W2R, I had no idea you had a macaw! How cool. I guess that I just thought of you as a non pet owner since you'd never mentioned wanting to get a dog or cat like so many of the rest of us crazy people.
Wow, how long did you have the bird? And did you teach it all those words? Neato!
My ex and I had four macaws (and two dozen parakeets, 500+ gallons of saltwater aquariums, a green snake, freshwater aquarium and more). It took me 35 minutes in the morning to feed the animals and water the houseplants. What a zoo!
But it wasn't enough for my daughter - - she secretly bought a hamster with her allowance, and hid it from us in her closet for weeks when she was about 11!
We had the macaws for about 15 years and my ex has them now. We didn't want to split them up.
Some macaws are just good at talking - - Lucy (the blue and gold macaw with the huge vocabulary) was very smart. She picked up a lot of words, all from us, since she was a baby when we got her. One of our other macaws could only say "hello!". Oddly, he was my favorite, not Lucy.
Having had all these pets for so many years I am keenly aware of the responsibility of pet ownership and I don't take it lightly. Until last year my job required a lot of traveling, and I live alone, so I didn't want a pet. Now, I know I will be moving next year so the time still isn't right. Maybe I will get a pet after I retire. Frank and I both love cats, and toy poodles
, but neither of us has a pet right now.