clipped wings

[LJ4RockPebbler]

I read arguments to both cases between clipping and not clipping the wings off my regent parrot. He's 6 months old now and has always had his wings clipped according to the person I got the bird from 2 days ago. I live in a very small apartment and wondered if I should continue to clip his wings. Being that he was never in flight, would he get stressed by not being able to fly...ty

[sgtpepper]

Please don't! It's bad enough that that little parrot hadn't had the chance to fly yet!
Birds fly, and taking that away from them is just not ok..

[sgtpepper]

And btw, me and my boyfriend live in a one room apartment with two CAGs

[LJ4RockPebbler]

I'm on board with you and I'd rather not clip them but I here horror stories of how these birds fly into walls, windows, sharp objects and can really hurt themselves and that scares me. My vet suggested that they be cut for those same reasons and disputed the fact that the bird would get stressed out not being able to fly and all after I mentioned to him what I had read. It does really scare me to think of her running into something and really getting hurt but I also don't want her stressing out. I want her to have that feeling of flying like it was meant to be. So confused

[marie83]

Sharp objects shouldn't even be in the same room as a bird, clipped or unclipped :/
windows/doors should be shut when birds are out again regardless of the bird being clipped or unclipped.
wires covered- again it applies to clipped or unclipped birds

Birds are intelligent but living beings- of course they make mistakes and do crash to start with but the learn quickly, you can help by covering/removing mirrors, closing curtains/blinds and general other parrot proofing.

So anyone should put in place the exact same safety measures regardless of whether the bird is clipped or not so why bother clipping at all?? and that's before you start looking at the benefits of allowing flight which is the biggest factor.

[Pajarita]

Flying is, to a bird, not only their manner of locomotion, same as walking is to us, but also what defines them! Human babies fall down many times before they learn to walk and then they need to practice until they can ran, it's the same thing with birds. Flying is instinctual to a bird (little babies that don't even have all their plumage start flapping their wings when they get scared and are trying to get away from something) but they need to learn how to take off, maneuver, land, etc and that takes practice - and practice, sometimes, means making mistakes and falling on your face for humans, same as crash landing for birdies. Sometimes, people see these mistakes, panic and clip their birds wings instead of allowing them to learn as they go but there are ways to minimize the 'mistakes'. As Marie noted, bird proofing the room is always necessary so you would make sure that there are no dangers like sharp objects, cracks between the back of a piece of furniture and the wall, you would put something in front of a window so the bird does not mistake it for an open exit, etc. You also allow the bird flight when it's nice and quiet (not a whole lot of people walking around, loud noises, etc) and take care not to scare the bird (only scared birds would crash against a wall).

As to your AV's advice, he is 100% wrong and you can tell him I said so! Nature made it so birds have no other way of keeping fit but flying, it's as simple as that and this is not my opinion, it's a scientific fact. Grounding a bird has both physical and emotional negative consequences and there are no two ways about it. So much so that there already is visual muscle deterioration only 40 days after inhibiting flight (and these are the same muscles hens use for laying their eggs) and there is a pair of air sacs that cannot be fully utilized unless the bird is flying (so we are talking atrophy) - there are studies about this. Add this to the fact that you are taking away the only predator-avoidance strategy nature gave them and you end up with a bird that is stressed out both physically and emotionally. Not to make a fine point but your AV is way behind the times when it comes to captive bird husbandry (you don't see the birds in the zoo having clipped wings, do you?)

But, I'll be honest with you, even if there were no adverse consequences to clipping, I would never even consider handicapping them in such a way. I think it's plain cruel and akin to what they used to do to slaves (it was called hobbling) or when people kept a dog chained all his life. Birds fly and if you can't keep a bird without clipping his wings, you should consider getting a hamster instead.

[kikidee]

Unrelated- wow! I did not know what a Regent Parrot (Parakeet?) is and it looks exactly like my Princess Parakeet except with different colors. (Plus mine is a blue mutation). Interesting!

[Harpmaker]

Sorry LJ4RockPebbler, you have hit THE hot button on this forum.

My little Meyer's was clipped when we got her, but it was a mild clip that let her glide to the floor. After she molted half the clipped feathers(they molt half their feathers at a time), she could gain altitude. However, being a Poicephalus, and therefore heavy-bodied with a short tail, having only half of her feathers unclipped, she had trouble landing. Much like my kids as toddlers, she would stop by running into a person's chest, or a wall if people were not conveniently located. After about 2 weeks, she managed to substitute skill for missing feathers. Now she flies quite well. So don't worry too much about hitting things.

As Pajarita points out, a scared bird might panic-crash into anything. So don't chase him if you can help it.

I think it was one of the PBS Nova specials that played earlier this year that mentioned that birds that fly are smarter than birds that don't. They have to take in and interpret data much faster than ground-based birds. A LOT of bird brain power is dedicated to this, and will atrophy if it goes unused.

While it is sometimes annoying to have your bird fly away from you because it doesn't want to do something, it IS an alternative to biting. Flighted birds usually bite less.

Also, clipped birds can still fly if they catch a breeze, or get motivated enough. (Maybe an African Gray that plucked itself bald can't-but I wouldn't count on it.) It is NEVER safe to take a bird outside unless it is wearing a harness or in a carrier.

I think we still have a few members who have their birds clipped, and at least one bird that chooses not to fly. We still talk to you either way. You have to make your own decision, based on what your research tells you is best for your bird.

[LJ4RockPebbler]

Thank you all for your great advice. I guess that's why new parrot owners come to this forum, for advice. I'll make sure that my bird is flighted with me taking on all precautions and you can keep the hamster Thanks again.

[marie83]

awww nothing wrong with hamsters. I've had plenty of them in days gone by