Lovebird flight training?

[HermanNg]

I was recently pondering whether to bring my lovebird, Tweety, to a park for him to really stretch out his wings and have a great time but then I did some online research and found out that it required some form of flight training. I am no sure if it would work for lovebirds and would like to know how to start if possible. Thank you. ​

 

[Anne & Gang]

the only way you could do this with any kind of safety would be to get a harness for him.

 

[HermanNg]

But do I have to prepare him at home before we go out to the park?

 

[Wayne361]

Put it this way.....would it be easier to chase down the bird in your home or in the park?

 

[HermanNg]

Ha. I know but I wish to know what is the best way to prepare him so I don't have to chase him in the park. I am also concerned abt. Him being scared and may catch wind and go to a tree and perhaps not come back. Thanks in advance.

 

[jitin02]

Ha. I know but I wish to know what is the best way to prepare him so I don't have to chase him in the park. I am also concerned abt. Him being scared and may catch wind and go to a tree and perhaps not come back. Thanks in advance.

May want to check out or contact Birdtricks.com

 

[Wayne361]

OK...what you are proposing is freeflight. Freeflight is something even professional trainers will tell you is extremely risky and you have a good chance of losing your bird. First your bond with bird must be increadibly strong, flight recall must be 100 percent reliable, bird needs to be socialized to outdoor environment so that he doesnt freak out with new sights/sounds and bird forgets all the indoor training. Lots of variables here. Put it this way....Oscar recalls darn near 100 percent of the time....I would say 100 percent but no bird is perfect BUT I dont have the cajones to free flight. I am working on getting him in harness and when I do will be socializing to outdoors, strangers, traffic sounds, airplanes, helicopters (you get the idea). Flight recall outside wearing harness. I know these steps all prelude freeflight BUT I dont think I have the desire to progress to that step. Too many varables for something to go wrong and how crappy would I feel if Oscar got lost/killed because I took a leap of faith? Nothing against those that freeflight....and I admire the successful ones....just not my aspiration.
I would suggest you go to Michael Sazhin's site theparrotforum.com as he has tutorials/videos on flight training. There are other sites but I found his to be the most comprehensive/user friendly/informative one. His book The Parrot Wizards Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots is also IMO a must read.

Hope this helps,

Wayne

 

[HermanNg]

Thanks, That was exactly the information that I was looking for. I will look into the website, and I got Tweety when he was really young and I have been with him for nearly 5 months. thanks again.

 

[Wayne361]

Michael free flys two of his three birds. The third bird is a recent rehome that has probaby never flown but Micheal is working on getting his wing muscles strengthened for the potential of flight. He will also advise against freeflight, even though he does it himself, because of the risks involved. You really have to know what you are doing and it is a multifaceted training approach before you can even think about it.
If I were you I would focus on indoor training....flight recall, flighted retrieve, flight between perches on cue etc. This will keep you busy and is great training/bonding exercise for you and the bird.

Good luck,

Wayne

 

[Aequa]

Please remember, it can take years and years to train a bird to free fly. There was one rather famous African Grey who was lost during free flying. His owner had done heaps of training with him and some training programs, he had flown him outside successfully but one time he didn't come back. Maybe he was frightened or lost, perhaps killed. As Wayne said, no bird is perfect and has 100% recall. Even if it has 99%, there is every chance that one time out of a hundred that he fails to obey, it will be outside and he will be lost. More often than not, pet birds, especially non-native birds (lovebirds are from Africa I believe), die after escape. Plus there is the possibility of being hit by a car, plane or helicopter or being caught by a bird of prey looking for an easy meal.
All I'm saying is please be careful! The bird is the one who will suffer.

 

[Mozart]

I have been reading all the different views on flight training and I recon since I will be living alone I can get my Ekkie to indoor fly if he desires so. Outdoor though will definitely take the harness approach

 

[atalanta]

Lots of videos of free flight on Youtube. You might want to try practicing inside a school gym first.
Lovebird Freeflight

Macaw, SunConure, African Grey

Vito the racing macaw

 

[Diesel13]

This thread is nearly 2 years old I was a little confused at first but then looked at the dates from the original posts. I believe AA has not heard from the OP in 2 years so it is safe to assume any added information to this thread will not really benefit anyone. Especially since there are countless other threads discussing free flight on the Avenue in much greater detail and depth.