Free Flight

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

Nope not about to let BB try it for a long time. I am just curious and not sure there is a answer to this but, here it goes.

If I were a bird and someone said GO FLY and tossed me into the air. I will be damn if I would come back to a place where I could not fly when ever I wanted.

SO what makes a bird return ? The Flock ? The bond ? I know some do not return .

It just amazed me to watch some of these people free flight and the bird will go off into what seems like a long distance only to turn and fly back. Amazing.

Whooops I should have put this under the General Parrot

Kiwibird · Aug 11, 2015

From my understanding, it's a lot about understanding the nature of parrots along with recall training. Parrots stay within the same flock for life. They are bonded to their flock, and don't tend to stray far. A free-flight trained bird comes back because of the natural bond and the conditioning he/she gained during recall training. In nature, a bird would have learnt this as a baby from the parent birds, but in captivity we must teach them. Of course, a bird who has spent his/her whole life indoors or only outside in a cage spooks, it may panic and keep flying because it has no idea what it's doing (flying on instinct), isn't used to the outdoors and/or it may get stuck in a tree (many captive birds can only fly up, they are scared/unwilling to fly down from high places, as silly as that seems). Free flight takes a lot of work and training that works up to outdoor flight. I definitely think BB should go out on a harness for now

Mariar · Aug 11, 2015

Wow thanks for this post...for now I'll also keep sissy on a harness.

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

Oh trust me BB will not be outside anytime soon. He hates the harness so far.

Mariar · Aug 11, 2015

Sissy does ok..she's been moody lately due to molting. Practice pratice practice I guess.

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

It's primarily the bond.

It's secondarily conditioning.

You have to represent safety and security to the bird, or it won't work.

There's a difference between a simple fly to me, and a free flighted recalled bird. The latter is A LOT more complex... (DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!)

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

It is amazing to watch

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Kiwibird said:
Of course, a bird who has spent his/her whole life indoors or only outside in a cage spooks, it may panic and keep flying because it has no idea what it's doing (flying on instinct), isn't used to the outdoors and/or it may get stuck in a tree (many captive birds can only fly up, they are scared/unwilling to fly down from high places, as silly as that seems). Free flight takes a lot of work and training that works up to outdoor flight. I definitely think BB should go out on a harness for now

Normally they do one circle around the area, and then off they go...

Hop in the car and chase after them...

When I was free flight training Sweepea, she took off on me once, ended up in a tree in the school about a mile or so from my house. Next stop from there was the local forest... which was inhabited and patrolled regularly by red tailed hawks. (Death sentence for a baby big mac.)

Yeah. That one gets your attention.

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Christinenc2000 said:
It is amazing to watch

Until you watch them fly away, or you watch a predator swoop in and take them. (or almost take them.)

I am going to start free flying Sally and Maggie again, BUT not the others.

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

I would be so scared to try it. I need to take some pictures this weekend and post on here. Our area is so full of Hawks. They are so pretty flying but not to close lol. We have had one dive at our Corgi The Jack we have ran at it and scared it away. That was a few years ago. No way does BB go onto the deck even in his cage without me right there.

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Those two are trained and trustworthy. There are times when I feel like I'm cheating them by not doing more of this with them. They're such good birds... but the danger factor is very real. And even with those birds I hesitate. If I lost either of them, I'd never be able to forgive myself...

I used to take Sally free flying every weekend.

These days, she actually seems more interested in just sitting in the top of "her tree."

Maggie only free flies when I don't pick her up fast enough. (Usually to my shoulder.) Sometimes to Sarah these days... she's been home more than I have lately.

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

I have yet to see BB fly at all. He has glided to the floor twice when spooked. He could not run fast enough to me to help him up. Not sure he has ever flown. <--- That kinda shocks me

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Christinenc2000 said:
I have yet to see BB fly at all. He has glided to the floor twice when spooked. He could not run fast enough to me to help him up. Not sure he has ever flown. <--- That kinda shocks me

If they never fledged properly...
Or if their wings are always clipped... especially if they are "short clipped."
Or if they've spent their whole life locked up in a cage...

Then they may have never learned how.
They may even be afraid too.
"I'll end up on the floor where I am vulnerable to predators."

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Kiwibird said:
Of course, a bird who has spent his/her whole life indoors or only outside in a cage spooks, it may panic and keep flying because it has no idea what it's doing (flying on instinct)

STARTLE TRAINING IS NOT OPTIONAL for free flighted birds. They have to be fully startle trained.

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Kiwibird said:
many captive birds can only fly up, they are scared/unwilling to fly down from high places, as silly as that seems.

Sweepea ALSO got stuck on the roof of a 3 story building while I was free flight training her. She sat up there desperately calling to me, with one foot up in the air... Took me about two hours to get her to come down.

ALSO GETS YOUR ATTENTION...

There were multiple times I nearly lost that bird (but didn't) during her free fly training, and I stopped free flying her because she can get wound up doing it, and didn't always want to come down.

Christinenc2000 · Aug 11, 2015

Never noticed where his wings were clipped. I know he spent all his time in a cage so that maybe it.
He sure can hold the top of his cage or play stand and cause more air circulation than a ceiling fan .

Birdman666 · Aug 11, 2015

Christinenc2000 said:
I would be so scared to try it. I need to take some pictures this weekend and post on here. Our area is so full of Hawks. They are so pretty flying but not to close lol. We have had one dive at our Corgi The Jack we have ran at it and scared it away. That was a few years ago. No way does BB go onto the deck even in his cage without me right there.

And rightly so.

1. It's never guaranteed. They can and do fly off and get lost.

2. When they go out free flying, they enter the food chain. They aren't as skilled at recognizing and fending off predators as their wild cousins.

I tend to recommend against free fly training, even though I have done it.

I've seen to many GREAT birds that just never came back...

AND I JUST TALKED MYSELF OUT OF FREEFLYING MAGGIE AND SALLY AGAIN.

Mekaisto · Aug 11, 2015

Free flying is not a decision to take lightly. Some organisations teach free-flying, or recommend it because it improves the bird's life, but its not easy, and not for everybody.

Not only does the bird need to be trained to come back, not to startle, to recognise its surroundings, etc.. but it also has to be trained to 'come back NOW'.

But here's the thing, sometimes you don't want the parrot to come back! If there's a peregrine falcon hanging around, you want your parrot to STAY on the ground or in a tree. "Stay! I'll come to you!". It's the balance between understanding the dangers, and helping your parrot understand those dangers too.

Fitness training is important too - a fit bird may not be as fit as a wild predator, but it will still help in ways you wouldn't even imagine.

itchyfeet · Aug 11, 2015

I'm fascinated by it.
I'll never do it.
I fully admire those who can.
I'm far to scared.
Flighted birds - sure. Harness trained - absolutely. Free flying? No.

AJBirds · Aug 11, 2015

A bit off topic, but what is bird fitness training? I've googled and searched this forum but can't find anything.

I would never free flight Pixie, she's my first parrot and I would be devastated if I lost her or a predator got her. She's recall trained (thanks to her breeder) and she practices flying to me during the day.

Free Flight

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Keke The Scarlet Macaw

Going on almost three weeks in his new home

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