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Safety of the flock?

Discuss topics associated with teaching birds to fly. Training parrots recall flight, target flying, and other flying exercises.

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Wed Nov 12, 2014 11:59 am

I didn't think that you had been doing this for very long, because truthfully it is not a matter of if you lose a bird or more but simply a matter of when, because it will happen and that is why I advise against it. I know the feeling that you describe quite well and I also know how it feels when your bird does not return to you. I would prefer that neither you nor your bird ever has to go through this. I can say from experience that I can get the same feeling when my birds fly to me indoors and I know for a fact that they are safe and I don't have to go through that horrible feeling of watching my bird keep flying away and not knowing if I will be able to find and recover it safely before it dies or is killed all the while knowing that I could have prevented it had I not been so prideful and stubborn. Just my opinion.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Pajarita » Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:32 pm

Wolf is right, it's not 'if' it's 'when', every single person who has practiced free flight has lost birds, even professional trainers and even in the middle of a show! Michael lost both Kily AND Truman, he was just lucky enough to have found them. And hawks can kill parrots easily because captive-bred birds would fly above the tree line as they don't know any better.

I would LOVE to be able to allow my birds outdoor flight but I simply could not live with myself if one of them got lost - I've had three birds get out and I was FRANTIC (I got all three back -thank goodness! but I almost had a heart attack both times - the first time two of them got out when a screen fell off a window).
Pajarita
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Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Fri Nov 14, 2014 9:59 am

I have found my birds have more accidents in the house than outside, even watching them they still fly into things, fall, and are always on the floor where accidents are imminent. All kinds of dangers you may not even realize. Three days ago my fried had her parrotlet out in a "bird safe" room and he tried to land on a lamp and fell in and burned himself badly.
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Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Pajarita » Fri Nov 14, 2014 11:49 am

Well, there can not be anything hot in a 'bird safe' room so the room was not really safe, was it? As to flying into things, I don't know why this happens to other people as I'm not there when it dos but it never happens to my birds -well, let me rephrase that as it's not strictly true, it hardly ever happens and, when it does, it's always a new bird and it never happens more than twice.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Fri Nov 14, 2014 1:16 pm

AnimalAffinity wrote:I have found my birds have more accidents in the house than outside, even watching them they still fly into things, fall, and are always on the floor where accidents are imminent. All kinds of dangers you may not even realize. Three days ago my fried had her parrotlet out in a "bird safe" room and he tried to land on a lamp and fell in and burned himself badly.


It also sounds probable that the parrotlet was out too late as well and should have been in its cage eating dinner and getting ready for bed. I also have a parrotlet and he is the first to go to bed and the last to get up in the morning. He never flies into things and there are no lamps on when he or any other bird is out of their cage.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:05 pm

I am just trying to say you can't protect them from everything
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Pajarita » Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:24 pm

You are 100% correct! No, you can NOT protect them from every single danger but the more you prevent, the lesser the risk. And that's the reason why some of us do not believe in free flight - namely, because the risk is way too high.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Wed Nov 19, 2014 1:23 pm

No, you can't protect them from everything, but you do the best that you can and for the rest you hope to stay out of your own way.( or theirs).
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

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