Parrots are very intelligent birds. Depending on the species you decide to go with, some of them are as intelligent as a toddler! Coincidentally, that’s about the same as a Border Collie, which is widely regarded as one of the smartest dog breeds in the entire world.
Blue and Gold Macaws (and Macaws in general) are one of those incredibly smart parrot species. Not only can they be trained and learn tricks, but they possess legitimate problem-solving skills that would impress anyone.
Recently, one Blue and Gold Macaw showed off one of his most impressive skills: block stacking. He can organize them by shape and by color, and his mom is just so proud of him:
@noplucksgivenTraining a parrot to match colors isn’t for the weak! Believe it or not, he can see more colors than humans can. The thought is that no matter what color he sees with his eyes, he will learn through repetition that the goal of the game is to match like with like. #birdtricks #training #clicker #parrotsoftiktok #birdtok
Louie the Macaw is crazy for this. I feel like I still struggle to match colors sometimes (you don’t even want to see my outfit today), yet he’s a parrot and he’s doing it with such ease! I’m impressed and a little intimidated.
Louie has been through a lot. Though he’s only had two homes in his 28 years of life, neither of them were the best fit: his first home had too small of a cage. He lived there, unable to spread his wings, for 26 years and now has permanent muscle contracture in his wings and follicle damage to his feathers.
Since he can only spread his wings open about 30%, Louie cannot and maybe has never been able to fly. Flying is unfortunately a massive part of most birds’ day-to-day enrichment activity and exercise, so mom has to get creative, and she did just that with this block stacking trick!
He also has a dog brother to help keep him on his toes:
@noplucksgivenWolf pack + naughty Smurf + mom 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 #bestfriends #parrotsoftiktok #exoticpets #cutepets #fypシ
I like that Louie is referred to as the “naughty Smurf” here. That definitely rings true for him!
Teaching an old bird new tricks
Just like if you’ve adopted a senior dog, you might bring your parrot home and have some things you want them to learn. Now, a 28-year-old Macaw is not even middle-aged, but is it old enough for them to get stuck in their ways?
Not necessarily. Macaws are very smart, and they can pick up new tricks and skills with the right caretaker. It might take longer and require more dedication than it would a baby bird, but they can get there. To help things along:
- Before you start, make sure they’ve been tamed.
- Start slow, with one trick at a time.
- Only train for short periods (five minutes maximum) at a time.
- Offer them lots of high-value rewards for good behavior.
Make sure not to yell, hit, or scare your bird if they don’t do as you ask: that’ll only hurt your efforts. Louie’s mom knows just how to get him on track, and evidently, it works like a charm!
