macaw biting?

Question
I am adopting a Macaw this week. He is an amazing bird and i'm quite excited for him to join our family. I have lots of animal background and knowledge but minial bird experience.
My concern with our new friend is that i noticed he "mouths" his present owner alot. Not quite biting but enough pressure to indent his skin. I realize that for the gentleman who has him now, it's not a big deal/doesn't bother him but i am a fairly small female and i'm araid that the pressure on my hands will be quite different.
How could i teach him not to do this. His ownwer now said just to give his beak a little shake and he'll let go but i'd like to interfere with movement before he places his beak on me. Would it be the same general idea as training a dog? Can i teach him the word "NO" and how can i have him understand what "NO" means?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Answer
Congratulations on your upcoming new addition. Thank you for wanting to be the best home possible for this lucky guy!  You're right to be concerned about the bite that might get carried away. Macaws have the most powerful beak in the bird kingdom (pressure per square inch) and if they really wanted to, fingers could be easily removed.
 Fortunately they rarely want to and I've never once in my career seen a macaw owner missing any fingers.

"Beaking" is an important method of communication for macaws, so you really should encourage it to continue.  These are remarkably smart birds and a gentle shake with a "don't bite" quickly teaches them their limits.  I don't care for using the word "no" except for absolutely necessary occassions.  Most of the birds we rescue only know how to speak harshly, yell, swear and their popular word is "no!" in every form.  It's pretty sad.
 In fact I don't allow yelling at our rescues ever.  The bird doesn't understand anger and will only pick up the phrases and shout them back at you eventually.
 What a macaw responds to is SILENCE. Stop everything. Turn your back or leave the room.  Doesn't take long for them to associate their behavior with the worst thing ever (shunning).  Just don't shun for too long or they forget what caused it. A couple minutes is quite enough.

 If you're ever bitten too hard or too long and the shake doesn't work - fight the urge to shake more violently or the bird will just clamp down harder.  You can try an 'earthquake' - where you shake your arm - not enough to throw the bird off, but enough to distract them from the biting.
 Better yet, rush to another room or run into a closet.  A change in environment like this will always concern the bird more than your fingers are and they let go. Suddenly you'll be their best friend too since they count on you to keep this new room safe for them.

 Find out more about how to interact with your magnificent macaw at my site - and see my in house rescued girls too  www.4AnimalCare.org

If you ever need anything, I'm here.