blackman

My 2.75 year old Timneh is flighted and it is a joy. It takes some time for you and your bird to get used to living together and managing the routine but it is well worth it. He poops in few key locations where i have put poop papers and have little trouble with poop on carpets or such. He flies up to my room every morning and waits for me to get up (and if i dont he will tug on my ear). He hangs out with me as I do the monring routine and then eventually starts to say "want to go into the kitchen. want to go into the kitchen for some food. want juice. want carrot juice....want grape" . I also leave him out of the cage when I go away. Something i have done only after a gradual transition. I never lock him in the cage anymore. I do not recommend this for everyone necessarily but it can work very well as it does in my case. When I go out of town, I close off the (large) room but not the cage and the pet sitters come in twice a day to visit him and they also do not have to put him back in the cage which makes life easy. He is not destructive of my stuff at all. I think this is in part because he gets a lot of exercise and toys. From flying one can see that he is physically fit with strong muscles and such compared to non-flighted birds. Most mornings, from when he comes into my room and then we go to kitchen to play and eat breakfast and it is about 2 hours or so. After which he knows it is time for me to leave and he flies to his perch in the kitchen and makes a double whistle peaceful sound of contentment. It is easy to tell when your bird is content and accepting of your leaving if they are flighted because they simply don't chase you to the door. Over time, it has evolved such that we both know when it is time for me to leave for the day. It seems so much safer to have a flighted Timneh too. Not once has there ever been a problem crashing into windows or doors or such. But many times he has been playing with a toy that might slip off the counter or table and one doesnt have to worry. Also you dont have to carry your bird everywhere. He just flies to you. It is also much easier to tell what the bird wants because he is not forced to stay in a position that he cant remove himself from. I also think think that flighted birds have far less incidence of feather picking. Has anyone every heard of a flighted bird with this problem? I think that part of the feather picking for non-flighted birds is that they no longer know what their feathers are good for so it may almost be a natural extension of preening--trying to remove "useless debris" from their body. I have come to view wing clipping as something like preventing a human from walking early on even if they would otherwise be able to walk. Of course walking is not a requirement for a happy meaningful life but why enforce that state.

I have a charming 1.5 year old Timneh and have not covered the cage since I brought him home at age 12 weeks. The room is dark enough but he can also see a bit if he needs to. It is not completely dark in the wild either, particularly when there is a full moon. You don't need to cover the cage. They will get used to whatever choice you make. Not covering the cage also removes one more ritual that pet sitters and visitors have to do when you are away.

Hi My timneh is now about 11 months and i noticed a similar circumstance exactly as you describe--Im going to the vet next week just to be sure but the birds seems otherwise fine and normal... has your timneh been ok? cheers