My experience on *taming* a clipped vs. flighted bird.

[GlassOnion]

I got my Budgie, Spice, in Spring of this year. I kept her flighted until summer came around when I lightly trimmed her outer two primaries due to windows being open everywhere for ventilation. (We didn't have screens.) She came to be semi-handleable bird to begin with, but when I clipped her wings, she instantly calmed down to a more 'tame' bird. She was definitely not as energetic or happy, but much more handleable. So I thought, "well, I guess people do clip for a reason when trying to tame a parent-raised bird."

Then Fall rolls along and Spice goes through a moult. I remembered how happy and joyous she was when she could fly, she would do laps around the room and chirp like a madman. I decided that even if I do lose that tameness I felt I had, Spice should regain her flight, and that I would just take it very slow. I pretty much dropped the expectation of her building a relationship with me.

When she could fly again, obviously she returned to her independent, flighty self, but a very happy bird at least. Without any expectations, I gave her treats, pet her every once in a while, eat with the birds, etc. Then about two weeks ago or so, she started making the decision to fly to my shoulder or hand and preen my skin, play with my hair, pick at my mole... Usually, she always flies to me when Apple lands on me, but I could tell that this was starting to become more than her just using me as a perch to be with Apple.

Right now, Spice is carefully preening the mole on my neck and giving me nibbles everywhere. Obviously she wouldn't be here if Apple didn't come first.. But I can definitely see a start of a relationship. A friendship that Spice chose to initiate, not one that I could've forced on her by taking away her flight and giving her no other choice.

I have to say that what we have right now is much stronger than when I could take her anywhere back when she was clipped. Much more real than forcing a friendship on a bird that doesn't want it. It's still in progress in every means, but it's a great feeling knowing that what we have is naturally built on real trust and time.

What I'm trying to say is that clipping made no progress in building our friendship, that's why when she became re-flighted, she went back to ignoring me. It's when Spice became flighted and could make her own choices, that she started to trust me. The clip actually prevented us from bonding because she was always being forced to do things she didn't feel like.

So..... to those of you who are considering a clip for 'taming' purposes, do remember that mutually respected friendship with a flighted bird is very rewarding and flattering!

Her colors in person are actually brilliant. Various shades of bright turquoise to purply blue, with a bright lemony head!

[Michael]

Good analysis, glad you posted. Just want to point out a couple things.

[quote="GlassOnion"I kept her flighted until summer came around when I lightly trimmed her outer two primaries due to windows being open everywhere for ventilation. (We didn't have screens.)[/quote]

This is an accident waiting to happen. Clipping a parrot because the windows are left open does not at all ensure it won't fly out. And as we well know, budgies and cockatiels tend to be able to fly some distance even if clipped. Windows needs to be closed whenever birds are out of a cage no matter what regardless if they are clipped or not. So what this also means is that clipping is not at all a solution for preventing a parrot from flying out of a window (closing it is) just like clipping is not a solution for preventing a parrot from flying off outdoors (good training, harness, carrier are).

Secondly, I'd like to point out that clipping does not tame a parrot at all (although there could be an illusion that it's tamer only as the result of being mellow from inability to fly). Taming/training as well as building a relationship are required in either case. What I'd like for people to understand is that clipping is a completely different thing and is not a solution to any of these problems. Solutions need to be found to deal with the root of problems (such as closing windows or taming a parrot) rather than averting them by clipping.

Again thanks for posting.

[dohcsvt]

I am very happy that you and your friend are building a relationship. I am not really partial to flighted or clipped, just a happy bird. Good luck with everything.

[GlassOnion]

Firstly, I agree with you about not having a false sense of security with clipped birds. For some reason, Spice almost fell like a rock with 2 primaries trimmed, so I felt more relaxed since the windows were situated far from the cage as well as having the blinds down. Funny thing though. Apple had the same two clipped yet he retained almost all of his normal flight.

I'm not sure if you were directing point #2 to me? What you said is exactly what my point was- that clipping does not 'tame down' or help build a relationship with the bird. In fact, I believe it's counterproductive. Overall, I found this experience to be quite a neat little observation/ experiment.

[viki]

well i was just coming on here to get advise on this exact thing. we have a new cockatiel called Alice and she is flighted. although being flighted has made her so annoying. she wont play with her toys, she wont eat her food or drink her water unless we stand over her watching her. she always wants to b on the highest thing. when we went to the breeder we wer originally buying her sister, but she kept flying onto my bfs head, so we took it as a sign and well now she still keeps doing it. we try playing with her toys to encourage her but it wont help. we have begun a game which will incorperate flying which is to get her to fly to and from us. she loves the attention shes getting when she does it but seems to get distracted and flys onto his head again.
we wer tinking of clipping her, but not until closer to her moult. so she can see what games she could play and what attention she could get ect. but that really wud b a last resort for us.
so i was hoping to get advise on what to do. how to stop her from going on our heads and our heads only and how to encourage her to eat and drink even if were across the room or even if were beside her just looking the other way. and also how to get her to be more playful and i guess independent