focused on things at times. He has been trying to climb my entertainment center that is in the room. He gets to a certain point and can't go further so he will try from a different side and when that doesn't work he will go back to the original spot. He is very persistent.
He is also very territorial and attention seeking. I am assuming part of it is because of our Greenwing. Maybe he is trying to show dominance. Not sure.

[Wolf]

Dominance is not likely as parrots do not live in a dominance base hierarchy in their natural environment. Their flock is based on willful cooperation instead. Due to this dominance would not be a part of their instinctive behaviors. Gaining height would be a safety issue for them as it means a better chance to escape and not a tactical advantage as in a dominance driven creature.
Paying attention to the things that he focuses on may provide a clue as to what set him off. the things that he says when he thinks no one is listening may also provide clues.
He sounds as if he may also be somewhat hormonal and the only real answer for that is a low protein diet and a natural solar light schedule. This is the same as the wild bird outside receive but with specific effort made to se to it that he is exposed to the two naturally occurring twilight conditions of pre dawn and dusk as the light of these two time has special properties that set and reset the birds internal clock so that it goes into breeding condition when it should instead of when ever.

[Pajarita]

Well, I might as well tell you from the start that there is nothing anybody can do to make them like each other. Oh, people will tell you to do this and that but, in reality, it's all up to them and it will either happen or it will not happen and that's all there is to it. Furthermore, they change as time goes by (and this can mean a couple of years) so even birds that seem to get along with other birds at the beginning, might decide, after some time, they no longer want to. But, on the other hand, there are birds that don't like each other when they first meet and then learn to get along... they never become friends but, at least, they don't attack one another. Macaws are usually very easy-going, laid-back birds but, of course, for this to happen they cannot be overly hormonal and they cannot feel despondent against the entire human race. We are going into the resting season so the hormone production should decrease and cease but they need to be kept at a strict solar schedule with a low protein diet for this to happen so, if you free-feed protein food and keep them at a human light schedule, they will continue producing throughout the winter. Aside from that, I would take turns letting them out - like one out in the morning, back in the cage for the noon rest and then let the other one out for the afternoon or a couple of hours one and a couple of hours the other one so both can be out for bit in the am and, again, in the pm. I would not try to make them accept one another, I would concentrate on not making Daisy jealous and in getting Paco to trust me and wait to see what happens - because, basically, it's pretty much the only thing you can do, anyway.

It worries me that you've only had him for a month and that he has been in the same room with your other birds, don't you quarantine?

[Cathie54]

We quarantine when necessary. All of our birds are vet checked and they are all free of disease and parasites.

Paco came to us from one of the most respected rescues in Michigan...in the country really. We knew he was also disease and parasite free. He has spent the last 5 years in a rescue, ( where quarantines for new birds are the standard, not the exception), and after vet talks and much research, we thought his best chance to adapt a bit easier would be to be around other birds.

Miss Daisy was on one side of the room, and he was put on the other side of the room. Many people thought we shouldn't even let them out of their cages for a while so they could adjust, but we felt that it wasn't quite fair to Daisy and Ubu to turn their worlds completely upside down. While Paco and Vinny adjusted, we still had our free time with Miss Daisy and Ubu, and Paco and Vinny would just sit and take it all in.

I spent hours in there reading books out loud, and talking with each bird, and it was less than a week before we heard Daisy and Paco having a chat. Their chats are telling. It is easy to hear that Paco had his heard his name often, in very mean sounding ways, and when it is followed by " Paco, knock it off", or even worse, the "F" bomb, we know that his life wasn't a happy one when he was at the age to learn easily.

I think, as we get ready to move them into aviaries, and completely change that room from a room with birds in it, to a bird play place that humans can visit, we will see a lot more positive changes in the birds. I am listening to Paco chatter right now as I type, and he is laughing and talking sweet. Miss Daisy just said "Peekaboo" to him, and for the first time ever, I heard him repeat it back.

This lets me know that once upon a time, somebody loved him before they didn't.

[Wolf]

I have been reading and thinking, back and forth over your posting trying to get some sort of feel for what is happening especially with Paco. It is something that is hard enough to do in person where I can watch the bird and much harder to do this way, in fact I have never tried to do it this way before. I have also been going over posting about macaws on this site and others to learn what I can. I do not have any macaws and no actual experience with them either, which doesn't help, but we do what we can.
I have seen quite a bit about the larger macaws bluffing when they meet a new person or when they don't care for a thing. I am not so sure that any of it is actually bluffing, but more of an act of restraint on the part of the bird. There is indication that if a person reacts fearfully when the bird acts in this manner that with some of them that there is an increase in the behavior both in intensity and frequency. I only have two thoughts concerning the behavior and the first and probably the more effective would be to pay close attention to whatever appears to set it off and avoid the behavior as much as possible. The other might be to use a stuffed toy or something similar to run interference and to hopefully act as a distraction when he begins this behavior. I have no idea as to the effectiveness of doing this if any.
I have never seen any success in trying to get one animal to like another, it appears that they have to come to terms with each other themselves although enough space so that they don't keep running afoul of each other seems to help to a very limited degree as it afford both of them the chance to retreat. Sometimes it appears to have some success if you are present and actively watching, but I would not count on it and really would not want to get caught between these two beaks.
I think that you are probably doing about all that you can with the two of them as it is if you are feeding a low protein diet and giving them a natural solar light schedule. I am sorry that I am not of more help with this, but if you keep posting I will keep studying and try to help as best that I can.

[Pajarita]

Yes, real birdrooms (not human rooms with cages in it) do have a way of making things work between birds. People say: "Well, a room is still a cage, just larger" and, in a way, they are right but the fact is that birds react differently to been loose in a room than they do when they are caged in the same room. Also, in my personal experience, cages are the number one problem when it comes to birds fighting or biting each other. Take the cages out of the equation and birds start behaving more like birds - meaning, if they don't like the bird that alit next to them, they simply fly to another spot. Of course, for this to work, the birds need to be flighted -otherwise one couldn't really say that a bird behaves like a bird as flight defines 'birdy behavior'.

You seem to be doing all the right things so, as Wolf said, as long as the diet and the light schedule are right, you should be noticing a decline in aggressive behavior soon.