We officially have full flight!!!!

[chris-md]

I'll stop after this post but I HAD to share this. Parker has officially flown tonight. Full on wing flapping recalled flight. I can't contain my excitement for him! No more flitting leaps!

He's gassed by the time I broke out the camera, this was the least of what he did, and you see I had to move the perch closer to get him to cooperate. Before this he was flying at perches of significantly differing heights, and made his longest flight at 8 feet!

[ame="https://youtu.be/WSIarTKsNow"]Parker the parrot officially flies! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[wrench13]

Congrats Parker! You too Chris! That is way cool! A few more days and you'll be ready to take him to a batting cage or horse exercise barn for some real flying.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Fantastic! That's a beautiful sight. One thing Parker can do that none of us can dream of.

 

[SailBoat]

This is great!

Make sure that you are having him practice Wing Flapping. Commonly, this would be Parker on your hand (finger) and you dropping your hand and once he starts to flap, you move forward. You want to work at this building on distances and feeling of his ability of create lift while flapping!

This will guild you as to his strength development of his flight muscles and how long he can do this. This tool will increase the flapping rate and distance he is comfortable flying!

Medical Note: It is very important before you start working on greater distances to developing a feeling of his heart rate. It is Very Important that you stop training if his rate moves too high. This could result in a run-away heart rate!

Will Parker allow you to place his chest against your ear? The goal of building an understanding of the 'sound' of his at rest heart rate, his light activity heart rate and a stressed or over-loaded heart rate is to know when to stop activities and allow him to rest. Never push your Parrot into a stressed heart rate condition!!!

 

[Anansi]

Chris! This is HUGE! Congratulations to you and Parker both!!!

I got a huge smile on my face upon reading this thread. A whole new world has opened up for Parker, and his dynamic with you will likely reach a new level as flight drills are a great bonding exercise.

I would suggest that you end each session as soon as you see that he is significantly winded. The trick is to always call him when he is most eager to come. This is both to prevent him from getting used to refusing your calls (you want him to always associate your call with his immediate response), and to make sure he doesn't exert himself beyond what is physically safe for him at the moment. You can see by how hard he has to work flapping his wings that he needs to build up the strength in his pectoral muscles (to be expected for his first full on flights, of course), but with consistent flight sessions each day, he'll grow stronger in relatively short order. But you're past the hardest part. You've engaged his interest.

Chris, I'm ecstatic for you guys! Thanks for sharing this! Looking forward to many more flight videos!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Fantastic Chris, please don't stop with the videos. Well done you and well done Parker!

 

[Scott]

Great job Chris and Parker! A safely flighted bird IMO is a happy bird!!

 

[GaleriaGila]

It's a beautiful thing!

 

[chris-md]

Thank you everyone! It really is broadening horizons.

Sailboat/Stephen - thank you both. Your posts flow quite well into each other. I thank you for highlighting the need to build the muscles. I intuited it but definitely needed an overt reminder. SB - I've tried that flapping exercise times with Parker actually. He never opens his wings and is satisfied "falling" like a rock.

Stephen you highlighted something of a concern I've had, which is ensuring consistent immediate response to the command. Your suggestion of ending the session when he's tired (kind of a duh when you mention it!) I think feeds into how it should be done. I do notice now that he is very responsive in the beginning of every session, and immediacy of the response diminishes. I think the session should end the first time I'd see lag time in response.

I will start a little slower with him. Smaller distances over a month or so to let the muscles develop. After a month I'll start doing greater distances.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm only now catching up on everyones progress, so forgive my delayed congratulations! How is Parker doing now?