There's a reason I stopped freeflying!

[Birdman666]

So, many of you know my "flock leader" is a red lored amazon, that I've had for somewhere around 15 years now, and is one of my most bonded birds ever...

And I keep her fully flighted, and she's recalled, and she goes outside every day, and she has "special privileges" around here. One of those special privileges is free flying. A second one is the right to stay outside by herself in her tree if she doesn't feel like coming in when everyone else does... (She quite literally calls me when she's ready to come in.)

So, tonight, weather wise, it was PERFECT outside, and I had the birds outside for about two hours. Then the sun started to go down, and everyone went in except Sally... She was in the very tip top of the tree, and gave me a look like, are you crazy? It's nice out here, I'll call you when I'm done....

Okay, well we do this a lot, so not unusual.

Only now it's really getting dark, and she's still not calling me...

So I go outside and start talking to the tree. Time to come in... giving the recall signal.

NOTHING.

i SEARCH THE TREE... SHE'S NO LONGER IN IT. SHE WENT FLYING, WITH ME NOT OUT THERE TO WATCH... CRAP!!! i HAVE NO IDEA WHICH DIRECTION SHE WENT, SO i DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.

So, I stand out front, calling her and whistling... STILL NOTHING...

Ten minutes goes by.... panic is beginning to set in.

Okay. Remain calm. She wouldn't leave the subdivision. She's in a tree in the area. Just gotta figure out which tree... but it's so late, I might not get her back until tomorrow morning. I HATE that idea...

I was just about to go knocking on doors and asking my neighbors to check their trees... and I give it one last call... and in the distance THANK GOD! I hear a frantic squawk... and the next thing I know Sallybird is making a circle back to our tree...

And she quickly waddled down, and did the press her cheek up against mine thing. Since she's been inside, she can only be what I can describe as "clingy" which means the reason she didn't come back when I called her was that something REALLY spooked her... she was waiting til the coast was clear to come back.

I don't think I want to know what it was!

Needless to say, this, once again, scared the crap outta me...

I don't want to take that away from her, BUT I also don't want to go through this again. I'm thinking about clipping her again.

Losing her would kill me!

 

[Giggleagain]

My first thought was "Oh NO!" I was afraid to read a bad ending here, and I am SO GLAD it was a good one!! I can understand that you don't want to let her fly outside anymore, but can't you at least let her fly inside your house? My mom always asked me to 'find the golden mean'....instead of going from one extreme to the other. I'm old enough now to know what she meant Does it have to be all the way fly or all the way clip? How about a compromise?

 

[Birdman666]

Sally LOVES her outside in the tree time. She's out there for 8-9 hours at a time. I can clip her and leave her semi-flighted, and still give her that.

She's also an out and about bird. She goes out a lot. So, keeping her inside simply is not an option. She'd hate that.

Maybe I'm over reacting. She's never not come back. But tonight drove home the point of how risky that is... She's in the food chain. And she's much too friendly and non-aggressive to be in the food chain.

 

[4dugnlee]

Soooo glad you had a happy ending!! That must have been so heartbreaking when you realized she wasn't where you thought she was! I know that whatever you decide to do as far as clipping will be for the best.

 

[Birdman666]

Soooo glad you had a happy ending!! That must have been so heartbreaking when you realized she wasn't where you thought she was! I know that whatever you decide to do as far as clipping will be for the best.

A few moments of confusion, followed by a few moments of blind panic, followed by okay, remain calm. I will get her back. Make a plan. She's in a tree somewhere within a two block radius. Get up early, first light is when they vocalize, follow the noise...

Followed by relief at hearing her answer/calling me and seeing her flying full speed ahead back to our tree...

Last time Sally went missing, she overshot our tree, and we found her in my neighbor's back yard tree. So, she would still be in the area. I know, if she's alive, she'll be close by.

The question is predators.

 

[OOwl]

Wow, I admit my heart was pounding as I started reading that (not as hard as yours probably was during her missing time). I had to bolt through it to the end to ensure you had her back.

I don't have free-flighted birds, but I do have an outdoor aviary that they really enjoy being outdoors in (and, agreed, it was a beautiful weather day here in Texas). I get that people do it without a "safety net" and respect the training that goes into that, but I know I couldn't recover from the potential loss, so my aviary outside is a compromise. Now that your Sally has been "free" I doubt she'd tolerate being clipped or in an outdoor enclosure but I think if I was you I'd microchip her, which may possibly help you in her recovery. Alas, hawks don't honor microchips. . . Sincerely glad your story had a happy ending and that she's safe.

 

[Birdman666]

In 15 years, I've only lost her once, for about two hours, and it turns out she just overshot our tree, and ended up in the neighbor's tree...

So, part of me says trust the bond and the training...

But I think I'll clip her semi-flighted again anyway.

Haven't seen many hawks around here, but there is a falcon that roosts over by the school. And I'm guessing that bird might have been out in the area tonight. She was definitely SPOOKED when she came home.

And since she didn't respond to my call like she usually does, I can only assume she was hiding. I can hear her from a long way off...

 

[Kiwibird]

So glad Sally is safe!

 

[RavensGryf]

Whew, I'm relieved to hear Sally made it back safe and sound! Scary Mark!

 

[henpecked]

I hear ya. I have the same issues with Jake. She's spent several night out on her own in the past and it kills me every time it happens. Some times i keep her clipped for several years and start letting fly around again, usually regret it. She's flighted now but doesn't fly off unless she panics. I think she's ok with watching out for hawks during the day but the owls at night is my biggest fear. Living with flighted parrots is such a fine line to walk.

 

[Birdman666]

I hear ya. I have the same issues with Jake. She's spent several night out on her own in the past and it kills me every time it happens. Some times i keep her clipped for several years and start letting fly around again, usually regret it. She's flighted now but doesn't fly off unless she panics. I think she's ok with watching out for hawks during the day but the owls at night is my biggest fear. Living with flighted parrots is such a fine line to walk.

Tusk and Lila are the ones I worry about flying off in a panic. Lila's flighted again as well, but Tusk isn't. She would NEVER leave Tusk.

I went to great lengths to startle train Sally. She has never flown off in a panic outside... (she flies too me if she gets upset or scared.) Though about a decade or so ago, we had a hawk land on the bird tree on our balcony, and she flew off in a panic INDOORS. I haven't seen or heard any owls around here, but we do have a falcon in the area, and we do have a lot of dogs, if she accidentally landed in someone's back yard or something. (That sounds a bit paranoid.) I've kind of been doing the same thing. I've gone back and forth between long clipped and semi flighted, and fully flighted.

By the way, Kiwi takes advantage of everyone else's tree time. That's her one on one time with me. She sits on my shouider or the back of the chair outside. She's turned into quite the velcro bird. She's VERY people oriented.

 

[Christinenc2000]

OMG that would scare me. Glad it turned out ok.

 

[Mimsy01]

Oh, you made my heart sink there a little when I started reading this.

So glad she is safe and sound.

I feel for you. Safety vs freedom is something I always weigh with all my animals. Lets face it, the safest place is trapped in a cage that has nothing remotely dangerous in it. Parrots have managed to hurt themselves on all kinds of toys, so even those hold dangers. Obviously that would be a boring life to be trapped in a bare cage and none of us would even consider it.

So we are all left with choosing how much freedom we want to give vs how much danger is involved. There is no one answer fits all. Accidents can happen even with the best intentions. It is worth taking some risks so that our birds can enjoy life and freedom as much as possible.

 

[Mallory]

I don't free fly, and have no hands on experience with the topic. That said, I would think it would be extremely dangerous to take away any of her flying abiities if she is to continue being allowed outdoor free flight or outdoor time unsupervised. As you have said, predators (domestic and wild dogs, cats, birds of prey, raccoons, nasty humans) - yes I expanded the list and that list stands virtually anywhere in the US and elsewhere - are your biggest concern. If she is clipped in any way and has a confrontation with a predator, she is at a big disadvantage, especially meeting a dog etc. on the ground. Far better she has full use of her wings and can make an escape. I would rather risk my bird being lost than being eaten - one is final and with the other, you have the hope of getting her back especially as loyal as she sounds. That said, you could also take this incident as a warning and adapt your routine so she is never out unsupervised, build her an aviary or take other precautions. I am not in your situation and I don't know your routine and your birds so I cannot comment on free flight or leaving her out unsupervised except that I will say I do not even trust dogs that have a solid recall off leash (I use long leads instead) because I do not take any chances. Working with deadly reptiles has taught me well to set protocols when working with animals and stick to them, and I do this with all of my animals both for their safety and my own. I hope whatever you decide you can find a way for her to continue enjoying freedom while minimizing its risks!

 

[Birdman666]

When she's been clipped, she's stayed in the tree in our yard. I would never clip her to the point where she couldn't fly across the room.

She was fully flighted and recalled for about six or seven years. Semi flighted for about seven. And I've gone back and forth over the years.

I am leaning back toward semi-flighted.

 

[Mariar]

Thank goodness your story ended well. So happy Sally came home. For a moment there I thought the worst, but then I thought ..no way this is mark..he knows what he's doing. Sissy is almost fully flighted and learning to fly back in forth in the house ...usually looking for me..but I'm super scared of free flight outside, I guess in time I will learn to train her, in my opinion, she just isn't a fast learner. Wish you lived in Clearwater.

 

[Birdman666]

Lila, my little lilac crowned amazon, is freeflighted INSIDE the house.

The recall signal is to sit down with food.

She immediately flies to you.

 

[Anansi]

Hey, Mark! I'm so glad that everything worked out well with Sally. I know how much you love that bird and how heartbroken you'd be if you lost her. I can only imagine how terrified you must've been for a while, there.

Since you said that you're debating clipping her, just figured I'd throw out an alternate take for you to consider.

You said that you believe she took off from her accustomed tree due to being frightened by a predator, right? Meaning her fear response to that particular threat is flight.

That being the case, wouldn't you be inhibiting her ability to escape said predator? If her response is flight rather than attempted concealment, then she might do so again. But this time, if already clipped, she might not be quite swift enough to escape her pursuer.

Now, I know you already said that she has never flown away from the tree when clipped, but in a moment of instinctive fear response do you really think she'll be taking stock of the change in her flight ability? Or just going on instinct? Isn't it possible that it's just a coincidence that she never flew out of that tree while clipped?

Of course, even fully flighted there's every risk that she could be nabbed anyway. I'm just looking at this from a comparative risk assessment point of view.

The only way that I think clipping would make a difference, here, is if she were never outside unsupervised. But then it would come down to your personal assessment of the greatest risk. The risk of her remaining fully-flighted and possibly getting spooked and flying off beyond the borders of your area, or being clipped and possibly getting taken by a falcon or such before she can reach you.

There's risk in either scenario, but I think the biggest variable in the equation is your supervising her the entire time.

Just my thought, for what it's worth. Either way, I'm breathing a collective Sigh of relief with the rest of the forum upon reading the good turn this story took in the end.

 

[Birdman666]

No.

She took off and went free flying on her own. Which really hasn't happened before. That was a first. She got intercepted somewhere while free flying by what I assume was a predator, or was perceived to be a predator, or SOMETHING spooked her, and she went into hiding, and didn't come out until the coast was clear. WHEN SHE DID COME OUT, SHE FLEW BACK TO OUR TREE IN A SOMEWHAT PANIC STRICKEN STATE... SO SOMETHING OUT THERE SCARED THE CRAP OUTTA HER. (Last time that happened, I had to climb the tree and go get her, because she just wasn't coming out.) THAT ONE happened once before...

TRYING TO FORCE A FREE FLIGHTED BIRD OUT OF A TREE... that's actually when they tend to fly off on you. "I don't wanna come down, and if you're gonna get nasty about it, I'm outta here." Which is a contributing factor in why she has special privileges. (I don't want to have to chase her around the neighborhood. And she's (until now) always been good about staying put when I'm not there. She just likes hanging out in the top of the tree.

If anything, this last incident may have spooked her enough to not want to free fly for awhile (which is what happened the last time...) but I'm still inclined to clip her at this point.

 

[GreatBlue320]

Glad this story had a happy ending!!!