After leaving Hymie's cage open for him, we found him on top of our toucan's cage perching peacefully and looking proud of himself. He had to fly to get out of his cage, and he has been a FLYING MACHINE lately! He is loving getting himself around via his wings. He's now flying to and from the foraging tree, to and from Dave and me, and to and from any and all travel cages and big cages. If you get too close to his perch, he flies to you (in a happy way). 

Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Orlando, FL On scale: Hyacinth "Hymie" 

We weighed him at 1,372 grams and found that the average weight of captive Hyacinth macaws is 1,250 so I think he is in a good range. His previous owners never weighed him (he was scared of the scale) so I don't have anything to compare his weight to but my own charts that I am starting to keep. The next day he weighed 20 grams less but it was before his target training session with Dave where we learned to touch the end of the stick in minutes!

Instead of touching the stick with his beak, Hymie touches it with his tongue (his own doing). And his reward? Well, I know his owners are sure curious about what new foods he is already eating...

In his cage he has his nuts in food finding toys, and is being offered a mixture of Roudybush pellets and Feed Your Flock organic pellets (they look very similar) as I am trying to convert Hymie over to organic pellets. I've found there's no such thing as a pellet diet that is high fat/low protein so organic it is! 

Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Orlando, FL Eating papaya: Hyacinth "Hymie" 

Although he wasn't a fan of mango or apple, he LOVES papaya! It's the first new food we've got him to eat. And yes, we're even using it as his reward for training sessions. He actually prefers papaya over his macadamia nuts! I know, hard to believe, that's why I took video as proof... 

Article by Jamieleigh Womach. She has been working with parrots and toucans since the age of 17. She isn’t homeless but is home less than she prefers to be. She travels the world with her husband, daughter, and a flockful of parrots whom she shares the stage with.