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

[xodanio]

I had a cockatiel that was free flighted and went outside, in SW FL. It was great! I was in middle school-high school and had way too much time on my hands, but he lucked out. It was a wonderful experience and the only way I got my neighbors, friends, family, to not scoff and tsk at me is by repeatedly disproving their misconceptions. As he was still alive during my senior year, they sort of had to give up looking down!

If you interact with these people on a regular basis, they will come around as they see the relationship you have with your bird, and the care you take. If you don't interact with them regularly, don't worry about it. You *SHOULD* take care around hawks (sounds like you do) as it can become habit to get used to them when you train in their presence. If your bird ever Stops noticing them AND reacting fast, you need to do some retraining. Saw two almost adult DUCKS swiped right out of the air and off the lake this year. But parrots definitely have good instincts where predators are concerned - just nurture them.

28 now, with a Severe Macaw. I don't fly her outside because we just don't have the weather for it. I am always afraid of drafts etc. and sudden changes, even if I'm imagining them. I guess it's the tropical Florida girl in me, even after our move to New England. Only a couple months that are safe anyway, and I just decided it wasn't worth the stress for me. She flies around the house (one of many mini perks!) and it's great - but I get the same thing all the time, even housebound: "Aren't you worried?" I guess you could just be glad that they are thinking of your bird's safety?

 

[MaraWentz]

Thanks. I doubt they will ever see my point of view, as they own parrots themselves though lol

 

[Inverse]

Is letting your bird fly around the house not the norm then?

 

[MaraWentz]

It is for me lol but not for them

 

[xodanio]

Lol definitely not the norm!! Every time I go to a new vet (I have moved around a lot), they lecture me every time about all the reasons I ought to clip my bird's wings. I especially like the behavioral ones. I just listen and thank her for her concern and then go home and manhandle my bird till she blushes with giddiness because she loves the game.

Everyone has their own opinions, and that particular one is well founded. Birds can crash into windows an glass doors. They can land on stoves or get outside or poop on heads. It can cause behavioral problems, and create a menace to your guest. Outside, there are even more hazards! So their argument is not random or unfounded. I can understand their concerns.

I just think you can bypass most of them with training, and I think the health benefits outweigh all of the risks.

 

[pacoparrot]

I get the opposite reaction from people. Echo has always been clipped since she is not fully recall trained yet and she's a great walker. However when people ask why she doesn't fly away and I explain to them about the wing clipping....they say it's cruel. So what I'm saying is that no matter what you do with your bird people are gonna give you crap.

 

[008kenichijouji]

I personally don't think you are required to explain/prove your point to anyone, especially not anyone that's already throwing their own emotional opinion at you instead of letting you have a proper say in the first place! While I wouldn't do it with my own birds currently (because there are hawks around), if I trusted them and there was a strong bond, as well as safe conditions, I wouldn't mind doing that myself.

It's your bird, and you get to experience the consequences for yourself, good and bad, just as that lady has to deal with her own good and bad consequences. That's just a part of making choices, and I think she was a rude to put emotion into her side of the issue, as well as not giving your choice any credit whatsoever.

 

[Inverse]

Lol definitely not the norm!!

Oh ok!
Look, I'm a new guy to this bird ownership and even though I have read everything I can you don't generally get a feel for how things really are until you join a forum such as this.
I just always considered that it would be a pretty much 50:50 split between flighted and non flighted birds and that there would be a lot of birds that would be allowed to fly in the house with a free reign.
It's not quite in the same league as watching my son take his first steps, but watching Hollis make her first attempts at flight kinda sealed the deal for me.
Our house is pretty open plan and watching her fly around and go from her first few failed attempts to now beautifully flared landings on my arm I thought that there would be more flighted birds.
I can't wait to get her into an aviator harness and then possibly into some free flight. It's a beautiful thing to watch her fly.

 

[xodanio]

It might be 50/50, but I agree with whoever said that no matter what you do, people might fuss at you for one thing or another. I free flew (free flighted?) my cockatiel as a kid - I can only imagine doing it with a more colorul or larger bird!! Gorgeous. Be careful, have fun.

 

[MaraWentz]

Oh watching them go from flying and stumbling, and scared to get off the ground, to flying perfectly int he air and hovering and graceful landings, etc, just breath taking. But I agree, if you flight your birds some one will say it's safer to clip them and if you clip your birds, some one will say it's healthier to let them be flighted.

 

[Inverse]

The thing I like about this forum is that people seem able to voice their opinions on this subject without it falling into a poo slinging contest.
Let's be fair, "to clip or not to clip" could be an extremely polarising subject but it appears that here it's a live and let live mindset.
It's a far cry from other forums I frequent where this sort of subject would end up in a free for all with threads closed and people banned whenever a thread of this sort was raised.
I like it here

 

[MonicaMc]

I wish more people really learned about flight. I hate to see birds clipped simply because they don't know how to fly. The birds, not knowing how to fly, end up flying into windows, doors, walls and other objects. The birds are then "clipped for their safety."

What many owners fail to understand is that flight is instinctual, but flying itself is a learned behavior. Parrots don't automatically come out of the nest knowing how to bank, turn, slow, speed up, land, etc. Just like kids learning to walk, it's a learning experience! There's going to be bumps and bruises along the way.


I do understand that in some circumstances, clipping for a birds safety is the best bet - at least to slow them down. For whatever reason, some birds are indeed a danger to themselves or perhaps some health problem causes issues when they try to fly. Unfortunately, freak accidents can and do occur, flighted or clipped. I also hate to see people clip because their bird accidentally got out and they want to keep the bird at home. I understand the reason to clip, but clipping does not guarantee safety of a bird not getting lost. Training with great recall is a better safety net than clipping, especially when the bird is exposed to many different circumstances and environments, so that the bird does not "freeze up" in a new place.

 

[MaraWentz]

I can't say it's instinct, but it's learning. My first RFM, Elvis, couldn't fly, glide, nada. If he fell, he fell, there was no flapping to fly, no gliding to the floor with a crash. It was just a crash. Which he did numerous times, but he had perfect wings and was very active climber, walker, and in his mind, acrobat. No matter what he couldn't fly- which was kinda depressing. My second FRM, Erin, didn't know how to fly when we got her at 1.5 years, but know she can hover, fly straight up, flight pretty steep down, backwards,etc. She is perfect, but the beginning of teaching her how to fly had little hope,as she just crashed/slid face first. ANd it was more of a flutter and a fall. but I think all birds should be taught to fly, if they physically can. They were born with wings for a reason, but i understand some owners dont have the time, space, or courage for it too.

 

[WharfRat]

I completely understand Mara, my GW ReaRea used to fly all the time once she learned how, now however she very rarely does, she'd rather climb down her cage and walk than fly, I have no idea why. And all of our birds are fully flighted.

Perfect example, I was soaking in the tub last night and heard ReaRea's claws walking on the floor, next thing I heard was a beak tapping on the door!

 

[MaraWentz]

Erin often climbs down from her stand, up the blanket hanging off my bed and right on my chest.What a way to wake up lol

 

[WharfRat]

LOL, I don't think I wanna wake up with ReaRea's (or Miri's) huge dang beak in my face

 

[Abigal7]

I agree that wheather clipped or unclipped people are going to have different views. My bird's wings are clipped but I believe she knows how to fly. The vet that seen her was suprised to notice she would fly to the ground (I don't know why she does but she intentionaly decides she wants to land on the ground). She will fly someways and then walk the rest of the way to her cage. Now as a child I had a cockatiel who would fly to a high bookshelf if she got spooked. There are pros and cons to clipped or free flight. I think free flight and recall seems great. The vet I seen says don't just take your bird outside they are not like dogs that will come back to you. Anyhow, I think in general people know their bird and take measures to accomdate it. Not all flighted birds will be aggressive for example while other birds may do better with clipped wings. I will end by asking isn't it the common opinion of breeders that a bird should be able to fly before it ever gets it's wings clipped?

 

[MonicaMc]

Abigal, yes, many breeders agree that birds should be allowed flight before being clipped... however, I commonly see breeders clipping parrots before they are weaned... often times, these birds only receive a few flights, or, at best (by many), two weeks of flight before being clipped. This is a highly insufficient time to be allowed flight, and I've heard many grey owners saying that greys should not be clipped prior to the age of 6 months... as allowing flight will help to produce more confident parrots that are less likely to have issues. At least, I've heard this from several grey owners.

Birds can "forget" things that they have learned, and this includes learning to fly at a young age, then being clipped shortly afterwards.

 

[lene1949]

There is no greater joy, than seeing a bird fly...

All my birds are flighted, but I don't fly them outside, just in the house...

I'm currently weaning 3 cinnamon green cheeks, and they will be fully weaned and flighted, before going to new homes... If their new owners want them clipped, I'll do it for the rest of my life (I'll probably die before they do... lol)

I so enjoy seeing my birds flying around the house - I have very high ceilings (too high for me to measure) and kitchen/dining/lounge/formal dining/family room is all connected, so the birds have lots of room to fly...

 

[noblemacaw]

My RFM Valentino has always been flighted. His wings have never been clipped. His breeder made sure he fledged and had very good flight skills before he came home to me. Since Valentino was my first flighted baby parrot (my other three boys came home to me wings clipped) I have noticed that the confidence level of Valentino is like no other baby parrot I ever had. I think this is because he was allowed to master his flying skills and never had his wings clipped. Every day I get to watch my Valentino fly in my home and his skill is amazing.

Mara, like your Erin, Valentino can hover, fly backwards, sideways, fly down, and now recently has begun diving. Just the other day I tossed him into the air and I normally do this with him right side up but for what ever reason he was upside down when I tossed him into the air and he rolled while extending his wings to fly to right himself and flew to his tree. Valentino had to learn these skills but I will say most of the skills he learned before he came home. My RFM is built to fly and I do not think I can ever deprive him of his ability to fly...ever.

Now I know this opens up a whole can of worms about safety of flighted parrots and I get the lecture from people who don't understand but I also made the decision to live with a flighted parrot. It is my choice. I have altered my home to accommodate his flying ability and work very hard training Valentino to live flighted in my home. I have rules here because of my flighted parrot (example: no toilet seat is left up. Lids must all be down)

By the time the weather is nice enough here to take Valentino outside I will be using a harness on him. I have invested in the aviator which allows the parrot to fly outdoors and be harnessed. I have kept parrots for over 20 years and I am very impressed with the Aviator as it is made to allow the parrot to fly. In the past I have taken my parrots outside in a harness but they use to look like this.

This is Diego my Illiger's macaw in one of those older harnesses that used metal clasps to keep it secure. The aviator harness is way better designed than this. Diego barely fit into his harness that year. He got....a tad bigger than the year before. LOL