Startled GCC Flies Off

[em_barrassing]

Hey Guys,

I have a little GCC , about 9 months old now. He has clipped wings and for the first few months that I had him I could take him outside with me on my shoulder.
For the last few months though, and Im not sure what started it, when he gets startled by something he launches himself into the air and tries to fly away.
He has started to do this outside as well, which isnt wanted at all. I have dogs and cats as pets as well, and I'm worried if he flies off one of them might attack him. The funny thing about him being outside and doing it is that there doesnt seem to be a reason for him to launch himself, maybe hes just trying out his wings or is startled by something I dont see or hear?

Does anyone know any way of trying to get him to stay on my shoulder? I loved taking him outside and would like to take him in public sometimes too. Or even just to take him on my shoulder to his outside cage and not have to hold him down

Thanks!
Emily and Yoyo

[pennyandrocky]

birds fly. s are very high energy the only way to keep yours safe from other animals and children is to keep him fully flighted. you need to recall flight and harness train him. penny used to sneek outside on kids shoulders all the time but he always flew to me. now when he wants to go outside he bangs on his outdoor travel cage that i keep next to the back door. the reason i got penny was he and his companion kudder were clipped when they lived with my cousin. they were playing one day and penny chased kudder out of the cage right into the jaws of her 2 dogs who ripped him apart because he could not fly away. my cousin blamed penny called me to take him saying she couldn't stand looking at him anymore.

[marie83]

yep sorry, I agree with above post.

Birds fly, they want to fly, they need to fly.

Your not keeping him as safe as you can by clipping the wings, unfortunately this myth is still doing the rounds. As you have found out even clipped birds can fly in the right circumstances but apoart from that your actually restricting his ability to escape danger and keep fit physically and mentally.

If you want to take him outside harness train him and get a strong recall response through training once his wings have grown out.

By the way, I have to say your bird is very very beautiful

[Eric&Rebecca]

I am going to sound so harsh here and I apologise...

He wants to fly and can't- he's outside in the nice fresh air and wants to do what comes natural and he can't. Having his wings clipped won't stop him flying away or getting lost as many people on this forum will tell you. GCC are very active birds and clipping them takes away a large part of their nature and personality which is causing this behaviour- this is an act of frustration or lack of understanding that he cannot fly and should be able to hence he hurls himself. This COULD lead to psychological problems and actually put your birds in harms way, at least when they aren't slipped they can fly away from what's scaring them like your other cats and dogs. Him falling to the ground like he does probably won't damage him too much but its not good for him not to be able to do what comes natural to him. It should be up to you then to change your lifestyle and environment around him. I.e no open windows, no open doors, bird proof everything where he is allowed to fly, don't let the dogs or cats around him when he's flying, etc.

As previous posters have mentioned, clipping birds does not:

1. Make the bird safer- it doesn't stop accidents or the bird flying away. Many clipped birds have been lost this way.
2. Make them tamer or friendlier- in fact eventually this can cause psychological issues or unwanted behaviour such as biting, plucking, hurling themselves.

Unless there is a medical reason for your bird to be clipped such as lameness or another avian vet diagnosed condition. I would begin to grow the clipped wings out and use harness training for outdoors or place his cage outside for fresh air. That way you can still have your bird on your shoulder ourside with his harness and inside.

I don't mean any offence by this it's just birds were meant to fly. You don't cut the legs off one of your cat or dog to stop them running away. I'm very anti-clipping unless their is a genuine medical reason why they should be clipped due to injury or old age so I am so sorry for that. You don't want him to keep hurling himself on the floor but he doesn't want to have his flying ability taken away. A bird is a flying animal therefore you must adapt accordingly to his behaviour rather than adapt his physical characteristics to yours.

You can still keep your bird safe and take him out on your shoulder fully flighted with a harness

[Andromeda]

I agree with the others that you could keep your bird flighted for many reasons. Michael has a very good blog post about it here.

You can teach your bird flight recall and he will recall to your hand. My GCC knows this and he really loves to fly and do recall with me.

Hopefully in the future you will keep your bird flighted but even if you do decide to keep your bird clipped you shouldn't bring him outside unless he's in a harness because even a clipped bird can fly off and get into trouble (get hit by a car, fly into a tree or over a fence where you can't reach him anymore, etc.) The Aviator Harness is the highest quality one available and Michael has a guide here where you can learn to teach your bird to accept a harness.

Good luck!