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Safety of the flock?

Discuss topics associated with teaching birds to fly. Training parrots recall flight, target flying, and other flying exercises.

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:22 pm

Yes we have and I decided to do it and I think my birds would rather have a short life doing what they were born to than a long one stuck in a house or cage, if it came to that. That's not what I'm trying to ask here anyway
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Mon Nov 10, 2014 3:15 pm

Well to be honest, I don't agree with thee free flight decision, but It is not mine to make. As for flying your ringneck with budgies, I can only suggest that you try it in a closed in space to see if it will even work, because I don't know if it will. They are of different species that as far as I know don't normally associate with each other, so the ringneck might scare the budgies.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:01 pm

Your right, I shouldn't assume they would even want to fly together.
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Mon Nov 10, 2014 10:15 pm

Sometimes asking helps. With this type of situation I would try indoors first, perhaps you can find some large area to try it in such as an old school gym.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:23 am

Good idea, but i have been having trouble finding a place
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Pajarita » Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:42 am

AnimalAffinity wrote:Yes we have and I decided to do it and I think my birds would rather have a short life doing what they were born to than a long one stuck in a house or cage, if it came to that. That's not what I'm trying to ask here anyway


It doesn't have to be either/or. They are not Achilles, you know... There are other options than risking their dying scared and alone or living 'stuck' in a cage or house. For one thing, when you give them the freedom to fly around in a house, unless you live in a tiny Manhattan studio, there is plenty of room for them to exercise (you should see mine flying from the first floor to the attic, navigating the staircases and making U turns in flight). Parrots are not migratory or birds of prey so their 'territory' is relatively small and limited only by the amount of food they can find in it. They are not prone to 'expand' the geographical area they are born to (and this is one of the reasons why global warming will kill more tropical and subtropical species than the ones from temperate climate). If they can feed within a radius of 10 ft, they will gladly stay in the small area and won't even dream of flying a single foot outside of it. Flight is great exercise but it can be given without risking their lives.
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Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
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: Safety of the flock?

Postby liz » Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:18 pm

I have seen what a hawk can do.
Chick Chick was my pet chicken. She was an only so grew up thinking she was a dog. When I let the dogs out in the morning she went with them. She was safe with them. I watched the wild birds play with her in the back yard. One day all the dogs came in at the same time but she was having too much fun. She did not come in that night. She was in pain and hiding under the shed. Without the protection of the dogs a hawk attacked her. She was too heavy to pick up but it ripped her whole back off, feathers, skin, fat and from neck to tail with all of her muscles exposed. She was in awful pain. If the dogs had not found her and alerted me she would have just stayed under there and suffered an awful death.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Tue Nov 11, 2014 7:04 pm

I know, that is why I'm trying to make this safer for them, attacks on free-flying parrots are rare and most of the time the hawks are just checking things out. Having a free-flighted parrot is just so much different. Letting your birds free and knowing that they want to come back to you. You can't treat a free-flying bird the same way you'd treat your average parrot, if you hurt or scare them they won't come back after you set them free. Not to mention there isn't a lot of games and activities you can do with a parrot, they aren't dogs. So I think it's a great way to bond and spend time with your bird in a way that (if done properly) can be beneficial to both of you.
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby Wolf » Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:12 pm

And may I ask how long have you actually been doing this free flying? I do know of some people who have done this and they have lost birds to this, in fact Michael almost lost Truman to this recently.

Here is a link to the story viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12229 Please read it.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Safety of the flock?

Postby AnimalAffinity » Wed Nov 12, 2014 10:42 am

Only for a little over a month but I trained the birds for three months and I know that there is a possibility that I could lose my birds. There's nothing like the feeling of just setting them loose, I think it would be cool to try falconry too but I know I'm not ready to care for a bird like that.
AnimalAffinity
Cockatiel
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 78
Location: PA
Number of Birds Owned: 5
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, a cockatiel, and an indian ringneck parakeet
Flight: Yes

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