Blue and Gold Macaw with undigested seed in droppings

I have read Steve Marin's informative and extensive post to Renate about her Ducorps eating wood in this forum and would like to follow his recommendation and get your advice on this. I have just been confronted with a similar case.  This concerns a mature female b/y macaw who is (probably) about 20 years old and has spent time with other birds, but also long periods alone. From about 2002 until 2005 she was with two other macaws and an LSC2. One of the macaws died of aspergillosis, but the other two birds are well as of this writing. For the last four years she has been alone due to her unsociable behavior towards other birds. She is now in nesting/hormonal mode and is chewing wood, as usual at this time. However, 6 days ago there were tiny pieces of wood in her first morning dropping, which was copious and watery (also as usual). Since then, close examination of her feces reveals an average of 6 tiny pieces of wood, along with 2 to 4 slightly digested seeds and the odd undigested piece of pinenut in each dropping -- these could be adhering to the wood as it passes through, since the amount of undigested seed/nut that is passing through does not total the (moderate) amount she eats.

On two occasions, there was a very slight trace of what looked like fresh to slightly dried blood in the stools - the shade of red makes me think it was from the lower digestive tract. I am aware that PDD and Megabacteria can cause dilatation of the proventiculus. She has not, however, been to avian vet for examination as her health certainly appears good -- her body weight is normal, feces are, with the exceptions noted above, of normal amount, color, and consistency. Her front is completely bare of feathers, which helps assess her outward physical condition. She is alert, bright eyed and her facial skin color is very good. Her appetite is normal, although she gets two extra nutritional soft feeds per day. She also displays normal behavior for a nesting/hormonal female, although she is a solitary bird. 

There is now also a slight swelling developing in the soft region between her sternum and cloaca -- could this be the beginning of an egg? Is this situation something to be alarmed about? Is there some protocol that should be followed to help determine a diagnosis? Does she need to be seen by a vet urgently? Thank you so much for your time and comments.

Based on your description, your bird should be physically examined by an experienced avian veterinarian.The passage of undigested material in the feces is not a normal event, and at present time, it seems that your bird is not overtly visibly ill otherwise - offering you the time to obtain a diagnosis and have time to treat most effectively. This should not necessarily be viewed as an urgent thing, but just time to get an evaluation and a clear diagnosis established - whatever it turns out to be.

The lump that you see at the loweer abdominal area may be an egg, but it also could be due to the dilation of a ventriculus or proventriculus, or any other coelomic organ as well.

“Megabacteria” is now an outdated term that we used to describe infection with the yeast organism, Macrorhabdus ornithogaster. This is a very very very very rare diagnosis in macaws, and I’d not be overtly that concerned about this infection in your bird. More importantly, whatever is causing the ventricular dysfunction needs to be named and diagnosed accurately - and for this, it is time to get going to the doc.