Baby sun conure - wing clipping

[africandreams]

So we ended up buying a baby sun conure from the bird fair over the weekend. She is on 2 hand feedings a day. but does eat very well on her own. I have hand fed 2 african Greys before, 1 from very early (not even feathered) and 1 that was on 2 feedings a day. I never thought about clipping wings before weaning would be a problem. I simply have never heard anything about it before. My Greys never tried to fly until they were weaned so I never thought about clipping them before hand. Anyway when we brought the sun conure home and took her out of the travel cage obviously she was a little scared and took off in full flight. She did very well able to stop and turn, hover in the air and eventually land on my husband's out stretched hand. So without thinking anything of it, I clipped her wings. I was just reading some info and read that you should never clip before they are weaned. Does anyone have experience with this? Have I damaged he emotionally or psychologicaly? She is still taking her hand feedings, breaking her neck to get to it if I have her on the counter while I prepare it. But again she eats pellets, fruits and anything I give her. She is constantly in her food bowl. She has not tried to take flight since. She will kind of hop/flap from toys and perches. Thanks for any advice

[Wolf]

The clipping of a birds wings at any time in its life is a very controversial topic among parrot people, although most of them do tend to agree that it should never be done before the bird has fledged, which is not the same as being weaned and so could still result in a bird being clipped before it has been fully weaned.
To be honest with you, I am not a big fan of ever clipping a birds wings, unless there is a medically sound reason for doing so. I have many reasons for my beliefs about clipping and if you wish me to I can provide links to back my thoughts on the subject, but until you ask for such I think I will just stick with my own thoughts.
My very first reason for not clipping is one that I am sure that you have heard before and that is the birds own safety. Flight is the birds primary means of escaping from any dangerous situation such as predators or from being stepped on by their humans. From this point on it can get more complicated as the wings and the accompanying feathers affect the bird balance especially when the bird is perching on a branch or other type of perch. A birds ability to fly affects nearly every system in its body such as breathing, the functioning of the birds immune system, the cleansing of the blood of hormones and other waste product from metabolizing its food. There is also data indicating that the ability to fly sharpens a birds eyesight as well as other cognitive abilities including it ability to solve problems.
Well these are the main reasons for why I am not a big fan of clipping the wings of any birds. I also tried to answer your specific question and I hope that this reply will prove to be useful to you. Thank you for your question and allowing me the opportunity to share with you.