Macaw wants to Screech every 2 hours

[Ownerbyinheritance]

Hello All,

I have inherited a blue and gold Macaw. My Father had the bird for years but not the first owner. My Father didnt have him on a great diet and didnt feed him well. My Father passed and now I have him.
No matter what I do, the bird screeches about every 2 hours for me to bring him food. I have tried putting 6 hours worth of food in his bowl at a time and he screeches at the same time anyway and eats all the food in that time period. I have purchased a large outside cage for him and he hates to go outside and when I grab him and make him get out there he starts screeching after 1/2 hr and I have to bring him in because of the neighbors. I have had him checked out and there is nothing physically wrong with him. I have had him now almost 4 years and Im at my wits end with him. I have him on Harrisons bird food and treats, another mix of bird food, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and nutriberries. Every time I feed him throughout the day I feel like I have to give him something new. He wont eat any fruits or veggies. A small bit of banana but then gets tired of that after one day. I give him peanut butter on toast some days but he tires of that. How can I get him to stop squawking so that I dont have to feed him every 2 hours or less?? How do you feed your parrots that work? If I didnt work from home I dont think he would act like this though.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum! Now, you are not giving us enough info but I can tell you that he is not getting a good diet. I do not feed pellets because after doing over 20 years of research into their natural diets, I reached the conclusion that they couldn't possibly be the best dietary option for an animal that evolved to eat fresh plant material. And macaws, in particular, eat A LOT of fruits in the wild so the first thing you need to do is put him on a good diet. I recommend gloop and raw produce for breakfast and protein food for dinner (if you want to feed pellets instead of nuts, as I would, it would have to be only for dinner). See, the thing about gloop is that you can feed as much as the bird wants to eat and it will not make him obese (pellets will) or damage his liver or kidneys (pellets will definitely mess up their kidneys and, if they don't consume 80% of their diet in produce and only 20% in pellets, it will also damage their liver).

As to his screams... I doubt it is only food that he is asking for because birds are hardwired to eat only two main meals a day: breakfast and dinner. It is possible that this bird has an eating disorder and no amount of food is ever enough for him - which is more common than people think because the greatest majority of birds (and most especially the large species) are all weaned too early. For birds with this problem, you need to feed something that is very filling but not fattening and gloop is, as far as I know, the only option.

The bird might also be overly hormonal. It is not very common with macaws because they are low hormone birds but it does happen when the bird is fed too much protein (free-feeding seeds, nuts, pellets will do it) and is kept at a human schedule for years and years. He might also be very lonely - you can't put a parrot in an outside aviary all by himself, he would scream and scream... So, tell us what kind of light schedule he is under, how many hours of out-of-cage and one-on-one he has with his chosen human (is it you?) and whether he is clipped or fully flighted and we will be able to give you a more precise recommendations.