Hi from Roncesvalles — dad to a Blue & Gold Macaw named Captain
Hey everyone! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I live in Roncesvalles with my Blue & Gold Macaw, Captain, who I've had for 11 years. He's my absolute world.
I work from home which is a blessing and a curse — Captain insists on being part of every Zoom call and has strong opinions about my clients 😂
Looking forward to talking birds with people who get it. My partner is supportive but definitely does not understand why Captain needs a 3rd play stand.
Welcome to the BST Community Forum! Captain sounds absolutely wonderful — 11 years together is a real bond. Blue & Gold Macaws are such charismatic birds, and the Zoom call commentary is something every macaw owner knows too well.
Roncesvalles is a great neighbourhood to be in as a bird owner — lots of good green spaces for that fresh air your household probably appreciates after Captain's more... vocal moments.
Three play stands is completely reasonable. Four would also be reasonable. Looking forward to hearing more about Captain's adventures — feel free to post in Species Talk or any of our other categories whenever you have questions or just want to share what he's up to!
So I had this exact problem about a year ago. Let me share what I learned. The key thing is putting the food bowl higher up — birds feel safer eating at height. A lot of people also recommend adding more variety in perch textures and sizes. My avian vet in Barrie also suggested checking for being moved to a new cage or new room which can sometimes be an underlying factor. Good luck — feel free to DM me if you have questions!
What worked for me was clicker training for 10-15 minutes a day. Took about a week but my green cheek conure responded really well to it.
I've done a ton of research on this because my parrotlet had the same issue. Here's what I learned: the most common cause is not enough quality sleep — they need 10-12 hours uninterrupted. What worked for us was playing calming bird sounds from YouTube during the day. I also started adding more variety in perch textures and sizes and noticed improvement within a week. It's a process but it gets better.
Dealt with this for months. What finally worked was changing their perch layout and just being really patient. They come around eventually.
Don't worry, this is super common with zebra finch. You're doing great!
So what I ended up doing was getting natural java wood perches from a specialty bird store. Within a few days there was a noticeable improvement. Definitely worth trying.
You're clearly a caring bird owner — the fact you're asking for help shows that. Your bird is lucky to have you.