by Pajarita » Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:14 am
I've only clipped one single bird in my entire life and it was a male senegal that hated all humanity, in general, and me in particular because his beloved [a female senegal he fell in love with at first sight when he came to me] loved me to pieces. This bird relentlessly attacked me every single chance he had, every single day, for over 3 years. I had bites and scars all over my body to the point that I had to explain to people that I did not suffer from some weird disease, that they were bird bites. He was the only bird I have ever been afraid of, the only bird that I thought I would never tame as well as the only bird that made me dread going into the birdroom -which has always been a great pleasure to me. Almost at the end of the second breeding season, he was flying much better [he had spent 11 years in a smallish cage] plus he was stronger and healthier AND he had gotten very smart about attacking me when I took my eyes off him for one second so, in desperation, I clipped him. It was a bilateral, mild clip so as to allow him a certain amount of movement and meant only to slow him down a bit but, to him, after 'tasting' freedom [he lived cage-free] for the first time in many years, it was devastating! He hid for three days! Now, you might think that this must have made me happy but, in truth, I regretted it almost instantly and felt like the worst scum on this earth! And, to put the icing on the cake, it did nothing for his aggression.
He is fine now. It took 3.5 years for him to, gradually, stop his attacks and another 1.5 for him to accept me as a friend but we are OK with each other - and he is the smartest bird I have [a veritable genius when it comes to cognitive speech].