Flight anxiety?

[Birdspeaker]

Merlin isn't a great flyer but can go across the room short distances fairly well. I've been trying to work on recall with him and he understands the idea, gets ready, wings moving, moves around a bit but then backs off like he's scared. If I get closer he'll do the same thing but leans out so far he almost falls off..lol. Anyone else seen this? I'm going to just stop on this for now but it makes me curious.

 

[Chantilly Lace]

My cockatoo, Paco, is very scared of flying, and when he does, he screams "Ahhhhhhh" the whole way lol! It is adorable. But he really doesn't like it much, and only does it out of necessity. He was not properly fledged when he was hatched, so I believe that is the main issue. All you can do is keep practicing. It took my Paco almost TEN YEARS to fly, even just a little bit, after we allowed his wings to grow back when we got him.

 

[Monica]

IMO, any bird clipped prior to the age of 6 months, and this could be 12+ months for the larger guys, has not been properly fledged. Birds can "forget" how to fly and lose the muscle mass required to fly. Flying may be instinctual, but knowing *HOW* to fly is learned. That is, turning, banking, landing, etc. Even if they get 1-3 weeks of flight before being clipped as chicks, this is *NOT* enough time for them to truly learn and become confident. They may be great, but then having to spend several months clipped and falling to the ground, possibly with bumps and bruises attached... it's easy to see why they'd become scared to fly.



If you want Merlin to learn how to fly and with confidence, then please do not stop! However, you do need to change *how* you are working with him. If he's not comfortable hopping a short distance just out of reach, then start with a step up and build his confidence up. If he's too afraid, then go back to a step that he *can* achieve and repeat until he's ready for the next step.

 

[Heather F]

Merlin isn't a great flyer but can go across the room short distances fairly well. I've been trying to work on recall with him and he understands the idea, gets ready, wings moving, moves around a bit but then backs off like he's scared. If I get closer he'll do the same thing but leans out so far he almost falls off..lol. Anyone else seen this? I'm going to just stop on this for now but it makes me curious.

My Frodo has never been clipped, flies around like a tiny spitfire, utterly confident in the air, and he totally does that too. With him it's not lack of ability or confidence, but lack of motivation. If I just hold my arm up as a landing platform and point to it and call him, sometimes he comes to me, and sometimes he just does the triangulating headbob, take-off crouch... and just sits there looking at me. And will also sometimes do the "lean-out" if I am almost close enough to just hop to.

In fact he is sitting there taunting me. "I see you there, I know you want me to come, and I know I can get there. So what's in it for me, hooman?"

Then I go and get a safflower out of the treat bin and try again, and he comes to me right away.

He has me well trained.

 

[OllieTheConure]

Almost exactly the same thing happened with my Olive! Just as others have said, Merlin was likely clipped too early and needs to build up confidence. Give it time. Start however close to Merlin you need to be (even if it's just a little hop from a couple inches away) and offer a favorite treat. Each day increase the distance between you and Merlin. After doing this for about a month with Olive, she seemed to 'discover' that she can fly. Now, she happily flies laps around the house and is also recall trained!

 

[JLcribber]

Here's a good read for you Bryan.

Thinking on the Wing | The Parrot University, llc