Macaw

• ExerciseHigh

  Needs hours of out-of-cage activity and mental challenges every day.

• GroomingRegular feather care

  Regular bathing or misting plus nail and beak checks.

• Living spaceLarge cage or aviary

  Best with a large cage or an indoor aviary.

• Owner experienceFor experienced owners

  Rewards owners who know the ropes.

• Commitment50–80 years

  Plan for a long, loving relationship.

Health to watch: Feather plucking · Respiratory issues · Kidney disease

The macaw is a magnificent, brilliant and enormous parrot, and everything about caring for it is scaled up accordingly. It needs a huge cage or aviary and daily flight and out-of-cage time, a powerful beak's worth of destructible wooden toys and foraging, and hours of interaction with its family. Macaws are naturally very loud — their calls are built to carry across rainforest — so they are unsuited to apartments or noise-sensitive homes. With a 50–80 year lifespan, a macaw is genuinely a lifetime commitment that often requires planning for who inherits it. Diet is pellets, plenty of vegetables and some fruit, with a modest amount of nuts, which macaws need more than smaller parrots but which cause obesity in excess; an all-seed diet leads to vitamin A deficiency. Watch for feather plucking from boredom or stress, respiratory and fungal disease (aspergillosis), the wasting disease PDD, and obesity or fatty liver. Their sensitive lungs make non-stick fumes, aerosols and smoke deadly. Give a macaw the space, enrichment, quiet tolerance and decades of devotion it requires, and it will be one of the most spectacular companions a person can share a life with.

• How much activity does a Macaw need?

  High. Needs hours of out-of-cage activity and mental challenges every day.

• How much feather care does a Macaw need?

  Regular feather care. Regular bathing or misting plus nail and beak checks.

• What cage does a Macaw need?

  Large cage or aviary. Best with a large cage or an indoor aviary.

• Is a Macaw a good fit for first-time owners?

  For experienced owners. Rewards owners who know the ropes.

• How long do Macaw live?

  50–80 years. Plan for a long, loving relationship.

• What health issues affect the Macaw?

  Keep an eye out for Feather plucking, Respiratory issues, Kidney disease. These are worth raising with your vet, along with any screening they recommend.

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