wing clipping/bonding

[Boyd75]

I have two sun conures.
We do not have a bond.
I used to own a cockatiel, very strong bond, but never had to clip her wings. pre-tamed, re-homed.
So.. my question.
If i clip the conures wings myself.. Do i still have a chance at building a bond, because its quit difficult when they just fly away.
will it make them too afraid and untrusting of me?

 

[Sterling1113]

Wing clipping is something that should be done at your own preference. In my experience I have had no issues bonding with a flighted bird over a clipped one. Either way it takes allot of time and patience. (And treats!! )
It's a very controversial subject but I've had birds come to me clipped and flighted and I've only clipped my birds if it was a safety hazard to have them flighted. That's just my opinion though. I've never done it purely for bonding.
Conures are curious. Share meals with them, play with toys with them, talk to them, etc. Just regular everyday things that help them see you as a part of the flock


Edit: to answer your last question, I can't tell you how they'll react to being clipped, if they fly frequently it may make them more timid about things (they can't get away) but every bird will react differently. Mine took it just fine, they just climb everywhere now!

 

[Boyd75]

when i walk in the room they scream. if i get close to them they fly.
what are some ways detailed, that you have bonded with flighted birds?

 

[Sterling1113]

I haven't worked with flighted birds that are afraid of me(or uneasy of my presence.) but I can give a few tips.

1) enter the room quietly, no fast or sudden movements. If they scream, try to stay still until they calm. Preferably have a seat somewhere. If they're not caged, bring food with you. (If they have any favorite fruits or veggies, a plate of them!)

2) munch on the food while you're there. They'll likely become insanely curious and want to check you out.

3) positive reinforcement! If they come closer, place the treat somewhere they can get it without going to you 100%. As they get better with that have them come closer and closer. This could take days/weeks depending on how skittish they are.

4) repeat, repeat, and more repeating. Until they are calm with you moving about the room. If they take food from your hand, start clicker/target training. Then step up training. Lots of good videos on YouTube about those.

 

[Boyd75]

thats actually helpful. i think they just may like apples enough for that to work, only roblem is their designated land areas are high up and they dont like to land on flat surfaces. ill have to get creative here.

 

[Sterling1113]

Glad I could be of some help! Hehe.
Do they have play stands/perches ? You can attach a food bowl to one if you do and use it only for treats. Then either move the bowl closer to you, or the whole perch! (Something like a T-perch would be easiest to move around.)
Best of luck with your fids.

 

[Nakiska]

Hello and congratulations with your conures! I recently adopted a 3 year old Sun conure and also have a 3 year old Green Cheek conure.

Such FUN birds they are!

You didn't say how long you've had your conures but time is of the essence when bonding/taming these guys.

Initially you asked if wing clipping would make them afraid and untrusting of you and my opinion is...not really and most likey NOT for a long term...and you will have a lot more "leverage" with their wings clipped to do some "hands on" bonding. By that, I mean that they won't be able to fly as well so you'll be able to sit on the floor with them and sort of "corral" them closer and closer to you until they are eventually walking on you, or over your hand etc.

For birds that I've had that I've wanted that hands on relationship with, I have clipped until trained then let them have full flight again. My experience was that one wing clip was all I needed...and a lot of time to spend with my bird, to get him/her hand tame.

Just tossing some toys and treats out on the floor and laying there while they mill around you is desensitizing them to your presence. And talk...talk, talk, talk, talk, talk to them, sing, read your book or paper out loud to them, what ever...let them hear your voice and get comfortable with it. I have found my voice to be my best tool, believe it or not.

I have a pair of cockatiels I rescued from a terrible neglectful and abusive home. I've had them nearly 3 years. Because I have other birds, it wasn't high on my list of priorities to have them be hands on handled by me. My first goal was to get them comfortable with me walking into a room with out near fatal heart attacks and risking hurting themselves flapping around their cages so wildly in fear.

Talk, talk, talk, talk to them I did. When they were calmed down with me walking into the room, my next goal was to get them confident that I wasn't going to hurt them while feeding, and reaching into their cage for cleaning.

Then I started opening their cage door and letting them out....and talk talk talk talk talk...to them.

I could go on and on and on...but after nearly 3 years, they are still fully flighted, my male tiel..Charlie has a very extensive vocabulary and LOVES to talk to me. We whistle, I say...kiss kiss kiss and he makes the kissing sound...or he'll say to me...Kiss kiss kiss and I make the kissing sounds...he tells me....I love you! Every single day..melts my heart. He will let me get right up close to him now, he'll even walk toward me to watch me talk to him.

Both him and Sweetpea are "stick" trained, meaning that when they are out and it's time to go to bed, I can offer a stick/perch for them to step up on and put them away and they are excellent with that, but if I offer my finger, they always run off or back away. They used to fly crazy through the house when I offered my finger to step up on, they don't do that anymore.

If they are sitting right next to their dish when I reach in their cage to remove it or add something to it, they no longer move away, but just sit and look at me.

So fully flighted we've made a TON of progress over the last 3 years...but it's been super duper slow.

I'm pretty sure had I clipped them to begin with, they'd be at the very least, comfortable with stepping up on my finger or hanging out on my shoulder. I don't really know why I didn't...other than it wasn't high on my list of priorities with them to have them hand tame.

Now days...I just really enjoy our relationship as it is and every day we are getting closer and closer and, especially Charlie's curiosity is nearly getting the best of him. He watches me handle our other birds and he'll fly really REALLY close to be, sometimes doing laps...like he wants to land on me but still isn't sure.

I just know one of these days....

For you, I'd say it depends on your goals and how much time you have to spend with your conures. And wing clipping is temporary, usually only lasting a couple months, if that and then you can be back to fully flighted birds if you didn't like them clipped.

Good luck with them and post pics! I LOVE Suns!

Toni

 

[Kiwibird]

Clipping has NO bearing on how a bird will bond. How you go about working with the bird does. I suggest looking into different training methods and finding someone you like and start there.

P.S. My bird is clipped, and it was not easy training him. It all comes down to the bird as an individual and the method, not the birds primary mode of transportation

 

[Sterling1113]

Nakiska: the only thing I have to point out in your post is the duration of wing clipping. Maybe if you clip your bird when they're about to molt it'll only last a couple months. But it took Kiwi over 8~ months to re grow her flights, and Loki's been with us over a year now and still hasn't molted his flights, so he's still clipped.
I mean regardless it is still temporary but it's more likely 6-12 months as birds usually molt once or twice a year.

Like Kiwibird said, whether the bird is clipped or not, it depends on the training method and the temperament of the bird(and person) the same thing doesn't work for everyone!

 

[echoskybound]

Clipping doesn't necessarily facilitate bonding - honestly, when my conure was clipped as a baby, I think bonding was more stressful because he couldn't just fly away when he was uncomfortable, so instead he turned aggressive. Birds will try to choose "flight" over "fight" naturally, and sometimes when they can't fly, they resort to aggression if they're stressed or scared. You say your birds scream and fly when you come near them - they will need to adjust to your presence, clipping or not - but allowing them to have the ability to fly when they get stressed will definitely cut down on how often you get bitten, heh.

I think my interactions with my bird have been much more positive since he's been flighted. When he was a clipped baby and I asked him to step up, he would bite if he didn't want to, because he couldn't get away. Now that he can fly, I just hold my hand a few feet away if I want to ask him to step up, and he'll fly to me if he wants to, and ignore me if he doesn't.

Are you familiar with clicker training? Target training may help a lot. Maybe use something long like a wooden dowel so you don't have to get too close to them. Teach them to touch the tip of it with their beaks, and reward them with a favorite treat when they do. You can use this target stick to lead the bird around, and even get them to fly to another spot to reach it. Eventually you should be able to get them to fly to you if you put the target stick over your hand. They may still be flighty, they might just take the treat then fly away again, but they will build a positive association with you over time.

 

[veimar]

I got two unclipped baby budgies over two weeks ago, and they were totally wild and hated me. I had made a hard decision to half-clip them myself after about a week with no progress, and the result was just great! Now they step up, eat from my hand, sit on my shoulder and warmed up to me a lot. And they still fly a lot, just not right into the ceiling fan. This change took just about a week, and I was out of town for three days of that week (my hubby was watching them).

 

[Jayyj]

How long have you had them? What are they like with you when the cage is closed: have you tried working with them without opening the cage?

Although Alice bonded to me extremely quickly, she was initially very fearful and nervous of anything unfamiliar. Being clipped meant she couldn't distance herself from things she saw as threats, and would lead to stress and misery for her - for example somebody walking past the window outside would result in 15 minutes of cowering at the back of the cage. As soon as her wing feathers came back in there was a significant improvement in her confidence, and now if something spooks her she'll flap into the air for a few seconds then settle back down and get on with what she was doing.

It's up to you but unless you're intending to keep them clipped long term I would start reading up on trick / clicker training and have a go without clipping first.

 

[MikeyTN]

This topic have been discussed prior as you can find more information on it by using the search option.

Clipping or not is a personal preference, training can be done both ways. But depending on how your training them as well!!!