Crash landings

[Greytness]

Every time my baby CAG takes off, he ends up crashing into something, and I'm concerned he's going to hurt himself.

 

Should I be teaching him how to land, or is this something he'll simply figure out through trial & error?

[KimKim]

My guy is not a baby, but he still crashes also. I think it's because he has no where to land?? So this weekend I am putting up a perching/landing spot in the living room. I hope he will fly to that when he gets spooked or takes off flying, instead of crash landing in the kitchen.

[tankaray]

Should I be teaching him how to land, or is this something he'll simply figure out through trial & error?

 

I'd say it will be a learned behaviour, though it would be slick to teach him how to land, then maybe he can teach you how to fly. Just kidding.

 

Perhaps some blankets over windows or soft landing areas might help him out a bit. Our little TAG was clipped at the pet store against our wishes and thats why I brought him home early. Having said that, there is not a day gone by that he doesn't try to fly somewhere. He can do a gradual decent into the kitchen ultimately coming to a sliding stop on his butt. That distance is about 12-15 feet. I also take him around the house with a decent grip to allow him get the flying muscles going. Usually the end result is a lot of heavy breathing (on his end) followed by a nap (on both our ends)...

 

Good luck

[Greytness]

We have plenty of perch spots, but he doesn't know to seek them out. He'll act like he's going to try to land somewhere, bails out at the last minute, and always seems to crash land into the window. I have cardboard across each window, but he always heads for the little areas that aren't covered up by it.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

It is important, to practice flying for a new baby. What always worked for us as a family, was to have a " send off" and " receive". I sent them off... one of my kids received them. I put cheap plastic art in the windows, so they could see where their boundaries ended. Babies struggle with windows, and need to see NEVER a clear glass! They will fly into it and panic. Always set up a " practice zone", that they can see their boundaries. As babies,their peripheral vision is being developed, as well as " whats in front of me!". Nancy

[danmcq]

What you describe is completely normal for a baby grey at only 13 weeks old that is fledging, meaning they are just learning to fly. You even see this in nature when a baby bird first decides to fly from the tree their nest is in and they flutter down not knowing where a good landing spot is or how to land really. You always see their parents right behind them. Then you see the parents chirping at them and trying to get them to come to the top of a small bush, a low tree limb etc. for their safety and to start the teaching process of flight. Your grey has a lot of feedback coming in to his brain as he is flapping wings, gaining speed and altitude, visual input scanning the surroundings, now what does he need to do with tail positioning, wing tilt etc.? He is just starting to build those critical neural networks of flight. It will not take him long to figure out where good versus bad landing spots are. To try to keep going straight by seeking out and fly through an apparent opening in a path forward, they fly right in to a window. Thus the need for little stickies on the windows so they can tell it is not an opening. In a very short amount of time, your going to see him landing, turning, slowing down and even hovering for a split second and turn another way. So just as a parent watching their child take off on a bicycle for the first time and crashing frets, so will you. We have all gone through it.

Edited November 2, 2013 by danmcq

[Inara]

to temporarily cover windows and mirrors with "frost" as your fid learns to navigate. Also, there are some great cling films out there. My Inara is a bit over two years old and never learned to fly. So we, too, are working on flying. I move her mobile perch close to my sofa, and then call her down towards the bottom of her perch and encourage her verbally with excited "you can do it! Rock and roll with your big wings!" until she gives it a shot and flies from there to a safe landing near my hand on the sofa. I am gradually moving the mobile perch back further and further. This is teaching her "recall" as well as giving her a safe landing zone.

 

However, with your little one, circumstances are much different because he's doing what comes naturally. So others here will no doubt have advice that is better suited to your little guy.