I've read 5 arguments generally against harnesses for American parakeets:
1) The stitching/materials cannot be made small enough to be safe. Does this mean Parrot University is selling a non-usable/unethical product?
2) It is too hard to handle the small birds and get them into the harness with our big hands. The makers, however, say they have been doing this for years. Also I've seen videos.
3) It is traumatic to the bird. But as we all know some birds can be trained to be very comfortable with handling.
4) Budgies will not sit on a shoulder, they are too flock oriented. Again, I think this comes down to training/bonding, doesn't it?
Eh... I forget what the 5th one is. Anyway here is what Parrot University had to say about my doubts:
Until about 3 years ago we did not make a harness for budgies and parrolets. There are a couple of reasons, however it is not because they are too fragile. We have personally been harnessing the smaller birds at Hartman Aviary for 15 years.
First, harnesses for parrots is a relatively new idea that very few bird owners have experience with. Until we started supplying the Aviator Harness it was very rare to find a flighted pet bird anywhere in the world. We all have grown up seeing and using harnesses on dogs and horses, but most have never seen a harnesses bird.
Even with all the information we supply it has been difficult to teach bird owners how to properly raise/train their birds how to use the Aviator on easy species like cockatoos. It is even more difficult to train the human.
At this time we have more than 400,000 Aviator Harnesses used around the world. Most owners at least consider not clipping, and many are now convinced to never clip their bird. We have bird flight clubs, thousands of videos and post on chat lines, and now at least the idea is out there.
With a better understanding of the harness idea we decided it was time to start allowing owners to harness the smallest parrots. Because of the small size of the birds compared to our fingers it takes more human training and discipline to use a Mini harness. We still have owners that are sure they do not need to read the instructions and put the harness on minutes after it arrives.
Second, it is more difficult to make a light enough harness that is safe, and able to be put on and off. The Mini is only 6 grams so it is tolerable for the smallest birds. We do need to caution owners that their tiny bird is probably not in very good shape and they need to take a lot to improve the condition of their bird to carry the weight before they start to encourage flight.
Bottom line is we can make the Aviator for the smallest birds, and the community has enough accumulated awareness that we are starting to encourage its safe use.
Best regards,
Steve Hartman see less
Note they are still not clear about budgies as English budgies vs American parakeets.