An old bird

[Franky2Macaws]

but man that beak is big and sharp. He put a mark on my knee thru the robe. Please advise me here anyone

I had Never been around macaws and when I first got Rah and I was very concerned about getting bit...
Rah's beak is very large, and sharp...
I had Not bonded with him, but I watched and he always kept his eye on me...
You are in a similar situation as I...
Taking the First Step is your job as it was mine...
I moved toward Rah and extended my hand... I did not move, knowing I might get bit...
Rah bumped my hand with the Front of his beak, but did not bite...
Time after time I extended my hand slowly, and Rah came to me and bumped my hand... He Never Bite me...
To this day I have not been bitten by Rah...
Slowly move around your bird... Build on his trust... You are Safe with a bird that trusts you...
Always do things the same, and go slow... One step at a time...

Franky

[Pajarita]

Well, I would not say that anybody is safe as long as the bird trusts him/her -even a parrot that loves you and trusts you completely will bite... it's not a matter of 'if', it's a matter of when.

[galeriagila]

Thanks!
The bird would divorce me if I stopped the blowdryer!

[Franky2Macaws]

I'm sorry for saying A bird that trusts you will not bite you... Birds do bite, but it is not a vicious bite...
I may be lucky...
This is just my experience with birds...
Franky

[galeriagila]

The RB has three bite-styles.
One is just a nip, fleeting and probably doesn't leave a mark... that's for a momentary annoyance.
The second is a sharp pinch, leaves a bruise about the size of a nickel.
The third is a holding-on long enough to grind... that draws blood. I haven't had many #2s or #3s in the last 15-20 years, mostly because *I* have learned what NOT to do, not the bird...

[Wolf]

OK. Let's say that your B&G Macaw loves you and both of you trust each other. This is not unusual, but let's add to this scene another not so unusual thing and sat you bring your new significant human home with you to meet your wonderful bird. Everything is going fine and you are sitting between your bird and your boy/girlfriend and slip your arm around him/her. You Macaw starts getting uncomfortable with this and tries to reach the other human but you are preventing that and so he gives you a little nip to warn you that you are his and that he does not wish to share you. So you wind up trying to explain this to your new boy/girlfriend on the way to the emergency room to get stitches in your hand, while hoping that their is not too much nerve damage as that could impair the full function of the finger that he barely missed with his little nip. But you are thankful that it was just a little warning nip and not a full on angry bite.

This is the problem with having a bird the size of some of the cockatoos and of the larger macaws. Some of the large macaws can bite through chain link fence, so you can imagine what they could do to you and it is not pretty. Even just a little nip can send you to the emergency room for stitches and leave a disfiguring scar and nerve damage depending on where you are bitten.

The good news is that your macaw is a very gentle and loving bird and it truly has no desire to hurt you it's special human, but even a slight nip from one of these birds can be disasterous to a human. Just something that you should never ever forget.

[Franky2Macaws]

Very, very True...
I always set the stage when someone else is around to keep them and myself protected...
In the case of "possession and ownership", birds act a lot like dogs... And someone will get hurt...
I never assume, and or sleep at the wrong time...

Good Point Wolf...

[Pajarita]

Well, the other point is that we are talking about a baby (the bird is not a year old so he is like a very young child -almost a toddler). The problem really starts when the bird becomes sexually mature which, with macaws, is when they are around 4 or 5. If you look at the ads rehoming macaws (and it's scary how many there are around me nowadays -you never used to see a single one a couple of years ago), you will see that most of them are actually young adults (under 10, usually, and, sometimes, as young as 2 and 3!), this is because, by the time the bird is 5, the human has already lost the initial enthusiasm and is not really paying enough attention to it so, if you add a new member in the 'family', you end up with a problem. And, although this problem usually manifests in plucking and/or screaming, it can also be aggression (both macaws I took in were VERY aggressive and was due to lack of human attention).

[Georges mom]

George has 2 kind of bites...... The first one is a slight nip or tap of his beak like to test the waters or if he's done with me scratching him and the second one is quick and sharp with intent to harm. That one draws blood. That's all I've seen from him. Haven't had the second one yet but my husband has. George woke up one day and just decided he no longer liked him. Not only has he bitten him but when he approaches George to talk to him, George turns his back to him. I'm hoping he'll come around again and accept him. I'm thinking it all the hello and good-bye kisses I get and George is usually right by me. He actually growls and fans his head and tail feathers. It's really kind of funny.
No matter how much we love our pets and they love us, anything with a mouth can bite and we shouldn't ever forget that.

[liz]

I always bragged that my birds don't bite. Then their came the day when Myrtle got jealous and let me know it for a full day. That was a bloody day but she was back to normal the next day.

She has been punishing me with a pinch. When I tell her something she does not like she will pinch me using just the tip of her beak.

Rambo was on my shoulder one day when a male friend came too close to me. He hates men. Since he could not get to the man he bit my ear lobe and brought blood.