Macaws and children

[Merlie]

My thing with kids is .. they often hear what you're saying, but feel the need to test things out for themselves anyway.

My nephew came to visit about 2 summers ago, now he's not a toddler, he was 10. Of course, he was intrigued with the birds, and I point blank told him "If you stick your fingers, face, toes ..etc., into a cage, you will get bit, you will bleed and it will hurt" .. no uncertain terms about the consequences. His father <my brother> assured me his child would listen, and respect rules.

Yeah, right .. 6 hours into the visit, he decided to test the theory with my Cakes. Definitely picked the WRONG birds to mess with. Needless to say, after the Cakes proved my cautions, we didn't have another incident. It was a painful lesson to be sure.

I personally, have NEVER met a child who just has to test things out for themselves, you can preach, warn, beg, threaten, but odds are, you tell them NOT to do something, and they're going to try to do it anyway.

I've never felt kids and large birds mix .. at all, but that's just me. Heck, even my little Quakers can give quite a nip if provoked, to a child, a small Quaker bite can be the end of the world, but ... at least not the end of a finger, or a nasty facial scar, unlike what a big beak can do.

There's just so much intense supervision .. kids and birds will do the darnest things, and in just a split second, a blink .. trouble can happen.

I say, when little kids are about, stick to the species that don't have the ability to serious and permanent damage, although, the sad flip side to that is .. many smaller birds get killed by kids who just don't know how to handle them or get overly excited. I've heard some really sad stories on that front as well.

 

[melissasparrots]

My parents had cockatiels before they got the cockatoo. We all knew the potential for the bite, so it was never very tempting to push our luck with the big bird. I don't recall ever sticking my hand in his cage and I don't think my brother did either.
Melissa

 

[Ziggymon]

I have Sozzie and I have Layne (my daughter is almost 3). Sozzie doesn't LOVE being held by her, etc but he is respectful, preens her, and plays with her from his cage. He secretly really likes her it isn't for everyone, but as long as your child is respectful, and you watch them cautiously, it can work.

And Sozzie is a baby himself. As Holiday and others have said, a bird changes when adulthood hits.

There are so many threads where people are getting rid of their birds because they've reached the hormonal years, and/or they have started going after a member of the household. With adults, you can reach a concensus beforehand that you will make accommodations so that the bird doesn't suffer if she/he suddenly takes a dislike to one of the members of the household. When it's a child/children suddenly at risk, the equation changes.

 

[65sunnyday]

When it comes to a showdown between the kids or the bird, the bird always looses. Always. Rescues are full of them. Please reconsider, & go for a parrot w/a gentle nature, & a smaller beak!

 

[Zeb]

My daughter is 2, and I have one on the way. I have 5 macaws, among the other birds.

Zoe has been great with the birds....she really loves them. In fact, she carries some of them ( not the macaws ) around, and greets them every morning by reciting their names. That's impressive for a 2 year old to know 20 birds names. I will also let her play catch with them....she holds a wiffle ball, and I hold her....she gives it to them to throw, and everyone has a good time.

Anyways, the macaws do not bother her. She will come up to their cage and show them her doll, or say hello, but they stay on their perch and ignore her. If they were to get down on the grate and act aggressively, I would just make sure she isn't around them.

On that note, the birds are in a bird room so she doesn't go in there without me being there first. I can't say every macaw would do the same....but I've had good luck. I think the fact that I have bird rooms is the biggest help - there is never a time where she can put her hands in a cage without me knowing.

 

[MacDaddie]

My daughter is 2, and I have one on the way. I have 5 macaws, among the other birds.

Zoe has been great with the birds....she really loves them. In fact, she carries some of them ( not the macaws ) around, and greets them every morning by reciting their names. That's impressive for a 2 year old to know 20 birds names. I will also let her play catch with them....she holds a wiffle ball, and I hold her....she gives it to them to throw, and everyone has a good time.

Anyways, the macaws do not bother her. She will come up to their cage and show them her doll, or say hello, but they stay on their perch and ignore her. If they were to get down on the grate and act aggressively, I would just make sure she isn't around them.

On that note, the birds are in a bird room so she doesn't go in there without me being there first. I can't say every macaw would do the same....but I've had good luck. I think the fact that I have bird rooms is the biggest help - there is never a time where she can put her hands in a cage without me knowing.

Your daughter is adorable!! Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos...

 

[beakybirdie]

First off, Zeb, your daughter is adorable!

And secondly, I grew up with a blue and gold macaw. I do mean I grew up with, he was there before I was. I was pretty much taught never ever to stick anything in the cage and that I was not allowed within three feet of his cage at all times without supervision. Bogie was jealous at first but Mom slowly introduced us at a young age, he loved to wander around on the floor and she just stuck him there. He never really bothered me and I him. When I hit middle school age was when I really pushed to interact with him and at that point Mom decided that it was my choice. He and I grew into great friends, a few bites but that happens to everyone.

As long as the child is taught respect from the get go, to respect every living being around them, they should be OK. Not every macaw is able to handle the ruckus of a child growing up around them. Blue and golds seem to be the most likely, as they are bold and outgoing as a species trait. If you are really worried that you won't be able to watch a child around the bird, don't get one. It's your responsibility to keep both the bird and the child safe.

Also, a macaw can't take a finger off. They can break little finger bones and take easily chunks of skin off but they can't remove a finger. Yes they can break broom handles and what not, but that's wood. Their beaks are meant to destroy wood Most macaw bites are quick pinches or a quick, deep sort of crushing bite.

 

[Jazzysmama]

I owned a severe macaw at one time and I took one severe bite from him. He was ill when we adopted him not knowing it, the vet was not able to save him. I have never forgotten how painful that bite was, this could do great harm to a child. I agree with another member, getting a bird too small can be a bad thing too, the bird can be injured. We had that very thing happen with a parakeet and we ended up losing it due to an injury from one of my kids. After this sad and tragic accident, I vowed never to have a bird while my kids were so young. I had a total of 6 kids and it was impossible to have an eye on all of them at the same time. You can supervise your children, but please remember that it only takes a split second for a bite to occur. I think your children are too young for a macaw in the home, this could spell disaster and in the end, this precious macaw will end up needing rehomed. I don't even feel a quaker is great for children, some birds become very cage aggressive and they are one of them. I wouldn't trust my quaker Breeze around a child for even a minute. Painful bites can cause a child to be petrified of an animal for life. I was bit by a dog when young, to this day I literally go into an anxiety attack if I meet a strange dog loose on the street. My quaker is now entering into adulthood, he will be a year the first of June and his hormones are literally racing. He acts totally different from the quaker I had as a little baby. Also, he is not a calm passive bird, he is high strung and very hyper. Breeze reminds me of the energizer bunny. I've taken quite a few bites to the face lately. Cage aggression has really escalated with him. This can happen to any size bird, not just a macaw. Please think very hard before you make this decision. Everyone has given you great advice. My biggest concern is that you aren't going to be able to watch your child every second of the day when you have that many children. I'd hate to see a macaw rehomed or a child injured. You also need to take into account the noise level of a macaw. Are you ready to have a large bird screaming at the tops of it's lungs while your children are trying to nap? My home is never quiet and my birds are small, but the noise level is very loud around here. A macaw's screech is ear piercing, IMO. With very small children and very large beaks, you will be taking a risk. Some have had great success sharing their home with both, but I myself would not want to take that risk, I would wait until my children were older and more responsible. I hope we've helped you in your decision.

 

[Bokkapooh]

First off, Zeb, your daughter is adorable!

And secondly, I grew up with a blue and gold macaw. I do mean I grew up with, he was there before I was. I was pretty much taught never ever to stick anything in the cage and that I was not allowed within three feet of his cage at all times without supervision. Bogie was jealous at first but Mom slowly introduced us at a young age, he loved to wander around on the floor and she just stuck him there. He never really bothered me and I him. When I hit middle school age was when I really pushed to interact with him and at that point Mom decided that it was my choice. He and I grew into great friends, a few bites but that happens to everyone.

As long as the child is taught respect from the get go, to respect every living being around them, they should be OK. Not every macaw is able to handle the ruckus of a child growing up around them. Blue and golds seem to be the most likely, as they are bold and outgoing as a species trait. If you are really worried that you won't be able to watch a child around the bird, don't get one. It's your responsibility to keep both the bird and the child safe.

Also, a macaw can't take a finger off. They can break little finger bones and take easily chunks of skin off but they can't remove a finger. Yes they can break broom handles and what not, but that's wood. Their beaks are meant to destroy wood Most macaw bites are quick pinches or a quick, deep sort of crushing bite.

My coworkers got her finger broke by a green winged macaw. Two fractures in that finger. I could only imagine if that was a young child's hand. If birds can bite eachother toes off, a young child's fingers wouldn't be too hard.

 

[Saemma]

Personally, I feel very uncomfortable allowing most adults to handle my severe macaw so I definitely wouldn't allow any children to come in to physical contact with her. She is not mean in the slightest way but she does use her beak to communicate and her bites are extremely powerful.

With that said, I will have children one day and I will do my darndest to make it work for everybody, but that's me and I'm aware of my limits.

 

[melissasparrots]

My coworkers got her finger broke by a green winged macaw. Two fractures in that finger. I could only imagine if that was a young child's hand. If birds can bite eachother toes off, a young child's fingers wouldn't be too hard.

I'm sitting her with a slow finger thanks to a hyacinth bite when she was about 6-8 months old. She wasn't even trying to be aggressive, I just didn't have good hyacinth handling skills right at first and she grabed me in play. Raked her lower mandible over the joint. I'm not sure what she did to it because I never went to the doc. It swelled, turned purple and the joint hurt for 3 months. Then it was fine for 5 years. About a month ago for no apparent reason the same joint started hurting again. I think I have a little arthritis. If I don't flex that finger often enough it gets stiff. For a few days there it hurt almost as much as when she first got me.
Melissa

 

[Bokkapooh]

Youch, Melissa. I can imagine the pain. The deep muscular bites are hard enough. I don't want to think about bones breaking or dislocated joints. Maybe that's what you have? A dislocated joint in your finger? Or the cartilage is misplaced?

 

[Karen]

Most macaw bites are quick pinches or a quick, deep sort of crushing bite.

My only Macaw experience are Greenwinged Macaws. I have a fully matured male here. His bites are not at all what you describe. He can grab onto my entire arm, bite, bite down and bite down harder if he feels he didn't get his point across. A quick pinch is every day playtime to him.

 

[Ziggymon]

Someone I know (in fact, I suspect she's the friend that Carole referred to in her post) had her upper arm broken by, if I remember correctly, a greenwing macaw. She said the bite went so deep and hard that his beak was stuck in her bone. And she is not a petite woman. I gather that the same bird broke a bone in her face - possibly her jaw - I'm afraid I don't remember exactly.

That's the power of a large macaw. The bites most of us receive are playful, not intended to seriously hurt, but even those are painful, would be traumatic to a child, and could cause considerably greater damage to a small child than to an adult like us, who knows how to keep the situation from escalating further.

 

[Jazzysmama]

My macaw's bites were not quick, he wouldn't let go once he got a hold of me. Even small birds won't let go sometimes, I fostered one that just dug deeper and i couldn't get him off. I wear the scars from it.

 

[Merlie]

Not a Mac, but an M2, my ex-husband's .. got me many years ago, underside of my left arm, triceps area. 8 stitches, and permanent nerve damage in my left arm, almost 20 yrs. later, I still can't fully extend that arm, and now that I'm older .. it hurts much more often than it used to.

 

[65sunnyday]

Does anyone have any experience with having a macaw and small children? I have three - seven, five, and three. I'd love to have a macaw, but I have concern that one of my children might poke at the bird one time too many and it would take a finger off. If anyone has both the bird and children, how do you prevent this from happening?

I hope none of us turned you off to acquiring a parrot--in my earlier reply, my reasons given were all 'parrot' oriented, but really, it's for the children's sake. I do home daycare, & my 6 year old Sun Conure has to be caged while the children are here, as at sexual maturity he became, first, possessive of me, & a year later, he began attacking ANYONE who came into our house, even if he had been friendly towards them before. All that being said, Nicky IS not only tolerant of my husband, he is very friendly towards him, providing he doesn't try to take Nicky off my shoulder. I do believe Sun Conures, if consciously worked with, can & should remain friendly with the whole family, w/the possible exception of breeding season. Then, all bets are off! If you like the look of macaws (body shape) & don't mind loudness, you really can't beat Aratinga Conures (Sun, Jenday, Gold-capped, Nanday, & Blue Crowned.) They can be very family-oriented, & make excellent watchdogs! And if you can't tolerate a Sun or Nanday's call you'll know a big bird is not for you. And a Sun is spectacularly gorgeous! By the time your youngest is ~10, then it might be time to look into owning a macaw. I'm really chuffed that you've researched this, & not impulse-bought. Kudos to you!

 

[Jazzysmama]

Not a Mac, but an M2, my ex-husband's .. got me many years ago, underside of my left arm, triceps area. 8 stitches, and permanent nerve damage in my left arm, almost 20 yrs. later, I still can't fully extend that arm, and now that I'm older .. it hurts much more often than it used to.[/QUOO

Oh wow, that is horrible!

 

[applejack]

I have a macaw, an eclectus parrot and a three-year-old. It works, but I am very careful all the time.

I would not have a macaw and a small child unless you can provide a space for your macaw that can be closed off from your children. I have a room dedicated for my macaw and I have child-proof latches on the door so that my daughter cannot enter. My daughter does not go near the bird unless I am present, and even then she does not touch her. When my macaw is out of her cage, she is on a raised playstand so my child cannot reach her, and the macaw and my child are never ever left alone together. Ever. Not even while I run to the bathroom. Things can go wrong in less than a moment. I deal with it and I make it work, but honestly, it isn't for everyone. I only have one child, she's fairly calm and well-mannered, I don't intend on having more children, and I will not have more birds. So that's my situation and why I can manage it. I'm also a married, stay-at-home mother so I can divide my time up between my daughter and my bird and feel like I'm giving everyone enough time and attention, and my husband helps as well.

 

[SunUp]

I met a woman who had a GW macaw for many years. As the years went on, and the macaw matured, it became increasingly jealous of the woman's child. The woman was very careful, but not careful enough, and eventually "it" happened...the macaw bit the child and broke her collar bone! Obviously, this was the woman's fault for not preventing it, but the point is it's very difficult to always supervise perfectly, day after day, year after year. One slip, and something bad can happen.

I would encourage you to wait until your children are older...maybe a lot older.