Rocky - Harlequin Macaw
Rocky
Rocky is a Harlequin Macaw (a cross between a Blue & Gold and a Greenwing). She is a DNA sexed female. She has the black facial feathers and Tail of a Blue & Gold; the horn colouring in her beak and the wings of a Greenwing and her chest is Orange - a cross between the dark Red of the Greenwing and the Yellow of the Blue & Gold. She is an absolutely stunning bird! We bought her from Lauren who had to sell her on Doctor's orders as her little lad had constant breathing problems. We collected Rocky on 8th July 2012 and she is 7 years old so, in time honoured tradition, we will treat her birthday as 8/7/2005 as we don't have a hatching certificate.
Rocky has 4 other Macaws to get to know. Well, 3 actually because Max (Scarlet) who we have had for some 23 years won't get to know any of the other Macaws. She is the leader of the pack, or so she thinks! Of the others, Phoebe is a stressy one and is a bit unfriendly to all the others but we did take her on holiday with us at Easter with Georgie (Greenwing) and they calmed down a lot but I have to say she is a bit anti Rocky at the moment (perhaps she is jealous of her fully feathered chest!). Rocky does get on with Charlie (Blue & Gold) and she really loves Georgie (Greenwing). Perhaps she remembers her mother? She is often sidling up to Georgie and the two of them can often be seen feeding each other. When we are in the lounge with the Java Tree; Charlie usually sits on the back of my chair and the other 3 sit on the Java Tree and once Phoebe has settled down and got over her stressy behaviour, they are fine together.
Rocky has really settled in well and is happy with all of us humans (which is brilliant as she will not be neglected when I am away). All the Macaws come out at mealtimes and all have their own stands in the Dining Room/Conservatory. Rocky is a good eater especially with Potato and Pasta and she loves her bit of protein in the form of meat or fish! She is currently getting into a routine whereby her seed is removed after breakfast when she has her fruit, and replaced at tea time. She is very artful and takes even the most obscure opportunities to get to be with Georgie which is really nice. They are just bonding well (but there is no chance of pairing as Georgie is too young and they are both females!).
Rocky is the only one of my five Macaws who can fly. For such a big bird in, what are at best, small rooms, she is exceptionally graceful as she flies and every time (so far!) she has managed to go around the 5 hanging lights with glass shades in the lounge! At tea time, she soon gets fed up on her stand and wants to go to Adam's shoulder and share his tea!
Rocky really is a lovely and welcome addition to the flock!
Rocky has 4 other Macaws to get to know. Well, 3 actually because Max (Scarlet) who we have had for some 23 years won't get to know any of the other Macaws. She is the leader of the pack, or so she thinks! Of the others, Phoebe is a stressy one and is a bit unfriendly to all the others but we did take her on holiday with us at Easter with Georgie (Greenwing) and they calmed down a lot but I have to say she is a bit anti Rocky at the moment (perhaps she is jealous of her fully feathered chest!). Rocky does get on with Charlie (Blue & Gold) and she really loves Georgie (Greenwing). Perhaps she remembers her mother? She is often sidling up to Georgie and the two of them can often be seen feeding each other. When we are in the lounge with the Java Tree; Charlie usually sits on the back of my chair and the other 3 sit on the Java Tree and once Phoebe has settled down and got over her stressy behaviour, they are fine together.
Rocky has really settled in well and is happy with all of us humans (which is brilliant as she will not be neglected when I am away). All the Macaws come out at mealtimes and all have their own stands in the Dining Room/Conservatory. Rocky is a good eater especially with Potato and Pasta and she loves her bit of protein in the form of meat or fish! She is currently getting into a routine whereby her seed is removed after breakfast when she has her fruit, and replaced at tea time. She is very artful and takes even the most obscure opportunities to get to be with Georgie which is really nice. They are just bonding well (but there is no chance of pairing as Georgie is too young and they are both females!).
Rocky is the only one of my five Macaws who can fly. For such a big bird in, what are at best, small rooms, she is exceptionally graceful as she flies and every time (so far!) she has managed to go around the 5 hanging lights with glass shades in the lounge! At tea time, she soon gets fed up on her stand and wants to go to Adam's shoulder and share his tea!
Rocky really is a lovely and welcome addition to the flock!
New Home 2022
Rocky was Adam’s bird! She loved Adam so much that most mealtimes she would end up on Adam’s shoulder sharing (where allowed) his food. All was well until Adam moved out. Then Rocky made it clear she was not happy.
We tried putting her in the same cage as Georgie as they were generally happy together but after a few months it became obvious that Rocky wanted to dominate Georgie. So we separated them and Rocky, when she came out at mealtimes, was not at all interested in anything but trying to dominate the other macaws. We had to do something but sadly we didn’t have the time needed to work with her so in late 2022 we decided her best option was to be a single bird with no others or where she could be linked to one bird specificlly. She was passed on, with all her history and detailed instructions as to how to train her, to a man who seemed keen to take her on, “warts an’ all”. She found her home with a gentleman who had lost his harlequin macaw and was looking for a new one to add back into his collection of macaws. The lovely things is that he lets birds be birds and has large aviary spaces there. She settled well so far and is living a life of luxuary again. Good Luck Rocky!
We tried putting her in the same cage as Georgie as they were generally happy together but after a few months it became obvious that Rocky wanted to dominate Georgie. So we separated them and Rocky, when she came out at mealtimes, was not at all interested in anything but trying to dominate the other macaws. We had to do something but sadly we didn’t have the time needed to work with her so in late 2022 we decided her best option was to be a single bird with no others or where she could be linked to one bird specificlly. She was passed on, with all her history and detailed instructions as to how to train her, to a man who seemed keen to take her on, “warts an’ all”. She found her home with a gentleman who had lost his harlequin macaw and was looking for a new one to add back into his collection of macaws. The lovely things is that he lets birds be birds and has large aviary spaces there. She settled well so far and is living a life of luxuary again. Good Luck Rocky!