Maxine Macaw turns 30

LACONIA — Laconia Pet Center's very own "Maxine Macaw" turned 30 this Friday. The blue-and-yellow bird, a keystone member of the pet shop since she was six weeks old, celebrated her big 3-0 with a specially baked corn muffin loaded with her favorite nuts.

Maxine declined to comment on the occasion, instead only offered up a few clicks and head bobs. Fortunately, one of her friends and co-workers, Mike McDonald, was able to fill in a few details. 

“I’m not her absolute favorite,” McDonald said as Maxine climbed onto him, “but she will tolerate me.”

As Maxine settled on his arm, she made eye contact with the camera lens and started slowly moving her head up and down. 

“She’s sizing you up,” McDonald explained. “Making sure you’re not a threat.”

Once the bird determined that the press wasn’t out to get her, she moved back to her perch bar and approached closer for a few glamor shots. 

“It’s basically like having  a three-year-old for life,” McDonald said about living with a macaw. “So you have to treat it like a three year old.” 

In addition to being a one-of-a-kind resident in Laconia, Maxine is also one of the first of her species in the United States to receive a special hormonal regulation chip implant. 

“She actually has a pretty unique story. She doesn’t have a uterus,” McDonald explained, citing some complications in Maxine’s early life that resulted in a hysterectomy. “Now there is a little chip the size of a grain of rice on the back of her that controls her hormone growth so that she doesn’t want to nest.”

If Maxine’s maternal instincts kick in, and she starts producing eggs, it could be detrimental to her health. 

“There is nowhere for the eggs to go,” McDonald said. 

In addition to the hormone chip, which must be replaced every six months, the staff have to be careful to limit the amount of nesting materials in her enclosure, keep her from dark nooks and crannies, and even be careful with where they pet her. 

“We’re not touching her back underneath her wings, pretty much anywhere other than her head,” McDonald said. “In bird culture, the head is essentially ‘I want to be friends with you’ anywhere else on the body means that they want to mate.”

As long as Maxine’s chip is properly swapped out and she doesn’t misinterpret her caretakers' petting, the macaw will likely outlive everyone in the pet store.

“They have an average lifespan of roughly 90 to 100 years,” McDonald said. “I believe the oldest recorded was 112.”