Our male blue and gold Macaw Gus seems to be nesting in his cage lately. He'll tear all his paper up at the bottom and sit there for hours sometimes, then when we clean it out he starts all over again. Might be a daft question but is it normal for males to do this?

Are you certain it's a male?

Could it be boredom or a change (albeit subtle) to his environment?

To be honest, we are just going by what the previous owners said, so I suppose there is a possibility that he is a she. They were very sure he's male though, think they had him checked at the vets. Would you say it's worth checking ourselves?

We're just wondering if it's his breeding season, or as you say, he's just bored. Just wanted to check really that it's normal for him to do this, and not a sign that he's stressed or anything.

Most parrots do it. Mine used to. I even got books shredded, wires,plaster and the architraves.

Macaws like clay to play with and also lick for mineral deposits like they would do in the wild.

Stressed or annoyed birds either spit or growl. Mine used to growl and spit at the cat and also dive bomb him.

It is hard to check a macaws sex. You will need DNA.

Pop music fascinates them. Also opera. I used to sing to my parents' parrot as a child and he used to get very excited.

He loved carrots and apple peel. He used to go mad when he saw my mother peeling them.

How long have you had him?

They are highly intelligent creatures as I'm sure you've gathered lol

Please post a pic so I can go ahhhh!!!