by Pajarita » Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:08 am
Lunging but not biting is typical of B&Gs -it's called 'bluffing' so the behavior you mention is perfectly normal for them -but, of course, biting is not (well, it is but up to a certain point]. Now, for what you tell me about his routine, I think the problem you have is that your bird is overly hormonal and, as he (was he DNA'd a male or are you assuming his gender?] has fixated on your husband, he -most likely- regards you as competition for his love (overly hormonal always means aggression but sometimes it also means plucking or self-mutilating]. This would be especially true if he sees any kind of show of affection between you two -which I assume he does. And the fact that your husband is not a bird person and has stayed way from him so he can bond with you made things worse (parrots will bond with whoever they choose and keeping the chosen one away from the bird will not change this]. He might also be eating too much protein (do you free-feed the pellets and nuts?]. The one thing I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt is that the pellets you are feeding are not good for him. They are, pretty much, the worst pellet there is in the market because they not only have artificial stuff in them (coloring that has been found to cause hyperactivity in children], they also have sugar -a HUGE NONO for parrots! Of four macaws I personally know of that have been diagnosed with diabetes (all of them over 20 years of age], three of them ate the fruity pellets for years (the fourth's previous diet is unknown].
Now, let me explain why I think that your macaw is overly hormonal. All birds are photoperiodic -this is a long word that means that their seasons (breeding, molting, etc] are governed by the amount of light they receive (photo meaning light and period meaning season]. Birds are not like mammals which produce sexual hormones all the time but increase production when they are going into estrus (heat]. Birds only produce sexual hormones when it's breeding season, the rest of the time (resting season], they don't produce any at all so their gonads (sexual organs] shrink and become dormant. When you keep a bird to a solar schedule (with full exposure to dawn and dusk or it might not work at all], the bird produces sexual hormones only part of the year so, even during breeding season, it doesn't become overly hormonal but just hormonal. But, when you keep a bird to a human light schedule as you do, the bird produces sexual hormones month after month and year after year. This makes their sexual organs grow disproportionally large creating physical discomfort and even pain (because the gonads end up displacing other internal organs -male birds have their testicles inside their bodies] - this, added to the sexual frustration (basically, the bird is terribly sexually aroused all the time but has no relief whatsoever] creates a real bad situation for the poor animal.
If to this you add too much protein (high protein is also a breeding trigger for them] and inadequate artificial light [which would not help in the production of the happy and reward hormones - you need full spectrum lighting of certain specifications for that] and no flight (flight is the ONLY way they have dissipating 'bad' -sexual and stress- hormones from their bloodstream] you end up with a 'problem' bird in your hands. And this is what I think it's happening with your bird and I bet it's not so much that he doesn't like you but that he is so very uncomfortable...
B&Gs are actually considered low hormone birds (there are 'hormonal' species, 'normal' species and 'low hormone' species, the macaws all fall in the low hormone classification] and are very laid back birds - to the point that they can actually be good with children, something not normally found in the parrot world. But this doesn't mean that they cannot get overly hormonal, they do!
Now, if you want, I can give you some pointers on how to remedy the situation...