macaws- whats the deal with em?

Question

tell me about macaws. are they good pets? what are some traits? how much do they cost? are they easy to care for? can they talk like other parrots?
how about the amazon parrot?

Answer 1

First off, Shaun, there ARE Amazon parrots:

Lilac-crowned Amazon
Yellow-naped Amazon
Yellow-head Amazon
Double yellow-head Amazon
Magna yellow-head Amazon
Mexican Redhead or Green-cheek Amazon
Blue-fronted Amazon
Mealy Amazon
Spectacled Amazon
Orange-wing Amazon
Red-lored Amazon
and several others

the ones with yellow on the head, including the blue-fronted, are typically MEANIES until past hormonal age ... usually 15-20 years old.

Macaws! My favorites! Best bird you can be owned by, in my humble opinion. The cost depends a lot upon where you are located. You would want one that is handfed from a VERY young age, preferrably pulled from the nestbox before the eyes and ears are open. You do not want one that has been gavage fed.

They can cost as little as $600 and go well over $5,000 for a Hyacinth macaw. Though many bird purists will disagree with me, it's been my experience that most of the cross-bred macaws really do embody the best traits of both parents.

Starting with some of the more commonly known macaws:

Greenwing Macaw: LARGE; very, very talented birds; tend to be one-person birds
.
Scarlet Macaw: Little stinkers! You'd better be a step ahead of a Scarlet at all times. They have a bad rap of being nippy but, in reality, then tend to use their beaks for balance more than the others do.

Blue & Gold macaw: Baby Hueys of the macaw world; almost always sweet birds; very playful; good at pulling pranks; will do nearly anything at your expense if it amuses them.

Military Macaw: Best left to very experienced macaw people. Militaries are very much one-person macaws and don't mind letting others know that in whatever way they find most expedient.

In the smaller size-range of macaws, you have, among others:

Severe Macaw
Hahn's Macaw
and I cannot believe I'm drawing a complete blank on the others, but I am. You can look up all the various varieties.

All macaws are talented and notorious escape artists. Once escaped, the house is their oyster for entertainment and sheet rock is a favorite! So are the buttons on your keyboard ... or laptop ... so is the wood parts of furniture. *LOL*

I think they are great companions. They are not pets. In fact, they can't even be considered "domesticated," as the CITES act didn't stop the importation of wild macaws (and other psitticines) until the early 90's. So, a lot of the chicks are still first generation domestic hatched ~ not exactly "domestic."

Remember, too, these birds are accustomed to making themselves heard by other members of their flock over miles of Rain Forest *and* the noise of the Rain Forest. In other words, they can get L O U D.

No parrot-type bird is easy to care for. You cannot just put them in a cage, throw in some seed and call it a day. Their water needs to be changed, bowl and all, at least 2-3 times a day. The best diet is one that most closely mimics that found in their natural world. I always made my own food mix for my companion birds and, because it was fresh food, it needed to be changed out 2-3 times a day.

Macaws require a good mix of nuts (more than other parrot-type species); fresh veggies; fresh fruits; baked bird "breads," and so on. Amazons, on the other hand, can be prone to fatty liver disease and you have to be very careful of the amount of fat they get in their diet .... no seeds, very limited amounts of nuts.

Yes, macaws can talk. Some even speak human. =) Will one learn to speak human? Who knows? There's never any guarantee that any bird, including the Amazon or African Grey, will choose to speak human. But they can get their points across to you quite well regardless of if they're speaking macaw or human.

The bite factor of any hookbill is said to be calculated like this: measure how long the beak is from the nares to the tip of the beak. Presume 350 pounds of pressure per inch of beak from an upset bird. For the larger macaws, including some of the larger Blue & Golds, you can have up to 4" of beak. Do the math. They can crack a Brazil nut with their beak as easily as you can pinch a roasted peanut shell in your fingers.

Macaws are also well known for the 'terrible twos.' Like a child, this period can start as early as just past one year old to as late as three years old. In fact, if you'll get to really looking in local papers and online, you'll notice that a large percentage of macaws being sold are in the 2-4 year old range. This is almost always because of one particular game they like to play that scares people badly. It's lunging! They love to try to intimidate you by getting above your head and lunging at you to see if you'll back down. Back down just once and they know they have you right where they want you and they WILL call the shots from then on.

Amazons are difficult birds to categorize in terms of their personalities. All parrots are individuals, but particularly the Amazons. Some never so much as nip; I've known of one that literally ripped someone's eye out; another that cut his owner's head up to the point of them needing about 70 stitches.

African Greys, by the way, tend to pick out one person and bond so strongly to that one person that they will, upon becoming hormonal, attack other members of the family. Yes, they are known to be the best talkers, but they can also be very moody and they do NOT like a hustle-bustle household.

I apologize for giving what appears to be a lot more negative than positive, but I did parrot rescue for many years and I'd rather tell people who are smart enough to ask the questions the truth.

Parrots are our most abused "pet." The last statistic I read was that over 90% of them were impulse purchases. Without proper care and being included as part of their people's flock, they easily become neurotic, develop behaviors that hurt themselves and others, and can become so depressed and/or mentally ill that they will pluck themselves naked to the point that the only feathers remaining are on their upper neck and head and that only because they can't reach those areas.

If you would like to be involved with parrots and get an idea of whether or not you're up for the job, find a local sanctuary or rescue organization and volunteer. In fact, it's one of the best ways to find the perfect bird ... and the perfect bird is the bird that picks YOU (not the other way around).

Good luck; do your research; ask LOTS of questions; talk to avian specialists; and then do some more research.

Answer 2

Amazons:

About 11 inches long and with a lifespan of about 50 years, these birds are intelligent and affectionate. The best talkers of the Amazons are the double yellow headed, yellow naped and blue fronted, but it varies by individual. They are very noisy birds, but not as bad as cockatoos and macaws. Males especially become aggressive as they become sexually mature. Training and attention is needed. Amazons run from 700 bucks on up for a hand raised bird from a good breeder.(http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/amazons/AmazonProfile.htm)

Macaws:

Are great pets for those who can invest in terms of time and attention. They are also far larger, far noisier and much much more demanding than the amazon parrot. Your neighbors will hate you, because the screech of a macaw can be heard in the next block! And they will chew everything, and when upset your finger. Their beaks can crush bone so you might want to discourage that. They live about the same amount of time as the Amazons but cost anywhere from 1500 upwards. They are also affectionate and intelligent but not great talkers usually.(http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/macaws/macaws.htm)

Answer 3

Macaws are big giant birds, you have to be very brave and not be scared of taking a nip, no matter what you choose, but these are big nips. They speak will, but no bird is a easy care pet. You have to make sure they get fresh fruits and Veggies, the cage must be kept clean. A macaw should start in the $1200.00 range and stop around the $20,000.00 mark. Amazons at the $400.00 mark and stop at the $10,000 mark. You must spend many hours with them and must be patient with them. Macaws are funny and have tones of personality, they need large hard nuts to crack like walnuts and such. They need toys. But most of this can be said about any breed. They can and will eat your woodwork if given half a chance. they need extra strong perches, like manzaneta tree branches. Hope some of this helps.

Answer 4

hi i personally have never had a macaw before but i have had an orange wing amazon and ablue fronted amazon
they need alot of time and attention and a lot of cuddles i find amazon are very laid back they can talk but not all of them do

amazons cost from 500 to 600 pound and that is from a good breeder but there are more rarer amazons that cam go for more then that macaws go from 500 to about 1200 pound there are the mini macaw eg hanhs red bellied collared i would not recommened any big parrot for someone who has never kepy birds before

Answer 5

Macaws are very expensive. They can require as much care as a human baby.
More here...

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/macaws/p/macaws.htm

For Amazon parrots, more here....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_parrot

Answer 6

Macaws, if taken care of properly can live up to 125 to 150 years old, or they can die if you leave them with a baby sitter after they have bonded to you. They have emotions but no logic, so they love you and bond to you for life. But this is true of any parrot on the bonding part. They have the emotions of a 3 to 5 year olds human child and they will never grow up. They have the intelligence of a dolphin. If you treat them like a child you will get along with them pretty good. They need a life just like a courious child needs a life. If you just want to keep it in a cage and say hi to it occasionally, then don't get a bird. They need to do things with you , go places with you and be your buddy. But you need at least $100 to $200 per month just for them to eat healthy. They have a human digestive system and should not be feed seeds. I've written a 20 page booklet that I charge $5.00 for plus shipping cost that tells you how to take care of parrots. They need a good name pellet. "Laferber" is the best, this should be available to them 24 hours per day, also, unsalted nuts such as pecans, walnuts, brazil nuts. They should not be fed peanuts. They bags of Parrot seeds(food) in a lot of discount stores or very harmful for parrots and can cause an early death due to malnutrition.
You can't travel out of the country if you own a parrot. They may let you leave the country with your pet, but not let you bring them back in, and if you don't have someone else that is a close buddy to the parrot and you are gone for more than three days, your bird will most likely stop eating and starve to death. They will die if they go without eating for 24 hours, or possibly less than 24 hours because of their fast maltabulism. MaCaws are individuals, so some will take alot and others not. Blue & Golds, Scarlets, Greenwings, are all okay talkers, But the Catalina's are the best. But if you buy a non-baby bird that is a talker, it may stop talking because of the emotional tramma of changing owners, there's also the chance of it starving to death also, if you don't know how to emotionally care for them. You should NEVER buy a large parrot as your first bird. If you are just getting started with birds, good starter birds. Also, with the intentions of keeping them for the rest of their life, and only adding to your family if you decide to get different birds latter, would be cockateils and or quakers. Quakers are and excellent bird to get as a baby and learn to care for. God didn't make any BAD BIRDS only bad owners. But any parrot type bird is going to want to be with you, even if it's only just sitting on your shoulder to be near you. They are very affectionate creaters for life. To order one of my booklets. $6.50 including postage. P.O. Box 8, Yellville, ar. 72687. If you have more questions you can call me at 870 453 7191. Kenona

Answer 7

They are around $2000 I believe...maybe more, sometimes less. They can talk, but I wouldn't recommend them as pets...that beak of theirs can crack your finger pretty well. I believe they have limited capacity for speech. The African Grey parrot is better at speech. There is no Amazon parrot...in fact, macaws come from the Amazon as do many other species of parrot.

Answer 8

They are very expensive. They have some pretty specific dietary requirements. They don't take well to cold temperatures- they'll get sick or hot, dry temperatures-they'll moult all their feathers and be naked. They tend to become very attached to one person even to the point of jealous biting of other people. The person who decides to get one must realize that they are very intelligent and live a very, very long time. You cannot simply let one get attached to you and expect to drop it off at the nearest animal shelter if you get tired of it because they can actually pine away and die from missing their owners. They need lots of attention and lots of toys to keep them busy. They are capable of literally pulling the paneling off your walls and chewing it to splinters if they get bored. Unless you have experience with parrots it is best to learn first-hand how to care for one from someone who has them before getting your own. Otherwise you could be letting yourself in for a lot of heartache and expense.

Answer 9

They're wonderful pets, can be easily trained if they're from childhood, talk a lot, very,very nice pets, but they screech a lot when u don't give them attention. luv to chew wood

Answer 10

maccaws are beautiful birds quite expensive though. i have seen them cost1500 to 1700dollars. as for talking they are very good at doing thatamazons are great to it would be wise if you were going to get either one of these birds to get them when they are babies ,so you could train them better and they wouldnt be as mean when they got older.