Florida Water Sucks

Photo by Dave Location: Orlando, FL Drinking: Hyacinth Macaw "Hymie" I was recently partaking in a game night at my neighbors house when the topic of water came up. My neighbors Dash and Nancy have been going to school for engineering at the university here and Nancy hates the sink water. "I can SMELL it!" she has always said which is the same ...
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How to Train Your Bird to “Station” (Stay Put!)

Photo by Dave Location: Orlando, FL Training: Hyacinth Macaw "Hymie" When I took on a 4 year old hyacinth macaw named Hymie, I had a good idea of what I was getting into. This bird was not shoulder-trained so he went up there anytime he pleased and refused to come down until HE wanted to. The cure? Stationing. I taught him to “station” which me...
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Hyacinth Macaw or Goose?

One of the sounds that a hyacinth macaw makes is a "honking" sound like a goose would make. It took me by surprise when Hymie first did it, and luckily this video was caught of me bringing him back to his owners and he was honking a bunch in the video! As you may be able to tell since people are calling him a goose in the video, hehe. Article...
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Holding Your Bird's Feet

I think every bird should be accustomed to having his/her feet held. It's just a firm opinion I have and it's what I do with ALL my birds (okay, so I don't do it with my budgies...).  I show how to do this using Hymie the Hyacinth Macaw in the video above. It's short and easy. And it's something you have to work up to if your bird isn't used ...
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A Cure For Shoulder Birds

If you have a bird that REFUSES to get off your shoulder when you want it to, then this post applies to you! When I first took on Hymie the Hyacinth Macaw, that was his MAIN problem area. And having a bird of that size on your shoulder telling you he isn't going anywhere... is super intimating and dangerous. Here's what I did... I taught a lit...
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