Best type of parrot for free flight? (if any) (and why)
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BirdyBee
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some small birds can, some can't. Cockatiels/budgies should NOT be free flied as they are very skittish and if frightened, can get lost easily. It is recommended to not free fly smaller birds.
These people have a lot of info on free flying:
These people have a lot of info on free flying:
Macaws are generally considered the safest birds to free fly.
You will see some people flying with smaller birds but it is not really recommended in most cases and you will also see some people training it who are good sales people but not the best trainers or even behaviourists- these are the ones who will usually say there is little difference...
Some smaller birds totally rely on flock numbers for their safety (think budgie) so they have erratic flight patterns, some smaller birds have different instinctual flight patterns and behaviours and do not really use mapping which makes recall less successful, nomadic birds will often just flee in a crazy mad rush left and right when startled (think cockatiel) which is much more dangerous for them than birds who are more territorial being startled as they tend to take off for a bit to get out of immediate danger and then stop and look back- they do not just keep flying away from whatever startled them in a mad panic till they can' t fly anymore. Natural flight patterns, behaviours and mapping skills are a big factor.
Smaller and also even larger but less colourful birds are much harder to see than say a bright large macaw and the smaller birds are also easier for birds of prey to knock off.
That is a few of the reasons that I discovered good/qualified free flight instructors wont usually teach free flight with smaller birds.
You will see some people flying with smaller birds but it is not really recommended in most cases and you will also see some people training it who are good sales people but not the best trainers or even behaviourists- these are the ones who will usually say there is little difference...
Some smaller birds totally rely on flock numbers for their safety (think budgie) so they have erratic flight patterns, some smaller birds have different instinctual flight patterns and behaviours and do not really use mapping which makes recall less successful, nomadic birds will often just flee in a crazy mad rush left and right when startled (think cockatiel) which is much more dangerous for them than birds who are more territorial being startled as they tend to take off for a bit to get out of immediate danger and then stop and look back- they do not just keep flying away from whatever startled them in a mad panic till they can' t fly anymore. Natural flight patterns, behaviours and mapping skills are a big factor.
Smaller and also even larger but less colourful birds are much harder to see than say a bright large macaw and the smaller birds are also easier for birds of prey to knock off.
That is a few of the reasons that I discovered good/qualified free flight instructors wont usually teach free flight with smaller birds.
Free flying any parrot has risks, and not minor ones either. We had a very experienced member who flew his Macaw several times a week for years. THe parrot was spooked by something unexpected, got disoriented and flew away, never to be seen again. The best place to free fly is an open space like scrub land, open for miles around. Free flying in spaces like a park or field are just asking for a problem. Not many folks live near enough to ideal free flight areas. Some people are lucky enough to have access to an ENCLOSED area , like a riding ring, large gym or warehouse, all places for free flight that are relatively safe; however parrots trained in that are then at risk to fly away if they get loose outdoors.
SHould you want to proceed, I would try to find a local parrot club or society and see if they have members who free fly and ask for lessons and training tips.
GOod luck!
SHould you want to proceed, I would try to find a local parrot club or society and see if they have members who free fly and ask for lessons and training tips.
GOod luck!
Free Flight, depending on where one lives is a great way to invite a Red Tailed Hawk to Lunch, at your expensive. Yes, hard-hearted, but true!
Free Flight within your apartment or home is near standard by most companion Parrots and is still dangerous if your home is not Parrot safe.
The sad reality is that regardless of how well trained both the Human and Parrot are, accidents still happen. An unexpected gust of wind, a loud noise, any number of things could cause the Parrot to suddenly fly and a moment latter, they are gone forever. One of our longtime members lost their long Free Flighted Mac that way. Regardless of how, the heartache is still deep and long lasting.
Free Flight within your apartment or home is near standard by most companion Parrots and is still dangerous if your home is not Parrot safe.
The sad reality is that regardless of how well trained both the Human and Parrot are, accidents still happen. An unexpected gust of wind, a loud noise, any number of things could cause the Parrot to suddenly fly and a moment latter, they are gone forever. One of our longtime members lost their long Free Flighted Mac that way. Regardless of how, the heartache is still deep and long lasting.
Sorry for jumping on your Post Al! It seems we had Posted at near the same time. Great Post my Friend!!
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How viable would it be to free flight train a bird like a macaw from a suburban backyard? I know birds that fly away by accident get lost easily because they don't know the area but could you familiarize a bird with your neighbourhood well enough such that if it were spooked it wouldn't get totally lost? I know parrots aren't homing pigeons but in the wild they seem to navigate back to regular places - nests, water sources, balconies with food etc. - well enough. Sorry if this sounds like a silly question/comparison.
The species-dependent mapping skills thing is really interesting thank you - how do birds like cockatiels and budgies find their way back to their nest after being spooked? Do they just not venture too far from the nest/hollow to lessen the risk of losing it?
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most free flight trainers suggest getting unweaned and pre fledged babies and training them that way , as this is the easiest time to train recall.
So...I'm against getting un weaned babies as I have suffered here reading of all the ones that die....
But if this is something you have I your heart ..then learn all you can. Birddtricks on youtube, you can purchase their training guide I think or hire them...
So...I'm against getting un weaned babies as I have suffered here reading of all the ones that die....
But if this is something you have I your heart ..then learn all you can. Birddtricks on youtube, you can purchase their training guide I think or hire them...
Critical Thinking is a Skill that is not well presented in schools, if at all, now days.
The question of why Birds in their natural range do not get lost is near shocking to me. Simply walking outside and looking around the average North America middle age Suburb area should clearly show why. At ground level, the layout looks clear to you. Take you up a small distance of four meters (approximately 13') and the sight lines change vastly. Birds that fly your neighborhood live in that 3D world and define sight lines at each level everyday.
You seem driven to expose a Parrot to your wants regardless of what others may recommend. If you are of legal age, simply do it!
The question of why Birds in their natural range do not get lost is near shocking to me. Simply walking outside and looking around the average North America middle age Suburb area should clearly show why. At ground level, the layout looks clear to you. Take you up a small distance of four meters (approximately 13') and the sight lines change vastly. Birds that fly your neighborhood live in that 3D world and define sight lines at each level everyday.
You seem driven to expose a Parrot to your wants regardless of what others may recommend. If you are of legal age, simply do it!
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I didn't ask this question - I realize that walking the parrot around the neighbourhood isn't going to give it an aerial map if that's what you thought I was implying. I intended the question to be less why wild birds don't get lost and how a domestic bird could become familiarised with its neighbourhood well enough to achieve the same effect. Birds that have flown around the same area many times, have gotten spooked and flown off - I assume because they flew beyond the region they were familiar with. Could this be prevented somehow? I know there are people who keep near-wild birds that more or less just visit them for food.
I'm not- I'm asking hypotheticals on a parrot forum. No parrots were harmed in the making of this post.
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It's risky regardless of what species. As stated above, macaws are probably the safest option: large, loud, brightly colored. Smaller birds come with more chance of something happening, since it's so easy to lose track of them. In general large birds are better candidates for free flight.
NEVER a budgie or something similar, they are extremely skittish, small, easy to lose.
Medium-large birds are actually most likely to be attacked by raptors.
NEVER a budgie or something similar, they are extremely skittish, small, easy to lose.
Medium-large birds are actually most likely to be attacked by raptors.
Check out how a house looks from say 30 ft up and 500 ft up. Can you recognize it?
Use google maps, find yours and scroll in and out using the aerial mode. I know I couldn't.
Use google maps, find yours and scroll in and out using the aerial mode. I know I couldn't.
Harnesses with flight lines or leash extensions in a fairly large field are generally a safer alternative to free flight. Generally, because some birds have gotten tangled in harnesses and died, but they're much safer than free flight!
I have never heard of free flight trainers suggesting free flight is best done with unweaned babies- all the ones I have spoken to would not even deal with you if you told them you had acquired an unweaned baby... can you possibly post here about who you have heard of that suggests this? I am rather curious now.
I honestly do not think BT's are the best people to train free flight for a few reasons that I won't publicly list as I know they are bound to have a few fans here who I will likely upset and I am not interested in arguments or upsetting anyone, unfortunately BT's are great at marketing so they are quite possibly the best known out there due to their marketing and social media presence.
The only silly question is the one you never ask and never get the answer to!
The few people I know of with Macs who escaped (not free flight trained or even human friendly) all got their birds back within a few days- the birds all ventured about town and then to another town (between 30km- 50km away) which was confirmed through positive sightings and they all came back and hung about their immediate local area till they got seriously hungry- most stayed out 3 days before voluntarily returning to a spot low enough to be caught or asking to go into their aviaries- they all also had other macaws that kept calling to them.
I follow some accounts on IG that free fly their macaws from their backyards- some in busy built up areas where the birds fly through some neighbours small yards etc and others in more remote newer areas that are still being developed and have lots of open spaces. Most people seem to drive their birds to a safer location to free fly.
I won't consider free flight with my bird even though I am in a rural area, I am disabled so I am limited in what I can do if an emergency arises- we also have wedge tail eagles and large kites who eye him and my SC2 off as a possible meal while we are outside.
My SC2 lives outside and does not fly, he has been targeted by kites and a goshawk which is actually smaller than him, the goshawk tried to work out how to get him from his aviary but it has also done this with my fish and my budgie, maybe because it seemed to be rather comfortable picking off sparrows and other small birds from our yard when we moved in- for me, the loss of one of my birds could never outweigh the benefit of them being able to fly freely. I do one day hope to be able to use netting to cover my yard to make a decent sized safe space for my mac to fly in and for my SC2 to wander about and enjoy too.
As for the budgies and tiels... from my understanding of their natural behaviours, they never go far from the nest when they have young.
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O can assure you im not for unweaned babies . Was from reading of bird trainers who train birds for free flight shows, they always start training at fledgling. As this stage babies are learning to fly and still conditioned to return to parents for feeding and following parents learning to forage. I can look, but well prepared to bow to anyone with experience in this.
This is a great article on the subject, and the author is against inexperienced people getting unweabed babies. He feels weaned but young are still the best candidates , while older adults are less likely to be candidates. And he mentions that there has been the practice of unweaned and is against.
Its also great article on discussion of risks, on hormones effects added risks at that time
avian-behavior.org
Except:
"That said, I would never advocate the training of an older bird for free flight in a professional or amateur setting. Younger birds that are at their natural experimental, devil-may-care fledging period are actually much safer than older birds because they are more willing to try to do crazy things "
Excerpt "
This is a great article on the subject, and the author is against inexperienced people getting unweabed babies. He feels weaned but young are still the best candidates , while older adults are less likely to be candidates. And he mentions that there has been the practice of unweaned and is against.
Its also great article on discussion of risks, on hormones effects added risks at that time
So you want to train your pet parrot for free flight - Avian Behavior International
This article is a reprint from our 2014 learningparrots.com article. This paper went on to be translated in to seven different languages, and I presented it in front of audiences in three different countries. On a given week, I find about three or four emails...
avian-behavior.org
"That said, I would never advocate the training of an older bird for free flight in a professional or amateur setting. Younger birds that are at their natural experimental, devil-may-care fledging period are actually much safer than older birds because they are more willing to try to do crazy things "
Excerpt "
- Should I buy an unweaned baby to train it for freeflight?
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I wonder if you could use a flight harness to build a bird's mental map of a neighbourhood - although it seems like this wouldn't work well in suburbia with obstacles everywhere - a country town maybe.
Are deaths usually caused by the line getting tangled around an obstacle like a tree or the bird getting entangled in mid air flight somehow? Also can birds harm themselves from reaching the end of the line at high speed?
I notice in another of your threads, you mention that you live in Western Australia. That being the case, it's not just birds of prey that you need to be mindful of when considering free-flying. There are many other species of smaller birds that are highly territorial and aggressive that will gang up on and chase domesticated parrots out of their range, such as yellow throated miners, butcherbirds, magpies, currawongs, crows etc. They will quickly latch onto a pet parrot, particularly if it's not terribly sure of itself, chase it to the edge of it's range, where the next territorial flock will take over and chase it out of it's range too, on and on and so on and so forth to the point of exhaustion, where a predatory bird may then be lying in wait looking for an easy target. If you do choose to go ahead, please do so only under the tutelage of a very experienced and highly regarded local free-flight trainer. And even then, only with the knowledge and understanding of the risks involved. In all honesty, living in Australia, free-flying is something that I personally would not ever undertake, the risks as far as I'm concerned are simply far too great.
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This has got me wondering about the daily flight averages and ranging areas of different bird species. I'm guessing the further a parrot species typically strays from the nest to get food etc. the better it will be at navigation.
Part of why I'm asking about what's possible regarding free flight is because I want to choose a bird species I can safely give as close to its natural daily flight time as possible. Small birds seem good at first because they can easily fly around a house whereas a macaw wouldn't have enough space to fly down most hallways. That being said - I've watched rainbow lorikeets in the wild and there's no way I could even come close to simulating the sorts of distances they zip around - galahs don't seem to fly around as much by comparison, being ground feeders and all.
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Good points - tbh I rarely see birds of prey where I am (which I know doesn't mean they're not there) but I have seen willy wag tails go out of their way to attack cats. I've also been chased halfway across a football field by a magpie. Didn't occur to me before because I'd never seen butcherbirds and magpies harass wild parrots but then again said parrots rarely hang out alone either.
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