How to Properly Clip a Parrot's Wings (Don't Clip at All)

[daseffekt]

My cockatoo's feathers were almost fully grown out, and I was working on recall training. Last weekend I saw a bunch of "lost parrot" posters and I freaked out and clipped my bird's wings. I knew already that clipped birds can still be carried away by wind, but I worried anyway. I also wanted to harness train my bird before allowing flight, because she spends a lot of time with me, even outdoors.

Watching that clipping video broke my heart. It even looks barbaric. My cockatoo is trained to "assist" with her grooming so it wasn't as traumatic looking but still, this article has convinced me to not clip her wings again, and avoid any accidents through training and being a responsible bird owner, rather than simply clipping and feeling a false sense of security.

As a side note, my cockatoo is TERRIFIED of your training perches, but my Ringnecks love them! Little by little I am getting my cockatoo comfortable with sitting on them. Thanks for making such a handy product

[Malissa23]

Hey, well I have a rainbow Lorikeet and she's about two months and she's flying now, I don't want to get her wings cut, but I'm going away now for a week and my sister is looking after her while I'm gone and they have this light that's hanging out and I'm scared that if she lands on it she will die, so what I am asking is should I cut them this time only or leave them and hope and pray she doesn't land on it. She does come to me, she will come out of her cage and fly on my hand or head or shoulder. Please help me thank u so much

[Michael]

Whatever you do, DON'T CLIP NOW! Cancel the trip if you have to. Not that I support clipping pretty much ever, but if it was done at a later age, it would be far less critical. However, at this young age it would lead to a permanent mental handicap. It's like a toddler being unable to learn to walk at the right time or learning to talk at the right time. They can get better later but never the same. It is critical that the bird continue being able to fly now. I would say your 3 solutions are:

A) Cancel trip
B) Disable/replace the light
C) Leave the bird caged this entire time

I think leaving the bird caged for a week while you are gone the entire time but flighted when you get back is less harmful than not letting it fly it's entire first year of life. The other thing to consider is to not use that light for now. Buy the caretaker a nice lamp or something else that is safe to use for now. You may even be able to get away with just changing the light bulbs in the lamp to cooler burning ones (like CFL or LED). Those light bulbs might cost a little extra but well worth it.

[pennyandrocky]

couldn't they block the room with the hanging light off from your ? it can't be their only room.if there are no doors hang up some sheets. i've had to do this when we had people coming in to install or repair things in our home to keep our curious birds from bothering people while they are working.

[Nir]

Great post Michael. For the flying into window myth, what I did was put my budgie forest on his play stand right next to the window so he can touch it and know what it is. And till this day he flies from his cage to the play stand by the window with no problem. Even if I didn't show him where the window was, I am sure that after the first bump, he would learn about it.

Side question Michael, is it necessary to use a clicker every time you recall. Or do you not use a clicker other times aside from training. Wouldn't just giving him a treat or scratch or other forms of positive reinforcement be enough?

Also I didn't think about the agressiveness part from flighted birds. Mona can you please discuss on what you would do to fix aggression towards the SO. My gf has bird phobia so an attack by the bird would hurt the progress she is making. She is ok with my budgie now through training her with him lol. And the progress will continue but if I do get another bird in future who might become flight agressive to her, how should I deal with it ? Or should I do the same things I did to bond such as feed him with hand and so on....

[Nir]

Hey, well I have a rainbow Lorikeet and she's about two months and she's flying now, I don't want to get her wings cut, but I'm going away now for a week and my sister is looking after her while I'm gone and they have this light that's hanging out and I'm scared that if she lands on it she will die, so what I am asking is should I cut them this time only or leave them and hope and pray she doesn't land on it. She does come to me, she will come out of her cage and fly on my hand or head or shoulder. Please help me thank u so much

Can't you tell them, to put the cage in a different room?

[Michael]

Side question Michael, is it necessary to use a clicker every time you recall. Or do you not use a clicker other times aside from training. Wouldn't just giving him a treat or scratch or other forms of positive reinforcement be enough?

Yes, I can recall my parrots without a clicker but usually I don't. Why? Because I employ high variable ratio reinforcement schedules and I conditioned the clicker as secondary reinforcement. I fly the birds as much for exercise as training so I want them to fly a lot and eat a little. They are not getting a treat for every flight. Sometimes they'll do as many as 10-20 flights till they see food. I don't want them to get disappointed by not getting anything and give up. As they continue getting clicks, they know that if they keep trying or try harder, something really good is on its way.

[lluke]

I just got my baby quaker parrot and she/he is 3 months old. All she does is fly around the room. I sure hope she settles down real soon as I don't want to clip her wings. Is there anything I should be doing at this point as far as training goes?

[Michael]

Focus on introducing foods, toys, places, and people. Training can come later.

[keyla]

Hi, I have a beautiful little green-cheeked conure, named Keyla. She is about 4 years old and fully flighted. When she was 2 years old, we moved to a new house and had our grandchildren visiting for the summer. I decided that it would be safer to get her wings clipped at this time, but I regreted it. She became so depressed afterwards. I felt that I had deliberately disabled her and felt really bad about it. Birds are clearly meant to fly. Eventually, her feathers grew back and all was well again.
But now, 2 years later, I'm having a serious problem with her. She seems to think that I am her partner and she sees my husband as competition. She constantly attacks and bullies him. Now I am considering getting her wings clipped again to solve this problem. Do you have any other suggestions? I strongly disagee with keeping her locked up in a cage all the time.