Free Flighted Birds in Our Homes

[Talon]

I put this thread in the Training Room as our birds really do train us!

 

 

THIS IS NOT A DEBATE ABOUT CLIPPED WINGS vs NOT CLIPPED WINGS! Any posts that lean towards that discussion in this thread will be deleted by me.

 

 

For those of you that allow your birds to be free flighted in your home, have you noticed that your birds have YOU trained? Whenever I open the door to let my cat or dogs out, i am constantly listening for the sounds of flapping wings, if I hear them, I won't open a door until I know where that bird has landed. I have double door protection and only open one door at a time oly a few inches as my dogs are small, then it gets closed as quick as it opened. Also, I am trained to look up every time I close a door inside my house, closets, cupboards, etc., as I have closed a parrots foot on more than one occasion when they flew to the door while it was open and I wasn't there .

[Brat Birds]

LOL I know what you mean. I have a shower curtain hung between my living room and kitchen because I couldn't keep my Sun out of the kitchen. I couldn't train him to stay with me in the living room so he trained me to find another way to stop him! My Grey has a habit of opening the doors to their cages (from the outside) and sometimes when I put them to bed and step away I will hear my Sun's wings flapping as he comes to me. Oops forgot to check the other doors! LOL Luckily my TAG hasn't learned to open the doors from the inside - YET! I am so lucky in that I have trained them both to return to their cages on command. If I had to chase two free flying birds around the house to put them in the cages - well - I may not have them too long!

[Talon]

I know what you mean about chasing a flying bird! I've had to do that on more than one occasion with Nilah, but they quickly think its a game, so I refuse to play it, so they give up quickly!

[Ray P]

Corky was the flying Ace in our house and would follow us from room to room and would always land on our shoulder.

Never had to worry about Cricket because once on your shoulder that's where she stayed until you took her off.

Yep, I know about opening the door just a little when letting the dogs out.

[Luvparrots]

Louie, the zon, and Ana Grey, tag, are great flyers and are pretty good about just flying to a cabinet/boing/perch and enjoying the sunlight/geing free from their cages. Now Sterling Gris, cag, who is also a great flyer tries all the time to sneak out the door. He sees a door open and he flaps as hard as he can to get there before I close it. When I go get the mail I usually go out the patio door and when I come back in..... there is Sterling Gris, sitting/hanging on the patio drape hoping I will forget the close the door. He is always hanging on the patio drape waiting for me to forget. Lily, pug, is a blind old lady so I always let her out the patio door. I make sure the patio drape is closed because I leave the patio door opened some so Lily can get in without barking. I have to be sneaker then Sterling Gris, so far I am winning......

[Inara]

Agree! They do train us as much as we'd like to think we train them. We have " the airlock " which is our entryway area. Two doors one internal only and the other goes to the out doors. I' m used to always checking, but being new to flighted birds Joe needs reminding at times.

 

Now that HRH is loving her wings, she has been landing on my shoulder, on the edge of my tablet, the edge of my laptop, and I am just waiting for her to discover some of the high ledges. I do always make sure that if she is out after I have cooked that there is a thick towel over our flat top stove. I would be devastated if she ever did a landing while there was residual heat.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Inara

[birdhouse]

I'm very glad fids make "so much" noise whenever they fly around. My house is too small & my ekkie's wing span is just too big for her to bother flying much. She pretty much only glides around once in a while. Which is another reason why I hope to have a bird room someday.

 

Phenix is old enough that he doesn't bother flying all that much. But I have to admit that the little problem child manages to get into plenty of trouble from the floor where he's always in stealth mode. It's much harder to keep tabs on him & I'm pretty sure he knows it. AND he can take off at will. That's a bad combo when he's in the wrong mood.

 

Charm, my quaker is the big flyer (pun intended). Super agile & fast! She's also my imp & has led me on some merry chases. She's small enough where she can zip around a corner & disappear, too. Sometimes I know she's just sitting there, hiding in plain sight & laughing her little birdie butt off.

Edited June 8, 2014 by birdhouse

[Muse]

We have several 'layers' of protection. Our birds' rooms are at least one door away from any outside doors except the playroom, which does have an outside door but it is never opened when birds are in the room and cannot be opened without going to the kitchen and retrieving a key. If birds are in the kitchen (when no cooking is going on like during birdie breakfast prep) the back door is also double dead-bolted and the key is in a cabinet beside the door. The other two doors leading out of the kitchen have sheer curtains hanging in the doorways, as I have discovered they won't try to fly through something they think they will 'hit'. This keeps them from flying into the dining room (which does have a door to the garage/outside) and the entryway where the front door is.

 

We also have a dog door through the wall, so dogs can go in and out without the door being opened. The door has double heavy flaps and so far we have never had a bird try to get through it. I think because our birds have all been flighted from babies, they (except for Peck) do not spend a lot of time on the floor. They go down to forage but if anyone comes near, back up to the 'canopy' they go, just like good birdies should.

 

I second the training regarding looking up at the doors. This is something that is hard to always remember, but very important. We have birds that will land on top of a door as soon as it opens (and some who take that as a chewing opportunity *cough* Megan *cough*). It is something that I am hyper-aware of. When the little birds (green cheek conures) are in the playroom, I won't close the doors until I lay eyes on all four of them because if one happens to fly back in the bedroom, they will often try to 'shoot the gap' as I close the door and this has led to some close calls. I know people think I am a lazy housekeeper because the windows to the French doors are always dirty. This is by design. I noticed if they are clean it is more likely that someone will fly into them. Dirty windows don't look as much like open air. Of course, I do clean them. Just not 'squeaky' see through clean. Streaks are my friend.

 

Flying is safer for birds who are skilled. Marden was an excellent flier. Peck is not so much but he is rapidly learning. His landings are sometimes awkward but he does have some problems with his feet and I suspect that, more than flying skills, are what is causing the issue. Maks is an excellent flier and lander, however Alex flies well now but sometimes his landings are a bit....clumsy. I still think this harkens back to him being clipped before he ever flew. Our best fliers are the green cheek babies. They fledged on their own, right from the nest as God intended and have never had clipped wings. They can do amazing things in the air. Aria is pretty skilled at flight and by spending time with her, Anya is learning. I believe being cage-bound for extended periods of time causes them to feel very unsure about flight. I supervise the ones who can't fly well more closely when they are out as they are more likely to get 'stuck' or end up on the floor due to a missed landing. I have no idea how Ariel, the newest resident here, flies as she is still in quarantine yet but she does zip around in the cage pretty well.

 

I love seeing the birds flying around and won't be truly happy until the aviary is ready and they can fly outdoors like the birds they were meant to be.

[Muse]

Oh yes. The budgies are both very adept at this yet. *sigh* Thankfully, everyone else mostly respects "Please go back" so there are only two that really require an extended chase session.

[Brat Birds]

I remember when I had a dog, that I would also just open the door a little - well it was a big dog so I think I was fooling myself ( a black lab/dalmation mix). One day I tripped as I reached for the door - off my shoulder and out the door Peanut went! We lost him for 6 of the most terrible hours in my life. When my daughter heard him calling from across the street. Luckily I live out of the city where it is quiet most of the time!! So, we got him home. For the next 5 years he would not go anywhere near the door - even when it was closed! I have never been so thankful that my daughter has such great hearing! LOL

[katana600]

Most of the time I am home by myself and both our parrots are happy to go in the cage and let me close the door before I open the door for the dogs. Where I have a challenge with my mighty flighted one Java is when I am in my basement sewing rooms. Java has a thing about the sewing machine as her adversary. Generally she will play near me just fine. Other times she is determined to fight the sewing machine. She will charge the needle and I will move her. She gets really mad and has dropped partially filled water bottles on me. She snatched a pointed stiletto and gave me the flyover bombing with that too. Just today when hubby walked through he wondered why I was playing with a Happy Meal toy. It's my secret weapon. When she is being a nuisance I wind up a little monkey and he rolls around waving his arms. She is usually good for a ling time, but like a child when she has had enough she will bug me until I give her the attention she wants.

[Greytness]

Of all my fids, Maalik, my CAG, and Bogart, my Lesser Jardine's, need to be monitored the closest. We have a curtain hung which we pull across the doorway leading from the dining room to the living room so that they won't intermingle with our 4 German Shepherds. Then we installed a fence at the bottom to keep the dogs from entering our bird room. Works great!

 

The one thing that Maalik does most often which worries me the most is that he loves to fly and land on top of the refrigerator door. I'm deathly afraid that one day one of my family members won't know he's there and accidently close the door onto his head.

[danmcq]

Talon - You do develop not only supreme listening abilities even when preoccupied, you also gain a 6th sense of when they are even thinking about flying before you open that door. I would not trade the experience or enjoyment of having fully flighted birds for anything. I also have no doubt the birds appreciate what they were well equipped for and it comes natural to them.

Edited June 10, 2014 by danmcq

[SRSeedBurners]

Of all my fids, Maalik, my CAG, and Bogart, my Lesser Jardine's, need to be monitored the closest. We have a curtain hung which we pull across the doorway leading from the dining room to the living room so that they won't intermingle with our 4 German Shepherds. Then we installed a fence at the bottom to keep the dogs from entering our bird room. Works great!

 

The one thing that Maalik does most often which worries me the most is that he loves to fly and land on top of the refrigerator door. I'm deathly afraid that one day one of my family members won't know he's there and accidently close the door onto his head.

 

What's this I'm seeing - someone else here who has a lesser Jardines? PICS!!!

[Greytness]

What's this I'm seeing - someone else here who has a lesser Jardines? PICS!!!

 

I believe you saw a pic of him that I'd posted on another forum. He's 14 weeks old and ADORABLE!

[SRSeedBurners]

Ok, that's you. Different user name. I even went over there and tried confirming if this was the same and jsut decided different person.

[Greytness]

Yep. Tis me. Thought this username was more befitting for this board.

[Inara]

HRH Found me! A couple mornings ago, I was in the bedroom which is out of sight of the living room. Inara was on one of her perches in the living room. I was making the bed when I heard pronounced flapping and turned just in time to see Inara execute a very sharp left bank from the living room into the bedroom and land ever so perfectly upon a night stand. Filled me with so much joy, as also the first time, she did not appear surprised at herself, but was instead so relaxed and nonchalant. A Grey letter day!

[Brat Birds]

YEAH HRH!!! It is such a soul feeling happiness we feel when they start to really act like birds!! I remember that feeling when my Peanut first started to fly. He came to me with such a horrible clip that it took him over a year before he did any real flying.

[chezron]

Jimpster got out once and it cured him FOREVER! about getting near an open door. Brutus and Pancho have no desire to go out open doors. The make so much racket when they fly that I can easily hear them coming. I really think they realize how good they have it in the house. They go outside only when I roll their cages out the patio door. Anytime they hear the Red-Shouldered Hawk they cower.

[Inara]

Am glad that all worked out well for Jimpster!

 

HRH had a new first this morning. She's figured out now how to fly from the top of her cage to the top of a wooden folding panel screen that is near her home. She up to now, would hold her foot up for me to come get her when she was ready to come down. This morning, she finally flew down from it back to the top of her cage and the (seriously!) strutted around the top of her cage bobbing her head and singing her little "doop doop," song, she was so pleased with herself. I have, however, now noticed her eying even higher points to land (we have SUPER tall ceilings and an open floor plan with a few choice landing spots far out of reach of any human). It feels great to know that now if she for some reasons ventures higher, that she will feel confident about going home on her own.

[Elvenking]

Ohh heck yeah...he's got me trained in many ways. How I am able to cook food, monitor Isaac to make sure he isn't gonna hurt himself, monitoring my stuff to make sure he doesn't do anything that is gonna cost me too much, grab paper towels, clean poop...stir rice....pick up the cup that Isaac just pushed off the counter. Bird lands on my shoulder...tries to hang from my shirt collar like it's a game to get my nose. LOL. I am perfectly trained to allow a parrot free roam of my home only making sure of two things; 1) that he doesn't kill himself...and 2) that he doesn't do anything that is gonna make me wanna disown him. LOL.

 

The funniest is when I hear wings flapping....I will turn around...and before my mind even calculates anything....there is a bird on my extended hand. Now, often...it is the case that I will just let him go to my shoulder, but sometimes I just want him to get to my hand and I have some sort of reflex that makes my hand materialize right under Isaacs feet at that very last moment. Almost as if the action is predetermined by the universe.

 

Of course I have the natural fear of open doors at all times. It's a protocol of action for sure. The nice part, is he doesn't head for doors or anything when they open. Whew. But we always listen for flapping wings. Half the cabinets in the kitchen are Isaac's...the other half actually house my cups, plates, etc. and have child locks on them. By the way.....I recommend these things called 'Tot-Locks'

 

http://www.amazon.com/Tot-Lok-9-Piece-Loc-Assembly/dp/B00068O28M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406062518&sr=8-1&keywords=tot+lock+magnetic+key

 

...coolest cabinet locks I have seen.

 

Anyway....he has the run of those cabinets...and I put cups and toys up in them for him to toss around and out onto the floor. He will keep busy in those cabinets for a while playing around....making sounds in the hollow sounding corners....it's hilarious. He loves tossing and doing everything with cups. I love that bird....can't wait to see him when I get home again. He has me trained to scan the countertops when I think that I am ready to sit down. LOL. Failure to do this will result in multiple rebounds from the couch to see, "Ok...what was that sound?". He's made it a complete pain in my butt to find a place for my Kerig coffee maker. It sure as hell isn't the counter tops. Right now it has to be in my bedroom bathroom. Life becomes creative with a flying parrot. I'm in it for the long haul.

[Talon]

Hey great idea! Child locks!!! I have have hanging spray bottles on every kitchen cabinet...can the doors be opened a tiny bit? I wonder if my birds would keep chewing the tops I'm trying to get in. I would love to get rid of the spray bottles every time I open a door to get a dish!

[SRSeedBurners]

Haa...sounds like GreycieMae. She has made it her lifes mission to keep the counters clear. The only things safe are items which can't be dragged, pushed or tipped over and rolled overboard. The cussing and swearing when glass shatters in the kitchen is gettin less and less. Either we're running out of glass items or we're learning to put stuff away.

[KimKim]

My guy is boring compared to all of yours! He has been flighted for a few years now but he really only flys when he gets spooked.