Macaws and cockatoos?

[banshea]

I was watching cute parrot videos on Youtube with my fiance, and we ended up with a debate. You see, my fiance's dream bird is a blue and gold macaw. While I wouldn't mind keeping a large macaw, my dream bird list includes instead a large cockatoo, such as an umbrella or Moluccan. We know we won't be able to have any large bird for quite some

Comments

[pernille_is_me]

I have a friend. She has two blue and gold macaws and a scarlet.. and a Moluccan alba cockatoo and they get along fantastically :D They have each their cage.. but they are out all day every day and it's no problem at all... They eat together on the same perch and sleep and a play like a flock. The cockatoo came last to the flock and they just accepted her and she was even older then them! So I can only say I wouldnt think it to be a problem!

I only know one Goffin.. and it's a mean bastard! haha.. No really :P but it's okay.. you just have to treat her with respect, like with all animals.. but she's special :)

[banshea]

I've met a few Goffins', and they were all bundles of energy and constantly on the move. And you had to go to ridiculous lengths to keep them entertained, because bored Goffin's start finding their own entertainment and it's frequently things like dismantling the latch for their cage and then running around on the high shelf out of your reach while laughing manically. I've heard things from Goffin's owners, like their bird will be a perfect sweet little angel and then it turns out they were just getting your guard down so they could get in a nasty bite and run away laughing. I kind of see Goffin's like a lot of people see kids -- it's fun to play with them and spoil them rotten and then hand them back to somebody else to actually deal with them at the end of the day.

[jamijo]

Goffin's = Moriarty, umbrellas = Sherlock, African greys = Mycroft. All of them are geniuses, but Moriarty deliberately sets out to make trouble, Sherlock doesn't so much mean to make trouble as he can't be bothered to not make trouble, and Mycroft just doesn't see the point of leaving his club when he can arrange everything he wants to be brought to him.

This. Is. Perfect. :D

As far as cockatoos and macaws as companions / play mates-- with the right two individuals, you could probably get away with it. I wouldn't cage them together either, but I think if they were introduced and managed well, it could work. If you're adopting young birds that can learn together, that might also help develop a companion relationship between them. Introducing two that are first meeting as adults with unknown backgrounds would likely take years to get to the playmate level, but could work. I know others who have toos and macaws that hang out together, but they're folks I haven't spoken to in years.

[banshea]

My gut says the problem would be a macaw that has matured into a grumpy old man personality being forced to share space with a 'too of any age. The best way would be to raise two young birds together, like you suggest, and otherwise it would probably go smoothly if the 'too is mature but the macaw is a baby (assuming the 'too is adjusted to a multi-bird household and isn't a jealous velcro bird).

It seems like, personalities aside, macaws and 'toos have sufficiently different requirements for cage setups that it just wouldn't be fair to force them to compromise in order to share a cage. Especially when you consider that any cage that fits into a house is already a compromise for birds that size.

[spyderqueen]

Oh god, my grey is TOTALLY Mycroft. No interest in leaving her cage when it has all the cool stuff and I'll bring her the rest.

[spyderqueen]

Also as far as parrots getting along, sometimes it's as much about different interests. My grey and my conure aren't best of friends, but they both tolerate each other because they want different things. Gabbie (grey) just wants to be on her cage and observe and get head scritches when she occasionally demands them. Woody (Mitred Conure) demands very frequent attention and physical interaction (and right now he's bitching because I'm at the computer without him). I don't think I could ever have a macaw, a caique, or another conure as long as I have Woody, because they would also want lots of interaction and that would make him CRAZY jealous. So really, this set up is much better for us.

[banshea]

That's an excellent point, and something that I will have to think about seriously when I do find the resources to expand my flock. My existing Hahn's macaw is very attached to me and gets very jealous of my attention (we do what we can to keep the hormonal triggers down, so Kermit isn't let's-make-babies attached as much as you-people-who-aren't-Mom-suck attached), and most of the species on my wish list are affection-seeking or at the very least time-consuming. My fiance is the one who wants a big macaw more than anything else in the world, though, so with any luck that bird will bond with him and Kermit won't have an issue...

[squishie89]

It really depends on personalities. I have a b+g and 2 citron cockatoos (so not large cockatoos, but, cockatoos) and they do not get a long. I used to have a moluccan and a lesser sulfur and they got a long nicely, but they were both cockatoos. It can be such a mixed bag though.

[banshea]

Yeah, it seems like your best bet is nearly always going to be very similar species -- all cockatoos, or all macaws, or all conures.

[crazeedreamgirl]

i think it depends on personalities. i have two macaws and they hate each other! one refuses to even come out of his cage if the other one is out already. he has to come out first, otherwise he smartens up and knows it's not a good idea to be with him. haha, birds are very funny creatures.