Flying with clipped wings

[texsize]

So Bella has been flying around the house for about a week now. She is able to fly up (landing on the top of the drapes) or down in elevation. make 180º turns in mid air. And make a 2 point (8 point counting toes) landing.
What I find amazing is her wings are not fully grown in from her clipping she had before I got her.

BTW these pictures were taken on the chair she goes poopie on. That's why the towel she is on is a bit messy.

 

[Lacewing]

Not unusual for a bird to fly after the flight feathers have been mutilated by clipping.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Golly Wes Bella has beautiful feathers, love that tail

Yup..Smokey could "fly"..sorta..right after a clip too. She didn't really get air born,kinda just dragged her butt across the carpet lol,but flew.


Jim

 

[SailBoat]

This is clearly all your fault for maintaining a healthy diet and happy living conditions where she is clearly allowed to work her wings and move about the home.

If you where not such a "goody, two-shoes" and had maintained her on a crap diet and locker away in a small cage for years on end - you wouldn't have these problems!!!

That humor aside, she is clearly showing enough feather growth, plus several inner Primary feathers that are a 'bit' on the long side for this style of cut (Presentation /Show). The combination of strength, exercise and the grow-out has her flying!

 

[SailBoat]

You are a bright and informed new member and your insights are welcomed.

Please remember that the subject of Wing Clipping is a 'Hot Subject' in the Avian World. To change minds is best approached with providing knowledge with a touch of sugar.

I have maintained Fully Flight Amazons for over forty years and have found it to be appropriate for my Amazons.

The Avian Vets are beginning to find strong reason for have Parrots Flighted, we are in the early stages of this change and presenting the argument for Fully Flighted is best handled with kind instruction.

Not unusual for a bird to fly after the flight feathers have been mutilated by clipping.

 

[EllenD]

Totally normal, as Sailboat, our resident comedian, has already said, lol. It's not uncommon at all for birds to be able to "fly" after a wing clipping, sometimes directly after a wing clipping, although directly after a clipping they shouldn't be able to get much elevation at all, but they can glide forward and down quite well. Bella just has enough new growth since her clipping to be able to elevate.

I always judged when my mom's African Grey needed clipped again by whether or not she could elevate, once she could fly up the stairs or prop herself on the ceiling fan on our 14 foot living room ceiling, it was time for a clip. So if you're planning on keeping her clipped she's probably close to due, if you're planning on letting her wings grow in and keeping her flighted then she's almost there. My mom always used to keep her CAG clipped back in the 80's and 90's before she had a harness because she takes him everywhere with her. Now he is fully flighted because he's on a harness. It's a personal choice and no one else's business in my opinion, some people need to have their bird's wings clipped for safety reasons, or because there is a good chance their bird may fly away for whatever reason. Either way it's a person's own choice, not to be judged.

I know this should be a "relative to size" thing but in my own experience it's not; I grew up with my mom's CAG and I have volunteered at an exotics rescue that has lots of large parrots, and since then I myself have only owned smaller birds like Conures, a Senegal, a Quaker, Cockatiels, Budgies, etc. And for some reason it seems to me that larger birds that have their outer primary flight feathers clipped can fly much better (higher, farther, and get more gliding distance) than smaller birds with the same clip. Maybe it's because larger birds have much larger wings or more wing surface area, I know it should be relative and proportional, but in my experience it has just been like that. Smaller birds who have a proper clip of their primary flight feathers only glide right down to the floor after a clip, while my mom's CAG and the macaws, greys, etc. at the rescue seem to still get some air and some distance right after the same clip...I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[SailBoat]

Ellen's insight regarding flight surface area vs. body weight has strong merit! The largest MAC's with body weight near and well over 1000 grams also have huge flight surface areas vs. body weight and will gain lift in the lightest puff of air. However, Tiels have the same ratio of flight surface area vs. body weight and one will see the same effect. I'm thinking it is the huge tail feathers that these two have that is adding to their need for a very different clip than other Parrots.

So, with the exception these two Parrot species Ellen's presentation is fully correct! The exact same clip on an Amazon and a Quaker, will produce very different results as the Amazon gains lift.

The most important thing to remember is that a new clip is the 'starting point' - under-clip at first and clip addition feathers as needed.

STOP! The only person that should ever clip a Parrots Wings is a CAV or a CAVT (Certified Avian Vet or a Certified Avian Vet Tech). The only acceptation to this is a person that has been trained and approved by either of the above!

The horror stories of seriously injured Parrot being rushed to an Avian Vet resulting from an idiot cutting a Parrot to the level of a dropped rock is huge!!! Add to that the number of cut-off toes, legs, wings, or the Parrot's chest!!! Its just not worth the costs and possible loss of your Parrots life to have an idiot working on your Parrot!

Okay, time to push the Soap Box back into the storage place!

FYI: Sorry, I missed adding a AQV and AQVT (Avian Qualified Vet and Avian Qualified Vet Tech) to the list.

 

[SailBoat]

Hey, I had recently come across a very different style of wing-clip that is very rarely seen. It is a very unique clip. Ever other Primary and Secondary wind feather is clipped at the 50% line. The outer three Primary feathers are not cut. I am guessing it is a variation of the Presentation Clip to present a clearly fuller wing, that is still clipped.

I am guessing this would be a much more expensive clip. But has strong merit as it provides feathers on both side of the clipped feather to support it and limit its loss and/or damage! Also, limits the likelihood of a Blood Feather.

 

[Lacewing]

While I do not have an African Grey bird any more I do have 2 very young English budgies. Being very much a senior person in age I opt for small birds now. I requested for the breeder not to clip flight feathers and do what is called a "show clip" but it did not happen. Their wings are cut so that they can both fly about 4 feet and then glide to the ground gently. I respect this particular breeder because he raises healthy beautiful English budgies which are not easy to find. I was not happy about this because my beautiful boys will not be able to enjoy the experience of flight for almost one year. So I empathize with you and hope I did not cause any hard feelings by using the word mutilation.

 

[texsize]

No hard feelings. Bella's wing had been clipped by her previous owner.
I am proud of the progress she has made in her ability to fly.

But I was surprised to see how much of her wing feathers remain ... less than fully grown.
She has to work very hard to fly. I guess I wanted to warn people out there that clipped wings don't necessarily mean a grounded bird.
texsize

 

[flyingron]

We clip about two thirds of Bacca's flight feathers. It lets her gracefully flutter to the ground rather than the face plant she does if she's more aggressively clipped and decides to jump.