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Flighted bird getting spooked

Discuss indoor freeflight and managing freeflighted birds around the house. How to live with a flighted parrot.

Flighted bird getting spooked

Postby Maltee » Sat Jan 04, 2014 6:25 pm

My pionus is recently flighted. I got her as a baby (clipped) and let her wings grow out. Her wings have been fully grown in now for a couple months and I'm starting flight training with her.

The problem I have is that sometimes during the day when she's outside her cage, she will see something random that spooks her and she will fly off her cage down the hallway. Sometimes she crashes into things and I'm afraid that she will seriously hurt herself. How do you with flighted birds deal with this?

I do always make sure to have her in her cage when I am cooking so there's no chance of hurting herself on the stove.
Maltee
Lovebird
 
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Re: Flighted bird getting spooked

Postby cml » Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:08 pm

Can you close off the hallway until youve done some flight training? On phone now so sorry for the short answer.
Stitch (WFA) and Leroy (BWP)
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cml
African Grey
 
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Re: Flighted bird getting spooked

Postby Graeme » Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:19 pm

I would look at making the area smaller so she can't get into trouble. Are you able to close of parts? if not, then just hang curtains over areas you don't want her to go.
Graeme
Cockatiel
 
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Re: Flighted bird getting spooked

Postby Michael » Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:57 am

It's pretty simple to identify the areas that you need to work on, the challenge is learning about what to do and accomplishing it.

1) Teach the bird better flying skills
2) Desensitize the bird to things and socialize it so that it is frightened by fewer things

I'm sorry but I just don't have time to explain it, but I have written a lot about it on my blog and especially in my book. Check out the training perches too for building the flight skills in a controlled manner.
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Michael
Macaw
 
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Re: Flighted bird getting spooked

Postby VBSenegal » Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:52 pm

My flighted Senegal is 11 years old and has reportedly always been flighted. I have had her 4.5 years. She is an excellent flier and very well socialized. I have tried to desensitize her to everything I can think of by telling her "no" over and over when she starts to attack things like plastic grocery bags or newspaper ehen they make crackling noises or having her sit on mybshoulder and keep telling her "it's safe" when she startles over noises such as crows cawing or a lawnmower outside. Windows should be covered or there should be something in front of or on the window that will slow the bird down and make them realize they cannot fly through it such as a suncatcher ornament or window decal (you can buy them at wild bird stores). You can also,teach the bird that window glass and mirrors are solid by carrying the bird up to the mirror glass and gently tapping their beak against it - not saying this will work for all birds but it worked for my Senegal. Perhaps showing your bird the limits of the hall by walking up to,each wall and having it tap its beal against the wall gently might work. Despite all this experience, my Senegalstill does occasionally have a fright (sometimes at night and take off or flap around in her cage - even a clipped bird can be injured by a night fright in a cage). The budgies sometimes startle each other and send the whole cage into a frenzy. One of my budgies in my 6 ft diameter aviary suffered fatal internal injuries during a night fright caused by a mild earthquqke (the one that cracked the washington monument a few years ago). I had always kept night lights by their cages but since that incident keep motion sensor lights in my bird's cages so if they do have a night fright a regular light will c9me on and help them reorient and calm,down. Hope this helps.
VBSenegal
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