LindaMary Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I have a 17-month-old TAG who so far as I know has always been clipped. Only recently have I been reading that it's considered important for a baby to have the experience of flight sometime within her first couple of years, even if the plan is for her to be clipped routinely thereafter. (I have mixed feelings about the whole clipped vs. fully-flighted issue, but that's the subject of many other threads!) My specific question is: Has anyone experience in letting an "older" bird fledge this late? Any tips about what to anticipate? I believe our household is going to dictate clipping again, but I am feeling like this is certainly worth the effort. Any advice would be welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Mine have never been clipped but i do think allowing your bird to achieve full flight is important, Regular flight improves a bird's heart, muscle and skeletal structures.You will be surprised im sure how quickly he will master his flight skills,there will crash landings tho,make sure there are various landing points so he can focus on landing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanlung Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Here is an old email written back in Feb 2004 that might be still be applicable. This is in Tinkerbell - Part 1 The Early Period "Period of fledging before clipping." http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9/wfledgeNfly.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaMary Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 Thank you SO much for your responses, LovemyGreys and shanlung! I really feel honored to have heard from two voices with such experience. The information in the e-mail you linked to me was just what I was looking for, shanlung - and I have bookmarked the website link to Free Flight for further reading today. Among other things, your description of the appropriate age for training made me feel much better about going through this process at Maxi's current age - it actually seems like she would be about perfect. Boy am I glad I finally registered in this forum and started actively using it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Tracy and Shanlung have given the "Best" of information! Allowing the primaries to molt and grow, then letting your Grey fledge is one of the most rewarding experiences your Grey can have. It will build coordination, balance and self confidence he would not have had. Shanlungs website and information contained there-in is one of the best I have ever seen on flighting a bird. The almost "Book" style of writing and suspense, laughter and emotional roller coaster is great and your learning all a long. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Misty was two years old and clipped when he came to me. It used to break my heart to watch him try to fly. Any unexpected event would and he would attempt to take off. He was quite clumsy. What flight he had was badly controlled and his landings were often quite hard. His feathers were also ragged and showed signs of plucking. It took about nine months for his wing feathers to grow back and about a year to gain skill at flying. He went through two body molts in two years but now has very good feather condition. He has developed into a very skilled flyer around the house and is a very confident and happy bird. I take obvious precautions with doors and windows. I have put a large play perch with apple tree branches for him that he tends to stay on when he is not on or with me. He rarely perches on other shelves or objects in the room except a place by the window or the computer desk. One of his "hobbies" is ripping my keyboard apart but only when I am there! Although he will let me tickle and stroke him when he wishes, he hates me touching his wings I would never clip him. I think it is an affront to his bird hood. He his safer and healthier being fully flighted. Even partial clipping is risky because a partially clipped parrot could still fly off but would lack the skill or capability to get out of trouble. My advice is to let her fledge and learn to fly properly and never clip her again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaMary Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 Thank you, Mistyparrot, for detailing your experience with Misty. It helps me to know what to anticipate in terms of the length of time needed for a clipped grey to fully fledge and begin to master flying. I have pretty much decided to go through this process now, as I do viscerally agree with you that clipping Maxi is "an affront to her birdhood". In that vein, I am also beginning to let her examine an aviator flight harness, in hopes that even when she is fully flighted, I will still be able to take her outdoors when the weather is good. The only other birds I have ever housed were fully flighted : several budgerigars, two Amsels (in Germany) and a robin (here in the U.S.). I think the best comparison in terms of the size of the bird is with the robin, who was probably about the same weight as Maxi. My experience with all of them matches yours in that the birds always developed one or two favorite spots to perch, and generally used their flying skills just to travel between those spots. My increased menagerie (cats) and more complicated household (teenage daughter, ceiling fans, etc.) will require more planning and supervision than I had to exercise with my previous flighted companions, but for the past year we seem to have been living by house rules that would be safe for a fully flighted bird anyway, so I'm encouraged to go ahead. Thanks again for your input - everyone! I'll let you know how things progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Wondering how this went for you and Misty. I adopted a 20 year old Grey a little over a year ago and she had always been clipped. Poor bay flew like a rock-straight down after we let her wings fill out. Now she can both fly and land safely. It took a while for her to gain the muscle and the control to regain flight. It must be like people who are couch potatoes beginning an exercise program. She has more energy now and I hope is healthier due to the exercise. She still cannot sustain a long flight but she can fly!:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaMary Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Glad to hear of your baby's success, Greywing! I am also pleased to report that Maxi is now flying - and mighty dang cocky about it, too!:evil: Her favorite hangout now is a half-moon window near the ceiling of the "bird room", but she has also learned to fly down from there in the last 2 weeks, which makes her (and me) even prouder. It's so funny to see her strut about after she's done a circuit of the room and landed well. Now we are working on getting her to fly to me on command. Nothin' doin' on the aviator harness so far with her, tho - she clearly still considers it an instrument of torture. Tanner (my severe macaw) has also recently begun to take flight, and tho he is stronger, he is still pretty clumsy and needs practice manouevering. There's a whole new level of supervsion going on at my house now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingles Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 my Jax (lorikeet) came to us ... oh my, it was horrible! Clipped, clipped and more clipped. Poor thing can not even glide to the floor. I've decided to grow his feathers out and let him try. Jasper (grey) can fly...and poor Jax watches him like a hawk and then tries but just can't do it. So, we're in the same boat!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessdecutie18 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Yoshi wants to fly too... hopefully it wont be too long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchroedersJen Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Maybe on oof you can help me with this. Both of my fids can fly. Buddy is really good at it, Schroeder.....not so much. He can't figure out how to tune, and as a result, kept flying into the wall. We ended up mounting foam on the walls as a just in case measure and really drilling the stay command into him so he doesnt take off and break his neck. We take him out with the aviator and flight line and let him fly in circles, but it isnt helping (we didnt really expect it to). Any ideas on how to help Schroeder learn to turn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 About the only thing you can do in a room is to let your bird fly into those foam walls until he gets the idea that turning will get him to go farther away. There really is no training method as far as teaching a bird to go left or right. Outside, a bird leash is making him go left or right. The bird has to see how well his feathers can benefit him. Another thing to take into consideration is the distance between the sittig area and the foam walls. Greys do need some distance to take off to have their feathers working properly. A TAG doesn't have this problem as much as a CAG. OR, you can put very small playstands around next to the foam walls and let him fly to them. Put them in different areas. EACH STAND CAN BE A SMALL T STAND.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/09/17 00:37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchroedersJen Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 did that, the house we bought (and will be moving to next spring is much bigger than our condo, and we will have a huge aviary there....I suppose I will just have to wait. I wonder where I can buy a little timneh crash helmet and goggles.....preferably with stylish falmes on the side. *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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