Know before you bring one home
Meet the Blue-and-gold Macaw.
A sixty-year commitment to a bird that is extremely loud, extremely strong and needs aviary-scale housing. Magnificent with the right owner — and the large parrot most often surrendered after an impulse purchase.
Daily life
Personality, housing & routine.
A safe enclosure is the starting point, not the bird’s entire world.
Personality
Confident, playful, affectionate and emotionally demanding. Highly trainable and genuinely funny. The beak can snap a broom handle, and a boisterous adolescence arrives at three to five years.
Cage size & type
Indoor cage minimum 200 × 150 × 200 cm; a walk-in flight of three to four metres is much closer to adequate. Bar spacing 25–38 mm in heavy-gauge stainless steel. Replace standard cage latches with escape-proof clasps — macaws open them.
Perches, toys & setup
Very heavy natural-branch perches, 40–60 mm diameter, replaced as they are destroyed. Expect to supply fresh destructible wood every single day: chewing is a need, not a habit. Budget realistically for continual toy replacement.
Time & social needs
At least 4 hours out of the cage daily, with real flight or sustained wing-flapping exercise. A caged macaw predictably develops screaming, plucking and aggression.
Exercise & enrichment
Large destructible toys, foraging boxes, shower time and trick training. A macaw with nothing to destroy will destroy your home instead.
Noise & neighbours
Among the loudest animals kept in any home — calls exceed 100 dB and carry more than a kilometre. Unsuitable for flats, townhouses, semi-detached homes or estates with noise rules. Noise is the single most common reason macaws are given up.
Sleep
Provide 10–12 hours of quiet, uninterrupted darkness on a predictable schedule. Sleep-deprived parrots become irritable, scream more and are more likely to pluck.
Household safety
PTFE and non-stick fumes — pans, air fryers, self-cleaning ovens, some heaters and hair dryers — kill birds within minutes and are the most common preventable household death. Never house a bird in or near the kitchen. Also keep away from scented candles, incense, air fresheners, aerosols, cleaning sprays, pesticides, cigarette and vape smoke, ceiling fans, open water, hot pots, open windows and doors, electrical cables, toxic houseplants, and zinc or lead sources such as galvanised wire, costume jewellery and old paint. A cat scratch or bite is a medical emergency — cat saliva carries Pasteurella, which is usually fatal without immediate antibiotics.
Behaviour & warning signs
Eye-pinning, a fanned tail and flushed facial skin come before a bite — learn to read them. Expect adolescent testing bites and seasonal hormonal aggression. Do not pet below the neck, do not provide dark hiding places, and keep nights a full 12 hours; all three reduce hormonal behaviour.
Important: Use positive reinforcement only. Never hit, shout at, squirt, drop or “beak-flick” a bird for biting or vocalising — punishment reliably makes both worse. Parrots are prey animals: they hide illness and they bite because a warning signal was missed, not out of spite. Learn your bird’s body language and the biting mostly stops.
Nutrition
Build health in the bowl.
A seed-only diet is the most common cause of premature death in pet parrots. Every species below needs a formulated base, daily fresh vegetables and measured portions — change any diet gradually, with an avian vet’s guidance.
What to feed
- A complete large-parrot pellet as roughly half to 60% of intake.
- Macaws genuinely need more fat than other parrots: a daily allowance of palm nut, macadamia, walnut, brazil or almond — roughly 8–12 nuts a day for an adult, adjusted to weight.
- Generous fresh vegetables every day: butternut, carrot, peppers, broccoli, cooked sweet potato, dark leafy greens.
- Moderate fruit portions — papaya, mango, berries, apple without pips.
- Cooked beans, maize and whole grains.
- A cuttlebone or mineral block available at all times.
- Fresh water changed at least twice a day; macaws foul bowls quickly.
AVI Plus Complete Diet MaintenanceComplete formulated maintenance food.
Nature’s Nest Avian CompleteVet-formulated complete daily nutrition.
What NOT to feed
NEVER SHARE FOOD FROM YOUR MOUTH OR PLATE
- Avocado — every part of the plant, including guacamole.
- Chocolate and cocoa.
- Caffeine, alcohol and xylitol (sugar-free sweetener).
- Onion, garlic, chives and leeks.
- Fruit pips and stones: apple, pear, cherry, apricot, peach and plum.
- Raw or dried beans — all legumes must be thoroughly cooked.
- Rhubarb leaves.
- Salty, sugary, fried or processed human food.
- Dairy in more than a trace — birds cannot digest lactose.
- Mouldy or fermenting food, including fruit left in the bowl.
- Anything from your mouth, plate or fork — human saliva carries bacteria that kill birds.
- Grit. Parrots husk their own seed and grit can cause fatal impaction.
- Human medicines or supplements unless prescribed by an avian vet.
Blue-and-gold Macaw-specific: Unlike every other species on this site, a healthy macaw's nut ration is food rather than a treat — but weigh the bird weekly and cut back at the first sign of gain. Red palm fruit or palm oil is traditionally used to support macaw plumage; discuss it with your avian vet before adding it. Portions, hygiene and change: Measure food rather than filling a bowl to the brim, and weigh your bird weekly on a gram scale — appetite is a poor guide, weight is not. Remove fresh food after two to three hours in warm weather; bacteria in a warm bowl cause more illness than most owners realise. Wash bowls daily in hot soapy water. Change any diet gradually over several weeks under an avian vet’s guidance — a bird that stops eating during a rushed pellet conversion can die in 48 hours.
Health & veterinary care
Birds hide illness. Act early.
Watch for proventricular dilatation disease (avian bornavirus), psittacosis, aspergillosis, foot and beak trauma, obesity, vitamin A deficiency and heavy-metal poisoning from unsafe cage materials.
Recommended specialist
Bryanston Avian, Exotic & Small Animals Clinic
99 Grosvenor Road, Bryanston, Johannesburg
011 706 1381 · WhatsApp 061 533 9950
info@baesac.co.za · baesac.co.za
Arrange an avian-vet examination within the first week after purchase, and weigh your bird weekly on a gram scale. Not every vet treats birds — find your nearest avian-experienced practice before you need one, and save the number.
Seek avian-vet help urgently for:
- Difficulty or open-mouth breathing
- Pronounced tail bobbing at rest
- Fluffed, quiet and sitting on the cage floor
- Collapse or severe weakness
- Bleeding that does not stop, including a broken blood feather
- Seizures or loss of balance
- Repeated vomiting or regurgitation
- Not eating, or noticeable weight loss
- Straining, a swollen abdomen, or a hen unable to pass an egg
- Sudden major change in droppings
- Any contact with a cat or dog, even a minor scratch
- Suspected poisoning, fumes or trauma
- Regurgitating onto people repeatedly — hormonal, and a welfare concern, not affection
Before you buy
Ask the seller for the hatch date, the closed ring number, a DNA sex certificate and any disease screening already done. A seller who cannot answer those questions, or who will not let you watch the bird eat, is a seller to walk away from. Ask what the bird is currently eating, so you can keep it stable for the first fortnight.
Your first month
Book a wellness examination in the first week, not just when something looks wrong. Quarantine a new bird for 30–45 days away from any birds you already keep, ideally in separate air space. Recommended screening: psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci), polyomavirus and avian bornavirus.
Ongoing & human health
Annual check-ups, moving to twice yearly for larger species over ten. Wing clipping is not routine care — discuss it first, because flight builds fitness, balance and confidence. Psittacosis passes to people as a flu-like illness or pneumonia: if you develop unexplained respiratory symptoms, tell your doctor you keep birds.
Is this your bird?
Who this species suits.
Being honest about this before you buy is the kindest thing you can do for a parrot.
First-time owners
No. A first-time owner cannot safely or humanely meet a macaw's housing, noise and behavioural needs.
Experienced owners
Suitable only with large-parrot experience, dedicated space and a written succession plan.
Families & children
Not for households with small children. The bite risk is genuinely serious and the noise is beyond what most families expect.
Whatever your experience: buy from a seller who lets you meet the bird, answers questions about diet and hatch date, and takes the bird back if things go wrong. Ask about adoption too — rescues and sanctuaries are full of the species on this list, and an adult bird’s temperament is already known.
The commitment
Can you provide a good life?
“A happy bird isn’t just loved — it is understood, fed properly, kept safe and cared for every single day.”
I have space for a walk-in flight or a room the bird can occupy.
My neighbours and my housing rules can tolerate calls above 100 dB.
I can supply fresh destructible wood and replacement toys every week.
I have named who inherits this bird — it will likely outlive my ability to care for it.
If several answers are “No”, this is not the right bird for you — and walking away is a good outcome, not a failure.
Love birds? Help one that needs you.
Support Wings of Kindness and help us care for birds in need.