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How does surroundings affect flight?


Jayd

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To start with, check out Echo's flight photos and movies, they're "Great". The question is "Does the surroundings a fledgling learns to fly in affect its flight abilities"?

Three of us have babies that were born within a few days of each other and the flight perimeters (I assume) are different, from what I have seen of the photos. Echo's flight area seems fairly open with long flight areas and few obstacles.

We live in a mobile home and the flight area is approximately 12' by 18' by 8' high. Echo's photos show long graceful flights with enough room to fly body level at a moderate speed and slow descent into landing. Spock's area is somewhat cramped and his flight is basically short hops from cage to the arm of the couch, from the couch to window ledges, fingers and heads. Maximum flight distance for him is approximately 8 to 10 feet which he flies in an upright position at a slow speed. Example: at the end of the living room flight area there's a doorway at the left of the entrance to the hallway that leads to a small room. In his normal upright position, Spock flew across the flight area to the entryway, hovered and made a 90 degree turn and hovered into the room and landed on a chair. This was all done at a slower than walking pace. (We can't wait til we can take him outside tethered, so he can stretch his wings)

With no conceit intended, he seems to be developing spot and precision landing and strong directional control.

This brings up another question; being that his forward speed is somewhat sedate, will he develop the skills needed for long distance flying and gliding?

To sum it up, has the lack of open flight area and how much does the surroundings affect a baby Grey's flight in their lifetime?

Spock first flew three weeks ago Sunday.

Looking forward to any responses.

Jay and MaggiePicture1043.jpg<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/10 01:50

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Aw thank you for mentioning my Ecko, how sweet! It may look like he has a lot of room to fly but my apartment is pretty small so it really is not much space. Ecko also hovers, sometimes when he turns around or when he tries to land on me when I'm walking. I think the most important thing about learning how to fly is getting the landing down right. If Spock can land safely and not crash to the floor then he should be fine. As long as he is flying a little he is still gaining muscles but not as fast as a bird that flies all day, he is just gaining it slowly.

 

When are you going to start taking Spock outside? That would be great exercise for him. I take Ecko out in his harness all the time. For some reason when I put it on him he doesn't really want to fly in it. So I practice with him by dropping my hand down while he perches on my finger and he flaps his wings for balance. Sometimes he takes off and flies around me in circles, I was scared at first because I didn't know how to stop him, but I lowered the leash and it brought him down to the grass and he landed safely.

 

Anyways, good luck with Spock flying. That is a very cute pic of him by the way. Its scary how much he looks like Ecko :laugh:<br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/05/10 04:39

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;) Thank you caitb2007 for the usefull info!We haven't received our "Aviator", yet right now our temps have been as high as 123 degrees! also being in the desert theres a lot of hawks flying around and we have to be carfull that Spock don't see them:whistle: Echo and Spock do look alike. Maggie is going to do a post on what we've fed Spock. Thanks Jay & Maggie
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Charlie only has a small space for flight and he too is brilliant at precision manovers.I dare say he would get puffed out if he flew a long distance.I liken it to athletes,a sprinter would be out of depth in a marathon. Even with small flight areas out birds lungs a far more developed than a bird who is clipped an has no flight at all.Good luck with the harness.

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Thank You! Happy Mother's Day to all that qualify (lol). Spock's about 506 grams!(big eater)He grew out of his last harness, hope the "Aviator" lasts him.(lol) I tend to agree with you, what they'll lack in long graceful flight they over come in maneuvering.<br><br>Post edited by: Jayd, at: 2009/05/10 18:58

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  • 3 weeks later...

B) Spock did a flight today that amazed me, He was on the floor facing the wall about 10" away,(I'm sure other Cags have done this) he flew straight up 5 ft:whistle:did a 180,(no forward, side or back motion!)just rotated :blink: flew 3 ft and landed on his perch! {Emotions-00020070}jayd

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Wow, thats fantastic!

 

Your Grey will learn to fly with the best of them, regardless of how large and straight the space may be. Banking, turning, speed control and targeting landing areas will all come with practice. Suspending targets like hanging boings, orbits etc. would give him more options to chose and learn from.

 

Thanks for posting this question and updates. :-)

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Thank you both. Spocks learned to fly fast now in our tiny space without over-shooting his landings, no complaints! He likes to do short controlled hops.Chair backs to chair backs cage to Tv etc. His latest is to "Growl" loudly when he flies fast! Gonna get a bong and atom... Thanks Jayd

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  • 4 weeks later...

B) Spock has been flying for quite a while now, no problem he can fly with the best of them... For long distance in our trailer Spock first flies the short distances of the trailer, turns around and goe's the long distance, turns around and flies back to where he started... That's about65-70 feet,as fast as he wants, boy can he maneuver lol:ohmy: Like in the jungle, he goe's vertical,landing between furniture in small spaces and doe's hopping to go small distances. All concerns are put to rest!!!:whistle:

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