Blaming Parrot

[Michael]

I stopped by the bird store today and got Kili's nails trimmed cause I couldn't bare my hands getting torn up by razor sharp talons any more. I would have done it myself but I don't have a full day available any time soon (and I don't like to clip her unless I can be around the rest of the day to check for bleeding).

The lady who runs the store was telling me about someone that bought an African Grey and kept it flighted. That a week ago the bird flew away and the owner was frantically posting fliers, etc. Three days later the bird was found and returned. The first thing the woman did was bring the parrot in to the store to have its wings clipped.

What!? The parrot was probably frightened and executed its reflexive flee reflex. If anyone is to blame, then it is certainly the owner for not ensuring the parrot's safety and inability to escape. It just really hurts me to see the parrot having to pay the price for having a dumb owner.

Now I'd like to illustrate the opposite with a personal story from the same visit to bird store. This morning I brought Kili with me to the airport and did at least 20 recalls using a new 50ft leash to and from my brother. She did a wonderful job and got a fantastic work out. She'd been out and about with me all day and we paid a visit to the bird store at the end. After she got her nails clipped, I took her back to hold her but she was scared of the groomer and wanted to fly off. They have parrot trees in the high aisles and Kili has learned them to be a safe place to land. She flew up there to perch. Well in the past I've done mini training sessions where I'd let her fly up there on purpose and then use positive reinforcement to recall her down in practice for when this kind of fly off might happen. Well after an exhausting day, she couldn't give a peep about treats for recalls so she completely ignored me and in fact fell asleep instead. I understood she was just tired because I woke her up abnormally early and had her out all day. Eventually I tried to climb up with a ladder to get her down but the ladder scared her so it took a little bit before I could get her down manually.

However, rather than punish her for finally letting me get her (by throwing her in the carrier to prevent another fly off), I held her and even gave her some treats. Then to solidify the feeling that recalling to me won't get her put away, I did a couple short recalls for more treats and attention. I carried her around for a while but later out of nowhere, put her away into carrier so that it wouldn't be tied to any other behavior. This is a piece of advice to all the folks having trouble getting a parrot to step up to be put away, stop blaming your parrot.

Find what you can do better to make the situation work rather than blaming the parrot, clipping its wings, or rehoming it because of your own problems. First identify what the problem is and then find a solution to see what you can do differently to avoid that problem in the future. Instead of using step-up as a tool for putting the parrot away, use it as a method for getting attention or treats. Instead of clipping a parrot for flying away, try bird proofing your home, educating family/visitors, and recall training your parrot to safely fly back to you. Blaming the parrot is not only counter productive, but also completely immature.

[TheNzJessie]

hmm i wonder if that lady has ever heard of the aviator flight harness....obviously not...birds are supported to fly... punish the bird for flying? so many things wrong right there, i see your point

and good job with kili.

its like punishing a kid for playing, seems wrong ay

[Natacha]

A friend of mine on another forum had her Grey fly out of her house on a moment of innatention.

The Grey was missing for about 50 hours.

Eventually she was found and returned to her owners. The owner was quite frank about it on the forum and did mention that while her Grey was gone, she had thought about clipping her if she ever found her again. She did fight with that idea and keep her flighted.

Guess what she did?

She did NOT clip her. The way she sees it, it's probably because her Grey knew how to fly that she survived. It's probably because she was in better shape due to previous flying that she was able to keep on going. It was probably because she knew how to fly that she could continue on to find proper shelter when the time came. Who did she blame (and this was pretty early on)? Herself. For a split moment she left a door slightly ajar while doing something that required her to go in and out and did not make sure her bird was either safely locked in her cage or in another room. She got spooked by something and took off and was able to go though the opening.

What she says to people? Make sure that YOU take care of not allowing anything that will allow your birds to go out without any form of restraint. All it takes is a few seconds.

[Michael]

Good story. Perfectly demonstrates my point. Happy ending

[Erithacus]

2 of my friends too clipped their escaped CAGs wings after they were found. One of the CAGs flew away again and had not been found. The birds were punished for the owners' carelessness.

My third friend's Cockatoo flew out of his aviary during cleaning. He landed in a nearby tree and my friend managed to retrieve the bird. His wife insisted the Too to be clipped. My friend had no choice, he had the wings of the Too clipped. But his CAG was punished too. His wings had to be clipped too for not flying away. How sad.

[TheNzJessie]

when i was working at the pet store when people would buy birds i would get the bird and skip the question 'would you like him clipped?' most of the time when i was putting them in the carrier they asked me 'arent you going to clip him?' and i would say why do you want him clipped? and they would say we cant have a bird flying around the house! how will we ever control him? sad really.....

[Michael]

You should have sooner asked them why they're getting a bird in the first place? It's like buying a car and then complaining that it has wheels!

[TheNzJessie]

yea. i guess having a boss stops you from saying certain stuff. but honestly some people that came into the shop i refused sales sometimes. boss not liking it but parents come in with like 8 year old kids and they look at the budgies and there kid is like i want one! and the mum comes up to me and asks me to get a budgie for her kid and i would refuse the sales... not only is it a on the spot decision there is no way they would be prepared (set up) for a bird. they take weeks of preparation...

[Rue]

I stopped by the bird store today and got Kili's nails trimmed cause I couldn't bare my hands getting torn up by razor sharp talons any more...

Off-topic...but...have you tried the Sandyperches? And I do mean that brand (the others aren't as good). My Pi uses his a lot...I have it by his main foodbowl...and I have never had to trim his nails. They're perfect, and dull edges.

For the other two parrots I haven't quite managed to position the perches as well (to get them to use them enough)...but if you can manage it...worth the effort.

[Michael]

I've tried practically everything: sanding perches, concrete perches, filing the nails, etc. Actually these things do work to the extent that the nails grow slower and it's longer till next trimming but it also makes them sharper. So they end up being short and sharp which means there isn't enough to cut. I almost prefer they grow quickly and then cut again.