hiking with 7 macaws
this is a pretty controversial practice, but it almost doesn't seem right to keep a bird like a macaw and never let them out for a big fly around. unless you live in a gymnasium.
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Thanks, mop!!!
Don't know a whole lot about macaws, but had a pair of cockatiels once. This was many years ago when my kid was young. There is no way I'd let them outside. However, as long as everyone was careful to keep doors and windows shut, I'd let them fly around the living room and kitchen. Well, the female anyway. The male rarely went beyond the top of the cage. He'd climb around on it.
But the female was very tame and less fearful. She'd fly all over the place, so of course I'd take precautions before letting her out- Things like making sure nothing was cooking on the stove, ect. Well, one time I failed to take into account a chocolate cake sitting on the counter uncovered. She landed right on it!!! Oh my, what a mess!
She had chocolate all over her feet as she flew about; landing on some curtains, the back of the couch, and finally my daughter's head! My first concern was getting her fully clean so as not to accidentally ingest the chocolate- I know it's bad for dogs, so it's entirely possible that it's not good for birds either.
Thankfully, she always loved her water spritz baths, so that helped. But it was well over a half hour of spritzing and wiping with a clean towel before I was satisfied that she was chocolate-free enough to go back into her cage. And then I had to tackle the other messes. I had to scrub the couch, take down and wash the curtains, give my daughter a bath, and of course, make an entirely new cake because it was supposed to be for a bake sale. Grrr!!!
I can laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny at the time. Sorry to have gotten a bit off-track here, just wanted to share that story. 
