WingClipping--Part 1---Objective/Neutral

[Dave007]

Posssible Advantages of Flight

 

 

Some of the advantages to keeping a parrot fully flighted within the home will be obvious, as they will be the converse of the disadvantages of wing clipping. If ever lost, the parrot is more likely to have both the stamina and the flight skills to fly back down to the owner when found. The bird is more likely to enjoy good health, both physically and mentally. There is no possibility of damage being done by a groomer who performs a bad wing clip. For the young bird who is allowed to fledge and fly, even if clipped prior to going to his new home, there will be the joyful and enthusiastic expansion of personality that occurs during fledging, provided that the period of flight allowed is several weeks in duration. Such an initial period of flight will lead to both confidence and coordination. The young parrot allowed flight will remain forever a more athletic creature, and a more enjoyable one to have around, at that.

 

A couple of these advantages warrant closer inspection. First, the owner who keeps his parrot fully flighted is likely to be more involved with his bird. Out of necessity, he will find it necessary to do some training with the parrot, in order to protect his household furnishings and possessions. This training of flight cues is not difficult to do with a bird, and is a lot of fun for both owner and parrot. All of my parrots including 2 quakers are flighted, and each responds to the cue, "Off there!" From personal experience, I believe that flighted birds are more fun to have as companions. They are so much better able to reveal their personalities through movement of choice.

 

Consistent with the need to teach some flight "rules," many owners of flighted parrots go so far as to teach the parrot to come when called. This is known as teaching "the recall." This becomes a huge advantage to the owner of a flighted parrot, because if the parrot ever does get loose outdoors, the owner stands a better chance of recovering the parrot because a parrot can maneuver better with a set of wings and if by chance the bird can't be retrieved, it has a better chance of survival outdoors. If he has also consistently encouraged the use of a contact call, he will have a much easier time locating the bird.

 

It is ironic that proponents of wing clipping most often determine the necessity of this practice based upon prevention of loss. In fact, a flighted parrot who has good skills and stamina, who knows how to fly downward, who has perhaps spent time outdoors in an aviary, who comes to the recall cue, is in most cases, easier to recover. I personally believe this to be the best prevention against loss, far superior to the removal of flight.

 

Lastly, there comes with keeping a flighted parrot a true appreciation for the keen intelligence and magical whimsy so frequently displayed by the flighted bird. Flighted parrots are often more enjoyable, since they are well able to make choices and interact with us at will. They are a lot of fun. By always keeping the birds in our midst clipped, I believe that we blind ourselves to the view and appreciation of the parrot as a flighted entity, which in some cases even leads to the abuse of the parrot. And, certainly, it allows us to hold onto the historic vision of birds as unintelligent creatures. We have all heard of the "bird brain," a most uncomplimentary label. In the end, we, as well as the birds, are the losers.