Well Sergio and Tango have been in our lives for only 60 some hours and have already made an impact on our lives. These are magnificent creatures there is no doubt about that. The sad thing is that someone, somewhere decided to try to make these guys pets. Not just these guys but all macaws in general. They belong in the treetops not apartments. But the decision was made a long time ago and thankfully rescues like us are here to pick up the pieces.
Being a bonded pair we have decided not to split them up, which is going to make placing them in a good home more difficult but it is a commitment for what is best for the birds. It means that they might be with me for a while. Or until I get kicked out of my neighborhood. (sort of kidding).
These guys are amazing. I could watch them for hours. They have spend most of each day in my outdoor aviary and LOVE it so If you are thinking of adopting these guys I would plan on getting one it is almost mandatory and for 2 birds this size they need a space to stretch their wings. Sergio can fly really well and while landing is an adventure, it is beautiful to watch. Today he flew all the way into the living room and right out my window into the aviary! Sadly Tango's wings are clipped (butchered really) so he can't fly at the moment but maybe when those flight feathers regrow.
The biggest adjustments for me have been the noise and the squabbling. I have had many bonded pairs and they all squabble it is just how they are. But there is a huge difference between my budgies squabbles and a couple of 2.5lb huge beak macaws squabbling. The first day I saw this I was thinking this was a major fight:
A panic text to Karrie later, and nope just macaws being macaws. Wow. OK major over reaction, but but it is all about the learning right? They do this frequently as they joust for space or whatever. Now it just interesting to watch. The second issue is the noise. Boy Howdy, these guys are loud! It's going to take a while to train them out of the screaming for attention. And how do you do that you say? Well you ignore it. Yeah let me tell you its hard. Real hard. Like quitting smoking hard, if the smokes screamed at you to smoke them hard. but to do anything else serves to reward them. I'll have to let you know later how its going...
Speaking of training, I started target training with these guys today. Tango got it really quick. Touch the stick get a treat. Easy Peasy. Sergio was afraid of the stick. Nothing doing. But then I realized I was standing between the two birds and they couldn't see what the other one was doing. Once I moved and Sergio saw that Tango got a treat just for touching the stick it suddenly wasn't so scary. Here are a couple of pics to tide you over till my next post:
