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I have a pair of green wings and my male is being very mean to the hen he has bite her on the foot and the wing ,I have pulled them apart for now she is in a hospital cage, I dont understand what is going on we have had this pair together for about 6 years that I know of and we bought them as a pair so they were together before we got them any suggestions????

I would definitely keep them in separate cages so that your female does not get hurt. Does your female need to see an avian vet?

I know someone whose Greenwing attacked her B&G. These are both pets and were out on a playgym together. The B&G required medical care, and from what I remember, will probably require maintenance on his beak for the remainder of his life now.

I realize these are macaws, but... I've heard horror stories of cockatoos that have been mates for years, and the male suddenly kills the female. In one instance, a pair of proven Moluccan Cockatoos lived in the dining room of the family home for years without problems. The wife became allergic so these birds were sold to another breeder. Shortly thereafter, the male killed the female.

How old are the birds? Have they ever reproduced?

They are around 12 years old, the people I got them from told me they were proven but not for her, the first year I had them she laid 3 eggs from the perch,, I was in the process of building them a large flight when she laid and did not have her nest box up at the time,,,, me and my husband got there flight finished and put the nest box on,,,that was almost 5 years ago and she has not laid since,,,, They have always got along fine till now.........,

The Greenwings were only seven years old when you bought them as a proven pair? I'm certainly no macaw expert, but I believe that is normally too young for macaws to be a productive pair. Granted, one has laid eggs, but I have my doubts whether the former owner was truthful with you. Maybe one bird is older than the other? My next question would be whether you know you actually have a male and a female. Obviously, you have a female since she laid eggs. That doesn't mean they were fertile though. You could have two females.

I've heard plenty that macaws mature around 4-6 years of age... however, by a few, if not many, that is quite too young to be breeding them.... some say it's better to allow them to reproduce once they are 10-15 years of age. It's a long time to wait, but if it means a difference in the parents raising then it's probably best.

I'm now half wondering then, if the male (if it is a male) is now comming into sexuality as an adult, thus is displaying aggressive behavior... and may (or may not) want to breed now.

Thanks you,,,, you both have a point there I have never sexed them,, just took there previous owners word for it, she bought them from a place out of Fl and set them up in her basement. she later opened a pet store and sold them to me.I have no Idea how old they are really she told me thay were around 7/8 when she sold them to me,,,,, I only have this one pair of macaw's,I've done alot of reading on them and dont have much hands on with macaws..most of my birds are amazons,with the exception of 2 pairs of U2s,,,, I read in one book that males have a larger head then the females?????????? I dont know.........But I will sex them now just to be sure ,,,The big one is mean to the smaller one ,,,,Has anyone ever heard / read this??? up until a week ago they were lovie dovie with each other. Thanks,,,,,maria