Hand fed baby vs adult rehome/adoption

[alshgs]

I have read the good, the bad and the ugly about large macaws several times. I'm aware of the differences/challenges that can happen with babies vs adults. The problem I'm having is about greenwings. I see so many horror stories about them when they reach sexual maturity. I've had my heart set on a greenwing or a shamrock and have done more extensive research than I ever have when it comes to big macs, even though I have a lot of experience with them. I've signed up with 2 different rescues and take both of their classes online this weekend. However I did have someone reach out via a post I made on facebook and they have baby greenwings. I plan on still taking the classes as I know that it can take a few months or more for macaws to be fully weaned. I have never had to train my birds (or even the macaws) I have had in the past and I know I plan on doing it no matter which way I go. But the question still remains, how bad is the maturity of an adult greenwing? I want to be able to build that trust and bond with him/her but I also know that I will probably get my feelings hurt when maturity hits. I'm not scared of the bites, I've been bitten and had blood drawn, bruises, soreness, etc and I rarely let birds on my shoulder because of the potential damage to my face that one can do, especially one as large as a greenwing. I know most will say to wait for the rescues to find a home for a macaw (obviously since there are tons of them in rescues) but I mainly just want to know how bad it can be for a greenwing if I did decide to go that route. I don't want to wind up with an overly aggressive bird if I can help it.

 

[Shezbug]

Some good reading here that may be of help Baby to adult. Will they still love me?

 

[melissasparrots]

I don't have a green wing. But, a good question to ask is about the sex of the bird. If I were to get a green wing, I'd probably only consider a female unless I met a very mature adult male that I happened to just really hit it off with over the course of several visits and in different situations. I haven't so far met any adult females that totally lost it at maturity. I have met several people online with males who say they are quite the aggressive challenge. Green wings tend to like me even though so far I've resisted getting one.

 

[Sarah13]

Greenwings are, hands down, my favorite species!
I've primarily adopted, fostered, and trained adult GWs, but may possibly be taking on another chick for this year, so it'll be nice to have a baby around again.

Each bird is an individual but thus far, out of all of the pure species and hybrids I've owned and or worked with, they have been the most stoic in regards to their noise and reactivity levels.
They are exceptionally powerful in terms of their noise and bite capacity but they fortunately do not seem to have the strong proclivity to display this in excess unless something exceptional is going on.

If you're on the fence, adopting an adult will allow you to see what you're going to get. You just may have behavioral and or health things to consider and or work on.
If you're comfortable in your training skillset and husbandry knowledge, a health tested and genetically cleared baby will be a clean slate for you to, in large part, shape and create the bird you want.

Congratulations though!
Either way, you are going to absolutely love your new Greenwing.