Blue and Gold Macaws

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Blue and Gold Macaws are intelligent and affectionate friends

Blue and Gold Macaw

Blue and Gold Macaw

Blue and Gold Macaws are probably the most popular large Macaws kept as pets.

Blue and Golds are said to be more sociable, calm, and friendly on average than some of the other Macaws.

Blue and Gold Macaws are known to have one of the best personalities in general out of all the large Macaws. They make wonderful companions and are intelligent, eager to learn, affectionate, and one of the better talkers of the Macaws as well.

However, like all large Macaws, if not properly raised and handled well, Blue and Gold Macaws can become aggressive birds. For this reason, they are best for experienced bird owners. You need to establish stiff boundaries with Blue and Golds right when you bring them home. Otherwise, they will learn to scream, bite, or manipulate you in order to suit their needs.

Blue and Golds are known for being very intelligent and social (when raised correctly). They are definitely trainable–they aren’t the best mimics, but you can teach them to talk and learn tricks fairly easily.

Many bird owners are intimidated by the Blue and Gold’s strong will and large beak. Their beaks are very strong–one bite can lead you to the emergency room. These birds are not good for first-time bird owners.

To read more about Macaws as pets, please visit our Macaw page.

If you are an experienced bird owner and are prepared to handle bites from a large beak, sometimes replacing toys every week, spending a lot of time with your bird, training your bird to keep his mind active, and spending a lot of time setting clear boundaries, then this might be the right bird for you.

Fast Facts

Name Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna)
Origin Central and South America
Size 33 in., 1000 grams
Average Cost $800-2000
Lifespan 50 years on average
Noise Loud
Living Arrangements Because of their vocal abilities, size, and the size needed for their cages and other accessories, these birds are best kept in a house.
Qualities Blue and Golds are intelligent, affectionate, inquisitive, social, loving, can be aggressive, and can become feather pluckers. Macaws in general have the intelligence of a 3-8 year old child, emotional range of a 2 year old child, may throw tantrums to get attention, great sense of humor, can tease you and other members of your family (including other pets), require a lot of attention, can be very demanding, need to be kept busy with attention, toys, and training, love to chew, love showers, some are described as clownish, energetic, playful, like to roughhouse, some can be nippy and aggressive, some love to cuddle.
Abilities Excellent–they can learn to talk and learn tricks.
Interaction/Time Requirements High–These birds do need a lot of attention and will scream and become very aggressive if they don’t get the attention and time from you that they need.
Diet They need a diet for x-large birds.
Supplies Needed They need supplies for x-large birds.
See How Blue and Gold Macaws Compare to Other Types of Pet Birds!

Blue and Gold Macaw Videos

“Ara ararauna Blue and Gold Macaw Aby”


This is a great video that shows how affectionate Blue and Golds can be when properly trained.

“Hilarious Macaw Talking”


This is a fun video of a Blue and Gold talking up a storm. This video gives a great example of the talking ability of Blue and Golds as well as what their voices sound like.

“Macaw Tricks-4.30.2009”


This is another great video that shows a Blue and Gold doing some tricks. Yes, these birds are both smart and sweet.

Blue and Gold Macaw Training

Macaws can be very aggressive at times, so it is important to train them correctly right from the beginning. They need to be taught clear boundaries so they will learn not to bite. Macaws can be fantastic companions. They are caring, loving, and they can become very attached. However, if not properly trained, they can become biters very quickly.

For this reason, we highly recommend that you find an effective training program for your Macaw. Whether your parrot is new to your home or you’ve had him for years, a training program will always come in handy. We personally recommend the Bird Tricks Parrot Training Course by Dave and Jamieleigh Womach. You can see many of their videos for free to get an idea of how much they know about parrots and how they can help you train yours.

Below is one of Dave’s videos about stopping your Macaw’s biting. This video is a great example of how effective the training courses can be and how they are filled with a wealth of useful information for any bird owner.

This video is only the first step in getting your Macaw hand tamed. We highly recommend checking out the BirdTricks Training Course for taming your parrot even further.

For more information about Dave and Jamieleigh’s courses, you can visit the Bird Tricks website HERE.

Macaw Education

To learn more about your pet Macaw, we recommend these books:

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Macaw Gifts

Have a friend of family member who loves Macaws? Gift them something that will truly spark joy!

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Related Articles:

Have A Great Story About Your Blue and Gold Macaw?

Share your experience with others! There’s no better way to learn about a pet bird than from an owner.

Some helpful information for potential owners can be: What is the species of your bird? Is he/she friendly? Loving? Cuddly? Talented? Messy? Loud? You get the idea!

Your comment may just help someone decide whether or not this pet bird is for them.

5 replies
  2. Barry Skinner
    Barry Skinner says:

    Oh and blue and golds can talk and they can use differing intonations and vary same words. Mine says hello and bye bye about ten different ways. She also knows when to apply certain words and short sentences like: is that better? It’s good? It’s good! Good treat. I love papa. Good birtie. Ow. Uh oh. What? What! Papa come back. Come here. Come on. Step up. Stop. Shut up. Too loud. Shhh. Wooh. She will do la las while you sing miming the tune. She laughs about eight different laughs. Says the dogs name. Whistles and chortles and is learning to say phrases from Harry Potter. But her screams are deafening.

    Reply
  3. Barry Skinner
    Barry Skinner says:

    I have a rescued and extremely large blue and gold. Her name is Bertie. It took two years to get her to trust me completely and because she was abused by children and disciplined when she tried to protect herself she became extremely aggressive and gave me a few nasty bites. Now she is my best friend but she is very protective of me. Others can approach her when I am not in the room but if I am look out. She now loves teasing and joking and cuddling with me. She gets upset if I do not visit with her for at least our twice a day playtimes. At night she is happy to watch tv with me and if I doze off she is comfortable staying on me and if she gets tired has no problem waking me up to say bye bye which means she is tired. I do not recommend anyone without experience getting a large bird unless you have great patience and tolerance.

    Reply
  5. Bree
    Bree says:

    My name is Bree and I used to have a baby blue jay for awhile but when it got big i let it go. That’s my experience with a bird. But i reeeeaaallly want a B&G macaw like Dr.K’s off of nat geo wild. I have every thing thought and planned out I’ll have the cage in the corner of my room by my bed and I’ll get the money from helping around the house and selling some of my things. Oh my gosh i can’t wait! 😀

    Reply

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