Military Macaw wont stop squawking.

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Military Macaw wont stop squawking.

by lindi Kennedy
(Mapleton ut)

I have a 14 week old Military Macaw that wont stop squawking. He goes in phases. We got him a huge cage that we hardly keep him in only at night. Eats veggies, fruit, seeds, nuts and kaytee exact formula. His feathers are also ruffled a lot when hes in his squawking phases. He does tend to bob his head up and down as well.

At first when we got him we thought this problem would go away. Hes not shy with us at all. Loves to cuddle. I put him in the shower with me . . he watches me cook, clean and watch tv. We do have 2 dogs that dont really bother him at all. I thought it was from bordem but I have spent hours with him daily teaching him to say words and showing him new toys. He eats and drinks just fine. Im not sure whats going on with him or what we can do to fix it. Any advise would be awesome!

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Military Macaw wont stop squawking.

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Oct 18, 2011

Military Macaw wont stop squawking.
by: Linda

Squawking and bobbing the head are signs of a baby bird needing to be fed. I suggest you stop with all the fruit, seeds and nuts and concentrate on the handfeeding formula. At this age, he needs possibly 3 handfeeds a day while he is exploring weaning foods. He needs about 120cc/ml per feeding which would be two 60cc/ml syringes at each feeding or as much of them as he will eat. I don't know much about Kaytee formula, and if you'd like to change, there are a couple out here.

He will not be fully ready to begin weaning until around 6 months. The larger birds take longer to wean, and in the wild the mother macaw feeds her babies up to a year old while teaching them to forage for food.

Your baby also needs to be weaned onto organic pellets like Harrison's found here along with a couple of other kinds. Stop with the seeds and definately stop the nuts entirely as these are low in protein and high in fat which your bird does not need. He needs to wean onto a healthy, high quality organic pellet which will keep him healthy for all his life.

So, stop with all the extra food and give him what he needs which is his baby parrot handfeeding formula. He is trying to tell you that he is still very much a baby and that he's hungry. Fruit and a few seeds does not fill him up because he's not really eating as much as he is playing with his food.

So, start back feeding the handfeeding formula as the Primary food. You can add some organic pellets to his dish as well, so he can begin to get the taste and feel of them. You may wish to purchase several kinds of the organic pellets in smaller sizes here as babies like to experiment with different textures when they are trying to wean. As I said, he is no where ready to wean completely. When the big birds are weaned too early, they develope emotional difficulties as a direct result. These may not show up until bird is older and starts plucking itself or other damaging behaviors.

Please handfeed your baby as long as you need to, and you will be rewarded for your work with a happy, healthy youngster.

Also, if you have not already done so, he needs to be examined by an Avian Vet who will test for any infections and take a weight on him to see if he's normal weight. You want his primary adult food to be 80-85% organic pellets and only 15-20% organic fruit and veggies which means only a few times a week.

Let us know how he's doing and I think you'll hear less noise once he's being fed properly.

Thanks for writing,
Linda

Oct 18, 2011

Macaw squawking
by: Tracie

I am not sure what the "phases" are. Do you mean every day off and on or that he does this for a few days and then doesn't for a few days?

My first thought is that birds DO need to make noise. It is just in them to do this, and some species do this more than others. I would not think it abnormal for the bird to be noisy every morning and evening and times he wants your attention.

Sometimes birds suddenly start being noisy because something inside is bothering them and they don't know how else to deal with it besides making noise.

If this is boredom or just attention getting, then you can train the bird to do something else. It takes time and patience but it can be done. We have articles on our Parrot Training page to help you with this.

If your bird has not been to an avian vet, then I suggest you Find an Avian Vet to examine your bird to rule out illness.

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