Squarking Parrot

Question
I have a Blue & Gold Macaw which my partner bought me in December. The man in the pet shop where we bought it from said he was a 7 months old male. The problem we are having now is that he is very tame, but only seems to like males & will not come to me. Also he is squarking alot, mostly when I have the Hoover or washing machine on. But other times its just for nothing. My parrot is now at my friends house because I was thinking of selling him, but I miss him & want him back. But he is doing the same at my friends house. He will only go to her partner & other males. And is starting to squark all the time. Even she has had enough of him. Have you please got some advice for me to help us so we don't have to get rid of my parrot. Thankyou!  

Answer
Hello Dawn and thank you for your post.

Some birds do prefer males to females and some do prefer females to males.  My Amazon Parrot likes men, but I live alone with my animals, so he will come to me (I've had him for almost 2 years), but it took a long time.
Birds do "pick their people", and once they do, it's very difficult at the least to change that.  Most of the time it is impossible.
As for the squawking, birds need time to squawk.  This is how they communicate with their flock/mates, and this is how they exercise their lungs.  All of my male birds will screech and scream when I have the vacuum cleaner going.  They either do not like the noise (in the case of my older male cockatiel), or they try to imitate it.
Macaws do have a set of lungs and they are loud.  Unfortunately there is not much that you can do about it.

Start off by teaching him some tricks and works.  Your bird may be bored as Macaws are extremely intelligent animals and they love to learn.  Start off with something simple like teaching him to "wave".  It's a simple trick and he'll love to learn it.  I am a believer in "clicker training", but each person has their own methods that will work for their birds.  I have one bird that I did not use a clicker with when I taught her to wave because the clicker scared her too much.
You can also start teaching your bird some words and songs.  This will keep his active mind somewhat occupied.

I am also sending you a link to a site that I recommend to people.  I use the methods from this site for my own birds and for any birds that come into my home, with GREAT SUCCESS.

Your bird may turn around to like you (my Amazon tolerates me only because there are no male humans in my home), but it'll take time, patience, and consistency.

Please keep me informed on how it's going with him.

Good luck and God Bless.
Dianna