Maya is my 4 year old female B&G macaw that I've had since she was 4 months old. She's a smaller B&G, weighing about 950g, and is absolutely beautiful with so many shades of blue! I chose her out of 5 babies because she was the only one who wanted to step up and be pet the every time I interacted with her. I finished handfeeding and weaning her. She has never been clipped. She's still a big baby, so we'll see what changes are ahead for us!
The Good:
- She has never once pooped on me. Ever. For a bird who spends most of her time on me when she's not in her cage, this is absolutely crazy. She will hold it for as long as possible, then fly or run off of me to poop and then come back. I've never even had a poop on my sheets when she's on my bed! She goes all the way to the edge of the bed, stick her butt out as far as possible to poop on the newspaper below. I never taught this, she has done this since day 1 with me. She will also poop on command, but only if I hold her out as far from me as possible.
- On a related note, I've never had to actually train her. She picks things up naturally with zero effort on my part. She knows "come here" (recall), "go back" (fly to cage), "tree" (fly to the tree stand), "fly around" (fly from point A to A circling the room), "wings" (spread wings out), and "wave" (put foot up). Recall is near perfect (which helped me get her back when she flew off last year).
Wings!:
- She is an amazing flyer. 3.5' wingspan doesn't stop her from flying around inside a tiny apt with no problem, even through doors! She can turn on a dime and go wherever she wants. Last year when she was on her "adventure" while loose outside, I saw her outfly several angry crows when it was only her first time flying at full speed in the open sky.
- She is a pretty good talker with a super cute voice. I think she has said "hello" since I first brought her home. She tells herself "bad bird" after screaming or when she hears me or usually Jasper (my CAG) say "Stop! Shhhh... be quiet! Bad bird!" She says "bless you" after she sneezes and on her own started to say it every time I sneeze. And whenever she eats something tasty she says "mmmm!" When she's really excited she says, "look what I have!" and lots of other things. But she can't whistle at all, haha. She also laughs when I laugh. Maya also learns words from Jasper, like how to say "apple" when I give them apples.
- I haven't been bitten....yet. (I'm not stupid, I'm sure she will bite some day!) She gets beaky when she plays or when I hurt a pin feather, but it's pretty gentle. She apparently knows exactly how hard is too hard since she likes to gnaw on my fingers ALL the time. I don't even know how else to describe it besides gnaw, because it's exactly like a teething puppy gnawing at your hand minus the sharp little teeth. She will even say "ouch," "no bite," and "be gentle" while releasing me if she starts squeezing too hard, usually before I even have a chance to say it.
- She is the cuddliest, sweetest, most affectionate bird I've ever known. Cockatoos have nothing on her! Her favorite spot is right up against my face, sitting on my collar or squeezed in at my neck. She always makes sure to take breaks from preening herself to preen my hair and skin. She's obsessed with me having smooth skin, so if there are any scabs or flakes of dead skin, she tries to get them all as gently as possible. She also removes any feathers that gets on my face. In the early mornings and evenings, she will cuddle/preen on me for as long as I let her.
- She fetches ping pong balls, wrestles, and is really fun to play with physically. She rolls around and runs on the floor. She's like a little puppy! I can flip her over into any orientation and swing her around. She's big enough that I am not worried about being too rough and hurting her.
- I can touch her anywhere and everywhere and do anything to her. This means that I've never had to train or work her up to using an aviator harness. She just sits there while I put the whole contraption on her. I can pick her nose to clear any feather dander, reach in her bottom beak to grab something she shouldn't have put in her beak, play with her face wrinkles, lift her up and around... zero complaints.
- I was worried when we moved out to my small apt that our neighbors would complain. I ask everyone I see on the elevator and some people didn't even know there were birds in the building. Others say they only hear my birds in the summer while windows are open. She's actually mostly quiet and my grey definitely makes more noise throughout the day than she does. No noise in the morning until I come out of my bedroom. She only screams when she's upset that I'm not letting her out and occasionally when I leave. It lasts for 10 seconds at most. But since she's usually out when I'm home, it's not a problem. When we lived with my parents, they told me she was silent whenever I wasn't home. She has been louder and screaming more (both longer and more often) this spring, but it's tolerable.
The Bad:
- She is NEEDY. Thank goodness my grey is so independent and likes to do her own thing most of the time! Maya wants ALL my attention if I'm in sight unless she's distracted with food. She's a velcro bird. She NEEDS to be with me, on me when she's out of her cage and not eating or playing. She will follow me everywhere. I can't even go to the bathroom alone because she will follow me in and climb up my leg. And if both Maya and I are in the bathroom, Jasper flies in too. Why can't I shut the door? Read on!
- She is DESTRUCTIVE. I'm definitely not getting my pet deposit back! You turn your head for a few seconds and a chunk is missing out of your wall. I'm not kidding. There are chunks missing from every corner wall. I can't close the door because then she will dig into the trim. I think I can fill in the holes in the wall, but not wood trim so it's better to just keep every door open for her. Luckily, she doesn't go after furniture or any of my things.
- THE MESS! She started throwing her food around this year. Full bowl of pellets? Not for long because she sticks her beak in, shakes, and pellets go flying everywhere. But this isn't even as bad as the...
- ...Down feathers EVERYWHERE. African greys are known to be dusty? While Jasper may leave a bit of fine dust, there isn't much else unless she's moulting. Maya's sheds down feathers like an exploding pillow. I don't know if she plucks them out on purpose or if they are always loose, but there are white fuzzy pieces of down in varying sizes floating around my apt and getting on everything. It's also hard to vaccuum off fabrics because it clings, I have to use a lint roller on my couch! Then there's all the feather sheath particles and feathers while she's moulting. Big bird, lots of feathers!
- She does not like visitors. I live alone and she's my velcro bird, so I haven't had much opportunity to socialize her around other people. She doesn't like when I'm on the phone or video chatting - she gets loud and obnoxious because she wants my full attention. She scares my friends and my bf. She'll fly at them and beak/nip at them (doesn't actually bite, but it startles people a lot because her beak is so big). However, she steps up for confident bird people who obviously know how to handle large parrots. She also lets me set her down on some people and doesn't bother them as long as I'm right next to her. She takes food very gently from other people too, so hopefully I can work with her more on accepting others.
- She is LOUD. The worst is this super loud, super high pitched squeal that hurts my ears. Unfortunately Jasper has taken to copying her. The screams are ridiculously loud, but usually not continuous and it's more like a deeper wail/moan. Really annoying, but doesn't make me crazy like U2 screams.
- Most of all - having a large macaw really complicates my personal life. I was just out of college when I got her. On one hand, I'm glad I got her when I was young enough that she most likely won't outlive me. On the other hand, WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I definitely didn't think far enough ahead. Most people cannot handle her so it's pretty much impossible to find bird-sitters who can take her out of the cage when I leave town. I have to board her where people have experience with large macaws, which gets really expensive for long international trips and I travel often. All my housing decisions for the rest of our lives (since she has the lifespan comparable to what's left in mine) will be based on where Maya would be most comfortable. The part I really didn't foresee was how having her would affect my romantic relationships, especially when it comes to moving in together and/or moving somewhere together. Let's be honest, the great majority of people would hate living with a macaw. I don't even know what it will be like if I ever decide to have kids - I never thought I wanted them, but as I get older the idea doesn't seem so bad.
In summary - Maya is the feathered love of my life. I mean I LOVE Jasper, but Maya is admittedly my special one. We have this magical bond that I've never experienced with any other animal. When I thought I lost her last year, I hit rock bottom and it felt like my heart was gone. I didn't even realize until then just how attached I am to her. The worst part was thinking, "What am I going to do without her? We were supposed to grow old together!" I'm guessing that's how people feel when they may lose a spouse? Is this level of attachment to a bird even healthy? haha. She just adds a special kind of joy to my life. So I am willing to deal with anything and everything just to keep her and the good far outweighs the bad. However, it's only worth it because I already have her. I wouldn't recommend getting a large macaw to anyone! There are definitely days that I wish I had just gotten another grey as a second bird instead because it would have been so much easier in every way imaginable.
That was a lot longer than I expected it to be, but it should cover everything. I'll eventually update this with pics and videos to go along with each of the points. It'll probably need another update as she matures too.