Can you train macaws to not scream?

[hrafn]

From an outside observer who have watched many of these "pets". Large birds are obviously intelligent as you guys know. But I really think there is a breakdown in our own intelligence here. The "owners" of these birds perceive their existence through their own experience. They anthropomorphize their companion. And these intelligent beings do their best to be in their twisted, enclosed world.

But an intelligent being, a wild creature, non domesticated, shoved in a confined space goes insane. These guys are meant to be completely free. They are centient beings. They CHOOSE what they do, no different that we do.

When I see when a large bird in a cage, I CRY. Literally. You say, well, they know no different. My bird only knows the cage and house when I decide. You know, a human can be conditioned the same. Keep a baby in a small hut. Teach it to only to wash your dishes as they are passed through a hole and it will do that to death, thinking that is life. But humans are meant for that.

And even more so large birds aren't meant to be confined. You have restricted their number 1 construct of being! They cannot fly free and BE a goddamn bird! It is built so deeply in their genes...you haven't touched it at all with domestication.

That is why they "seem" insane. THEY ARE. You have an intelligent animal in complete stress at all times that you are torturing. Shooting them would be a relief. Letting them go to live for 1 single day would make you an angel. Please pay the meaningless money to get "your" animal to relief program. Yes, these dudes are smart enough to go back.

 

[Hawk12237]

Macaws loud? Train them not to be? Haha

My neighbor in Nevada had 2 pairs. She once had the police called....someone heard someone being murdered!
You can guess the stories the police told forever after.

Nights are good most of the time. Most birds sleep.
My GW in not a noisy bird, but when he sets off, you can hear him 4 houses down the road.

Train a macaw to be quiet? Bhaa ha ha ha ha haaaaaa. There is no such thing! But I'm all ears If there's a way.
Oh I used to have 911 on speed dial....never again! Zon once dialed 911 ( hit the speed dial number) and lo and behold John law shows up!

 

[Hawk12237]

From an outside observer who have watched many of these "pets". Large birds are obviously intelligent as you guys know. But I really think there is a breakdown in our own intelligence here. The "owners" of these birds perceive their existence through their own experience. They anthropomorphize their companion. And these intelligent beings do their best to be in their twisted, enclosed world.

But an intelligent being, a wild creature, non domesticated, shoved in a confined space goes insane. These guys are meant to be completely free. They are centient beings. They CHOOSE what they do, no different that we do.

When I see when a large bird in a cage, I CRY. Literally. You say, well, they know no different. My bird only knows the cage and house when I decide. You know, a human can be conditioned the same. Keep a baby in a small hut. Teach it to only to wash your dishes as they are passed through a hole and it will do that to death, thinking that is life. But humans are meant for that.

And even more so large birds aren't meant to be confined. You have restricted their number 1 construct of being! They cannot fly free and BE a goddamn bird! It is built so deeply in their genes...you haven't touched it at all with domestication.

That is why they "seem" insane. THEY ARE. You have an intelligent animal in complete stress at all times that you are torturing. Shooting them would be a relief. Letting them go to live for 1 single day would make you an angel. Please pay the meaningless money to get "your" animal to relief program. Yes, these dudes are smart enough to go back.

Is it st. Paddies day already? what the heck are you smoking?? buddy do us all a favor and find another forum to vent on against humans with birds and forget you ever came to avian avenue!
For one we are giving out birds a life they may not ever have a chance at in their natural habitat because it's destroyed constantly!! African greys are killed at a rate of 300 per day! Macaws are not far behind.
So do us a favor and leave, or I'll stick my birds on you!!

 

[Birdbrain7878]

To equate an African grey in a tiny cage to saving a species is disgusting. I've met these African greys. They are living in torture. It is the same as taking you and confining you to never walk. Literally never walk from birth. Yes, we feed you. Yes, some birds drop you food pellets from above. Maybe we give you a mirror on occasion and damn, do you get excited when you see another human. Omg, that is so funny how excited you get but you so LOVE the birds that drop your pellets. Omg, your squawking as you sleep doesn't mean anything. You are perfectly happy.

 

[Fuzzy]

In an ideal world we wouldn't keep parrots as pets. But this is what humans have done. The ones bred in captivity wouldn't survive if let free - easy pickings for birds of prey. We do our best for them - this is why this forum exists.

 

[Peachfaced]

Mod here.

Please stay on topic. If you can't answer the original poster's questions sensibly, I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.

 

[HolliDaze]

To equate an African grey in a tiny cage to saving a species is disgusting. I've met these African greys. They are living in torture. It is the same as taking you and confining you to never walk. Literally never walk from birth. Yes, we feed you. Yes, some birds drop you food pellets from above. Maybe we give you a mirror on occasion and damn, do you get excited when you see another human. Omg, that is so funny how excited you get but you so LOVE the birds that drop your pellets. Omg, your squawking as you sleep doesn't mean anything. You are perfectly happy.

Birdbrain, I'm not sure where you're from, but we generally find that kind of treatment of birds horrendous here. Maybe you we under the impression that we don't think you should let your bird out of its cage. Most of us here think they should get as much time out as possible. I encourage my bird to fly. I don't "confine him never to walk" (I assume you are equating that to flying).

 

[HolliDaze]

Mod here.

Please stay on topic. If you can't answer the original poster's questions sensibly, I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.

Gotcha.


Birdbrain, if you wish really to discuss this, you'd better start a thread.

 

[Hawk12237]

In an ideal world we wouldn't keep parrots as pets. But this is what humans have done. The ones bred in captivity wouldn't survive if let free - easy pickings for birds of prey. We do our best for them - this is why this forum exists.

Very true, but sometimes many bird species are harvested on the black market, some are pouched for food and slaughtered, some are harvested as babies and illegally sold to other countries...when poachers are intercepted, we can't always take them back to where their nest is, so we are forced to save them.
It's sad, very sad to see on a video I watched about it.... I look at my grey and think wow, buddy I'm glad your here with me...I love him to bits!!!
And to think he could have gone thru that, and have a slim chance.

 

[rocky'smom]

Nope, nada, ain't happening. I don't have a macaw, but I've gotten to work with them as volunteer. When they decide to use their voice, its going be LOUD & PROUD!!!!!!
And when they are quiet, you had better go see what they are into, just like human children.

 

[Shezbug]

Nope, nada, ain't happening. I don't have a macaw, but I've gotten to work with them as volunteer. When they decide to use their voice, its going be LOUD & PROUD!!!!!!
And when they are quiet, you had better go see what they are into, just like human children.

Lol, I love the loud and proud explaination. That is what I often say to Burt when he decides to let everyone know he knows how to make noise, he is quiet a lot of the time and makes nice quiet cute sounds an awful lot too, but......boy does he ever look sooo very proud of himself when he gets loud! When he gets loud I can hear him from streets away.

 

[geff]

Modify birds behaviour is possible, but it can be a long-term project. When the bird screams, say nothing and move out of the room, don't slam doors or make a sound and stay out of room until the bird is quiet. Return to the room with a treat say hello and nice words, and repeat this over and over till the bird realises that when it screams it has no company, when quiet it gets a treat and spoken to nicely and company. This does work, and you must be persistent and keep it up. It will work, but how long it takes depends upon the both of you being consistent and single minded. Good luck.

 

[Duel]

Oh are you guys serious about their screams being able to break glass? If so then wow, my cousins scarlet had loud screams and was always next to a window but he never broke them.

 

[hrafn]

Oh are you guys serious about their screams being able to break glass? If so then wow, my cousins scarlet had loud screams and was always next to a window but he never broke them.

Noooo no no, just a figure of speech! Though it certainly feels like they can rupture eardrums, lol.

 

[Hawk12237]

Nope, nada, ain't happening. I don't have a macaw, but I've gotten to work with them as volunteer. When they decide to use their voice, its going be LOUD & PROUD!!!!!!
And when they are quiet, you had better go see what they are into, just like human children.

Ahhh ha!! Yes! When they are super quiet, they are into something! My grey was playing in potted plant dirt!!! Throwing the dirt out of the house plant....aaahhhhhh!!! What a mess he made! Just like children, likes to play in the dirt.

 

[Hawk12237]

Oh are you guys serious about their screams being able to break glass? If so then wow, my cousins scarlet had loud screams and was always next to a window but he never broke them.

ok maybe a phrase of speach, but they can be loud like in LOUD!! Shatter glass, lol...who knows?
My wife wants to jump out the window when they get screaming.....does that count????

 

[SherLar]

Koko is pretty darned quiet. We believe she had a pretty strict training regime while growing up. We believe she may have been squirted with a water bottle for calling, getting off her cage, shredding paper, or anything other than sitting pretty on her cage. She never bites. So in one sense they did a great job for the first 26 yrs of her live. In another sense, she was an ornament and knew nothing of being a macaw. We are the third new home in less than 3 yrs. We now have her bathing and getting off her cage, and some calling. With this we have let the worms out of the can and she has learned to shred and steal things that are not her. Quite frustrating at times and have had nice things destroyed within seconds, but I am not sorry we have given her these new freedoms in her life. She is now referred to as the destroyer of beautiful things.

So think about the good and the bad and see how it balances in your world.

sherri

 

[$arge]

I wish! Nah.

Oftentimes, excessive screaming is due to boredom, stress, fear, lack of attention, and other factors that can be remedied by proper husbandry. However, all birds are going to vocalise, and a macaw's joyous cries aren't anything to sniff at. Some birds are also much more vocal than others, for no other reason than their personality.

My macaw Taco will scream at least four times a day -- and that's just his full-blown, glass-shattering screams. Even his happy, playful chattering can be super loud, and because he's not doing anything wrong by vocalising in these situations, there's no reason to try to train it out of him (and doing so would almost certainly do more harm than good).

Macaws are huge birds, and they come with huge voices. If that level of noise isn't within your comfort zone, then a macaw is not a good choice for you.

Best advice on Macaw’s right here .....

 

[Hawk12237]

Koko is pretty darned quiet. We believe she had a pretty strict training regime while growing up. We believe she may have been squirted with a water bottle for calling, getting off her cage, shredding paper, or anything other than sitting pretty on her cage. She never bites. So in one sense they did a great job for the first 26 yrs of her live. In another sense, she was an ornament and knew nothing of being a macaw. We are the third new home in less than 3 yrs. We now have her bathing and getting off her cage, and some calling. With this we have let the worms out of the can and she has learned to shred and steal things that are not her. Quite frustrating at times and have had nice things destroyed within seconds, but I am not sorry we have given her these new freedoms in her life. She is now referred to as the destroyer of beautiful things.

So think about the good and the bad and see how it balances in your world.

sherri

There are many beautiful years ahead of you with koko, many pictures and memories that will come of it good or bad at times, it's memories that will forever be cherished.
My grey we had since birth, now 7, doesn't know the meaning of biting. He never bites. He knows beak pressure, when using his beak to grab into you to step up. My senny and Zon on other hand can draw blood of in a bad mood.
They all get into things, steal things, and rip things up in seconds. My senny, birdell, or as my wife calls him, bird hel# , as little as he is, thinks he's a macaw, or big bird. A big bird attitude. Can easily turn a square table round in minutes!!! This we nicked named him "buzz saw" the piranha!!! You have no idea how this little squirt can really chew up stuff......he does the job of 5 parrots easily!!! Or will open cage to red factor canary and climb in and sit with him. Never hurts the canary, but we stopped him of that.For a little bird like a senny, they can scream too... !!
My grey, he's another one that gets into stuff, magazines, books, paper, all shreaded, ( who needs a paper sherdder!) Plays in the dirt of house plants, steals the dogs toys, stuff like that. My white budgie, plays hide and seek so you have to figure out what curtain rod he's sitting on.
My Zon, the noisy one, chews up closet door in bird room. Made a nest actually in closet!! So yea, perfectly know the ups and downs of parrots, in the end, it's cherished memories!

 

[Duel]

Well then here's another question. Would this cage be a good size for a scarlet or should I get something bigger? If it is a good size then are the bars a good size or too small?
Best Choice Products 68in Durable Bird Cage w/ Long Wooden Perch, Play Area, Feeding Bowls, Doors, and Rolling Wheels - Black - Walmart.com