Eclectus on a plane... Help with travel.

[WinstonToBC]

I am finally in Florida and will be bringing Winston back to Canada. Our reunion went great! He remembered me and was very excited to see me. He chatted up a storm and there were no issues to him stepping up. I did notice that he squawked that loud Eclectus squawk at fast movements or if he wanted attention. So... wondering what calming techniques you have used to have a quieter bird on the plane. We have a few flights but the longest one is 6 hours. I know covering his carrier (he will be in the cabin with me) but wondering what else I can do? I don't want him to disturb passengers as let's be honest... It is a very loud squawk!

Thanks!

 

[Owlet]

In the end I don't think there's a whole lot you can do other than interact with him a bit / petting his beak / giving him scratches / anything to really distract him. It's gonna be like taking a baby on the plane.

 

[LordTriggs]

offer earplugs?

Luckily you should be pretty close during the flight so attention shouldn't be too bad. I'm fairly certain as well there will be people entertained enough by his presence to keep him occupied. Maybe see if one of your seat neighbours can offer him a treat any time you have to take a trip to the lavatory.

Outside of that much like when an infant gets going on a plane people will just have to grin and bear it

 

[TiredOldMan]

Something I never thought about.

Do our birds have trouble with the rapidly changing of air pressure of airline travel?

 

[Owlet]

Something I never thought about.

Do our birds have trouble with the rapidly changing of air pressure of airline travel?

I would assume they've adapted to pressure changes considering they are birds, but then again as far as I am aware parrots dont fly much higher than the tree canopy of their native area.

 

[EllenD]

That's a good question, and I'd assume that they do have the same issues that we do on a plane with their ears and the pressure, as they don't get nearly that high (what, 10,000 feet?) So that definitely could be a contributing factor to any screaming. Hopefully their ears/heads adjust as ours do. I honestly don't know much about the ear of a bird and how it functions...

 

[ChristaNL]

I once read a story how some fresh parrents took their baby on a plane and gave all the passengers a small plastic bag containing a set of earplugs, some sweets and a little card explaining "I am only a few months old, this is my first flight, so pleaze don't be angry. If I bother you pleaze come over and talk to my parents" etc.etc.
It's a classic.


Let people know you've worried about their creature comforts and they will tolerate *so* much more.
Maybe a small anouncement could help: "Possible crazy noises are made by a parrot afraid of flying ..."

 

[MonicaMc]

I've come across people who believed that parrots don't yawn because they have superior respiratory systems than we do. Any time you see a parrot "yawning", they are readjusting their crop. This doesn't make any sense because there's yawning, then there's crop adjusting, and they aren't the same. Not only that, but when you pet them and rub their ears, you may cause an involuntary yawn from the bird due to changing the ear pressure.

Some people believe that parrots don't get motion sickness, because they *FLY*. Motion sickness at it's simplest terms is when your eyes see one thing and your body feels something else. *YOU* know you're moving, but your body is stationary. This "disagreement" between what you see and what you feel thus results in motion sickness. A bird, sitting in a car, doesn't feel like it's flying! Therefore, birds can get motion sickness, too.


So to take this back to airplanes.... I would imagine that birds could indeed have the same issues as humans on a plane.



Chamomile tea may help as well as having a small blanket to cover the carrier if or when needed.

 

[bill_e]

As a person who gets on 120-130 planes a year when I'm working I can tell you that the biggest annoyance isn't the noise. Just make sure he doesn't kick the back of the seat in front of you

 

[Scott]

I would imagine keeping Winston covered might reduce some of his stress and resultant screaming.

Air pressure changes are significant, but not likely to cause a problem. Most commercial airliners cruise in the range of low 30,000s to low 40,000s feet.
However, the cabin is pressurized to a range of 6000 to 8000 feet depending on the specific aircraft and cruise altitude.

 

[ChristaNL]

birds can get motion sickness, too.

So WORD -> when I brought Japie home, he was puking and utterly miserable (lucky for him only the last 10 minutes of the hour long ride)



He was in a modified cat-carier and did not have a clear line of sight because he was on my lap, next to the driver who needed the use of all mirrors.
(So I could not raise it up to let him see the horizon, no matter how much I wanted to do just that.)


=


oef Bill e : that is a lot of flying around!
R you sure you are not a parrot?

 

[Inger]

I’m so excited for you that the time has finally come! Bumble is rarely noisy as long as she can see me, meaning she was pretty quiet when we flew, so I don’t have any thoughts about noise from the bird. Also, parrotlets =\= bigger birds when it comes to volume! But I’m sure everything will be fine in the long run. [emoji16]

Oh, and if the pressure changes were uncomfortable, she didn’t let on, so I assume they weren’t too bad.


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[Sunnyclover]

Okay so I took my Sun Conure ,Ollie, on a plane last summer and the flight both ways is about 7 hours. 1st of all they will not let you take your bird out of it's carrier so keep that in mind, The calming and petting techniques will have to be done with your hand in the carrier. The last thing the airline attendants want is a loose, scared bird flapping about on the plane and possibly getting hurt or hurting someone.
Ollie did not make a sound on the plane, I find more likely than not your bird will be so stunned by what's happening they are usually more quiet than usual because the environment is new and scary and they are unsure which predators could be lurking about ready to eat them at a moment's notice. The one thing that could derail this is if you are flying too close to your bird's bedtime or during the bedtime. Our last flight home landed at about 8pm which is when Ollie (at home) is usually clamoring to go to bed. Sure enough as we were getting our luggage he started up despite me covering his cage.
I also, would not recommend covering the cage the whole time as I found Ollie did not care for that and I noticed him getting frantic in the carrier even though he was quiet but I could see he was about to start freaking out. I did cover it close to bedtime and that seemed to be a time he could relax and appreciate the cover. I do recommend Avi-calm powder but I would urge you to test it on your bird 1st as it could effect him differently and NOT make him calmer.
As far as air pressure in the cabin in concerned, I was worried about it too but Ollie did not seem to notice or it stunned him into submission but either way it didn't make him scream.
Another tip, if your bird seems to get antsy, that is when you should start giving him treats and not before that. I definitely did that and it seemed to work.
One more thing: If your bird does start screaming it's head off remember they can't kick you off the flight. It is what it is.

 

[condobirds]

I have never traveled on a plane with my birds but I find when they are out of their comfort zone they are quiet. Like they don't want to draw attention to themselves. One of my birds gets motion sickness so bring a few of towels to cover. And I hope you don't have any issues with the airlines. It appears not all of their employees are well trained when it comes to pets.
I recently traveled from Germany on a 9 hour flight with 6 children in diapers in seats around me. UGH. Rather listen to a parrot's happy squawk.

 

[noodles123]

I haven't tried them, but there are calming supplements that a lot of people give their birds a few days prior to travel (leading up to and on the date). Some people even do chamomile tea---BUT I HAVE NO IDEA IF THAT IS LEGIT....



I have also read that you shouldn't necessarily feed your bird as much before a long trip (I am not sure if that is due to motion sickness, poop-holding or something else...don't even know if it is true).


Will they let you bring an apple or something onto the plane so that your bird has a water source? I am envisioning a dish of water spilling all over, but maybe that is fatalistic.



Another thought---depending on your birds reaction, you MIGHT consider bringing something to cover the cage (kind of like what they do for horses in transit). Not all birds would appreciate this, but it is something to consider.


Also, maybe provide some safe and familiar toys that won't cause injury if there is a shift in the plane's altitude, turbulence or jostling while walking with the carrier. My bird loves those stupid plastic "c-links" and she entertained herself with those for a good 3 hours in a 5 hour drive.

 

[Sunnyclover]

For water you can just use a water bottle...they have them for birds. Ollie has one for travel but you need to train them to use it before you go so they know what it is and how to use it. It looks kind of like a hamster bottle but slightly different.

 

[noodles123]

True (good call)- I just worry about being able to clean them well enough, but they are good for many situations (including fluid monitoring) if sanitized appropriately!

 

[WinstonToBC]

Thank you all so much! I also wondered about the cabin pressure. He has a vet appt so will ask the avian vet if he has more suggestions. I suspect he will squawk for take off and landing. The two small flights I am not too concerned with... 45 minutes each. It is the 6 hour one that has me wondering what is going to happen. For seating, it is my family so in the row of three seats it will be me with my two kids. So, no strangers next to him. He will be covered but I plan on talking to him and having the carrier closer to me. He doesn't appear to be a huge screamer but then he has never been on a plane. It will definitely be an experience. And yes... people kicking my seat is much more bothersome then an animal making noises! So true! He does have a super cute voice when he says hello and how are you doing.

 

[Sunnyclover]

True (good call)- I just worry about being able to clean them well enough, but they are good for many situations (including fluid monitoring) if sanitized appropriately!

I hear you. That's why I only use the water bottle for travel and clean it throughly after each use. Ollie loves to stuff his pellets up the water bottle lol. I take a "straw bush" for that bit and clean it and then use a bottle brush for the inside bottle part. I would NEVER use a water bottle on a daily basis for my birds. Ick, too hard to keep up with as you said!

 

[WinstonToBC]

I haven't tried them, but there are calming supplements that a lot of people give their birds a few days prior to travel (leading up to and on the date). Some people even do chamomile tea---BUT I HAVE NO IDEA IF THAT IS LEGIT....



I have also read that you shouldn't necessarily feed your bird as much before a long trip (I am not sure if that is due to motion sickness, poop-holding or something else...don't even know if it is true).


Will they let you bring an apple or something onto the plane so that your bird has a water source? I am envisioning a dish of water spilling all over, but maybe that is fatalistic.



Another thought---depending on your birds reaction, you MIGHT consider bringing something to cover the cage (kind of like what they do for horses in transit). Not all birds would appreciate this, but it is something to consider.


Also, maybe provide some safe and familiar toys that won't cause injury if there is a shift in the plane's altitude, turbulence or jostling while walking with the carrier. My bird loves those stupid plastic "c-links" and she entertained herself with those for a good 3 hours in a 5 hour drive.

Thanks for all the tips. I have the Celltei Pak-o-Bird In-Cabin carrier. It has the mesh but there is also a cover that is dark. I can also get another cover to put over it. I will put a familiar toy in there as well. I can do the apples until it is time to fly to Canada. But, that flight is only 45 minutes so no food will be fine. I have been told that he loves his carrier. Yay!