Learning to fly...

Just looking for thoughts on when birdies are learning to fly and running into things in the house....

So Kass' wings were clipped before we got him. They actually clipped him before he learned to fly (and I understand this could cause emotional issues, but what's done is done, and he's a complete sweetheart). So we have been letting the feathers grow out. Unfortunately, according to the CAV, the breeders REALLY clipped his wings super short! His flight wings have molted and grown out but the wings underneath show no signs of falling off. So at least now he floats instead of plops.

Anyway, they've grown enough that he can flutter and float down as opposed to before when he would just plop like a rock. He's never been shy or afraid to jump off the gym, so there have been bruises on his face now and again. Never any bleeding

He jumps/flutters off once or twice a day, but it's increased. Not like he is alone. Someone is in the house in the same room as him all day while he is out of his cage (which is pretty much from 8am until 7pm, with a couple of hours of quiet time in his cage mid-day). His gym is in the busiest part of the house -- the kitchen/living room. And he gets plenty of attention and cuddles/play times with the humans here. And overall he shakes off his wings when he "lands" (if you can call it that lol) and starts waddling around like nothing happened.

So far he hasn't been seriously hurt. He always flutters down but usually runs into the couch or chair. I'm just worried he will seriously hurt himself one day. Any one care to share their experiences with these?

Obviously I'm not looking to stop him cuz he will do it anyway. Been trying to train him to only do it on command but it's slow going. Just wondering what everyone's own experiences with this is and any input/thoughts.

Oh just a random video of him going nuts on his toys LOL

[ame="https://youtu.be/px6VR57K8pM"]Kass playing - YouTube[/ame]

Omg he is INSANE! Instant love for this boy please keep the videos coming!

Now is the time to start recall training, teaching him to come on command. Having never flown he had never learned the proper mechanics of flight and landing, which results in bumps and bruises. This promoted my own experience with my eclectus boy.

The process of recall training really does teach the mechanics organically without actually trying to piecemeal individual aspects (eg, how do I teach my bird to land properly).

Is Kass clicker trained?

Been doing just treats but no clicker yet. Originally was going to just click with my mouth cuz in the past I've lost clickers with other pets LOL So was trying to use something I have with me at all times. But yeah, I sometimes forget LOL

He is good at coming to me when I call him over. He's good at "touch" commands. He kisses and gives hi5's on command. Just a matter of me focusing.

He is definitely insane LOL Sometimes I have to stop myself from going to him when he's cutely playing and entertaining himself on his own. I don't want him to always expect someone to entertain him. My favorite videos of him that I need to upload are ones of him just dangling on things LOL

Kass really makes me think of Jacob with that play style. Jacob got to fly as a baby but has been clipped since then, he grows in his feathers every winter as he doesn't go outside (Canadian winter is like 8 months long) but he never learned that he can use them to fly. now that I have adopted him I want to let him grow in his feathers and teach him to fly, so far the only flying he's been doing is from the chair to the ottoman, we put it as far as we can till he flies over, we get him to fly to the ottoman as my husband offers to play ball.

Any other time Jacob gets some air he gets right confused about it. He doesn't know he can use those wings to fly as he now has all but one of his flight feathers back. Slowly but surely he will be a flying bird. Hopefully I don't regret this decision but right now Jacob climbs down and becomes such a T-Rex while on the floor, he'll immediately go find a place that is suitable for nesting and try to chomp me when I go to pick him up. Giving him the ability to fly will hopefully stop him from climbing down during breeding seasons.

Sorry, I don't have advice for you but instead I am looking for it just as you are, anyone replying to this thread is also helping me out, so thank you for posting this question before I got to it.

Here is Jacob tossing toys around and dancing to loud music, it really gets him pumped up:
[ame="https://youtu.be/qY0gpMt93iw"]https://youtu.be/qY0gpMt93iw[/ame]

Valyndris said:

Kass really makes me think of Jacob with that play style. Jacob got to fly as a baby but has been clipped since then, he grows in his feathers every winter as he doesn't go outside (Canadian winter is like 8 months long) but he never learned that he can use them to fly. now that I have adopted him I want to let him grow in his feathers and teach him to fly, so far the only flying he's been doing is from the chair to the ottoman, we put it as far as we can till he flies over, we get him to fly to the ottoman as my husband offers to play ball.

Any other time Jacob gets some air he gets right confused about it. He doesn't know he can use those wings to fly as he now has all but one of his flight feathers back. Slowly but surely he will be a flying bird. Hopefully I don't regret this decision but right now Jacob climbs down and becomes such a T-Rex while on the floor, he'll immediately go find a place that is suitable for nesting and try to chomp me when I go to pick him up. Giving him the ability to fly will hopefully stop him from climbing down during breeding seasons.

Sorry, I don't have advice for you but instead I am looking for it just as you are, anyone replying to this thread is also helping me out, so thank you for posting this question before I got to it.

Here is Jacob tossing toys around and dancing to loud music, it really gets him pumped up:
https://youtu.be/qY0gpMt93iw

Click to expand...

OMG He's as insane as Kass LOL!!!! LOVE IT!!!! Jacob is sooooo handsome! I need to step up my gym decoration LOL . I change it around and slowly add and remove stuff every couple of weeks. It looks baron at the moment. His cage is extremely bare besides the perches and 1 or 2 dangly shredding toys because he literally only goes in there to sleep/nap.

I'm glad you can benefit from the question, too. Wasn't really looking for much except to see others' experiences and get ideas on how to work with this. I definitely do have to start clicker training asap. Cuz I'm also working on getting him to accept the Aviator Harness. He doesn't mind it but I can only ever get 1 wing in. Winter is the best time to get him used to it so by the time spring comes, if all his feathers come in, I'd want to be sure he has a harness on outdoors.

When we noticed him floating more, we tried to take him outside on the grass to practice but he wasn't keen on it. Seems he only wants to do it on his terms and when we're not looking. So hopefully the clicker recall training will help. But thanks for the video!! They never get old

I AM the new guy here, so at the risk of offending; I do use YouTube a lot. A LOT of those video's are bird specific but take that into account, many things are adaptable from one species to another. SO ALL THAT SAID, go to youtube and use the search window and type in wingsNpaws_ training and click the magnifying glass. A list of his video's will come up. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRh2PUcTICw"]Intro to Flight Training & Recall - YouTube[/ame] or like I just did, copy the url and pasted it here. This young man is thorough about most subjects and repeats in different video's. Another trainer I like is BirdTrix (search on); I will also tell you I open the next video in another tab (so as not to lose the source). Hope this turns out helpful, not break any rules or put up anyone's hair. jh

Within the Amazon Forum at near the very top is a Sticky Thread (highlighted in light Blue) that is Titled: I Love Amazons - ... Within that huge Thread you will find a Segment devoted to supporting one's Parrot to Regaining Flight. Very Young Parrots come with no fear of just jumping and assuming everything is going to work out. Once that lack of fear ends, the process of Training an Older Parrot to Fly becomes more difficult as you need to 'work' at developing flight muscles and the confidence that flight is possible.

You will find tons of Parrot related information within that hug Thread! Take a look and begin applying what you learn and your Parrot will be flighting. Please understand that a major part of teach them to fly is first getting them to believe that they can safely land!

Enjoy...

1oldparroter said:

I AM the new guy here, so at the risk of offending; I do use YouTube a lot. A LOT of those video's are bird specific but take that into account, many things are adaptable from one species to another. SO ALL THAT SAID, go to youtube and use the search window and type in wingsNpaws_ training and click the magnifying glass. A list of his video's will come up. Intro to Flight Training & Recall - YouTube or like I just did, copy the url and pasted it here. This young man is thorough about most subjects and repeats in different video's. Another trainer I like is BirdTrix (search on); I will also tell you I open the next video in another tab (so as not to lose the source). Hope this turns out helpful, not break any rules or put up anyone's hair. jh

Click to expand...

Thanks for the links!! I will definitely be watching a lot.

SailBoat said:

Please understand that a major part of teach them to fly is first getting them to believe that they can safely land!

Click to expand...

Yeah...he has to work on landing for sure