my freeflight preparation

[parrot14]

awesome... my GCC was not that stable..
Much appreciated! I'll try your tips ASAP

FOr conures, I trained them boomerang flight with jackpot reward, so if they're startled and fly off.. I used my emergency recall, so far it works well.

Zidane is good in boomerang flight indoor but not so persistent outdoor. That's why I'm still using harness, training him boomerang outdoor.

Any advice on this issue?

 

[Mudkips]

Unfortunately I don't fly Birdy very often. He is clipped so I can take him to places which are normally considered dangerous to birds. It is too risky to take him everywhere and let him fly. He sometimes falls off me when he's playing around on my shoulder, not a good thing to happen at a shopping mall or train station...

I do take him out to the park for a flight between clippings though.
You know how you hear of so many pet parrots screaming when their owner leaves the room? At the park they don't scream, they fly after you when you leave! All I had to do to get him to fly was to place him on the grass, wait for a minute and run away. He would always be close behind me!
One time when his wings grew in, he got startled in a busy area and flew onto a strangers shoulder! That was quite a scary moment for both me and the stranger.

Can you explain how you do the boomerang flight?

 

[parrot14]

Fisrt probably just almost the straight flight< I put Zidane on my fingers then extended my right arm until it get straight and move my arm a little bit forward. Directed the bird so it faced left shoulder directly, give command/cue (I used "go") give a very little push, then he'll fly to shoulder. I did this almost a week.

When the bird get to know the scenario, choose a corner (indoor) or U shaped room, place your position a few meters (probably 3m is just enough) facing the walls, do it the same technique. At the first you'll need a little push. But along the time with cue/ command he'll understand. He'll fly straight but since no other choice toward any other directions, he'll just fly along the wall and back to us. I did it this probably two months. remember to give particular cue and reward which is more attractive to the bird. I called this emergency recall.

As always.... insights/critics/ whatsoever are welcome to improve my parrot skills.

 

[parrot14]

some videos update on progress

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9lkEHoaI40&list=UU_M9EpVY7Plw3mkKx6buMmg&index=2&feature=plcp"]zidane,african grey freeflight early phase - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z_86P2SzbI&list=UU_M9EpVY7Plw3mkKx6buMmg&index=1&feature=plcp"]zidane, freeflight training: early phase - YouTube[/ame]

 

[lene1949]

I planned to fly him to the field nearby, the most scariest things are stray cats and sound of cars passing by, that was because the field located by the main street.

Remember - Any predators that can take Zidane will strike quickly from above or below him. Watching below him is easy, above is much harder.
Cats shouldn't be a problem if you are watching Zidane constantly. He's too much of a big parrot to be easy pickings for a cat!

Do you have any birds of prey in your area? These could be a huge problem.
Have you thought of any wild bird flying overhead? Threat or not, it still worries birds.
Have you thought of cyclists passing close by with high visibility jackets?
Or people in the park walking their dogs?

The traffic is not very scary to a bird once they get used to it. If you want, you can take Zidane to a busy road in a cage and sit with him for a while to help him get used to it. Make sure he only has one thing to worry about at a time.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er2VxF7Cyi8"]Birdy the Green Cheek Conure waiting for the Tram - YouTube[/ame]

Birdy knows that he's safe on this bench. It doesn't move an inch and he has full view of everything approaching from around him.

When Birdy feels he is in a dangerous new environment, he will do anything to perch on my shoulder. Bonded birds will seek you for comfort when they are stressed.
The only exception to this rule is when they get startled - this is very important. You need to know what Zidane will do when he gets startled.
Birdy will take off if something surprises him, even if he's on my shoulder. He's sensitive to bright objects (such as high visibility vests), but only if they suddenly appear close to him from outside his field of view.
He's also very surprised by sudden loud metallic noises such as a car driving over a loose metal drain.

Despite all this, it's possible to get our fids used to anything if it becomes repetitive enough.

I'm sorry to say this, but I think what you're doing to your bird is cruel... He's terrified... and what about all the exhaust fumes? I wouldn't even expose a dog to that kind of noise and traffic, unless he was to be trained as an assistance dog, and needed to be sensitized to that kind of environment...

 

[DannyA93]

Lol Lene1949 I don't know about you but i see a perfectly content bird sitting on the bench enjoying his treat seeing that his feathers are not tight and he never actually acknowledges that the cars are even there. Do you know what a terrified bird looks like?? not trying to be rude but its probably exactly the oposite of what birdy's body language is

 

[parrot14]

I guessed the reaction from the bird during acclimating process would be more to hesitation... unstable, anxious, etc. Because that's the early contact to the very different situation than it has in indoor environment with all known things.

During the process, if did it regularly on consistent manner, bird would try to learn the various elements in different locations, it's probably ready to accept any new things.

 

[parrot14]

Recall training outdoor, back n forth perch

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0vyKzm2PEg&feature=youtube_gdata_player]african grey outdoor recall training - YouTube[/ame]

I'm hiding by the car and wave my hand....

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcuCyt3XP9c&feature=youtube_gdata_player]african grey outdoor recall training 2 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[parrot14]

He was afraid of bling-bing object, but after several trainings he is confident enough to fly passing the car's front grill which he freaked about before

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8LDO_hMxRo&list=UU_M9EpVY7Plw3mkKx6buMmg&index=3&feature=plcp"]african grey parrot fly between cars - YouTube[/ame]

small Boomerang flight training<

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8Xuhv5tfi0&list=UU_M9EpVY7Plw3mkKx6buMmg&index=4&feature=plcp"]african grey small boomerang flight outside - YouTube[/ame]

 

[parrot14]

In the meantime Zidane is doing flighted tricks.. this time I am using a lego cube

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMm4jRd54Q&list=UU_M9EpVY7Plw3mkKx6buMmg&index=1"]Zidane's doing his flighted retrieve tricks - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Wow! Zidane is doing amazing!

Here's a little tip from me, put Zidane back in her harness and start flying her in the wind, start with a little bit and keep going until the wind is too much. Wind is a huge obstacle for our birds when we fly them and allowing them to experience wind in a controlled way lets them learn how to use it to there advantage and better control themselves. One time Rosie was coming in for a perfect landing, but suddenly the wind(not even a strong wind) lifted her 40 ft in the air in only a few seconds.

This video shows Rosie flying in the wind. I made this video in slow motion so I could carefully see everything she is doing. At first she is hovering over me, the wind pushed her up and she is trying to get down. When she starts to descend she is only a few feet in front of me and just barely missed. The third time is the best, she is flying in at a angle and only when she is trying to land does the wind seem to blow her around some. (second may of been the best but my friends dog got in the way of the rope and Rosie lost momentum)I don't think I'll ever plan to free fly her, she is too quite and it's been hard teaching her to recall. But if she ever gets lost I want to make sure she is prepared.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh34E_ikRjE&list=UU5QPzcyW6sHN0OBkffHzk7A&index=5"]Link[/ame]

 

[parrot14]

Thank you very much... Yes wind is definiitely the big problem, zidane was once blown away and tried to do the loop flight to came back to me, but there were a lot of pine tree there blocked his way, he end up stranded in my neighbor's roof... And I have to pick him down

 

[DiscoDuck]

nice to be able to see this type of training. Zidane is showing (for what little i know) an amazing level of confidence, I can certainly understand not progressing him faster. He just appears to me to be very confident and assured every step. Got any bloopers of him not looking so well trained? I am kicking myself for not videoing our BFA flighting progression this winter. We have not been able to recall ours from a stationary position. Just as well that he only goes one direction, from me to her. Last week Oliver passed the first major hurdle to the unsighted voice command recall of " come here". from my shoulder in the kitchen to her hand around the corner in the living room! ANyways excellent job! So happy to see people working with their pets to allow them to do what they were born to do. Oh! Copper, thanks for the lead on the harness, what are the technical specs of the tether?

 

[DiscoDuck]

SInce I am new, I should have added that Oliver a Blue fronted Amazon is 30 years old! Never has flown however from the band it is possible that he may have been caught wild. Port of San Diego is all we have learned from the info on the band. He is a bit of a runt at 13oz has been clipped for the most part, he can be overly psycho without stimuli. on the other hand it has become obvious to us that he is eager to please, responds better to verbal praise than food. I suspect that since he is 30 years, he may have fallen or something happened where we can not get him to leave a stationary perch, unless the perch is me.. go figure.... I do not believe that we will ever allow our BFA untethered free flying without a transmitter. Mostly because I believe he struggles with some type of psychosis. Or maybe his possession just doesn't manifest itself too often. Any exorcists here? We both work from home so we have the luxury of non stop interaction. Learning by trial and error. Here again, we believe our BFA was caught wild, so take anything I say about our free flight training with a tiny grain of salt.

 

[MonicaMc]

"Wild caught" could also imply that the bird was taken out of the nest and straight to market, so it never learned how to fly in the wild.

Have you tried teaching Oliver to step up from a stationary object? Then slowly increasing the distance he must step up, so it's a long step up, a step up with beak grab, a step up with a hop, a step up with a hop and a flap, and so forth? This may help solve your issue of not flying from a stationary object.

Weighing in ounces is not as accurate as weighing in grams. There are also different subspecies of blue front 'zons, so there's going to be weight differences, especially if the subspecies hybridize, the weight of these birds may vary far greater. As long as Oliver is at a healthy weight for himself, I don't think it matters what he weighs compared to others!



I'm curious to know though, how does Oliver compare in behavior now vs before you started flying him? Is he any better or any worse? And if so in what ways?