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Free Flight.. is it frowned upon?

Latency

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Latency I'm interested in following your progress. I have your back. hahahaha As for "argumentative"...neither am I BUT I love a good debate. If any negative follows your comments just look at it like an opportunity to debate :) Honing your debating skills is the way to look at it IMO.

Again welcome and pls keep us up to date.

Wayne
I definitely know what you mean.. I myself enjoy a good debate. Even as a moody pre-teen girl my dad always told me I argue like a lawyer, he couldn't even be mad at me!
However there is one quote that I stumbled upon, and I think it rings true for many people.
"I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person." :smug:
 

95talongirl

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I am fascinated and captivated by those that free-flight their birds. There is something really magical about seeing these parrots fly! I, personally, feel that I could never do it due to the fear factor of predators, and not coming back. So I'm pretty neutral on the subject. lol!
 

Kaylea

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Skyler loves flying out side at the park... but it takes a lot of training and learning your birds body language.. Also watching the sky's for danger..She alerts us to danger even before we can see it... but we know something is there when she shows us there is... IMAG1055-1.jpg
 

ratgirl

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I'd love to hear other's stories or see pictures of free flight birds. My roommate and I fly two macaws. Not for everyone, and it does take training and other considerations, but it a lot of fun if you can do it right.
 

Latency

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I've been considering flying the conures again since they're both fully flighted again, even though they could fly clipped they're much more acrobatic now. Not sure if I would, I would probably harness Loki because he's the one I'm concerned about spooking and flying off. And kiwi will stay close if we have Loki harnessed to us. :p
 

ratgirl

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I know people who fly conures, usually in flocks. They are too small for my personal comfort zone though! Really fast, beautiful birds in flight though.
 

JAM

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I don't think any bird owner frowns on free flight a lot of judgement with risks and what is best needs to take place.

For me I would LOVE to do it however it is illegal in NSW and I am sure the rest of Australia to release a pet lorikeet therefore if something did happen during a free flight that I was doing then I would be potentially responsible for an illegal action. Whilst it would not be me deliberately releasing into the wild I would be taking a known risk and I could quite possibly be prosecuted accordingly. Three of our birds are indigenous species, three of them are not.

I do want to train them for recall training in case an accident does ever happen as all of ours are flighted (or will be when Lucy re grows her flight feathers).
I just don't have the experience or knowledge to venture into the wonderful world of free flight. :)
 

Thugluvgrl187

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I use an Aviator harness with Squeeky and Scooty.
 

Latency

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Kiwi is the first one I've free flown, and never by herself! I always take her and Loki as a pair to discourage flying away. Loki will handle the harness better than Kiwi though, she can't fly with it on because she's so focused on taking it off. Loki is happy to wear it and sit on a shoulder though. Plus she handles being startled easier- I try to 'startle train' my birds (carry them on my hand or shoulder and do many loud or quick things that may cause them to fly or startle) so that they're used to things like that. Loki will still fly aimlessly when something comes by the window though, kiwi doesn't. So I'm not nearly as worried about her getting scared and flying away because of that. And even if she does I know for a fact she will flock call to Loki :) and yes they are wonderful to see in flight! Loki can hover like a hummingbird and Kiwi looks like she's always doing flips!
 

zuzanqa

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I am against wing clipping. Penguin and my budgies love to fly. But I get that in a household with more dangers etc it might be a good idea. Depends on the situation. I would like to freefly Penguin some day but I would never forgive myself if something happened to him. If I had a large bird I would be less worried.
 

Bokkapooh

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WeEe had a member here, Mare, who free flied her male U2. And to this day, she does it. Infact, she doesnt just allow ber male, Amigo, to free fly, but to also LIVE outdoors. He literally is free to be outdoors all day and he comes back to her when he wants to go inside. He also HATES being inside.

He ks extremely bonded to Mare. Follows her everywhere on the property. Makes Nests in the trees and displays and screams for the world.

Yes there are risks in allowing your parrot this kind of freedom. But there are risks in everything. LIFE is with risks.

He has a terrific life. He is probably THHAPPIEST pet parrot in the world.
 

dolldid

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FOR ME ITS A DREAM LOOLL ONLY FREE FLITE MANGO HAS IS IN MY APT I REFUSE TO HARNESS HIM CAUSE TO MANY HAWKS , IM RIGHT IN A TOWN NO REAL OPEN SAFE AREA NEAR , HES TOTAL CAGE FREE HAS THE RUN OF MY APT NOT JUST A ROOM EVEN FREE WHEN IM OUT ,BIRDS WERE MENT TO FLY THERE HEALTHER FLYING AND STRONGER THE MORE ROOM THE BETTER BUT IM SURE ID TRY IT IF HAD AN AREA THAT WAS QUIET NO DISTRACTIONS BUT THAT IS IMPOSABLE HERE AND I DO NOT DRIVE A CAR

WISH YOU LUCK AND SAFTY BUT QUESTION HAVE YOU TRAINED YOUR BIRD TO SURVIVE IF HE GETS LOST WOULD HE BE ABLE TO SURVIVE AND IF SO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO IT IN COLD WEATHER ? DID YOU THINK OF THIS HOW ABOUT BUYING A VERY LARG PIECE OF LAND CAGE IT ALL IN SND IN GOOD WEATHER LET HIM FLY THERE LOL A NOTHER DREAM IF MINE
 

Saemma

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WeEe had a member here, Mare, who free flied her male U2. And to this day, she does it. Infact, she doesnt just allow ber male, Amigo, to free fly, but to also LIVE outdoors. He literally is free to be outdoors all day and he comes back to her when he wants to go inside. He also HATES being inside.
He ks extremely bonded to Mare. Follows her everywhere on the property. Makes Nests in the trees and displays and screams for the world.

Yes there are risks in allowing your parrot this kind of freedom. But there are risks in everything. LIFE is with risks.

He has a terrific life. He is probably THHAPPIEST pet parrot in the world.
Correct me if I'm wrong Mercedez? From what I understand, the way she she set about doing it with Amigo has nothing to do with how the responsible free flight community goes about introducing their parrots to this type of training? Just wondering. I think reading her threads was the first time I had ever heard of free fright training and why I felt extremely uncomfortable with the whole notion of it. Thank goodness Ratgirl and Raz recently joined the forum and shared their experiences re. responsible free flight training, otherwise I'd probably still be thinking that the parrot wizard's and mare's method was the way everyone goes about doing this.
 
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Shyra

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We recently had a thread going on free flight and a few people joined who do free fly their birds. It was interesting to hear what they had to say. I agree with Wayne in that it takes a lot of training and putting in a lot of time with your bird to do it properly. I would recommend to anyone wanting to free fly their birds to join some of the free flight groups, follow some of the more successful free fliers' blogs, and research as much as they can about the training skills that work and those that don't.
 

Milo

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Thank you for all your input and support!(Whether it was showing concern or encouraging me to share free flight stories.)
I guess I've just always been a 'risk taker'. Yes, we have raptors here in Texas, but in my immediate area(a somewhat new city, still growing and not much wooded area. More water fowl since we're almost surrounded by lakes.) they are few and far between. Mostly you'll see buzzards or scavenging birds, a few miles out toward the country you'll see hawks, but not in my immediate area.
If we decide to free fly again I'll definitely take pictures and share them. :)
I'm not very argumentative, so it's more likely I'll either ignore negative comments or let somebody know they hurt my feelings or I feel like they're attacking me personally than argue back or be passive aggressive about it.
If anybody else here ever does any sort of free flying, if I see your thread about it, you can expect positive feedback from me. :)
(And, like everybody else, I love seeing pictures of everyone's feathered babies!)
There's no way I would free fly with kiddos as small as the ones in your signature. They wouldn't stand a chance if something went awry.

As for being a risk taker... there's a difference between risking your own safety with extreme outdoor stuff and risking the lives of your birds.
 

Saemma

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There's no way I would free fly with kiddos as small as the ones in your signature. They wouldn't stand a chance if something went awry.
As for being a risk taker... there's a difference between risking your own safety with extreme outdoor stuff and risking the lives of your birds.
I agree whole heartedly with your post. As much as I may appreciate how much effort and dedication is put into doing it all, what Raz is going through with african grey Carly Lu, is just not worth it in my opinion. Do note that she is also a very experienced person, who admitted that she made a few mistakes that led to Carly Lu's departure a few weeks ago. LAST i checked, She is still MIA.
 
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Gypsy

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Those people who decide to do the free flight have every right to make that decision for whatever reason. If something goes wrong and the bird is lost or injured, how can you expect sympathy from those here who are against it when you knew the risks beforehand? Reading posts from members whose fully feathered birds somehow got loose outside, became injured from flying into windows, ceiling fans or injured from other pets makes me angry because all of this could have been prevented.
 
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