Looking for a new forum without such critical people. No one even asked why I had her wings clipped.
Literally the very first post to comment on the wing clipping asked why.
Why did you have her wings clipped? If she has been able to fly her whole life this will be devastating to her.
The second half of that post? That's not a criticism; it's a fact. A flighted bird that suddenly finds itself grounded for ANY reason - wing clipping, injury, anything - is going to be distressed at losing its primary means of locomotion. I'd be pretty upset if I suddenly lost my ability to walk. Wouldn't you?
I'm not a fan of clipping, but there are some situations where it's unavoidable, the last resort, or otherwise legitimately the best or only option.
People here know that.
However, a lot of bird-owners (not as many as 20 years ago, but still a huge percentage) consider wing-clipping "just part of owning a bird," or use it as their first and/or only go-to solution for any minor behavioral problem, rather than as a last resort.
People here know that, too, and the latter situation is by far the more common one. Horses vs. zebras, yanno?
If you're in the first group, by all means, elaborate. If you're in the second one, well... yeah, you're probbly gonna catch some flack, because while people will be as supportive and helpful as they can, the end goal is to give the PARROTS the best life they can have, and for a normal, healthy parrot, flying is a big part of that.
Realizing we've done our pets wrong is painful. I should know. I grew up in a "wing-clipping-is-just-what-you-do" household, and when, years later, I read more on the subject, it broke my heart to think back on those poor, sweet birds that could have spent their lives in the air if only we'd given them the chance.
But as Maya Angelou said, "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."
All any of us can do is our best.
I don't know if you'll read this, but I felt like it needed to be said.