08/10/2026
🦜 An Update on Our Three Rescued Macaws 🦜
It has been a little over a week since three macaws came into the care of The Georgia Aviary after being removed from a severe neglect situation in North Georgia.
We wanted to share some recent photos and give everyone an update on how these three girls are doing.
First, some very good news:
All three macaws have tested NEGATIVE for all of the major infectious diseases for which they were screened. ❤️
They are eating, drinking, active, and beginning to settle into their new surroundings.
But while their recent photos may already show signs of improvement, their recovery is only beginning, and there is still a tremendous amount of work ahead.
💚 The Large Hybrid Macaw arrived at the very bottom end of the weight range she should be for a macaw of her size. She needs to gain weight and rebuild her overall body condition. She is eating well and showing encouraging behavior, but healthy recovery takes time.
💙💛 The Blue-and-yellow Macaw was also at the very bottom end of her expected weight range and needs to gain. She is also dealing with serious, longstanding feather destructive behavior affecting much of her body. At her initial veterinary examination, she had a severely overgrown scissor beak that required corrective trimming.
She has already shown herself to be incredibly friendly and enjoys interacting with her caregivers. But the physical and behavioral effects of prolonged neglect cannot simply be erased by moving her into a clean environment and giving her good food. Her recovery will be a much longer process.
💚The Small Hybrid Macaw remains our greatest concern.
She arrived severely underweight, with an initial body condition score of just 1.5 out of 5.
She has no functional use of one foot and only very limited use of the other. She cannot perch normally and has adapted by using her beak, body, and what limited function remains in her better foot to move around.
Her initial veterinary examination also revealed chronic and painful foot problems, sores and swelling, a heart murmur, and other medical concerns requiring medication and intensive supportive care.
There are reasons to be hopeful.
She is alert. She wants to eat. She drinks on her own. She eagerly accepts supplemental recovery food and continues to show us just how determined she is.
But she is still in significant danger and has a very long recovery ahead of her.
Right now, we are taking that recovery one day and sometimes one meal at a time while closely monitoring her weight, nutrition, mobility, comfort, feet, behavior, and overall health.
For all three macaws, the months ahead will require continued veterinary care, specialized nutrition, appropriate housing, enrichment, close monitoring, and a great deal of time.
Their lives are already very different from the ones they left behind.
They have clean water.
They have nutritious food.
They have safe places to rest.
They have enrichment.
They have people watching over them every day.
And they have all of you cheering them on. ❤️
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated, sent supplies, shared their story, or simply reached out to ask how they are doing.
Their rescue happened in a day. Their recovery will take much longer.
If you would like to help us continue providing everything these three macaws need:
❤️ Donate: https://thegeorgiaaviary.org/donate
If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing their story. Every share helps more people understand what it takes to give neglected parrots a genuine second chance.
Thank you for being part of their journey.
The Georgia Aviary
