Clipped Wings

[Tom S]

I have been watching closely a Sun Conure at a local Pet Store for about 3 weeks now. I was there when they put it into it's cage the first time. They put the small box it was in, into the cage but the bird had no intention of coming out easily. The young man who was trying to get the bird into his cage had wool gloves on, eventually after a short struggle, finally got the bird into it's cage. The bird immediately jumped onto it's perch with it's back facing the front of the cage, and stayed that way until I left. My point is, this conure had it's wings clipped had it not, it might still be flying around that store. What I'm asking is, would it be easier and quicker for a bird to bond with you with it's wings clipped? I'm not talking about forever, that would be cruel thing that I would never want to do, as flying is what makes birds, what they are. Or would a bird with it's wings clipped, be more prone to bite? I have read the pros and cons about this new bird "option" if you want to call it that, has anyone had any experience with a clipped Wings bird that they would like to share? Thx the bird is doing much better now as it will jump right up before the glass and do it's little conure show to impress you

 

[chris-md]

What you need to understand the ability to fly is the ability to communicate, and the ability to seek safety. Keep in mind these are exotic animals, not dogs. A bird in the scenario you present flies away when uncomfortable. Take that capability away and you have ruin 2 key foundations of trust - mutual communication and sense of security.

When training a fearful…any animal (dog, bird, seal, you name it),, allowing them to escape to what they consider safety when overwhelmed with fear or discomfort IS A REWARD, positive reinforcement. Handling a parrot is the same thing. Pick a parrot up: if within seconds they lean away from you back towards the perch you have two options: put back on the perch like it wants or force it to stay with you. Good handling and trust building says “bird is saying it doesnt want to be with you. Dint force it to be with you, put it back on the per h”. Thats how you build trust over time.

Over time They learn to understand that your presence isn’t an obstruction to The sense of safety and security. It eventually flips over time from not being a negative, to being a neutral thing, to being a positive thing they seek.

 

[angels123]

I get so upset about clipping a birds wings. I had a female bourke that I had gotten and the previous owner chipped the wings badly, she never flew again and was so depressed. I can understand a little clipping but after what she did to that little bourke it soured me on it

 

[HeatherG]

There are advantages and disadvantages to clipped wings. It occurs to me that my timid Quaker Willow might have more confidence if he were not clipped. BUT he’d also be able to fly into the kitchen and possibly land in the soup pot. So he is clipped. That way he can have more freedom within our building.

If you know what you’re doing, a wing clipping is quick and doesn’t hurt the bird. Sometimes it may enable you to keep a bird in your home that would otherwise be rehomed.

I have clipped wings and lowered an aggressive male green cheeked conure, which did improve our relationship. My Meyers parrot came to me with aggression issues vs other birds and he is clipped. Not only do I not want him getting drowned in the sink or burnt on the stove, but I also don’t want him flying to Willow’s cage to uproot Willow the intruder from his territory.

I agree that flying ability is really good for cardiovascular fitness in pet birds. My Quaker gets wound up sometimes and likes to do gentle flapping exercises on my hand as I lower my hand and he holds with his feet and flaps. I really SHOULD do that with the Meyers as he is quite a solid chunk of a bird.

You can have more anxiety in a bird who is clipped. I am ok with that as mine is a quiet household and no one new comes in here. But if I had kids or a cat or dog, I would totally approve of leaving the bird flighted so it could escape if someone was scaring it. When Jasper Meyers moved in, we had trouble with his anxiety whistle-call as I get bad headaches. Scolding him for the noise made him do it more. Then I watched and watched and figured out this call was used along with anxious body language. I started to comfort him and call or talk back when he makes that whistle. Now it’s much less frequent and my head feels better.

I wish I could live in a house with doors to enclose the bird spaces but I don’t. I live in an apartment and need to rely on the wing clip to keep my guys safe. Maybe while my birds are living I will move into a bigger place and then they can be flighted. But right now they can’t.