Flighted Zons ?

Pinkbirdy · Dec 29, 2014

My meaning of "Flighted " is they can fly around the house and land were their supposed to. Does any ones Zon do this or know of one?I have 3 birds out of my flock that can fly out to see who they want . No Im not clicker training. Im thinking of maybe a baby Zon in the spring. I might go through the same breeder I got my RB2 from . He came knowing how to fly and come to you. She said all her birds do this. I just never hear of Zons flying unless their coming to get you

Any one hear of this?

Birdman666 · Dec 29, 2014

I've had three that were fully flighted and recalled. Sally (RLA), Pecker (BFA), and Bob (YNA).

I used to free fly them every day. So, yes, absolutely it can be done.

Kiwibird · Dec 29, 2014

My moms 2 amazons are both talented flyers who both know how to come when they're called. Not consistently enough to ever go free flying outdoors, but a good 75% of the time, they cooperate. The male cannot fly anymore due to a stroke, but the female is still always zipping around the house. The female also flies home to go potty (usually). Amazons are actually quite suited to indoor flying due to their natural environment of dense rainforest. Both the rainforest and a home have lots of objects to navigate around

I'm sure if you get your baby trained young, he or she will become a talented flyer who eventually picks up what you mean when you say "get down here"

What species are you looking at? ow do you thing Tequila and Lexi will react? Zons tend to buddy up to other zons pretty quickly!

Birdman666 · Dec 29, 2014

I am actually keeping Maggie and Sally flighted from now on. They are both recalled, and they behave.

The others? Not so much. Sweepea is pretty good most of the time, but it only takes once... and it has already happened once or twice. So no. She's semi-flighted.

Lila spooks.

Tusk - Do I even HAVE to explain that one? I've lost him FIVE TIMES...

There won't be a six.

SandyBee · Dec 29, 2014

I keep our Amazon flighted. He flies all over the house, sometimes comes when asked lol.

Pinkbirdy · Dec 30, 2014

That's cool, good to hear

I used to clip my birds until I got Owen my RB2 . Now I see no need for that . I have cathedral ceilings and I see how good it is for them . After I brought Owen home my Hawkhead flys and my Nanday conure.So I see they seem to pick it up from each other. I was wondering if the zons get "bratty"and play keep away

As for species ideally a female. I love the "hot 3" but you never know . I do really well with my rehomes . See myself looking at Double yellow heads a lot

You know I want one of each ! Can you imagine how loud it would be

LOL But whats loud ? You know the parties on here when I come from work . I like it loud [I know their healthy].

ImmunoGoblin · Dec 30, 2014

Our DYH is "semi-flighted." We clip just his first 5 flight feathers, and then they grow back in various stages. He can get around the house pretty much wherever he wants to go, but he has to work a little harder to get there and he can't be as aggressive or destructive as he was when he could maneuver like a hummingbird. When he's out of the cage, he's free to fly where he chooses, but 99% of the time he stays in the rooms where we are and rotates between the cages and play stands (which are in another room) or on one of us.

Our OWA came to us with a severe clip and he couldn't fly AT ALL. I have let them grow out entirely and haven't clipped him again. He has regained his flight and is pretty maneuverable, but he doesn't do it too often. Usually if he decides he's had enough of being in a room without me and wants to come find me. If he keeps up this level of flight/activity I'm not inclined to clip him again. I don't want my birds to sit around like ornaments and never be able to fly, but at the same time there's some merit to moderate clips.

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

Pinkbirdy said:
I was wondering if the zons get "bratty"and play keep away

Well, and this goes for any flighted parrot, the rule has to be no dive bombing, and no attacking faces. Dive bombing is a territorial thing, and results in an immediate toweling and clip job, so that they "get" the cause and effect...

They grow back. The safety of all concerned is a top priority. Do this once, and they might be unhappy for a few days, but they will "get it."

As for inside the house skills, Sally negotiates corners like a champ. Just do not turn on any ceiling fans you might have in the house!

Snabb133 · Dec 30, 2014

From where I am (Sweden) it is now illegal to clip a parrot/birds wings unless for medical reasons. Some people might still be doing it, but it's a good law to have.

I personally don't clip any of my parrots wings since I love watching them fly from perch to perch and room to room. It makes the parrot so much happier. I see little-to-no enjoyment/beauty in a parrot not being able to fly. Keep him flighted, It's the best choice for both of you. Especially for the parrots health in the long run.

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

Snabb133 said:
From where I am (Sweden) it is now illegal to clip a parrot/birds wings unless for medical reasons. Some people might still be doing it, but it's a good law to have.

I personally don't clip any of my parrots wings since I love watching them fly from perch to perch and room to room. It makes the parrot so much happier. I see little-to-no enjoyment/beauty in a parrot not being able to fly. Keep him flighted, It's the best choice for both of you. Especially for the parrots health in the long run.

Until the parrot gets out, and in the wintertime in Sweeden, then that law becomes a death sentence...

I've lost Tusk FIVE times. He panics and flies off. Either he never gets to go outside and climb a tree and be a bird again, or I clip him, and leave him semi-flighted, so he doesn't get lost.

Mine go outside all the time. I've got two I trust 110% to be outside fully flighted. The rest, not so much. (Even though they have been.)

Semi flighted they can still fly from one end of the house to the other.

mh434 · Dec 30, 2014

Sammy is flighted, as was Pauli (RIP), although they are permanently indoor birds. Both are (were) great fliers, but terrible at landings.

Sammy only flies when startled - he flies strong & hard, but every landing is a barely controlled crash. The last time, he crash-landed on one of our dogs. The previous time, he crashed straight into the paper-out hole of my wife's computer printer - just his tail sticking out!

My 'Zons have never learned to slow or flare for landings.

Amanda_Bennett · Dec 30, 2014

Zilla is semi-flighted for her safety. She can still fly across the entire dining/living room if she wants to bad enough. She is horrible at landings! Always "crashes" and even does somersaults on the carpet! She doesn't seem to want to very often though (maybe the landings scare her?). She would rather be transported by hand/arm/shoulder where she wants to go.

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

Amanda_Bennett said:
Zilla is semi-flighted for her safety. She can still fly across the entire dining/living room if she wants to bad enough. She is horrible at landings! Always "crashes" and even does somersaults on the carpet! She doesn't seem to want to very often though (maybe the landings scare her?). She would rather be transported by hand/arm/shoulder where she wants to go.

That is a sign of a bird that was never allowed to fledge properly...

Or a CAG. CAG's are just that clumsy sometimes.

When Tusk was fledging he seemed to have scratches on his face from "faceplanting" into things...

He once got spooked and flew into the second story of the house across the street. (Fortunately, the minute he took off flying, I took off running.) But, really, what bird do you know that flies straight and level into the side of a house?! (He bounced off, and I made a "basket catch." Like I pop fly in baseball. "I got it!")

Really? Tusk... you couldn't see that great big house directly in your flight path?!

Then again, I watched a novice skydiver fly straight and level into the side of an airplane hanger. So it happens from time to time, I guess...

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

mh434 said:
Sammy is flighted, as was Pauli (RIP), although they are permanently indoor birds. Both are (were) great fliers, but terrible at landings.

Sammy only flies when startled - he flies strong & hard, but every landing is a barely controlled crash. The last time, he crash-landed on one of our dogs. The previous time, he crashed straight into the paper-out hole of my wife's computer printer - just his tail sticking out!

My 'Zons have never learned to slow or flare for landings.

Sally actually zips across the room and lands on my arm or a shoulder. Usually my shoulder... Occasionally she flares a bit too soon and I have to put an arm out.

She's actually the only bird I've got that does much flying back and forth.

Lila was wild caught. She flies like a wild bird. Unfortunately, she also spooks easily, like a wild bird, so I have to keep her semi-flighted. (She only flies from food dish to food dish.)

4dugnlee · Dec 30, 2014

Sassy is fully flighted. She loves to fly and has no problem landing exactly where she wants to be. I would, however, clip her if it was for safety of her or us (and by us I mean hubby...she went through a stage where she would fly to his back, bite him, and fly off...luckily she hasn't done that in a few months).

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

4dugnlee said:
Sassy is fully flighted. She loves to fly and has no problem landing exactly where she wants to be. I would, however, clip her if it was for safety of her or us (and by us I mean hubby...she went through a stage where she would fly to his back, bite him, and fly off...luckily she hasn't done that in a few months).

Exactly. Safety first.

And once they have an "attitude adjustment", they generally mellow out.

My biggest fear with flighted parrots in the house is having them fly into objects and get injured. I had two zons knock themselves silly flying into a window once. (Bob & Sally.)

Snabb133 · Dec 30, 2014

Birdman666 said:
Snabb133 said:

From where I am (Sweden) it is now illegal to clip a parrot/birds wings unless for medical reasons. Some people might still be doing it, but it's a good law to have.

I personally don't clip any of my parrots wings since I love watching them fly from perch to perch and room to room. It makes the parrot so much happier. I see little-to-no enjoyment/beauty in a parrot not being able to fly. Keep him flighted, It's the best choice for both of you. Especially for the parrots health in the long run.

Click to expand...

Until the parrot gets out, and in the wintertime in Sweeden, then that law becomes a death sentence...

I've lost Tusk FIVE times. He panics and flies off. Either he never gets to go outside and climb a tree and be a bird again, or I clip him, and leave him semi-flighted, so he doesn't get lost.

Mine go outside all the time. I've got two I trust 110% to be outside fully flighted. The rest, not so much. (Even though they have been.)

Semi flighted they can still fly from one end of the house to the other.

That is debatable. There are also some exceptions to this law that has recently been added. But keeping a bird from flying away and adapting your home to a flighted parrot is a very smart idea. Yeah sure there might be cases where parrots accidentaly fly away, but that's mostly the owners fault in most cases. You should be very careful with parrots outside. There was a trained Yellow naped amazon parrot that was lost for a couple of years in Sweden before. And she survived for that long throughout these harsh weather conditions. She is now with her original owner and she never takes her out again without a harness on.

What do you think is the best choice for a parrot? Keeping the wings clipped which is safe in 95% cases, semi clipped (which is still not very good since it can still lift and get up in the air with a little wind), or keeping it fully flighted, but tought with Re-calls or with a harness?

Birdman666 · Dec 30, 2014

I have done some recall with all my birds, but there are only two that I trust. Those birds I will keep fully flighted...

The others I keep semi-flighted, even though they go outside, unharnessed, almost every day. (I had them flighted outside every day, for many years, without incident, until the latest incident with Tusk flying off. Now they are clipped and semi-flighted.)

It's a personal decision in my book. One size does not fit all.

If a zon becomes territorial and starts dive bombing, for example. What do you do, keep him in a cage 24/7?! Or just clip him, so that he can't do it, and gets the message that it won't be tolerated...

I've kept mine flighted, and free flown them. I've kept them clipped.

I got Sally as a terribly aggressive biter, and for a time, she was "short clipped" so that she could only flutter to the ground. It was necessary to prevent her from attacking with intent to maim...

Later on, once she was trained, she was free flighted.

After she flew into the window, she was kept semi-flighted.

Now she's going to be fully flighted again.

So, I have done all of the above.

JerseyWendy · Dec 30, 2014

Both my zons are fully flighted (actually, all 4 of mine currently are), and my Sam is THE strongest flier out of all of them. As I'm typing this he's 'carouselling' around the entire downstairs, seemingly never getting tired. :32: If something interests him, there is no stopping him, and I have to be extra careful because he gets a kick out of tormenting my macaws, particularly my GW. And Ripley is NOT amused. Sam will land on his cage, wait for Ripley to come close and then he takes off. I've had several close calls that way.

Sam can turn on a dime in mid-air, and sometimes I think he was a Falcon in his previous life, as he's quite good at dive bombing, too. :54: No, he's never attacked anyone or anything, he's just playing.

Hunter is a skilled flier as well, but she's MUCH too lazy to make good use of her wings, unless I 'play' with her. She only rarely leaves the spot I put her on.

mh434 · Dec 30, 2014

In my case, I have two large dogs, so I don't clip Sammy. While I love the dogs, and trust them around people etc., all dogs are prey-driven to a certain extent, and you're never totally sure what might trigger them.

A close friend of mine had Jack Russells and, while he was babysitting his mom's Cockatiel (that she'd had for many years), the bird & dogs got along famously for several months, with the bird sometimes sleeping on the dogs. One day the bird made a bad landing on the edge of a door & fluttered down to the floor (it was semi-flighted). One of the dogs (that in all its 14 years had never shown any prey drive at all) just snapped, and killed the bird in an instant.

I want my birds to have the ability to get out of dog range if needed!

Flighted Zons ?

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