teaching a bird to fly

Zoruace

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Sep 21, 2021
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I need some help here
Tiki (my cockatiel) had finally grew her wings back 4 months ago ever since then she would always fly to her cage the thing is..
she never flies for any other reason
i try to recalll... nope
scary feather is chasing me... nope
NOTHING makes her fly other then her cage i use it to build up her mucsles im sure they are good i mean she can fly quite a distance
but she cant land..
AT ALL..
i remember just few minutes ago she got startled badly by pidgeon out the window and took off
I put my hand in front if her nut she cant land!
she kept her legs folded and didnt let them out until she had crashed on the floor
i have to go and grab her for her to stop flying
i really need some tips ive been trying so hard for 4-5 months im about to give up..

its quite obvious she was clipped when she was a fledgling and didnt really get the chance to fly
 

Skarila

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Parrot of the Month 🏆
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Apr 19, 2021
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✻Csillam the rescued budgie
✻Pascal the Emma's (Venezuelan) Conure

Previous owned:
✻Archibald the cockatiel (fostered 6 months)
✻RIP - 28 YO Zeleni the mischievous IRN
✻RIP -Sunny the budgie
I'm bit confused. Last month you asked about free flying her because she's flying all over the place, but apparently now Tiki is a perch potato and refuses to fly..?

I cannot think of a single bird who in fear will immediately land to the offered hand that suddenly popped up. It's completely normal that the bird will not immediately land on new places unless trained before. Many many parrots will learn a couple of landing places and use that. remove those landing places they act as it they never landed in their life. I see even in Pascal when recall training he kind of calculates first before flying to me, I cannot imagine him in a panic landing onto my offered hand.

Archie, the fostered cockatiel was similar, he had his 3 places in the house where he'd land and that's it. Recall was never an option for him, I always had to fetch him. same with my dearest IRN. And same with our budgie.

Just don't give up, the bird will need a lot of flying and landing practice before she gets the hang of it. Or maybe will never perfect it.

And this is why I'd forbid wing clipping before a bird learns how to fly properly.
 

Emeral

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Sep 16, 2021
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Perhaps it is the same as weaning, some take it slow, some take it fast, each has their very own pace.

Unconfident with her flight? Who could blame her if the control is not 100% plus wind and other factors.

From a wise person, slow is not safe, fast is not safe too, proper speed is safe. She probably is learning about her proper speed.

So, how can we help?what is she confident with?

...Walking? Let's increase her walk distance
...climbing toys or stairs? Let's increase her climbing
...hoping small distances? Let's increase her hoping with small non slippery objects

Once her mobility increases, so is her confidence. Then who knows, there may be no stopping her in the future.
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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I rescued Penny as a 10 year old non flighted burd.

It took a lot of time, like more than a year to get ok. And another year to get better as un able to change direction and altitude, and to realize she can choose to fly to different spots. When they are young they really should be allowed to learn to fly at the biological programed time. As nature makes this a drive and lows them to overcome the fear of falling. Adults who weren't allowed this normal step, do struggle, and its a big process and takes time . Really did take all of 2 years for mine, I kept thinking she had reached the best she could do, but slowly she kept making more progress.

Landing is the hardest for them. They have fallen so much and learned helplessness. It helps to have them practice on bed or soft surface . I'd take her into my bedroom, and has a few perches and stools with perches on the bed abd try to encourage her. I'd stand a few feet from cage with perches on top and try to get her to fly. It was really hard fir her. At first she just crash landed on everything. Now she can fly and land on a perch or me. But she still prefers to take easier Landing on furniture .

So yours will get there, just might take a lot longer than you thought.
 

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