Attacking and Wing Clipping

[TAGSugar]

Hi Everyone. Our 11yo TAG has become quite the flier. She came to us from a rescue just over 2 years ago and her bad wing clip has finally grown out. She's learned to fly pretty well over the last few months and, normally, I think it's great! HOWEVER, she's found that she can attack people quite easily by flying up and dive bombing onto them. I'm her usual target - she loves to fly at me, attack my head/face - but she'll also do it to the dogs and my husband (rarely, but it did happen this weekend). We are at a loss about what to do. It's happening so frequently that it's hard for me to have her out of the cage. It's not always very hard but she has drawn blood and she will continue to attack when I get her out of my hair and back onto her perch. We have been considering clipping her wings again (I know there is a lot of controversy about wing clipping and it breaks my heart to consider it) but we're really at a loss about how to stop the attacks.

 

Any advice is much appreciated!!

[Dave007]

What we're against is people who clip birds for bad reasons or convenience reasons. Many birds are clipped too young and never learn how to fly and never learn coordination. It's the bird that suffers. In your situation, you should get your bird clipped so that any vertical fly can't happen. It seems like that's the main problem. The clip should be done by someone who understands how certain clips work. You should explain to that person exactly what you want. You'll then have a bird that can fly horozontally and have soft landings. No more flying up and then coming down on your head to bite and draw blood from the face /neck. At that age it's hard for a bird to change it's attitude.

Edited January 19, 2013 by Dave007

[Greywings]

We can call that sort of a limited wing trim an Altitude adjustment.

[TAGSugar]

Thank you!

[FirstPenguin]

How long have you have the attacks been going on? We went through a similar phase with our flighted female Senegal and didn't clip her, it past with time, about two to three months if I remember correctly. She's taken a few shots at the back of my neck but nothing like that since. I feel people turn to clipping too quickly for behavior modification but that's just my opinion.

[danmcq]

You can also just take actions on your part when you know this is a behavior now expected. You can just duck when you hear the flapping of him coming or you can throw your arms up to protect you face and head. Your grey will then fly on past. This will eventually stop those attacks. Clipping even lightly should be the last option in my opinion.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

TAGSugar find a great trimmer! Bird should still be able to fly, but more controlled. A controlled flyer, will take more time to listen. Nancy

[TAGSugar]

Thanks everyone! Since we tried everything else - ducking or blocking with our arms (she would turn around to attack me or fly at me from wherever she landed, not to mention some nasty bites from her landing on my arms), moving to a different side of the room, covering my head with a towel while I was in the same room (yea, we were THAT desperate!), we decided to look into clipping. This behavior has been going on for about 6 months now and it's becoming increasingly worse everyday. I consulted with my avian vet and we decided to clip her a little. She can still fly short distances and has no trouble controlling herself when she flies off the perch, she's just no longer able to fly to the next room to find me if she's in a different room with my husband! She still tries to attack but it's less frequent now that it's no so easy for her to dive bomb me!

[Jayd]

Six months is but a drop of water in the life span of a Grey. The towel was a invitation to attack you. A Grey in the wild neither attacks nor bites, this is something man has taught them. In most cases it's brought about by jealously, lack of attention or the simply fact of the Grey feeling you like it..The cure? Look at everything from a new perspective. This issue started even before you brought the baby home. Working with a Rescue takes years not months. Keep your eyes open for issues from the clipping. Your Grey is a proud bird and very commit ed...