When Joan Lynch from Berkshire brought home a pair of caged and untamed Hahn’s Macaws, that had fallen victim to a broken marriage, she knew absolutely nothing about parrots, and had no idea what she was taking on, but that didn’t faze her for one moment. Her husband wasn’t altogether surprised either, as over the years Joan has turned up unannounced with one rescue cat after another, and 35 years ago he gave her £7 to go towards buying herself a really posh dress, and she came back with a dark brown, pedigree Rex rabbit that she kept indoors, and who played with the cat!

I have always been a soft-touch when it comes to animals, but was feeling even more vulnerable than usual, when our boys left home, and the house just seemed to lack soul. I saw an ad for a pair of unwanted Hahn’s Macaws (Ara nobilis), and I just couldn’t help but go to their rescue! When I first saw them, I was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t much bigger than a cockatiel, and thought they would be a nice manageable size, for someone who had no previous experience with birds, and paid the £250 the owner wanted for them and their cage.

Although the Hahn’s had lived in a cage all their lives, they were not tame and were very territorial of their cage at first, and very nippy. But, I did my best to remain calm when they lashed out at me and after a few months they stopped trying to bite me. I left their cage door open all the time while I was at home, and through reading, picked up many tips, and got to know how to look after them. It didn’t take me long to realise that caring for parrots was a whole lot different to looking after cats or dogs.

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