Rhode Island Parrot Rescue

[Wolf]

I think that you have made a great choice in going ahead with bringing him home.

[Navre]

I took Nicky home tonight. He is settling into his new cage, after running around the kitchen for a while.

i was having a had time getting him into the travel cage. I didn't want to just stuff him in, I wanted to have him step into it. After chasing him around the office a few times, I had him step up, and explained to him that this had been Tanya's travel cage, and that I was not going to let any other bird use it. I was going to keep it full of all her stuff and just stow it away, but since he lived with Tanya for all those years, and was her brother, I decided that he, and only he, was okay to use the cage. He stepped in after that. (Tanya's other hours mate is a Greenwing who could never fit in it.)

[Pajarita]

Good news! Why do you say 'running around', doesn't he fly?

[Navre]

Good news! Why do you say 'running around', doesn't he fly?

He can fly, and I remember him flying around before, but he seems to prefer running and climbing.

[Pajarita]

Yes, captive birds that spend too much time in their cages tend to do this after a few years. And I have found that, when they are kind of upset my grays do that, too - but they 'get over it'

[seagoatdeb]

Cage prisoner parrots cant fly very well because they lose the strength in their wings and have to build up again. I am so happy you are helping him and he will flourish under your care.

[liz]

Cage prisoner parrots cant fly very well because they lose the strength in their wings and have to build up again. I am so happy you are helping him and he will flourish under your care.

I don't think that it is the wings that need strengthened. It is the breast muscle that needs built up. Rambo likes me to exercise him but gets tired after about 5 times.

[Pajarita]

Yes, Liz, you are 100% correct. It's the chest muscles that move the wings -namely, the pectoralis major and the supracoracoideus. Their complementary action creates something like a pulley effect that moves the wings up and down.

[seagoatdeb]

yes, i just meant to say they need to get strenth back and it is true that the breast musles is what gives the wings their strenth, and it is the practice with wings that gives the parrrot the dexterity with flight. With your big parrrots it is harder to get the wings exercised in a good flight. I have medium/small Pois and even if they had wings clipped slightly they can fly circles in the house and get up onto the curtain rod and get a lot of excercise that is hard to get for the bigger parrots.

[galeriagila]

The Rickeybird, who weighs only 250 grams (18 inches, 9 of which are tail) shocks me with his flight ability. He doesn't seem to want to fly, except a quick descent to the floor, so that he can run. But every now and then, when he gets REALLY frustrated, he will fly 10-20 feet from a perch to me, or another destination, landing accurately. He does flap a lot in his cage or on his perches, and I mean REALLY flaps, holding onto the perch to avoid lifting off.