Clipped Cockatiel Still Able to Fly

[sangers85]

Hello,

I've got a 12month old female cockatiel named Scooter who has both her wings clipped. In the last few months however she's been able to fly well while clipped.

I clipped her again this morning and she's still able to fly around the room a number of times before landing on her cage and i'm worried she'll escape out the back door one day if she gets a fright. I'm reluctant to clip her lower now as her primary flight feathers are now only just above the soft ones they dissappear into.

Can a Vet successfully clip lower than this? Maybe i'm doing it wrong but my other 3 birds are clipped the exact same way and are mostly flightless. Or Scooter has been hitting the gym.

[Michael]

How about just close the door instead?

[lzver]

I would not suggest clipping anymore. If you decide to keep your birds clipped and limit their flight, you need to ensure they can still safely glide to the ground if they are to fall. If you severely clip the wings, you risk them getting hurt.

In my earlier uneducated days as a bird owner, I kept my birds wings clipped. Today, I get so much joy out of watching them fly. They are much happier because they are more self sufficient.

You need to take precautions with birds in the house by removing threats and keeping doors closed. In our house, no one is allowed to come in or out of the house if I have the birds out. If someone needs to leave right away I will temporarily put them back in their cages.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Cockatiels are said to be better than average flyers. I wouldn't clip shorter, but you can clip further toward the body on the wing -- how many feathers down have you clipped? You'll find this is a very flight oriented forum, BTW, but my birds are currently clipped. "The Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior" by Mattie Sue Athan contains suggested wing clips for various species and ages of parrot, and for 'tiels the book states that it is impossible to completely ground an adult 'tiel, and suggests a trim that goes 10 feathers in, considerably further than it suggests for other birds. Even then, the bird should be able to glide and land softly, not drop like a rock. We are careful about open doors and such even with the birds trimmed -- there are almost as many stories of trimmed birds flying off outside as there are flighted ones. A gust of wind can provide more lift than you'd expect -- if they can glide to the ground in still air, they can be carried by an updraft.

[born2fly]

Close the door, and let it fly

[CheekyandMalolo]

After watching my Tiel Mali flying amongst the tops of 50metre high gum trees, I'm convinced that you cannot ground a Cockatiel, particularly since Mali had one half opened tail feather at the time, no other flight feathers or tail feathers(she was just a bit ugly at the time!!!), but jeepers could that baby fly!! Not trying to get away at all, infact when she flew into a lower tree my partner climbed up it and she ran halfway to him then thru herself at him, very cute. And very reassuring that my little girl still loved us!
I would suggest arranging things so that your birds can be flighted, perhaps you can put their cage in a place that doesn't have a direct route to outside doors? But at the same time I understand how paranoid you can get about your birds getting out. After losing my Tiel Birdie out the door, I still can't decide whether or not to try and clip Mali, I'm so so paranoid about her getting out the door. Our family is very very conscious of where the birds are at all times, but Mali has a nasty habit of trying to follow you out the door. She'll wait until you're nearly out and then fly to you, and she's so fast too!
I'm too scared to start working with her with her Feather-Teather(which she may or may not be too fat to fit into currently ), because then I'll want to take her outside, and if she got off she'd be GONE!! That bird is gonna give me a heart attack i swear