Can an adult bird be taught to fly?

[faislaq]

Buzzard is 12 years old, and as far as I can tell, has been in a cage that was too small for him to extend his wings for at least the past 7 years. I'm not sure how often he was let out, but he doesn't even flap his wings. The only time I've seen him extend them (and usually only one at a time) is during his spray bath.

It's sad enough that he doesn't use those beautiful wings, but last week, he chewed through a branch that he was standing on and fell. He did try to flap, but I'm not even sure if it was enough to slow his fall much. Luckily, he didn't split his keel or break any feathers or anything else, but he was pretty shaken up.

Is there any training exercise I can do with him to get him to first open his wings more often, and then maybe start to try flapping? If I move my arm at all while he's on it he gets pretty scared like I'm going to drop him.

 

[Mizzely]

Is he food motivated? Can you put a treat where he can see it but has to fly to reach it? His wings likely are lacking a lot of the necessary muscle

 

[XstatyK]

I like watching this guys videos so hopefully it may help you or give you some ideas:
Teaching your bird to fly

 

[TikiMyn]

Yeah and Maybe you could use two perches, and train him to step from perch one to perch two, and then make the gap a little bigger each time so eventually he wil have to hop and when you proceed even further he Will have to use his wings a little bit. It might be that Will help him a little bit. If you can touch him all over his body you might try to teach him to lift his wings, and Maybe then you could snape it further to flapping his wings? Just Some ideas I don't know if they Will work of course.

 

[Begone]

If he hasn't been flying for 12 years you must be very careful in the beginning.
Don't use high perches or stands, have him in the bed or on other soft material not so far from the ground. You don't want him to get hurt, that will only destroy his confidence.
And do as in the video, let him jump to you and then make the distance longer and longer.
You don't need a stick or a clicker, just one low pearch some treats and a very happy voice.

I think their is still a chance for him to learn, but take it really slow in the beginning.
Just like you and me he will get training ache in his muscles in the beginning.

Good Luck!

 

[JLcribber]

Chances are he will never fly. The muscle tone isn't there but more importantly his "mind" has told him he can't and doesn't fly. That is the biggest hurdle you face (fear).

Give thus article a read. It will explain the psychology.

Thinking on the Wing | The Parrot University, llc

 

[JLcribber]

If he flew as a youngster before all this he might just fly given time.

 

[faislaq]

I hope that's the case!

 

[aooratrix]

I'm working on Petey. I'll let you know.

 

[aooratrix]

I like watching this guys videos so hopefully it may help you or give you some ideas:
Teaching your bird to fly

Dislike. Not a fan of the parrot wizard. Google "teaching your parrot to fly" and pick what makes sense to you. I'd be encouraging him to flap on my arm or anywhere else. He'll pant after a short interval, so you'll have to build up to it.

 

[XstatyK]

Dislike. Not a fan of the parrot wizard. Google "teaching your parrot to fly" and pick what makes sense to you. I'd be encouraging him to flap on my arm or anywhere else. He'll pant after a short interval, so you'll have to build up to it.

The comment right below my post also mentioned the exact same method that was described in the video. I myself have never tried it so don't really know, I agree on choosing your own method or finding one that works best for you.

 

[faislaq]

Buzz steps up easily for cuddles & scritches, but doesn't like me moving while he's on me. He has finally gotten to the point where he's okay with me taking him through the house with me if I walk slowly and tell him what we're doing every step of the way. I'll ask him, "Wanna go to the window?" which he loves, but only for short periods before he gives me his foot to go back, or "Do you want some juice?" which he gets very excited when we walk to the kitchen to get his cup of juice (water with a little juice in it ) from the refrigerator. He doesn't speak to tell me what he wants, but whenever he leans while he's on my arm, I take him that direction so he can see whatever it is. Most of the time, though, he's steering me towards the kitchen & I always reward him with a nut or piece of fruit to encourage his exploring and "asking".

By getting him used to me moving, hopefully one day I'll be able to dance with him a little to some music and move my arm, eventually to where he'll get excited instead of scared and start flapping a little. At least that's what I'm hoping will happen. To get his trust and wing muscles both built up to that point would be amazing!

 

[Dartman]

Nerd bird had bad flight feathers on one wing and knew it. He would make short hops and emergency flights but most of the time he walked where he wanted to go and had really big thighs. He also loved getting rides and would lean towards where he wanted to go as well. He also LOVED flapping like a maniac on top of his cage till he started panting and would usually do it daily. He would forget he could fly and fall off his perch sometimes too, the Nerd When he did his flapping I'd say FLAP MY PRETTY... and he'd flap happily even harder for me. He was a happy boy with his lot in life and adapted to his issues.

 

[faislaq]

Nerd bird LOVED flapping like a maniac on top of his cage till he started panting and would usually do it daily. When he did his flapping I'd say FLAP MY PRETTY... and he'd flap happily even harder for me.

Even that much would make me so happy! And I know it would be great exercise. It sounds like Nerd was having so much fun when he flapped like a maniac!

 

[peppermint]

i really dont understand why people put birds in cages, other than protection. it's like a prison i'm not going to judge [or try not to]
but, using a cage that is even too small, that's even more cruel

in any case, he needs to get used to movement first. then, slowly,while he's on your hand, either try and move your hand back and forth, or hold his foot. my crow flaps madly when i try to hold his/her foot..

it might work with your bird too. it's at least worth trying, imho.
update us,maybe?

 

[faislaq]

Still the same. We are getting better at exploring without panicking, but then just last night as I was sitting down in "our" chair with him on my arm he got spooked by something and let out this deafening, scared yell. Nothing happened out of the usual that I could think of, but I wonder if something outside the window frightened him? He wouldn't settle down & his eye ring feathers stayed fluffed, so I walked him back to his play stand, talking to him & gave him his juice. He's pretty resilient, I think, so hopefully he won't be afraid next time (unless something happens). He usually loves climbing to both of my arms & across my legs, getting scritches in that chair.

 

[peppermint]

"We are getting better at exploring without panicking,"
poor thing. having stayed for so long in a cage, of course being out and about scares him. i forgot to mention this.
dont give up on your bird. while progress will be and is slow, i think you have a chance of at least seeing him acting more like a bird.

their hearing is more acute than ours, so he must have picked something you couldnt. my crow gets very alert before it rains. he dances like a mad bird, driving us insane, even if he knows the rain wont affect him. bird mind... hehe.
oh, my crow is not great at flying since there's so much space to fly in a room [biggish, but still not like outside]

he was a fledgling when i found him, and very weak [stayed the whole day in the rain on the ground, must have caught a cold] and i was afraid he might not know how to fly at all. but once he started feeling better, flapping and flight happened as well. it's in his instinct, just never had a chance at properly learning. [and it's only my fault]. all i'm trying to say here is that you can't lose hope. your bird needs a lot of patience.

did you try stretching his wings with your hands? gently, of course. my crow hates it, and chances are all birds do. when i check him up from time to time, he always flaps because he doesnt like it.

i hope to hear your baby started flapping <3

 

[Macawnutz]

Yes! Make him flap everyday. Hold him on your arm and make a fun game of dropping him down to make him flap. Make it fun... start small and don't just scare the crud out of him. Make Weeeeee noises or something too.

Once he gets the hang of flapping when he feels the loss of gravity you can start tossing him onto a bed. Again... make it fun and small to start.

With Sam we started throwing him to one another and pushing him to fly. He is a FABULOUS flyer now. My BG Kailua has even started.

 

[faislaq]

Haha I will try that when we get to that point on his terms, but it gives me hope to hear that another adult was able to learn!

 

[peppermint]

on his terms is very well said. sounds like proper bird behavior