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We have lift off!

CrazyBirdChick

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Blu flew for the first time this morning!
:birdance:

He just got a few feathers in his right wing this week, and he was taking a bath and got startled.

He flew straight up like a rocket....then hit his head on the ceiling :o:..then flew to the door frame, and clung on for dear life.

It wasn't pretty (and I don't think he has a concussion :lol:) but I'm so happy for him and can't wait to see him perfect his skills.

:fairy::fairy2::fairy:
 

sunnysmom

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Sorry he had a rocky first flight but great news that he's flying!
 

DQTimnehs

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Ooh, ouch, but good news he can fly!
 

CrazyBirdChick

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Thanks guys! I'm so happy about this! It's been such a long wait for those primaries to come in.

His lift was fast and strong but his control...not so good...yet. He got winded really quick too, poor guy.

The look on his face was priceless though. He looked at me like -"What the heck just happened? I flew!?!"

Then he hung out on my arm for a while for comfort. I praised him for flying and told him how amazing it will be to finally be a bird.
 

webchirp

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aww head bonker...he'll get it. Poor thing but I did chuckle a bit. Glad he's okay.
 

Mizzely

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First time Jingo flew he ran right into a mirror and then fell behind the dresser. First flights are rarely graceful :lol:

Yay Blu!
 

Princessbella

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Aww, it is so great when they fly. Bella still has trouble getting height but she has got the landing part down. Especially if food is involved.
 

Tyrion

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Its a good start I'm sure in no time it will get better :laughing12:
 

cassiesdad

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Such great news!

To me, Quakers have a powerful-looking style of flight. Blu will definitely learn how its done...:)
 

Dartman

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Lurch was clipped when he got here and eventually his flights molted out and grew back. First time he startled like that he did the same thing then looked around like how the heck did this just happen...:omg: He was very outa shape too and it took a while for him to build up stamina and all that but by the time he got to our new house he was a very good flyer again and could maneuver very well too.
 

CrazyBirdChick

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He flew again, and this time he had precision! He got scared when the roller shade fell down and he blasted upwards and landed right on his java perch, on top of his cage! I praised him like crazy and I think he knew I was impressed. He flies fast! :)


Also, he dropped another clipped primary this morning! He's been molting almost nonstop for 6 months now and I think he only needs 3 more new feathers for him to have a full set. :highfive:
 

janicedyh

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I just saw this post right now...after a really frightening experience with Kiwi. I went to the tree perch to put Dobey up and heard wings flapping.... saw Kiwi over my head and on top of a high bookcase then she flew off toward her cage...missed it went right into the wall and behind the cage. OMG....soooo worried she was hurt. This is her first flight. I was sure I was going to keep her flighted but not so sure now. We are traveling back and forth to TN to help my Mom and there is no way to control her environment. Its like...YAY Kiwi....then....OH NO Kiwi!
 

Dartman

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You'll have to decide if it's safe for her to fly or if she's just too big of a klutz but the only way she'll get good at flying is to do it. If she has issues with her wings or something that makes proper control impossible maybe safer if she doesn't fly but otherwise I'd try making her area safe to fly like a klutz proof and she'll get better with practice.
Nerd had one wing with bad and missing flight feathers so he mostly walked everywhere because he knew he was bad at it. Every so often he'd make a emergency flight or just have to see daddy flight and sometimes he'd land fine but most times he'd bounce off something. He didn't do it constantly and was very good at making short easy hops. I didn't want to take his flight away and he was a happy camper as part of our flock for 31 years even with bouncing off walls from time to time. When enough of the bad feathers came in he'd be so proud of himself if he manged to fly to my bedroom to hang out, most times he'd just walk from the kitchen to my room which was another hazard we all dealt with, carpet parrots.
 

Mizzely

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I just saw this post right now...after a really frightening experience with Kiwi. I went to the tree perch to put Dobey up and heard wings flapping.... saw Kiwi over my head and on top of a high bookcase then she flew off toward her cage...missed it went right into the wall and behind the cage. OMG....soooo worried she was hurt. This is her first flight. I was sure I was going to keep her flighted but not so sure now. We are traveling back and forth to TN to help my Mom and there is no way to control her environment. Its like...YAY Kiwi....then....OH NO Kiwi!

Flying takes practice. My son had so many bruises when he first started learning to walk. The answer was not to strap him down so he couldn't walk and hurt himself, it was to adjust the environment to make sure it was safe for him to practice. However I couldn't do that for every place we went; we went a lot of places that weren't baby proofed. At some point you just have to trust them - kids and birds. They will never learn if we don't give them the chance.

Once she is a better flier you won't have to worry as much!
 

janicedyh

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I understand what you are saying Mizzely. I have been excited to see if she could fly because I think her wings were clipped before she fully fledged. However, at the moment it will almost be impossible to control her environment while staying with my mother. I will decide flighted vs unflighted when we get through this trauma with my mother. On the plus side...it appears my birds love car travel.
 

janicedyh

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Blu flew for the first time this morning!
:birdance:

He just got a few feathers in his right wing this week, and he was taking a bath and got startled.

He flew straight up like a rocket....then hit his head on the ceiling :o:..then flew to the door frame, and clung on for dear life.

It wasn't pretty (and I don't think he has a concussion :lol:) but I'm so happy for him and can't wait to see him perfect his skills.

:fairy::fairy2::fairy:
How has Blu been since the flight? More flying or did he scare himself and you for the day?
 

Pipsqueak

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I am so surprised that the clipped birds will not try to fly. I have my GCC for two month now and they have zero flight feathers and are missing half of some others too and yet they will try to fly. And I am not that scared for them, often they will just glide, sort of, from the cage top to the floor because they want to go somewhere else. What scares me is that the dog will get them even so he has been trained well so far. They see where our cockatiel is flying and I am sure they miss this freedom. The only time my cockatiel got hurt from flight is when he was young and clipped by the breeder. He is four years old and an excellent flyer. I have a ceiling fan in the family room , open floorplan with two story foyer and he navigates that perfectly.
 

CrazyBirdChick

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How has Blu been since the flight? More flying or did he scare himself and you for the day?
I understand your frustration.

Blu has been flying daily since his first flight, and he's pretty amazing at it now. He got the hang of it after only about 2 or 3 tries.

I think it's beautiful to see him fly, and I will never take it away from him because he has a safe place to do it and he loves it but....it's definitely been a little frustrating for me (and I sometimes secretly wish I could clip him. But I won't)

He's been doing this new thing where he hangs from a table with his beak until he can't hold on anymore, then he almost falls, then he flies at the last second before he hits the ground...and he flies to me.

He wants to be on me so often that I worry he's getting too attached to me, and his hanging and flying is turning into almost an obsession. I wouldn't care so much if I didn't worry that he's going to hurt himself when he hangs (I worry he could break a leg or crack his beak because you should see how weird it looks)

Today I just bought a brand new table and I'm hoping that will put an end to his obsessive hanging from the beak stunt.

I really love that he's flying and he loves it too, but it hasn't turned out to be as carefree as I had hoped. It's not his flying that's dangerous here, just the hanging and his clingyness that worries me.

I just have to roll with the punches and keep alternating his environment till we get everything right, I guess.

I'm hoping this will get easier once his hormones pass though. He's just an all around handful sometimes right now.

But now I see him with wings, it makes me sad to think of how he looked when they were clipped. Plus, he would fall alot when clipped and I feel that was more dangerous (I lost my soul bird to an accident because he was clipped for med administration. So I reeaaally worry about falling when clipped)

It's difficult sometimes because he has the ability to do what ever he wants now. But he's a bird so I'm going to let him fly. He may drive me crazy in the process sometimes but it's what I signed up for :meh:
 
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