Nobody told my new Quaker he can't fly...

[Finnigan]

I brought a new Quaker Parrot home yesterday morning
All yesterday he was quiet and nervous... today he is ready to take on the world. Not only does he want to see everything, he wants to do it fast.
I used to own a parrotlet, she was the definition of a velcro bird, and although fully-flighted generally did not fly unless it was to get to me or she was asked to do so. Finnigan the QP so far could not be more opposite and I am not really sure how to react to it. He is not scared of people but after climbing all over me for 5 minutes decided adventuring the room was much more fun. However, he came clipped and if I don't take him where he wants to go he tries to fly. Each leap of faith leads to him fluttering, not too gracefully to the floor. Not deterred, everytime he spotted a corner he had not inspected he would try to fly again.. and again... and again. His number one fascination is the window. I held him up to look outside for around 15 minutes a few seperate times but as soon as I moved away he tried to fly back to it. Eventually I put him back in his cage, I don't think tumbling to the ground that many times could possibly be good. Even in the cage he is clumsy and a little scary to watch, it is pretty tall, and while his perches are set low every few hours he decides to make a sprint for the top. So far he has not made it, and hits his tail off of everything possible on the way back down.
My question is, how many times will he fall to the floor before he stops trying to fly everywhere? Watching them fly/fall when clipped has always been scarier to me than having them flighted.
Is there anything I can do to make him more people orientated? He doesn't want to snuggle but doesn't seem to have any particular interest in playing with toys out of the cage, games like peekaboo or jsut hanging out either. I hope to target train him and later teach him tricks but he is just over 9 weeks old and he just got home. How long do you generally wait beforer teaching them things?
Also is an obsession with the window bad, or should I just buy a window perch and let him sit there as long as he wants to?

Thank you and sorry for the long post!
Rebecca and Finnigan

[marie83]

Aw bless him. How is he getting along now?

I think it will definitely be safer if you let his feathers grow back rather than carry on trimming. He sounds like a proper little charecter. As long as he knows the window is there it will be fine. If he likes looking out then the window perch is a great idea, I got one for Ollie for the shower but he hated it because its clear plastic with beads in it. Problem was solved with a bit of vet wrap. One other thing if you get a window perch, you may need to fit a guard over each end to stop the bird pulling the tab on the suckers otherwise perch and bird will fall to the floor.
As for his cage clumsiness there isn't alot you can do apart from putting his toys in the middle to prevent him damaging his tail and cushioning the floor incase he falls.

[AlbertaAviary]

Hm. Your parrot sounds kind of like one of my birds. She used to try to fly all the time but she is clipped. Now she only tries to fly if she's jumping down from somewhere. Time pretty much fixed her problem.

Yes you should get a window perch. It might entertain your parrot for a long time when you're too busy to!

[liz]

She will never stop trying to fly.

Put her on the floor for exersize. She will flap but not be able to fly because she can't get lift. When her feathers grow back then her muscles will be ready for flight.