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Free Flight problems

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Free Flight problems

Postby Darko » Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:45 pm

Hi everyone, I hand raised two male peach faced lovebirds and they are fully flighted. I let them every day outside, while I ride my bicycle they fly next to me or land on my shoulder. Both of them are amazing fliers and hawks and crows try to catch them sometime, but they know to manoeuvre very well and always manage to out fly them and come back to me for protection. But I have a big problem my parrots land on strangers regularly, and if they don't know that is my parrot they try to catch it and take it away. The second problem that I have with my parrots is that they are too curious and sometime when I ride bike my parrots will take off and enter someone's apartment, if window is open. And people will close window , usually because they think that is escaped parrot. So I have to enter a building find the apartment and retrieve my bird. Please help me how to teach them not to land on strangers and not to enter other people home?
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Darko
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 32
Location: Belgrade
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: peach faced lovebird
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Pajarita » Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:03 am

Welcome to the forum! My dear, you really cannot allow your little birds to free-fly outdoors. It's a recipe for disaster and you are going to lose them if you continue. Lovebirds are aviary birds and you don't even have a bonded pair but two young males which, once they get to a certain age, will leave you to go searching for mates. Reproduction is their prime directive in life and lovebirds are intensely pair oriented so there is no teaching them not to go to strangers or into strangers' homes. It's not possible to do this because you can't teach a bird not to follow its instincts. They are hard-wired into their brains and nothing we can do or say will change this. Professional trainers, who ONLY work with larger companion species that bond VERY deeply to their humans [unlike aviary birds which bond deeply only to other birds], often lose their birds so your losing your little aviary ones is a given. Please stop doing this.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18697
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Darko » Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:02 pm

Hi, thank you very much for your answer. I think that people make mistakes about the capability of small parrot species like Lovebirds or Parrotlets. They are able to bond incredibly strongly to human's. We underestimate them. My parrots are not young anymore, this was an old picture. They are now 2 years old. Yes, you are right when they were 6 months old my parrots stop listening and that was a nightmare. But that period passed and everything come back to normal more or less. Probably I would have the same problem landing on strangers and entering a people homes even with a macaw. But from my experience lovebirds are perfectly trainable for free flight. I will post videos soon.
Last edited by Darko on Mon Jan 08, 2018 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Darko
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 32
Location: Belgrade
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: peach faced lovebird
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Darko » Fri Jan 05, 2018 8:28 pm

One of my parrots Grom
Attachments
IMG_0872.JPG
Grom landing on stranger
IMG_0872.JPG (40.87 KiB) Viewed 9465 times
Darko
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 32
Location: Belgrade
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: peach faced lovebird
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Pajarita » Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:18 am

I don't know how much experience you have -meaning how many years and with how many parrots- but thinking that you are right and hundreds [thousands?] of people are not is not a very good philosophy.

I also don't think that saying that free-flying lovebirds [or any other parrot species -even companion ones!] is dangerous doesn't mean that anybody is underestimating them. I love lovebirds [I had a flock of over 30 of them]- I love all birds, actually, and because of that, I don't want them to be in danger -which they are when they get lost. It is a fact that lovebirds are an aviary species and not a companion one, and that they are more pair-oriented than flock-oriented. It is also a fact that there is nothing more important to an animal than procreation [survival of the species]. You have two unpaired aviary birds of the same gender. They are still young [the equivalent of a young man in his mid teens] but they will, eventually, be driven to breed and this directive will become all-consuming and much, much more urgent and important than anything else in their lives, more than their love for you and more than any training. And, in order for them to do that, they need to go out and find a mate and, when that happens, they will fly away in search of a female [they are already doing it]. If you and them are very lucky, you will find them but, if you don't, they might end up dead. And, as far as I am concerned, that 'might end up dead' is the operative phrase. Because if there is anything I have learned after caring for hundreds of birds for over 20 years is that one of the most important precepts in good husbandry is the old 'better safe than sorry'! Because no matter how sure we are that we are in complete control of a situation, with parrots, it's nothing but a fantasy.
Last edited by Pajarita on Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18697
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Navre » Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:25 am

As I'm reading this I am watching a sharp-shinned hawk eat a Junco he just picked off my feeder. A brightly colored, out-of-place bird would seem to be targeted more easily. This hawk has already eliminated the white, and the buff-colored pigeons out of my flock. Birds who stick out, or seem different, are more vulnerable.

I'm sure you love your birds, but you're putting them at unnecessary risk for minor reward. We have 60+ birds to place, but we would never adopt to you. They're your birds, you can do what you want, but I'd never place one of my birds with you. I feel you're taking unnecessary risks.
Navre
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1909
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Turquoise Green Cheek Conure
Hooded Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Navre » Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:26 am

I hope it all works out. I'm not trying to pick on you. I just had to say that once. I won't belabor the point.
Navre
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 1909
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Turquoise Green Cheek Conure
Hooded Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Darko » Sat Jan 06, 2018 1:25 pm

I didn't have lots of experience with birds, but 2 years ago I decided to buy birds. So I found out everything that I could at the time and hand raise two baby Lovebirds and trained them by myself with success. My parrots respond perfectly on recall and reward is not small.They were flying with a flock of starlings, swallows, pigeons and rooks. They fly over the lake and river and on the top of the mountain. Trust me, I think that my parrots live an fantastic life. My parrots are never in a cage, all day they are free to fly all over my flat and I provide them with best food, fruit and vegetables plus the best seeds plus some dry insects as well. They are quite aware of predators and amazing flyers plus in the area where I live, we don't have a lot species of hawks and kestrel and crows usually ignore them. But I decided to listen to your advice I will buy them the female each and massive cage for both pairs; -( I don't want to lose them even if I know that they wouldn't die because when I take them to the park if they fly far away from me after a while they will land on the first person they see. So I will listen to your advice. But I will buy eclectus or macaw and trained that parrot to free fly.
Darko
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 32
Location: Belgrade
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: peach faced lovebird
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Charlie *^* » Sat Jan 06, 2018 3:02 pm

If you get a harness for them then they can fly attached to the harness and that way you wont lose them but there is a problem and that is that they wont fly far before there is no harness! :shock:
Zeph and Charlie :sun:
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Charlie *^*
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 22
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Sun conure
Flight: Yes

Re: Free Flight problems

Postby Pajarita » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:56 am

Lovebirds are too small for a flying harness.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18697
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

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