Flyers or Clipped

[Luvparrots]

Just curious: Is/Are your fids flyers or clipped? Why do you refer that?

 

My three: Tag, Cag and Zon all have unclipped feathers. Both greys came to me as babies and I assume their breeders believed a grey would be safer clipped with a bumbling new owner if it was clipped. (miss you Dave007, I know you would have some choice words for me about this). My zon is an older parrot and has not flown since in my care although she is unclipped. I believe they are blessed to be able to fly....I wish I could too.

 

The greys have boings and perches in the rooms they can fly to and sit on if they are not on me. They have never flown into the windows. The front windows have knick knacks on the window upper sill. I also have mesh screens on the doors and windows. My kids and friends know to knock and when I open the door to come in quickly and shut the door quickly or there is hell to pay...

 

Oooops back to my question. Are your fids flighted or unflighted and why?

[Acappella]

Dorian is unclipped but does not fly. I believe he was clipped before he fledged. His first owners kept him clipped at all times. There are times when it seems like he's flying short distances on purpose but I can't be sure because he does fly when something startles him, and I don't always know what that thing has been. He seems quite content to depend on me for rides from room to room, but I do wish he could fly.

[SRSeedBurners]

5 fliers here.

- GreycieMae (CAG) came with her pilots license, never clipped.

- Rio the Jardines: breeder insisted on a very slight clip. It probably save him a few times as he starrted flying into windows and the aviary wire when his clip wore off until he got it through his thick skull.

- Toby the Caique: I had to slightly clip him after a few incidents to save him from himself when he was learning the layout of our home. He nearly killed himself by flying straight into a door jamb at Mach-Caique speed which sealed the deal for him. He's since grown out and is 100% zippity through the house.

- Tinkerbell the Conure: came to me flighted and will remain so.

- Stevie the Cockatiel: came to us fully butchered. He's just started flying within the last two months. Still the worst flyer in our house but we're working on it.

[Greytness]

All 10 of mine are flighted. Ziggy, my Ekki, is a rehomed bird who had always been clipped before he came to us. Unfortunately he's never figured out what wings are for once his flight feathers grew in.

[neoow]

Under the recommendation of the pet shop I bought Alfie from, he had a light clip on one wing when he was very young. Then I took him back to have the other one done to even it out. Then I let them grow out. Alfie learned where all the windows were because I took him round and showed them to him and let him tap on the glass with his beak. I've done this each time I've moved and I still do it every so often just as a reminder. He's never flown into a window.

 

I let them grow out because even after his wing clip, once he worked the balance issue out he could still fly just as well. I learned that it would make hardly any difference if he got outside- if he caught the wind right he'd still be gone... but also might not be able to escape from potential predators as easily. In the end I decided that asking a bird not to fly (or not to fly to his full potential) was like asking a dog to stop wagging his tail. The stress of being towelled to have his wings clipped was pointless and unnecessary. So he has been happily flighted ever since.

 

We've only ever had one incident where I thought he could have killed himself. That was when he was still learning to fly. He could fly in a straight line and could crash land but that was about it. He lived in my bedroom upstairs at the time (I was 17 and living with parents) We had a German Shepherd dog at the time and I had my bedroom door open with Alfie out of the cage. I didn't realise the dog was in the house but he suddenly appeared in my room, causing me to jump and Alfie to spook. Alfie took off with me in hot pursuit. I grabbed the dog before he could chase and watched as Alfie flew down the hallway, did a complete 180 degree turn for the first time ever then flew down the stairs out of sight. I heard the sickening thud of him hitting the wall at the bottom of the stairs and thought he'd flown head first into the wall and killed himself. I shut the dog in my room, rushed down the stairs and found Alfie sitting there. He was fine. He'd managed to pull up and had left a perfect dusty imprint on the wall of his body and wings - like something out of a cartoon. Whilst he did hit it with the thud, he was perfectly fine. No injuries, thankfully!

[Ray P]

In the last 15 years or so all of my birds have had full flight ability,, but it was not always that way.

Back in 1970 when my wife and I started with our cockatiels it was a common and acceptable practice to trim the wings of your bird.

It was believed that with trimmed wings they would be easer to train, handled and keep track with limited flight ability and that they could not fly away if they got out, but over the years things do change.

Edited May 14, 2017 by Ray P

[Kya]

None of mine are clipped. I have no way of knowing if they ever were before they came to live with us.

 

Kya is NOT the best flyer, but he is better at it than he was when we first took him in. He can fly further distances and at least land on the spot he intended with a bit of dignity, although if it is your shoulder he is aiming for and you have short hair, he may grab your ear for balance.

 

Gracie Lou was so heavily plucked when we first got her. All that was left were her flight feathers, head and tail feathers. Her back and tummy were bare. She once startled and flew around the corner of the room she was in, but I have yet to see her fly again, and she's fully feathered now. She crouches and acts as if she is going to take off, but changes her mind. I think she may have crashed a time or two when she wasn't feathered, and now she is afraid to fly. You can tell that she wants to.

 

Sookie is our sun conure, and she is a fully flighted missile of mass destruction. She loves to be as close to the ceiling as possible when flying, and the blades to all my ceiling fans are proof of that. They are never on when cages are open, but all of them have beak marks on the edges.

 

Windows have never been an issue, blinds are down but open to let in light. Doors are always closed and locked when they are out.

 

I am not opposed to clipping if it is for the birds safety, I just don't have a need with this crew.

[judygram]

I used to clip my sun conure in her first year or two with me but then I stopped. Josey was clipped before I brought her home and then never clipped again, she had some kind of problem with removing some of her flights on one wing for a couple of years but now she is fully feathered. Both my birds fly but not expertly and that is due to having them clipped early on but my expert flyer was the little cockatiel I lost early this year, she would circle a room in no time flat.

 

I choose to leave my birds flighted as they were meant to fly.

[Timbersmom]

Timber came to us clipped. I've had him 5 years and haven't clipped him, but he does not fly much. Like Acappella, I don't think he ever fledged. He will flap and glide to the ground if startled. In the last few months, I've seen him get lift on two occasions for a brief distance. Time will tell!

[Talon]

All 3 of my parrots were clipped when I got them..I allowed their wings to grow out so they could fly. I would NEVER do that to any bird. To me, it's like cutting off someones legs! Just my opinion & my beliefs.

[Brat Birds]

Peanut came to me with one of the worst clips ever!! I think that is one of the reasons he barbers his wing feathers. But, I let them grow in. It took over a year, so at least two molts, maybe three. He finally started to fly. After a few months he got his air wings and has done beautifully ever since. I live in a small house and he zips around here like nobodies business.

[FirstPenguin]

Just curious: Is/Are your fids flyers or clipped? Why do you refer that?

 

My three: Tag, Cag and Zon all have unclipped feathers. Both greys came to me as babies and I assume their breeders believed a grey would be safer clipped with a bumbling new owner if it was clipped. (miss you Dave007, I know you would have some choice words for me about this). My zon is an older parrot and has not flown since in my care although she is unclipped. I believe they are blessed to be able to fly....I wish I could too.

 

The greys have boings and perches in the rooms they can fly to and sit on if they are not on me. They have never flown into the windows. The front windows have knick knacks on the window upper sill. I also have mesh screens on the doors and windows. My kids and friends know to knock and when I open the door to come in quickly and shut the door quickly or there is hell to pay...

 

Oooops back to my question. Are your fids flighted or unflighted and why?

 

My Congo has been flighted since the day he's fledged, and we wouldn't change that for anything. Our Senegal was clipped once, been hell on wings ever since.