We thought we had dodged the bullet. . .

[SherLar]

We've had Koko for a bit over a month now, and in that time, the only wood he had chewed were the sections of closet rod I had cut and given to him for that purpose; The only things he had destroyed were the sheets of packing paper we give him to shred.
We have his cage up against a window in the family room, between the tv hutch and an antique secretary. We have a Victorian era house, and all the family room windows are still original, with wood frames. Not a good placement after all we had read about macaw's destructive behavior, but he had been so good, we thought we had gotten lucky.
Then, yesterday evening, we caught him picking pieces from the window frame, and discovered that he had taken the smallest bite from the secretary. So, today, we rearrange the family room again, so we can put his cage on a bare wall with nothing to destroy. He'll lose his window access, which sucks, as he really likes looking out the window (he seemed to have an almost cat-like love of sitting in the window), but we can't risk him ingesting paint from the window sill. He'll still be able to see out of windows on 3 sides of the room, but will no longer have direct access.
Poor Koko.

 

[JLcribber]

So why didn't you just "adapt" the window frame to make it acceptable to be there so he could still have his window?

When he starts stripping the bare wall then what? Taking stuff away in not the answer. Making it work is.

 

[Mizzely]

I had to put pine boards on the window sill because my Quaker would chew them! He also chewed the walls lol. Anything not 100% flat he would chew on.

 

[sunnysmom]

If they can chew it, they will. LOL. Hopefully, you can figure out a way to protect the window frame and still let Koko look out the window.

 

[MommyBird]

there is a product called the wingdow so he can be in the window safely.
Might help
WINGDOW®, Elegant avian furniture

 

[Macawnutz]

Buy a piece of plexi at home depot and cover the window and trim.

Fixing is the answer... otherwise in a week you are going to post the thread "Koko is screaming and we don't know why"

he really likes looking out the window (he seemed to have an almost cat-like love of sitting in the window),

 

[Fergus Mom]

Heck... my budgies even chew the window sill - I can't quite imagine a Macaw chewer!

@MommyBird those Wingdow things are really cool, but I am wondering what would prohibit them from chewing the sill anyway, since they don't sit that low?

 

[SandraK]

Distressed window sills, picture frames and wall around any hanging framed items plus the storage bookshelves … and my biggest is a sun. A Wingdow, and two playstands help as long as there is food to attract the feathered beavers.

 

[issajoy]

We put up a tension rod inside the window Ollie likes to look out of to give her a place to sit where she won't destroy the frame too much (it's metal but of course she tries, but listens to a stern "no").

Birds are always going to find the things you don't want them to destroy. Best thing to do is modify and train them rather than take away something they really enjoy. Maybe he can't reach the window from inside his cage, but can hang out there if you are supervising?

 

[MommyBird]

Heck... my budgies even chew the window sill - I can't quite imagine a Macaw chewer!

@MommyBird those Wingdow things are really cool, but I am wondering what would prohibit them from chewing the sill anyway, since they don't sit that low?

I'm not sure what you mean by "they don't sit that low"? you can position the wingdow anywhere in the window, away from the woodwork.

 

[SherLar]

He now has 3 windows which he can see out of, instead of only one; he just isn't able to get to them. We arranged the cage so he can still sunbathe in light coming through a window. I can't think of an attractive way to cover the window and frame with plexiglass. The porch where his play perch is located is a sun porch - all windows on 3 sides, and the windows are metal framed, so he can't chew them. He will get plenty of "window time."
All wall hangings removed. If he starts destroying the wall, we may have to but some kind of barrier between the cage and wall. We'll figure that out when it happens.
We've added a couple new toys to his cage area, as well. Thus far, he's barely noticed the move, but if worse comes to worse, and he becomes miserable being away from the window, we're prepared to have vinyl-clad windows installed, but I think this arrangement will work. Time will tell.

 

[Fergus Mom]

I'm not sure what you mean by "they don't sit that low"? you can position the wingdow anywhere in the window, away from the woodwork.

I guess I didn't see any that were situated just above the window sill, and the ones I saw in the pics at the site didn't go all the way across the window, so they might could still chew the corners is what I meant.

@issajoy That is exactly what I did in my 'bird window' - a tension rod! My niece was the one who thought of it, and I thought it was a great idea!