Gizmo can fly!

[Gizmo_efc]

When I first bought Gizmo, he was only 12 weeks old and flew around the room quite alot but due to it being a new house, he used to crash from quite high.

 

After a while I was worried for his safety so decided to get him clipped. He is now 18 months old and all his flight feathers have grew back. It was only that he flew the other evening and instead of flying into the door, changed direction and flew into the kitchen to where I was standing......although he flew into the window

 

Ive decided to not get him clipped again and let him learn to fly which after thinking about it, every bird should be allowed to do.

 

My question is, how long do you think it will be before he has mastered the art of flying and can land properly instead of just flying until he hits something?

 

I've been holding him away from his cage on my arm then moving my arm quickly so he flies to his cage then offering a treat. Would you say this is good practice?

[Talon]

Hi Gizmo, It's great that you are willing to let Gizmo fly. One of my greys came to me with clipped wings and had the same trouble once her feathers grew out enough to start flying. It was trial and error for her for quite a while. I would say it was probably a couple of months before she was consistent with it. It was a full 6 months before she could maneuver and fly and land anywhere with ease. After the first few months, she would fly the same route and land on the same spots that she knew she could handle. :blink:

[particle77]

Hey Gizmo,

Sounds like you guys are off to a great start. I started off using the exact same approach to get Earl to fly to his cage, and it probably works for some. However, I eventually found that Earl was actually becoming less and less interested in flying, and I put together that this was not a fun experience for him when he started to grip my hand as I was getting ready. After having that experience I recommend a slower more methodical approach that gives your Grey control.

 

Here is a link that I found helpful:

 

http://likambo.com/training/Recall_Training_Basics_article.pdf

 

I recommend following steps 1-3 even though your grey is already flying. I found it worked best to have two chairs right against each other, have him on one and my hand (in step up position) on the other. Then very slowly I moved the chairs apart. Even though he could fly he was not confident at first and it took alot of retries at the jumping stage before he would actually fly. Now when he's out and can see me all I need to do is hold my hand like I want him to step up and call him, and he will immediatly fly to me. Soon I will start working on having him fly from room to room to find me.

 

Once I started doing this and Earl got good at it I went back to having him fly to his cage, this time without swooshing my arm, and he now flies to his cage on command.

[JillyBeanz]

:woohoo: What great news that Gizmo can fly!! My Harvey hasn't been clipped and there is no better feeling of being in another room and just calling him and along he comes! He finds me upstairs and downstairs - it's great!

 

Mind you - now that Gizmo can fly you'll find the little deviant will be into all sorts!!! Best of Luck!! :woohoo:

[jessdecutie18]

Glad Gizmo can fly, hopefully it doesn't take long for him to learn to avoid the crash landings! Yoshi is 7 months, clipped after one meager first flight as a baby, so I expect I will have some trouble with her practicing at first too! Good luck!

[Greywings]

It makes my heart happy to see one regain flight, I do understand that grounding a bird can be neceasary at times for safety reasons. Pookie regained her wings after 20 years of being clipped, it took a months but now she can fly and land! 21 years with no flight (her first home) and now she is flighted it has reduced her nervous neck plucking but not eleimated it. Congrats to Gizmo and I love his name!!!:laugh:

[Mistyparrot]

Hi Gizmo. Your human is doing what I did with Misty when he had to relearn to fly after his flights grew back. I used to gently toss him a few yards to the top of his cage saying "Fly" or " Fly Misty" hoping he would learn "Fly " as a command.He learnt to fly very quickly using that method. Just a few days.

Well although he has become a very skilled and natural flyer he does not treat the word as a command. However often when he flies around he exclaims "Fly Misty fly" when he lands:) He kind of uses "Shoulder" as a command to fly to me but the best way is me touching his spray bottle. I don't have to use it, just touch it and he flies strait to me

 

 

Steve n Misty<br><br>Post edited by: Mistyparrot, at: 2009/12/07 18:26

[danmcq]

Congratulations Gizmo!!

 

As others noted. Targeting will help. He will also of course learn banking, slowing down and good perching spots all on his own through trial and error.

 

Just keep window drapes close and mirrors covered until he learns they are there and can not be flown through. They learn this fairly quickly.

 

Fly Gizmo, fly!!! :-)

[Luvparrots]

My Ana Grey is 16 months old and has just starting to fly. To help her practice I would just launch her from my arm toward the couch or her hanging perch. This helped her to master flying and have a safe place for her to land while learning. She is doing quite well now.