Flight questions

Weezerj · Feb 5, 2016

Loki now has the feathers required for flight and I'd like to start down the road of flight training....but I don't really have much information on how.

I have read that step one is getting them to jump from perch to perch and reward them, then slowly start moving the perches farther and farther apart...

My question is, how do you get them to make that jump? Loki will lean like he wants to take off, but won't make the jump. I know to not force him.....

Any suggestions or links to material to learn flight would be appreciated. I have found information on flight, but no information on how to get him to take that first step.

Piasa · Feb 5, 2016

I taught Beau to fly by having him sit on my finger and swooping him around. I also would give him a toss toward the bed so he was forced to use the wings (This may be mean depending on your bird, but he enjoyed it) and would land on something fluffy. When he seemed confident enough to want to initiate flight on his own, I would leave him somewhere and walk away, and he would fly after me *** this may be something for you to try. Or if you have something that Loki really really wants, hold it and make him want to fly to it. Beau was 3 years old when I taught him, so we already established a strong bond, but also good to know a non-baby can learn to fly and not smack into walls

MonicaMc · Feb 10, 2016

Start with stepping up. Then increase the step up distance. See if your bird is more comfortable with a hand or an arm. If he hesitates, then decrease the distance to something that he *can* do, repeat multiple times, then try a little further out.

Weezerj · Feb 10, 2016

MonicaMc said:
Start with stepping up. Then increase the step up distance. See if your bird is more comfortable with a hand or an arm. If he hesitates, then decrease the distance to something that he *can* do, repeat multiple times, then try a little further out.

We step us just fine....and as long as he can reach the perch or my arm with his beak he will make the attempt at the gap. If I extend just out of reach from his beak, I can't get him to take that plunge.....I guess just keep trying and encouraging

MonicaMc · Feb 10, 2016

Then don't extend out of his reach! Just make that reach a little further so he has to make a little more effort to get there!

So yes, keep encouraging the behavior. Although flying is a natural behavior, knowing how to fly is learned. If a bird has been clipped or prevented from flight, then learning how to fly for the "first time" can be a very scary experience.

I used this method with my first conure who couldn't fly. He got far enough that he would take a leap of faith and just jump and expect to be caught. Quite the scare for my sister when he did that to her, once!!!!

Ginnybird · Feb 10, 2016

Gosh, Loki in your pic is beautiful. Illiger's are neat and I hope to meet one someday!

If it helps... with my 'zon we stayed at the pre-hop point for a while. I increased distance as much as she could go without flight and she would stretch herself out to lean on me with her beak and then make a long step. Praise and treat. But for -- maybe a couple months? -- a while anyway, if I went further, she looked eager but wasn't going airborne for even a second.

One day she just did. It sounds like it's coming for Loki.

Anansi · Feb 10, 2016

Some birds are just difficult in that regard... especially if they haven't been allowed to fledge.

I suspect that's the case for my Maya. You can see that she desperately wants to fly. She couches low, ready to spring with her eager wings vibrating away, but she just can't seem to take that leap into voluntary flight. (I say voluntary because she flies well enough when frightened. But it's almost never a conscious decision.)

I'd thought that watching Jolly fly all over the place like a green blur would've done the trick, but so far no joy. (Though she does flap her wings in place more often, now.)

I've resigned myself to the fact that it will take time. I'm just hoping that one day she'll grow more comfortable with it.

DRB · Feb 10, 2016

I'm a new bird owner and I was told that as long as a bird is given the opportunity to fly prior to it getting its wings clipped (the first time) then they will in fact always have the ability to fly. Getting them to fly early post wing clipping just makes it easier for them to take flight with clipped wings.

Is this true?

Anansi · Feb 10, 2016

DRB said:
I'm a new bird owner and I was told that as long as a bird is given the opportunity to fly prior to it getting its wings clipped (the first time) then they will in fact always have the ability to fly. Getting them to fly early post wing clipping just makes it easier for them to take flight with clipped wings.

Is this true?

That first sentence about a bird always being able to fly as long as they are given the opportunity prior to getting their wings clipped has been massively misinterpreted. Many are under the mistaken impression that a bird has fledged after getting a flight or two under its belt. But that simply isn't true.

Fledging is not just about flapping wings, but about the brain forming the new neural pathways necessary for learning the various skills of flight. Cutting this process short, or eliminating it altogether, stunts their neural development and makes it much more difficult for them to learn flight skills later on in life.

Flight questions

Weezerj

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