Help, flying into windows!

[Freespin]

Nelson had his wings clipped by a vet before i got him though he seems to be flying very strongly (not that my house has much space for him to fly). I am not hugely worried for his flying (I am planning on buying a harness for him or building a flight aviary) but the issue is he flies into windows regularly and sometimes walls. It scares the living daylights out of me and i am scared one day he wont just bounce off and be fine =/

Does he do this because he is just a baby and cant control his flying very well? A couple of times he has flown towards the window but managed to land on the blinds or bench.

Advice? It worries me so much... He is 3 and a half months old

 

[MikeyTN]

When they first learn to fly they'll fly into things and such but eventually learn to control themselves. I would highly recommend to have the blind down on your windows during flying lesson.

 

[Betrisher]

Yes, blinds or curtains help cushion the impact. If you don't have any (I have roller blinds, which don't help much), you can hang an old sheet or towel. It's also a good idea to put stickers or something on your windows so the bird can tell there's something there. Whenever I have my birds out, I always pull the curtains over the big windows and allow light in through the smaller ones. This also helps in keeping the Beaks out of my loungeroom, which is filled with books and sewing stuff: they hate going from a light room into a darker one.

 

[Anansi]

Hey, Freespin. When my Bixby got home a month ago, he was older than your eclectus by around a month... and he was still flying into walls. But after a few sessions with training perches, gradually increasing the difficulty levels, he learned greater control. As you know, it's still a work in progress. But consistent flight training definitely curbs the whole wall bouncing thing.

I feel your pain, though. Nothing stops your heart like the sight and (shudder) sound of your bird just flying straight into a wall!

 

[Gizmomania]

As a quick fix, you could place pieces of a cardboard box in front of the window. That's what I do whenever my fids are out, as they, too, head for the windows. I'm deathly afraid of one of them breaking their necks on the glass.

 

[Freespin]

The main issue with pulling the blinds is that I live in a shed and it's so dark in here without the natural light. boxes is a good idea though wouldn't work for the ranch slider. Will have to get stuck in trying to do some flight training and give a combination of the other ideas a go!

 

[Gizmomania]

My Grey didn't becoming accurate until he was 4 1/2 months old. Before that, like your baby, he hit the walls, furniture, windows, you name it. Scared me to death all the time! Now he can hover, circle, and land on point.

 

[Josk]

My poor Kiwi did this too, he crashed into so many windows. We eventually just put the blinds down whenever he was out and he started to pick up on where he could and could not fly. To this day he doesn't try to fly through windows though so it just takes a bit of hard learning unfortunately. Gosh they're hardy little creatures.

 

[Freespin]

Im so glad mine isnt the only one! They are obviously a lot tougher than i ever thought!!

 

[MikeyTN]

The main issue with pulling the blinds is that I live in a shed and it's so dark in here without the natural light. boxes is a good idea though wouldn't work for the ranch slider. Will have to get stuck in trying to do some flight training and give a combination of the other ideas a go!

If that's the case, use sheer curtains! It still lets the light in but they will notice it being there.

 

[Anansi]

Hey, Freespin. I came across this video, while reading an old thread: "Question for those that DON'T clip (and everyone else can chime in too " and thought of you and this thread. (Actually, considering your thoughts about possibly clipping Nelson, you might want to check out the whole thread. It was FULL of helpful info.)

But here's a video on indoor flight, originally found by MonicaMC in that older thread, that pretty much floored me: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmaqOeheQBA&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Baby Parrot Training SKILLS plus In-home Freeflight Flying RECALL - YouTube[/ame] (Hope I did the link thing, right. Never tried to do that, before. Lol)

 

[Freespin]

Thank you so much! Do you have the link for the old thread too?

 

[Anansi]

Hopefully I'll get this one right, too. I'm feeling somewhat emboldened by my success with the Youtube link! Lol! Here goes: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectu...don-t-clip-everyone-else-can-chime-too-2.html

Oh, let me know what you think of the video.

 

[Anansi]

Oops! I put the link for the wrong video. (Though that one was cool, too.) But here's the one that I was calling a jaw-dropper: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZGdMp9kM&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Parrot Training - Indoor Free Flying - DUCK!! Pet Parrot Free flight Skills and Myths - YouTube[/ame]

 

[maillet]

a) Hang up Curtains when he is out of cage. It will not only tell him something is there it will also cushion the landing much better than say a window or any wall.

b) Teach him to fly within control setting. Sounds like he is fledging. I trained all of my birds by quite literally tiring them out in a single session going from chair to the next chair in long hallway. No risks and they were exhausted to unsupervised later.