Taking outside, predators

[Scottmb]

Hello everyone,

First post here. During Otis' (Green Cheek Conure) last vet visit, our bird specialist recommended putting him outside in a carrier for 15-20 mins a day so he could absorb some UV light. Instead of that though, I think it would be fun to get him in a harness and take him out when I walk our dog out instead of Otis sitting in a little carrier by himself.

I ordered an extra small harness, which should arrive in 2 days along with a DVD on how to use the harness.

If there's anything I need to know about the harness, please do share. I'll make sure I'm putting it on correctly, of course.

My concern is that one of the hawks frequently seen circling above my apartment complex might swoop down and grab him. Is this a concern, if Otis is on my shoulder? We also have Great Horned Owls, but they usually aren't out until nighttime.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Even without predators, I think taking a bird on a harness with dogs is a bad idea. Say your dog gets attacked by another dog, runs off, or chases something. How are you going to handle that with a nervy bird on your shoulder? What if your conure spooks and takes off, landing right near the jaws of a non-bird trained dog? What about when the lead gets tangled with the harness line and yanks your little guy from your shoulder? The chances of injury are just so high (speaking from experience- I took my bird out on a walk with my dog once and never again).

 

[Birdman666]

A hawk is unlikely to take a conure off your shoulder. However, the real threat is your conure getting spooked and alterting the hawk to his presence by flying off, and usually ending up in a spot where he is vulnerable... where the hawk can get to him before you can.

However, I am aware of one instance where a hawk, that lived in a park in Berkeley where is was no doubt accustomed to people, took a greenwing off someone's shoulder. That is probably the exception rather than the rule, but if the hawks are nesting, and have chicks to feed, they look for "targets of opportunity."

Speaking from experience, having lost a dusky conure to a great horned owl, yes I can say with definite certainty they will eat your conure... But in my case, the conure was dumb enough to fly to a tree where the owl happened to be roosting, and was dead before I could get to him. [Booksmart, not Street Smart. Panic, head for the spot where the other bird is.]

 

[Birdman666]

Where I lived in NorCal there were hawks everywhere. I still took my birds outside every nice day, but was always there scanning the sky and "standing guard." If the hawks showed up, we left. Especially if they were nesting. The red tails became particularly aggressive during nesting season...

My neighbor even had her little miniature pincher taken out of a back yard.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I never worried after red tails if I was holding Rosie, they a are shy of people. But Cooper's hawks, who are often hidden away in a tree or bush, would gladly take a parrot of they had the chance. They are fast, agile, and ambush predators.

One time while walking Shaymus up to my house a female Cooper's hawk swooped on us, I didn't even hear it! If that was Rosie on my shoulder she may have been grabbed, bad

 

[SoCalWendy]

We have several red tailed hawk nests in my area. I have an outside cage which is located under my RV awning. I put Rio in it almost daily. She will at times spend most of the day out there. I do get a little freaked when I hear the screech of the Hawks in my area, when I know my bird is outside. I always go and check and see them flying around looking for food. They are so magnificent to watch, but I know my lil Sennie wouldnt stand a chance against one of those. When we are all outside and Rio is on her stand, I watch the skies for those predators all the time. It would only take a split second and she would be gone! There are YouTube video showing parrots being ambushed by predators. So it does happen.

 

[weco]

Several years ago, there was a post on another parrot group I belong to, about a Senegal parrot that was outside on a perch, close to the owner when a hawk grabbed him in his talons. The owner managed to fight off the hawk with a pool tool and recovered the Senegal who physically recovered from the wounds, but was psychologically scarred. He became terrified of the owner (who had previously been his chosen person).

There was a hawk, I think in San Antonio, couple of years ago that had zoned in on a caged bird it figured was easy pickings (I think 'tiel or maybe nanday), but the wife had the bird's cage rolled over to their 2nd floor sliding glass door, with the screen closed and the hawk came through the screen, getting tangled in the screen material & scared the hell out of the wife who got the hawk out with her trusty broom.....

 

[starrynightxxi]

Having your bird with you during a walk is an appealing idea, but you do need to consider the logistics. If I had a dog that was good on the leash, I might consider it in spite of some potential problems, but if it pulled or got nasty or overly excited around people or other dogs, I probably wouldn't.

I never really worry too much about the hawks around here. It's important to take precautions, but I think there are times where you just have to allow for some level of risk. There will always be stories, and in a few cases, like the one from the bird show at that park, video, of The Worst Case, but I think that if one practices a reasonable amount of caution, it is safe enough to take the bird out on harness,and a hawk isn't overly likely to come in close to a person for a meal.

If you are paying attention to your bird, you will always know when the hawks are out. I watch for them, but Leonard invariably sees them first. Although, sometimes the hawks are just low-flying airplanes lol

 

[weco]

Having your bird with you during a walk is an appealing idea, but you do need to consider the logistics. If I had a dog that was good on the leash, I might consider it in spite of some potential problems, but if it pulled or got nasty or overly excited around people or other dogs, I probably wouldn't.

I never really worry too much about the hawks around here. It's important to take precautions, but I think there are times where you just have to allow for some level of risk. There will always be stories, and in a few cases, like the one from the bird show at that park, video, of The Worst Case, but I think that if one practices a reasonable amount of caution, it is safe enough to take the bird out on harness,and a hawk isn't overly likely to come in close to a person for a meal.

If you are paying attention to your bird, you will always know when the hawks are out. I watch for them, but Leonard invariably sees them first. Although, sometimes the hawks are just low-flying airplanes lol

I think you're right, sometimes we tend to over think a lot of things we do in life and while even a very observant parront does their best to watch out for our feathered friends when out and about, we might never see a diving hawk and I'm pretty sure that a hawk, hunting in its own territory is not going to be dissuaded by a tether and you are right that your bird would see a predator long before we would, again, when hunting in its own domain.....

 

[Scottmb]

Thanks a lot for the responses, guys. It sounds like some of you assume that my Conure will be on a long lead and allowed to fly away from me (into a tree, etc) but I would never have that. I haven't gotten the harness yet but I assume I can keep the lead short and have him on my shoulder most of the time. He isn't much of a flyer.

As for my dog, he's a Chihuahua and quite aggressive to other dogs. No threat of him pulling me, but I assume a confrontation with another dog could set my bird off. So thank you for that insight. Perhaps I'll just take Otis out by himself, and research the nesting times in my area. I'm outside of the city of Austin TX. Plenty of bird of prey here.

On a similar note: we have a domestic cat (Bela) who grew up with our Conure (Otis). Since Bela was a kitten, he would behave how you'd expect: Jump on the cage occasionally, try to stick his paw in only to get bit.

I'm sure some of you are morally objected to having a bird and cat in one house, but please don't judge us-it just ended up happening that we took a stray kitten in, and decided to make it work. Bela is now full grown, 2 years old. Bela has never attacked Otis, but has had many opportunities to do so. For instance, Otis will be on my shoulder and if I haven't locked Bela up he will sneak up behind us and paw at him. The pawing is gentle, more like prodding. He has never fully swatted. Otis always nips Bela's paw in defense and Bela squints and just keeps going at it.
Sometimes Otis will get bored and ruffle the paper towel lining at the bottom of the cage to get Bela's attention. I'm sure Otis has been stressed by Bela before, but a lot of the time I think he sort of likes the interaction and over all isn't very threatened by him.

My girlfriend is convinced that one day the cat will kill our Conure if given the chance. The thing is, he's had dozens of chances and never truly gone after Otis. I think that Bela knows he's our pet and doesn't see him as prey. Do you think I'm being totally irresponsible by not locking Bela up every time Otis is out? I always keep an eye on the cat, rarely does he get the chance to sneak up on us.

Thank you.

 

[Dinosrawr]

For your harness, just keep in mind that a scared bird is difficult to control, even if small. I have my IRN trained on a harness (but not my conure - she's not a good candidate for it), and when he's scared it's really difficult to keep him near me even with the regular length of an aviator harness.

As for having birds with other animals, it's always your call. There's consequences either way, but it does only take just one incident to end it all. But there's always exceptions to the rules, too. I plan to have ferrets in the future, which every blog site regarding the combination says is a big no-no. And apparently keeping a snake near your bird is a big no-no too... but Avery has been living beside a 5 year old corn snake for almost two years. You know your animals well enough to decide, and there will be some days it will be safe and others when it won't. You know your animals best, after all.

 

[starrynightxxi]

I think you're right, sometimes we tend to over think a lot of things we do in life and while even a very observant parront does their best to watch out for our feathered friends when out and about, we might never see a diving hawk and I'm pretty sure that a hawk, hunting in its own territory is not going to be dissuaded by a tether and you are right that your bird would see a predator long before we would, again, when hunting in its own domain.....

I'm only bolding this to say that I agree, a bird away from me but on a harness is a potential target, and at a distinct disadvantage in a chase. When I wrote my earlier post, I was thinking strictly of a harnessed bird on a person's shoulder, especially a smallish one like Leonard, who just ends up hidden by my pony tail. I assumed that this was Scottmb's intent, and that THAT kind of proximity would probably be a deterrent for most hawks.