flyzipper
Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Observations of my two (which is a very small sample), and as you've stated, "Personalities vary so much"...
| Jericho | Oscar | |
| Species | Severe | Military |
| Age | 14 | 9 |
| Gender | male | male |
| Weight | 460g | 900g |
| History | was the only bird in his former household; came to me because he chased the previous owner's grand kids | was in a small flock of 8 other macaws; came to me because the previous owner wanted to down-size their numbers |
| Personality | Enjoys being close to me no matter what I'm doing, or where I'm doing it. Behaves as if he wishes he was still the only bird, but tolerates my other two. Tends to get jealous when I'm paying attention to Oscar, but otherwise everyone coexists. Dominant but not aggressive (my sense is he doesn't understand flock dynamics) | Quite an independent fellow, who is quite content to be close enough to observe what's going on, even if he's not super close or participating. Passive and submissive (my sense is he understands flock dynamics, and most of his former flock mates out-weighed him)... he'll even duck when my little conure does a fly-by that's too close. |
| Play | Doesn't play much with toys, despite having access to them and my attempts to teach him how. Likes knocking over block structures that I build on the floor. Chews rope perches. Likes when I preen him. | Loves destroying wood block toys, and shredding paper rope. Plays with a ball on the floor. Tolerates when I preen him. |
| Flight | Came to me un-flighted (I don't know how long he was clipped), but has fully regrown his wings. He will fly when he's motivated to be closer to where I am, but is otherwise quite lazy (he won't fly to his food or water station on his own, for example). | Came to me un-flighted after a failed rehome with a flipper who had clipped his wings, but he was fully flighted with his flock mates. He's mostly regrown them, and will fly when he wants to get back to his favourite perch. My observation is that smaller birds will fly more, but none of them make a sport of it... they need a reason and motivation to. |
| Vocabulary | Hello, hi (excitedly), bye (usually with a single foot wave), I love... (waits for 'Jericho' as a response), good boy, good girl, step up, here ya go, wow, stop it, stop. Talks mostly right before bed, and it's a ritual that we speak until he's done. | Hello, hello Oscar, good boy Oscar, up up!, come on, *click click click*, quiet! (when Jericho is yelling), oww!, and many other mumbles (usually in a conversation with himself himself) |
| Noise | Usually some yelling in the morning as they get woken up, but nothing excessive. My home is fairly quiet, and I don't reinforce yelling with attention, so he's not noisy by most definitions. | same |
| Mess | Doesn't shred many toys, and eats at a designated location, so not much mess. | 2x the size and 4x the mess (mostly due to his wood block and paper rope shredding). |
| Beak/bite | Slight bite when we were first together and I startled him, but hasn't since. Good understanding of appropriate bite pressure. Will occasionally nip at my shoulder if he's in a situation where he's uncertain/scared and wants me to "deal with it". Does the macaw bluff/lunge in situations where he's unsure. | When we were first together, his bite pressure was uncomfortably firm, but he never tried to bite me. Now that he's learned to trust, and knows that I will listen when he "beaks" me, there is very little pressure applied at all. |
| Step up | Understands the request, and lifts a foot for a foot-first step-up as a response to either a verbal cue or hand gesture. | same |
| Shoulder | He likes being on my shoulder, sometimes flies to it, but isn't obsessed with being there. His size makes him "disappear" and go largely unnoticed when he's there. Comes off easily when requested. | Neither of us really like him being on my shoulder (even though I'm 198cm, it's obvious that I have a passenger when he's up there), but he enjoys spending time on my back when I'm laying on the floor or sofa. Comes off easily when requested. |
| Clicker training | Used early on to build trust, and establish basic communication, and he responded with slight aggression to the pointer (at first). | Used early on to build trust, and establish basic communication, and he responded with slight confusion to the pointer (at first). |
| Hormones | Tends to want to nest, find dark places... including being obsessed with getting inside my hoodie. | Nothing noteworthy. |
| Dog | Would prefer if my dog would go far away, "bluff lunges" when she gets too close (likely related to his desire to be the "only bird"). | Doesn't pay attention to my dog (previous owner had dogs, so this is likely a nurture thing, rather than nature). |
| Other people | Will wave bye, and show off a little as long as they don't get too close. Doesn't appear to like kids. I live alone, with few visitors, so he doesn't get well socialized. He enjoyed going for car rides to the local bird shop before Covid, and did fine in that situation (in a neutral location), but is more territorial at home. | Not much experience here, although he came from a home with 5 kids, and often spent time at the previous owner's place of business where people came and went frequently, so he's probably accustomed to other people. |
I suppose the TL;DR summary is that nurture shapes them more than nature in my experience.
(so seek to understand history as much as possible, but as @Hankmacaw said... patience & time can overcome)
Feel free to ask me anything.
Good luck with your search.
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