What to Say to People Who Think Flighting your Bird Is Like Abuse

[MaraWentz]

So as every one knows Erin is flighted. She can now hover excellently, fly backwards (I have not 'seen' this yet, but she has flown 3 ft past me and miraculously landed on my head, instead of into the store's wall), she flies on command, but she has a problem flying to places on command, unless it's a perch or stand- but outside she flies wherever her heart is content and h=landed on a shrub the other day and as my hubby went to grab her (as usual) she took off and made him run half an acre down the field) as I laughed and watched. (He doesn't train her with flight at all, and does barely any trick training, so she doesn't listen to him), so I walked right over and picked her up and we sat outside for an hour or so, waiting for the groomer outside a store.

Well the owners' hubby comes out and tells me of a huge hawk I saw 5 minutes ago and Erin noticed, 5 minutes before I did (I think they have a hawk sense lol) anad told me i should I bring her inside from the hawk. I politely declined, as I'm form Calvert County and we did our flight training with 2-3 hawks above us about 1 out of 4 training sessions, so one hawk does not scare me, esp. since when the hawk came she was snuggled in my lap and I was preening her head. He looked shock as anything and proceeded to tell me how he brings his dogs and the ducks inside while hawks were in sight and looked at me like I was crazy for having her out and not dashing for cover.

Then the groomer showed up and the store owner came over and was askign what we were getting done and I said beak and nails, and she goes 'and the wings'. ANd I said nooooo, she has 2 more feathers til she is fully flighted, we want her to fly. And she was shocked and said she saw my hubby chasing her around. And explained, that he is not the trainer and I am, and she flies to me if she feels she has gone too far or gets scared of the wild geese, etc,. She's just always like that with him- even in the house lol. And she asked if I weren't scared and of course, I said no- she's in training, almost done and an amazing flier. She knows where safety is (me) and can get to me no matter what and she is free to fly where ever and never leaves sight of goes more than 15 ft in the air. She just gave me a look and said "I would never risk my birds life like that. That's so dangerous, but it's your bird..." and walked away. How do you other free flighters explain that you can trust your bird, it's trained, etc, to people like that? She acted like by bringing my unclipped bird outside I was putting it to it's death sentence and by not clipping it's wings I was abusing it. The look she gave me and the tone of her voice was just hate. What do you say to people wjhot hink by free flighting you're killing your bird?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Well i have never let my birds fly outside so i don't have experience on that one, but i did let my budgie fly freely in the house and i let Georgie's feathers grow in and fly in the house (i only clipped her when she was young and crazy and flew into dangerous situations, or if we were going to be spending a lot of time outside in the spring, on her t stand). Anyhow, I have had people say i SHOULD ALWAYS keep them clipped to keep them safe. Even my vet believes in clipping, but admitted my budgie was as happy and healthy as he was because he flew. It IS healthier to fly, if it can be done safely and i think it varies from situation to situation.

And i personally am a little 'scared' of hawks, even with my chihuahuas!

 

[MaraWentz]

But how do you make people believe that you aren't harming them by letting them fly. And yes, I was so terrified of hawks when I first got her, but she lets me know at least 3 minutes before a hawk is visible that one is around and I lived in Southern MD where hawks are everywhere, so they become less of a threat. And now with her flying backwards and hovering I think she could probably out do a hawk if she ever got that far from me,

 

[Mare Miller]

You can't make people think, what they don't want to think. I've dealt with that one for a few years now. You just need to not let their comments bother you. Amigo being outside like he is, is very in tuned to the hawks. He always has an eye towards the sky. Just ten minutes ago, he came zooming in, yelling the whole way, flying for cover, not that the hawk was chasing him but it was around.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

People are stubborn, although I have it a bit easier. When people complained about why Rosie is unclipped I tell them that Galahs must be allowed to fly for proper exercise because of health issues, I explain how not flying(especially combined with a bad diet) effects their lifespan drastically and instead of living 60+ years they'll only live around 40. This combined with the fact she is secured in a harness usually makes people rethink what they said.

 

[MaraWentz]

Oh I haven't used a harness in forever. I'm thinking about making her use it again while my hubby handles her (since she doesn't listen to him) , but I'm just scared if it slips off his wrists or out of his hand it will end up getting her stuck in a tree. or power lines, etc. Plus she always tries to eat it off lol.

 

[MaraWentz]

And Mare, just wondering does Amigo sense then before you do? I don't know if it's just Erin being weird, but she senses the a bout 3-5 minutes before I see them even appear. I'ml wondering if it's instinct or smell or something

 

[Mare Miller]

Oh yeah! I believe it's just very keen eyesight plus living out like he does, his senses are super heightened!

 

[chadwick]

I keep my red front fully flighted they seem to just love to fly and just the other day I was actually able to see her hover very neat...I want to free flight her but am just too scared right now!

 

[MaraWentz]

I started as soon as I got mine. My last RFM could never fly. erin started hovering last week and yesterday she flew backwards!

 

[parrot14]

I'm lucky, I almost never see a hawk or any BOP closer where I live. Ye s I do the observation first, before letting my flock out, But I still treat other people's warning as safety precaution. When they gave their concern< I'll say my gratitude of being warned and told them that the bird is well trained and we do a safety precaution needed regarding BOP. But for others who suddenly blame us....it is a different story

I still believe that it is a matter of perception, it is just like letting the kids learn how to ride a bike and you have to let them strolling the neighbourhood. How you are convinced that they'll come back safely....

 

[Mare Miller]

Yes parrot14, you definitely have to believe! If I didn't "believe" my bird was capable of being the bird that he is now, it wouldn't have happened. That doesn't mean something tragic couldn't happen but, it gives your bird a chance at being CLOSE to knowing freedom.

 

[friedsoup]

Tell them that Falconery has been around for thousands of years, it's about time people start learning to adapt to the fact that bird can and should fly even the ones we care about. (I know both of my birds are clipped and I'm the first to tell newbies to get their birds wings clipped ) That being said I applaude anyone who wants to train free flight or flight while on harness .

 

[MonicaMc]

I don't have any free-flight out-door birds (started the training, but became busier with work, so never finished), but I take free-flight birds like a dog off leash.

With the proper training, both animals will come back, and they will stay near you. My dog isn't well trained, but he's trained well enough (I know, terrible!). If I take him somewhere were I can allow him to be off leash, he'll go run off and have fun! But if he loses site of me, he'll come running back to make sure he didn't lose me, then take off again. If I walk in another direction than where hes' at, when he noticed I'm not "following", he changes directions with me, then runs on ahead of me.

When we're at the marina, if I tire him out too much, I'll usually end up having to "drag" him around... so I tie the leash up in his harness and allow him to walk at his pleasure (behind, beside or in front of me). It sometimes bothers other people, but he's friendly with other dogs, kids and humans in general! Men may scare him some, but he's not causing anyone any harm. I've seen other dogs that are pulling their owners around and the owner literally has to lean back to keep the dogs from pulling them *too much* (my pup pulls me, but not like that! then again, he pulls the most when he hasn't had enough exercise! the more exercise he gets, the better behaved he is).

The only difference that I see between an off-leash dog and a free-flighted parrot is that parrots have wings and wings give an entirely different dimension to taking your pet outside. That is, it's highly unlikely for *most* dogs to end up in a tree and then not be able to get out of it! Or end up on top of a house, or power line! This is why it is important that training is down pat and the bird is comfortable within a variety of situations, including in places the bird is unfamiliar with.


Basic commands taught to most parrots?
Step up

Basic commands taught to most dogs? (to a lesser or greater degree)
Sit
Come
Stay
Lay Down
Leave it/Drop it
Fetch

 

[Mare Miller]

A free flight bird that has a bond with you, is safer than one that doesn't, no matter what kind of training they have. Like a dog, they will, IMO, try and stay close to you.

 

[MonicaMc]

I have heard of a lot of supposedly well bonded birds fly off and get lost when spooked. You can't guarantee on a strong bond to get a bird to fly back to you, especially if they have no experience in flight and flying from different angles. Most often, that instinct to take flight and fly away from danger is stronger than the birds bond to their human. In that way, it's safer to have a fully trained bird that obeys commands than it is to have a bird that is strongly bonded but not trained.

Each case may differ, of course.

 

[parrot14]

I think It's a solid bond which saves spooked bird from fly away. At least in my case... Jerry , my SC once follow me walkin arround the neighbourhood and suddenly fly-off spooked by stray cats, i couldn't see her for a minute. I keep shouting the emergency call, and she came back out of nowhere> Off course I move a little away from the initial spot, just to get her convinced that I'm in the safer place.

 

[Helitorian]

I agree that a bonded bird will stick close to its owner. When Con got outside, she had miles and miles of wild to get lost in but she didn't leave the area where she could see me. She had very little flight training and I feel that if she wasn't fully flighted and trusted her wings I wouldn't have gotten her back the next morning. She trusted me and herself and I believe that's what got her home.

As for how to respond to people that think free flying is crazy, it isn't their business what you do with your bird. You know your parrot and can tell about 75% of the time what their reaction to something will be because you spend time with them and know how intelligent your bird is while a stranger knows nothing. You know what's best for YOUR bird.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

My bird is clipped now, but even with flight he was never outdoors flying. So my first thought would be - what about your bird's safety, OMG, hawks! But if it was explained to me that he is safe because this bird is trained and trusted and knows what to do when a hawk is within 3 to 5 minutes of being visible, then I would feel like I learned something valuable and that it is a wonderful thing for the bird to be able to be outdoors, trained, supervised and safe. In fact, it would be a great way to get more info out there that might help others understand their options.

 

[Eloy]

You can't guarantee on a strong bond to get a bird to fly back to you, especially if they have no experience in flight and flying from different angles.

Agree!
My friend lost a bird that he has had outside free for over seven years. (and they had a very strong bond) One day the bird left him and never come back.
And he never forgive himself for that. I will never take a bird outside free after that happened. I mean seven years,,, it's only sad, and for me NOT worth it!